;)
The Commentariat -- August 5, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Buh-Bye. Michael Gold, et al., of the New York Times: "The State Assembly's impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is 'nearing completion' and the body will soon consider 'potential articles of impeachment' against him, the chair of the committee overseeing the inquiry said in a statement on Thursday. Charles D. Lavine, who leads the Assembly's Judiciary Committee, said that lawyers conducting the inquiry have directed Mr. Cuomo and his legal team to submit any evidence in the governor's defense by next Friday. The lawyers had previously issued a subpoena for relevant documents. The move was the latest and most vivid indication yet that the Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, was moving quickly to impeach Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat...."
Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "Richard Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the nation's pre-eminent labor federation, for the last 12 years and an influential voice in Democratic politics, died on Thursday. He was 72. The federation confirmed the death. The cause was a heart attack, according to an A.F.L.-C.I.O. official, who did not say where Mr. Trumka died. Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, announced the death on the Senate floor. 'The working people of America have lost a fierce warrior at a time when we needed him most,' Mr. Schumer said in an emotional tribute."
Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "A four-year probe by the Justice Department Inspector General could not determine who in the FBI spoke to reporters about sensitive subjects during the 2016 election, or find evidence that Rudolph W. Giuliani had inside information about an investigation into Hillary Clinton that upended the race in its final days. The report issued Thursday by Inspector General Michael Horowitz said there were 'substantial media contacts' with numerous FBI employees, but the evidence could not determine 'whether these media contacts resulted in the disclosure of nonpublic information.' Horowitz faulted what he called 'a cultural attitude at the FBI that was far too permissive of unauthorized media contacts in 2016.'... A 2018 inspector general report about the Clinton case was highly critical of [then-FBI Director James] Comey and his former boss, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. But Horowitzs office spent three more years working on the leak-hunting portion of the investigation, and came up largely empty."
Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday will roll out a two-step strategy that uses tailpipe regulations to try to rapidly shift Americans from gasoline-powered cars and trucks toward electric vehicles — a central part of his plan to cut pollution that is heating the planet. Mr. Biden plans to first restore and slightly strengthen auto mileage standards to the levels that existed under President Barack Obama but were weakened during the Trump administration. Next, his administration will draft a set of even more stringent auto pollution rules for both passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks that are designed to ramp up sales of electric vehicles. 'When I say electric vehicles are the future, I'm not joking,' Mr. Biden wrote in a tweet on Wednesday evening. 'Tune in for big news tomorrow.'" An NBC News story is here.
Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "After White House legal advisers found he could not extend a national eviction moratorium, President Biden told Chief of Staff Ron Klain to seek the advice of Harvard law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe about whether an alternative legal basis could be devised for protecting struggling renters across the country, according to a person familiar with the matter. The private phone call between Klain and Tribe -- held Sunday amid a national outcry over the expiring moratorium -- set in motion a rapid reversal of the administration's legal position that it could not extend the eviction ban. Tribe suggested to Klain and White House Counsel Dana Remus that the administration could impose a new and different moratorium, rather than try to extend the existing ban in potential defiance of a warning from Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, the person said.... After the administration announced last week that it could not find a legal justification for extending the ban, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) recommended to the White House that Biden seek out Tribe's counsel, according to one person familiar with the matter."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "The powerful protection offered by Moderna's Covid vaccine does not wane in the first six months after the second dose, according to a statement released by the company on Thursday morning in advance of its earnings call. But in slides prepared for the call, the company said it anticipated that boosters would be necessary this fall to contend with the Delta variant, which became common in the United States after the results were collected." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Thursday are here.
Robert Towey of CNBC: "White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that a more severe Covid variant could emerge as the U.S. daily new case average is now approaching 100,000 per day, exceeding the level of transmission last summer before vaccines were available. Fauci, in an interview with McClatchy, said the U.S. could be 'in trouble' if a new variant overtakes delta, which already has a viral load 1,000 times higher than the original Covid strain."
Ben Kennedy & Andrea Torres of WPLG Miami: Florida "Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back at President Joe Biden on Wednesday. The Republican governor and the Democratic president disagree on the need for face mask mandates amid a surge in COVID cases. Florida faced more than 50,000 coronavirus infections in just three days. 'If you're not going to help, get out of the way,' Biden said during a news conference Tuesday.... 'If you are coming after the rights in Florida, I am standing in your way,' DeSantis said in response during a news conference Wednesday.... He also added a message about immigration to Biden: 'Why don't you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure? And until you do this, I don't want to hear a blip about COVID from you.[']"
** Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "This week, America's most watched cable news host is broadcasting from an authoritarian state -- not to criticize its leadership but to praise it. Fox's Tucker Carlson is currently in Budapest, airing his show from Hungary's capital city. In his Monday monologue, Carlson told his listeners that they should pay attention to Hungary 'if you care about Western civilization, and democracy, and family -- and the ferocious assault on all three of those things by leaders of our global institutions.' He tweeted out a friendly photo with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and is confirmed to speak at a government-supported conference in Budapest on Saturday.... Fox's marquee host is aligning himself with a ruler who has spent the past 11 years systematically dismantling Hungary's free political system.... Right-wing observers, typically social conservatives and nationalists, see Orbán's willingness to use state power against the LGBT community, academics, the press, and immigrants as an example of how conservatives can fight back against left-wing cultural power.... Carlson's visit to Budapest, a follow-up to previous pro-Orbán coverage, shows that this authoritarian envy is no longer confined to a fringe."
The New York Times' live updates of the Olympic games Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live Olympics updates for Thursday are here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Only one day after the Biden administration issued a new policy protecting renters from eviction, a series of real estate and landlord groups is trying to invalidate it.... The group asked a federal judge in D.C. to halt the new protections, citing the district court's prior ruling that found the government's first eviction ban to be unlawful. In filing the new legal salvo, the real estate, landlord and property-management groups at times cite the White House's own, previous admissions that it did not have the authority to issue another ban.... If successful, the challenge threatens fresh uncertainty for perhaps millions of Americans who are behind on their monthly rents, facing the prospect of eviction or struggling to obtain federal aid."
David Sanger & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "In a warning to all federal employees, leading defense contractors and the 3.4 million uniformed, civilian and reserve personnel serving in the military, the National Security Agency issued an unusually specific admonition late last week that logging on to public Wi-Fi 'may be convenient to catch up on work or check email,' but it is also an invitation to attackers. In an eight-page document, the agency described how, in a year marked by ransomware attacks on pipelines, meatpackers and even the police force in Washington, D.C., clicking on to the local coffee shop’s network was asking for trouble.... 'Avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi, when possible,' the warning says, stating that even Bluetooth connections can be compromised. 'The risk is not merely theoretical; these malicious techniques are publicly known and in use.'... Hooking on to public Wi-Fi ... in coffee shops, airports, hotel rooms and similar venues..., or enabling Bluetooth connections, or even the capability to make a purchase by tapping a reader with a phone, is an invitation to have nonencrypted data seen by anyone."
Todd Frankel of the Washington Post: "Trump's administration last year rolled back regulations on dishwashers along with shower heads, clothes washers and dryers. The rules relaxed limits on water and energy use. Trump said the goal was to give consumers choices. But almost no one was clamoring for the changes. Manufacturers did not support them. They said there was no need. Environmental groups called the new rules wasteful. Consumer groups said modern appliances already work pretty well. On Tuesday, President Biden's Energy Department said it planned to reverse the Trump-era changes. The still-new rules for dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers would go back to what they were before Trump. It comes a couple weeks after the Energy Department said it was doing the same with shower heads."
Justin Jouvenal, et al., of the Washington Post: "... a Georgia man stepped off a bus outside the Pentagon Tuesday, stabbed a police officer and struggled with him, the FBI said. During the melee, Austin Lanz shot Pentagon officer George Gonzalez with the officer's service weapon, before turning the gun on himself, the FBI said. Other Pentagon officers engaged Lanz and he was killed. The officer later died. The account released Wednesday was the first detailed description of the encounter, which prompted a lockdown of the Pentagon and drew a massive response from police and fire agencies. Officials said a bystander was injured. The FBI statement did not shed light on what prompted the horrific attack and the agency said the investigation into the incident was ongoing, but Lanz had been ordered for a mental health evaluation by a judge in Georgia and had acted violently and erratically in recent months, court and police records show." (This is a substantial update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.)
Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday advanced legislation to repeal decades-old authorizations for U.S. military missions in the Middle East, a first-time step in a larger effort in Congress to reclaim lawmakers' war powers from the executive branch. A bipartisan majority of the panel voted 14 to 8 in favor of repealing authorizations Congress passed in 1991 and 2002 to approve of hostilities against Saddam Hussein's erstwhile regime, first to push Iraqi troops out of Kuwait and later to depose him. That legislative coalition all but guarantees that when the measure comes to the Senate floor -- which Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has promised will happen this year -- it will pass." (Also linked yesterday.)
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Attorneys for Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted a Justice Department ruling that directed the Treasury Department to turn over his tax returns to Congress, formally asking a court to block their release and arguing that records of former presidents as well as presidents should be similarly protected from subpoenas by lawmakers. Trump lawyers called last week's decision by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel the latest effort at partisan retaliation against him by Democrats, and denied that the House Ways and Means Committee sought six years of his tax returns out of a legitimate interest in closing tax loopholes exploited by wealthy Americans." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) asked a federal judge to grant him immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol that resulted in five deaths and hundreds of people being injured. On March 5, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) sued Brooks..., Donald Trump and several others after they gave speeches at a Jan. 6 rally in which they falsely claimed the 2020 election results were fraudulent and encouraged rallygoers to march on the Capitol, where Congress was holding an accounting of the electoral college votes.... Brooks previously asked the Justice Department to determine that he was covered by the Westfall Act, legislation that protects federal employees from being sued for doing their jobs." Brooks is representing himself. ~~~
~~~ Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "Floating a theory of immunity in a 44-page filing on Tuesday, [Mo] Brooks claimed he was simply 'cooperating' with the 'White House,' a decision affecting his ability to perform his congressional duties.... The lawmaker also noted that he has been 'faithful to his wife' of 45 years, has never received a speeding ticket or smoked tobacco, and that none of his four children have been divorced.... The DOJ last week issued a decision concluding that it could not defend Brooks because his rally speech did not constitute an act within the scope of his employment as a member of Congress, stressing that a lawmaker's job is to pass laws, not instigate an attack on the U.S. Capitol.... In the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Brooks ... falsely claim[ed] the whole ordeal was orchestrated by Trump's political opponents." MB: Yes, but doesn't it seem morally wrong to sue a man who (allegedly) never smoked tobacco?
"That Is Revolution, Not Patriotism." Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge rejected claims that detained defendants in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach are 'political prisoners' or that riot participants acted out of patriotism before sentencing a Michigan man to six months in prison Wednesday.... In a string of plea and sentencing hearings in the riot cases, federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties condemned such claims. Some have gone further to challenge U.S. prosecutors' acceptance of misdemeanor plea deals for individuals involved in 'terrorizing members of Congress.'... Judges at sentencings have been delivering a cold splash of reality to defendants, including some who say they were lied to by Trump or led astray by right-wing commentators or social media.... [On Wednesday,] U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Washington said Karl Dresch, 41, of Calumet, Mich, was held because of his actions, not his political views.... 'He was not a political prisoner,' Jackson said. 'We are not here today because he supported former president Trump ... He was arrested because he was an enthusiastic participant in an effort to subvert and undo the electoral process.'..."
"One Enormous Conspiracy Theory." Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Colorado has disciplined two lawyers [-- Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker --] who filed a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election late last year, finding that the case was 'frivolous,' 'not warranted by existing law' and filed 'in bad faith.'... Calling the suit 'one enormous conspiracy theory,' Neureiter ordered that the duo must pay the legal fees of all the individuals and companies they had sued -- 18 separate entities in all -- as a way to deter future similar cases.... In a scathing 68-page opinion, Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter found that the lawyers made little effort to corroborate information they had included in the suit [including a tweet by Donald Trump], which argued there had been a vast national conspiracy to steal the election from ... Donald Trump.... 'Albeit disorganized and fantastical, the Complaint's allegations are extraordinarily serious and, if accepted as true by large numbers of people, are the stuff of which violent insurrections are made.'"
Washington Crosses the Rubicon. Sanjana Karanth & Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: After receiving a tip, "Federal agents arrested a man on Wednesday who stormed the U.S. Capitol in a George Washington costume during the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.... The 'About Us' section of Yoder Lock and Key's website displays a photo of its owners, Isaac and Kelly Yoder, with Isaac Yoder clearly posing in colonial-era clothes[.... In March,] Newsweek published an interview with [Isaac] Yoder, who told the publication that if the Capitol rioters had wanted to cause trouble, there would have been 'piles of bodies.' He again admitted to entering the Capitol that day after hearing ... Donald Trump speak, and that wearing a George Washington costume was his way of paying tribute to the founding of America." The FBI also used a facial recognition program to ID Isaac as an insurrectionist.
Marie: At the end of 2020, as we were all going about our daily lives, perhaps enduring a somewhat joyless holiday season & distracted by our hopes for better as the new year loomed, Donald Trump & his cohort were plotting to pull off a coup that was the greatest threat to our country since the Civil War. Bumbling as they might have been, they nearly succeeded. ~~~
** Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "In recent months..., we've learned that Trump's most direct effort to steal the election unfolded ... over the last few days of 2020. On Tuesday, ABC News published a letter circulated by the then-acting head of the Department of Justice's civil rights division, a man named Jeffery Clark.... [Clark's letter] was ... a road map to overthrowing the will of voters. The amount of detail given to the mechanism for handing the electors to Trump was matched by the dearth of specificity about the alleged 'irregularities' in the state.... [Richard] Donoghue's lengthy response, one likely written with an eye toward it eventually being read by external eyes..., made all of the points you might expect. The purported 'irregularities amounted to nothing more than a few ticky-tack questions about individual votes.... 'I do not think the Department's role should include making recommendations to a State legislature about how they should meet their Constitutional obligation to appoint Electors.' In other words: it is not DOJ's place to tell states how to overturn election results.... Clark's letter was almost certainly not something that occurred independently of Trump.... [Clark was] talking to Trump directly." Worth reading. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Clark's letter, published by ABC News & also linked here yesterday, is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: You think I might have exaggerated? Top DOJ officials didn't think so. ~~~
~~~ Betsy Swan & Nicholas Wu of Politico: "In early January 2021, one top Justice Department official was so concerned that ... Donald Trump might fire his acting attorney general that he drafted an email announcing he and a second top official would resign in response. The official, Patrick Hovakimian, prepared the email announcing his own resignation and that of the department's second-in-command, Richard Donoghue, as Trump considered axing acting attorney general Jeff Rosen. At the time, Hovakimian was an associate deputy attorney general and senior adviser to Rosen. But Trump didn't fire Rosen, and Hovakimian's draft email -- a copy of which was obtained by Politico -- remained unsent.... 'This evening, after Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen over the course of the last week repeatedly refused the President's direct instructions to utilize the Department of Justice's law enforcement powers for improper ends, the President removed Jeff from the Department,' Hovakimian wrote in his never-sent email. 'PADAG Rich Donoghue and I resign from the Department, effective immediately.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Congress could begin taking testimony as soon as this week from top Justice Department officials who bore witness to... Donald Trump's desperate attempt to overturn his 2020 reelection loss based upon lies and misinformation. And in the increasingly apparent real-time Justice Department efforts to combat that attempt, one man who has agreed to testify is emerging as something of a potential star witness in the effort: Richard P. Donoghue.... The building record of Donoghue's resistance to the gambit makes him one of the most eagerly anticipated witnesses in the investigation. Trump's team has for now signaled it won't fight such testimony."
Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "The State Department is investigating the whereabouts of a $5,800 bottle of whiskey the Japanese government gave to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019, according to two people briefed on the inquiry and a document made public on Wednesday. It was unclear whether Mr. Pompeo ever received the gift, as he was traveling in Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2019, the day that Japanese officials gave it to the State Department, according to a department filing on Wednesday.... American officials can keep gifts that are less than $390. But if the officials want to keep gifts that are over that price, they must purchase them. The department also took the unusual step of noting that the whereabouts of the whiskey is unknown." MB: It doesn't take a helluva lot of imagination to figure out that somebody drank the evidence. Pompeo claims he's not the guy.
Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: "Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is suing NBCUniversal for defamation, citing comments made by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in March regarding his dealings with an individual sanctioned by the U.S. government. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas alleges that Maddow and the network 'harbor an institutional hostility, hatred, extreme bias, spite and ill-will' toward Nunes. The congressman's lawyers argue that Maddow's criticisms of Nunes are based on his 'emergence as the most prominent skeptic in Congress of Maddow's marquee news narrative from 2017 to 2019: that the Trump campaign colluded with Russians to hack the 2016 presidential elections.'" MB: Maybe Rachel should have a drink with Devin Nunes' Cow & the two can discuss how sorry they are for making fun of Devin. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Eduardo Castillo of the AP: "The Mexican government sued United States gun manufacturers and distributors Wednesday in U.S. federal court, arguing that their negligent and illegal commercial practices have unleashed tremendous bloodshed in Mexico. The unusual lawsuit was filed in U.S. federal court in Boston. Among those being sued are some of the biggest names in guns, including: Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc.; Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc.; Beretta U.S.A. Corp.; Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC, and Glock Inc. Another defendant is Interstate Arms, a Boston-area wholesaler that sells guns from all but one of the named manufacturers to dealers around the U.S." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
David Gilbert of Vice: "Facebook has made good on its threat to kick out a group of researchers who've been among the platform's biggest critics. The Cybersecurity for Democracy project at New York University has revealed major flaws in Facebook political ad transparency tools and highlighted how Facebook's algorithms were amplifying misinformation. Most recently, it helped track vaccine disinformation.... Despite the obvious benefits of the work being done by these researchers, on Tuesday evening, the company cut the cord. 'This evening, Facebook suspended my Facebook account and the accounts of several people associated with Cybersecurity for Democracy, our team at NYU,' Laura Edelson, one of the researchers at NYU, tweeted.... Edelson's colleague Damon McCoy called Facebook's decision 'disgraceful' at a time when the disinformation around COVID-19 and vaccines is literally costing lives." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "The Biden administration is developing plans to require all foreign travelers to the United States to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, with limited exceptions, according to an administration official with knowledge of the developing policy. The plan, reported earlier by Reuters, will be part of a new system to be put in place after the current restrictions on travel into the country are lifted, but officials have yet to determine when that might be done." Politico's story is here.
Matt Seyler & Luis Martinez of ABC News: "Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected to announce his recommendation to President Joe Biden that COVID-19 vaccines be made mandatory for troops, officials told ABC News Wednesday evening. A senior official said the announcement will come 'soon,' while a separate U.S. official said an announcement is expected by the end of this week."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Arkansas. Jade Jackson of KTHV Little Rock: "Governor Asa Hutchinson [R-Ark.] on Tuesday expressed regret for signing Act 1002 into Arkansas law. The new law bans the state and local officials from enacting any mask mandates. During a press conference, Hutchinson answered questions about why he signed the proposal into law. He said that when he initially approved it a few months ago, both COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were at a 'low point' in Arkansas and were declining. Now as the delta variant is causing a new wave in the state along with low vaccination rates, Hutchinson said that in hindsight he wishes that Act 1002 had not become law.... Hutchinson expressed his support for an amendment to the mask mandate ban to allow for school districts to enact mask wearing rules." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Texas. Reese Oxner of the Texas Tribune: "A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Texas from ordering state troopers to pull over drivers transporting migrants 'who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19.' U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone granted a temporary restraining order against Abbott's move, meaning it will be blocked while the case continues to unfold. The U.S. Justice Department sued Abbott and Texas on Friday, a day after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland threatened to take legal action if Abbott didn't rescind his order, calling it 'dangerous and unlawful.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: In April, a Texas Republican leader called H Scott Apley"responded to what Baltimore's former health commissioner was heralding as 'great news' -- clinical trials showed the Pfizer vaccine was effective at fighting the coronavirus for at least six months, including one of the recent variants. 'You are an absolute enemy of a free people,' he wrote in a Twitter reply. And on Friday, the 45-year-old Dickinson City Council member republished a Facebook post implying that vaccines don't work. Two days later, Apley was admitted to a Galveston hospital with 'pneumonia-like symptoms' and tested positive for covid, according to an online fundraising campaign.... On Wednesday, he died...." The Raw Story's report is here.
Beyond the Beltway
New York. Karen DeWitt of WAMC Radio Albany: "The New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee held its first meeting of an impeachment inquiry into Governor Andrew Cuomo Tuesday, over allegations that he sexually harassed several women, as well as other controversies. But the chair of the committee, Democrat Charles Lavine, says it could be quite a while before it reaches any conclusions.... Lavine laid out the scope of the investigation, which will include charges by multiple women of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by the governor, and whether Cuomo and his aides covered up nursing home COVID death numbers and safety concerns over the Thruway's Mario M. Cuomo bridge." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "A blistering state attorney general's report alleging that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women has pushed state legislators to expedite impeachment proceedings -- but the process is still expected to last months, lawmakers said.... The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet Monday in Albany to work out a timetable. In addition to the harassment allegations, lawyers hired by the committee have been looking into allegations that the Cuomo administration intentionally undercounted Covid-19 nursing home deaths and misused state resources on Cuomo's book about leadership during the pandemic. Cuomo has denied wrongdoing in those cases, as well. Assembly investigators are 'very far along' in the inquiries, [Assemblyman Michael] Montesano [R] said." ~~~
~~~ Marina Villeneuve & Jennifer Peltz of the AP: "A majority of state Assembly members support beginning impeachment proceedings against Gov. Andrew Cuomo if he doesn't resign over investigative findings that he sexually harassed at least 11 women, according to an Associated Press count Wednesday. At least 86 of the body's 150 members have said publicly or told The AP that they favored initiating the process of ousting the third-term Democratic governor if he doesn't quit. It takes a simple majority to authorize an impeachment trial. The tally reflects a governor plunged into a political deep freeze -- a Democratic scion who has now lost most, if not all, of his allies in the party establishment, just a year after basking in national attention as a blunt-but-relatable voice of fighting the coronavirus." ~~~
~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The district attorneys for Manhattan and Westchester County asked New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday for evidence related to her office's bombshell report accusing Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment. Westchester DA Mimi Rocah, in a letter obtained by NBC News, told James she plans to conduct an inquiry into whether the alleged sexual misconduct by Cuomo that occurred in her jurisdiction was 'criminal in nature.' A spokesperson for Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. told NBC later Wednesday that, 'When our office learned yesterday that the Attorney General's investigation of the Governor's conduct was complete, our office contacted the Attorney General's Office to begin requesting investigative materials in their possession pertaining to incidents that occurred in Manhattan.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: MSNBC reports on-air that the Nassau County (Long Island) D.A. also is requesting documents. ~~~
~~~ Michael Scherer & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Days after the first accusation of misconduct surfaced last year against New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D), his staff began reaching out to a prominent advocate for sexual harassment victims and the head of the largest gay rights group for guidance as they mulled how to discredit his accuser. This week, an independent investigation commissioned by New York Attorney General Letitia James found that the subsequent effort by the governor's office to undermine the credibility of former Cuomo adviser Lindsey Boylan -- by leaking her private employee records and circulating a draft of a letter that impugned her credibility -- amounted to 'unlawful retaliation.'" ~~~
~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: Andrew Cuomo's many troubles have put his brother Chris Cuomo, CNN's top anchor, in an awkward position. Many think the network is not handling the situation properly.
Hawaii. From the "It Could Happen to You" Department. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: "Joshua Spriestersbach fell asleep on a sidewalk one hot day in May 2017 while waiting for food outside of a Honolulu homeless shelter. He woke up to a police officer arresting him ... because [the officer] believed Spriestersbach was a man named Thomas Castleberry, who had an arrest warrant out for allegedly violating probation in a 2006 drug case. It was the first mistake of many that led to Spriestersbach spending two years and eight months in jail and a mental institution for crimes he didn't commit, according to a 36-page petition filed Monday by the Hawaii Innocence Project. While locked up, doctors pumped him full of powerful psychiatric drugs, judges ruled that he was unfit to stand trial and his lawyers ignored his assertions that police had the wrong man, the document claims.... '[T]he more Mr. Spriestersbach vocalized his innocence by asserting that he is not Mr. Castleberry, the more he was declared delusional and psychotic by the [hospital] staff and doctors and heavily medicated,' [Innocence Project lawyer Jennifer] Brown wrote. This went on for more than two more years, even though the public defenders representing him could have easily verified his claims, the petition argues."
Way Beyond
Turkey. Carlotta Gall of the New York Times: "As Turkey battles its worst forest fires in decades, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under ferocious attack for his handling of the disaster, as well as his broader management of a country that was already battered by an economic crisis and the pandemic. Fires blazed uncontrollably for the eighth day on Wednesday, aggravated by a record-breaking heat wave that follows a prolonged drought. The nation has watched in horror images on television and social media, as thousands of people have been forced to evacuate homes, coastal resorts and whole villages, primarily in the south, and herds of livestock have perished in fast-moving blazes.... The disaster has affected mostly southern coastal districts that are held by the largest opposition party, the Republican People's Party, or C.H.P., and local mayors and party officials ... soon complained in interviews and video appeals that they were not receiving the help needed from the central government -- planes and helicopters to douse the blazes."
Japan. The New York Times' live Olympics games updates Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.);
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Reader Comments (12)
I DO NOT understand it. All the "breaking news" tonight is about the guy from Justice who tried to help dumpsterfire with his coup. I KNOW that I read about these things six months ago! How the two top Justice guys refused to send in the news that the election was to be overturned. How does this happen that all the crap foaming over the airwaves about the electors in GA and wherever else, and it has taken over six months to get the actual letters/emails etc so we can see what the people IN Justice actually did in real time? This drives me nuts too, as does everything lately, none of this is news. None of this is anything we should have to put up with. Fire them all. If they are no longer in Justice, arrest them. Then go right over to stupid New Jersey Golfie City and put the guy in irons. What is it going to take to arrest the former guy for TREASON??? What the hell... Please bring me more tequila.
@Jeanne: Yes, you did read the outlines of this story story six months ago, thanks to the New York Times. I think we might have known more but for two things: (1) Trump might have caused these guys trouble for violating attorney-client privilege (although A-C privilege disappears when the discussion involves the commission of a crime); (2) Trump didn't fire Rosen. Had Trump fired Rosen, then presumably Donoghue & Patrick Hovakimian would have resigned, and at least the resignation letter -- which accuses Trump of "utiliz[ing] the Department of Justice’s law enforcement powers for improper ends" -- might have been made public contemporaneously.
What's important about these stories, IMO, is that instead of having to take a New York times reporter's (Katie Benner) word for it (and I never doubted her), we're getting to see the actual docs behind her reporting.
ULTIMATE KNUCLE HEADS:
Yesterday Phil Murphy, (D) Governor of New Jersey, while addressing a group that loudly yelled at him proclaiming their right to NOT get vaccinated, finally had enough of their stupidity and in a voice as loud and as angry as theirs, said:
"You are the ultimate knuckle heads!" and then proceeded to tell them why. As I was applauding Murphy, I envisioned the same epithet hurled at those governors who refuse to abide by the common sense virus preventions. It's such fun to imagine, for instance, DeSantas being bombarded by an angry mob who accuses him of murder.
Marie's reply to Jeanne: Yes, it's having the actual proof–-the papers–-the written word to substantiate a report by a journalist. And yet re: Fatty's forays into dark waters even though we had actual voice recordings it was not enough to impeach the bastard–-twice. At the very beginning it was the tax returns–-we KNOW what they will show––but we still ain't got the proof!
"The proof is in the pudding"––always found this funny because as a kid I pictured a hidden message in my chocolate pudding that I could pull out and read.
More from my current fave, Sally Jenkins: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/08/05/ncaas-shameful-neglect-womens-basketball-has-been-exposed-it-starts-top/.
I read the DOJ lawyers as classic talking out of both sides of their mouths: they wanted and did the job; when they saw the Dfumpster fire could extinguish their reputations, they created plausible deniability for themselves and their reputations. As Jenkins points out, change and rot start at the top and head. Both NCAA and DOJ need color and gender and political change ASAP.
Mo Brooks (R-Coward), wants to be able to look tough in support of the Fat Fascist, but knowing how violent his supporters can be, goes to the pre-insurrection party wearing body armor. Then he whips them up, along with his crime lord boss, but now wants a judge to give him a different kind of armor, protection against legal responsibility.
Because responsibility is for Democrats and decent people, not Republicans.
They are all so used to escaping any consequences for their actions, whether it’s child rape, sexual abuse, helping themselves to riches, or committing treason, that they are stunned when they learn that they might be held responsible for their foul deeds. “Please, judge! Save me! I’m a Republican. We don’t pay for anything. We’re not responsible for anything! Please! I need some legal Kevlar. And I need it now!”
I'm somewhat at a loss to understand how electric autos will save
the planet, even though we have a hybrid on order (3 months to
get a new car).
Our electricity here where I am comes from a coal burning plant up
north. We see those mile long trains of coal going north from coal
country. So all electric means burning more and more coal.
The hybrid burns petroleum but at the same time charges a battery
that helps save fuel and gets better mileage.
I also know of only one charging station in the area and it's about
15 miles from here. Infrastructure Pete will have to get on that.
FoMo: Thank you for your comment. So-called renewables fall far short of generating capacity for transportation, or for air conditioning for that matter. Natural gas is only slightly less COO producing than coal. The West is learning the folly of hydroelectric. The only solution would be distributed nuclear, i.e., small plants like those on ships, but that has its own limitations, of which waste storage is minor compared to mining and processing. The only real solution is replacing almost all personal transportation devices with efficient mass transit, and drastically reducing the number of humans infecting our little planet, for neither of which I hold much hope. COVID won't make a dent.
The average commute in the U.S. is about 40 miles. A compact, lightweight, electric car can store enough energy for that with a trickle charge, overnight, on household current, during off peak hours. This would require no new generating or transmission capacity.
The latest generations of electric cars have solar panels built into their roofs. Parked outside after the morning commute, they can recharge for the return trip. The car's batteries can also be used to supplement household energy storage.
Also, according to a friend of mine, carbon capture and sequestration can be better accomplished at power plants than at tailpipes.
@PD. The most economical e-cars have 90 kWh batteries, which means that a 40 mi commute (20x2?) needs about 8 kwh. That's two hours on our 4kW rooftop panels in sunny NorCal. An auto rooftop maybe 200W. Almost half a commute parked in a sunny spot in the summer. Off peak juice still runs on coal or gas, and a few nukes. For COO sequestration, I interpret this paper predicting that practical technology is decades away, provided the US of A sinks gigabucks into it right away.
https://users.wpi.edu/~jlwilcox/documents/Part%201_NG.pdf
Too little too late, still not optimistic.
FoMo??!! Oh no!
Apologies to Forrest Morris for being in a hurry!
@Whyte Owen: Actually, I thought "FoMo" was great. But then I'm not FoMo! Then again, MaBu isn't so bad & neither is WhOw!