The Commentariat -- January 15, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Devlin Barrett & Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "Internal investigators for the departments of Justice, Defense, Interior, and Homeland Security will investigate how security officials prepared for and responded to the pro-Trump rally on Jan. 6 that descended into a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, officials announced Friday. The inspectors general for all of those agencies will review what people knew and how they prepared for that day, along with their actions during the riot, according to news releases."

Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 came perilously close to Vice President Pence, who was not evacuated from the Senate chamber for about 14 minutes after the Capitol Police reported an initial attempted breach of the complex -- enough time for the marauders to rush inside the building and approach his location, according to law enforcement officials and video footage from that day. Secret Service officers eventually spirited Pence to a room off the Senate floor with his wife and daughter after rioters began to pour into the Capitol, many loudly denouncing the vice president as a traitor as they marched through the first floor below the Senate chamber. About one minute after Pence was hustled out of the chamber, a group charged up the stairs to a second-floor landing in the Senate, chasing a Capitol Police officer who drew them away from the Senate.... If the pro-Trump mob had arrived seconds earlier, the attackers would have been in eyesight of the vice president.... Pence was ultimately evacuated from his office off the Senate floor to a more secure location elsewhere in the Capitol complex.... The proximity of the Jan. 6 mob to the vice president and the delay in evacuating him from the chamber -- which have not been previously reported -- raise questions about why the Secret Service did not move him earlier and underscore the jeopardy that top government leaders faced during the siege." MB: And Trump thought this was great teevee. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's worth remembering this this extremely close call occurred minutes after an Army lieutenant general told the Capitol police chief, who was begging for assistance, "I don't like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background." The general refused to recommend sending in reinforcements. (That link is to a WashPo story.)

We were battling 15,000 people. It looked like a medieval battle scene. -- D.C. Police Officer Michael Falcone, describing what police were up against during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection ~~~

~~~ Peter Hermann of the Washington Post on "the first public account from D.C. police officers who fought to protect the Capitol during last week's siege."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.

Azar's Ruse. Isaac Stanley-Becker & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed, according to state and federal officials briefed on distribution plans. The Trump administration had already begun shipping out what was available beginning at the end of December, taking second doses directly off the manufacturing line. Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will not immediately increase, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding eligibility for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions. Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others are still in the dark." MB: Easy to see that the reason HHS officials would not cooperate with Biden's team: they were covering up this -- and probably other sleights-of-hand.

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Jim Tankersley & Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Thursday proposed a $1.9 trillion rescue package to combat the economic downturn and the Covid-19 crisis, outlining the type of sweeping aid that Democrats have demanded for months and signaling the shift in the federal government's pandemic response as Mr. Biden prepares to take office. The package includes more than $400 billion to combat the pandemic directly, including money to accelerate vaccine deployment and to safely reopen most schools within 100 days. Another $350 billion would help state and local governments bridge budget shortfalls, while the plan would also include $1,400 direct payments to individuals, more generous unemployment benefits, federally mandated paid leave for workers and large subsidies for child care costs.... Mr. Biden detailed his so-called American Rescue Plan in an evening speech in Delaware, effectively kicking off his presidency and placing him in the brightest spotlight since his nomination acceptance speech last summer at the Democratic National Convention." An ABC News story is here.

Sydney Ember of the New York Times: "... the Labor Department reported that initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose sharply last week, exceeding one million for the first time since July. Just days earlier, the government announced that employers had shed 140,000 jobs in December, the first net decline in employment since last spring, with restaurants, bars and hotels recording steep losses."

Tyler Pager & Olivia Beavers of Politico: "A rehearsal for Joe Biden's inauguration scheduled for Sunday has been postponed because of security concerns, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.... The rehearsal is now planned for Monday.... Biden received a briefing on Wednesday about the threats from the FBI, the Secret Service and national security officials."

Emily Davies & Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "The National Mall will be closed for Inauguration Day, only accessible by media and security personnel, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues. The extraordinary closure is the latest in a series of security measures to harden the city against the type of violence that rocked the Capitol on Jan. 6." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Lisa Lerer & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. plans to name Jaime Harrison as his pick to lead the Democratic National Committee, part of an effort to bolster the committee ahead of what are already expected to be challenging midterm elections for the party, according to two people with knowledge of the selection. A former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, Mr. Harrison became a national political star last year as he shattered fund-raising records in his race against Senator Lindsey Graham, who was up for re-election. While Mr. Harrison lost in November, drawing 44 percent of the vote to Mr. Graham's 55 percent, he developed a broad bench of support across the party." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

Kevin Liptak & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Trump has been consumed by the unraveling of his presidency during his last days in office, according to people around him, which included a casual discussion among advisers recently about a possible resignation. Trump shut the idea down almost immediately. And he has made clear to aides in separate conversations that mere mention of President Richard Nixon, the last president to resign, were banned. He told one adviser during an expletive-laden conversation recently never to bring up the ex-president ever again. During the passing mention of resigning this week, Trump told people he couldn't count on Vice President Mike Pence to pardon him like Gerald Ford did Nixon, anyway.... Aides have pleaded with Trump to deliver some type of farewell address, either live or taped, that would tick through his accomplishments in office. But he has appeared disinterested and noncommittal. On Thursday it was Pence carrying out tasks ordinarily left to a president, like visiting national guardsmen posted at the US Capitol or visiting White House operators to say farewell." There's more worth reading, including Trump's wish to get a military send-off with cheering supporters admiring the pomp without circumstance. MB: As for Trump's anger at being compared to Nixon, I remember Richard Nixon, and Trump is no Richard Nixon. ~~~

~~~ That Military Send-off Is a No-Go. Kevin Baron, Editor of Defense One: "The Pentagon, in a break with recent tradition, will not host an Armed Forces Farewell tribute to ... Donald Trump.... Trump will leave office in disgrace, one week after the House voted a second time for his impeachment, two weeks after his supporters staged a deadly siege in the Capitol Building, six months after he dragged his Joint Chiefs chairman into a political firestorm, and after four years of nonstop assaults on truth. One of those disgraces is how he is ghosting the U.S. troops that he commanded.... Trump has used the military as a political prop since his first days in office, from signing MAGA hats for troops to giving partisan-fueled speeches in the heart of the Pentagon. American's soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines have been made to stand at attention for Trump's rants long enough."

Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "The three top federal agencies responsible for protecting the nation -- the Departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security -- are all being run by acting officials, as the United States endures one of its most sensitive national security crises. The leadership vacuum is the product of President Trump's tempestuous relationships with his Cabinet secretaries and tendency to replace them for long periods of time with acting officials who lack Senate confirmation -- a pattern that has led to turmoil atop critical federal agencies for much of his presidency.... The makeshift leadership at the three agencies comes as Biden risks starting his presidency without any of his Cabinet nominees confirmed. In the recent past, the Senate has tried to confirm at least a few critical nominees immediately.... The Biden transition team said in a statement Wednesday that the confirmation hearing for Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden's choice to run the Department of Homeland Security, had been moved up in the aftermath of the riot.... The confirmation hearing for Mayorkas was moved up to Jan. 19 after four former homeland security secretaries ... wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post saying the country couldn't afford one more day without a confirmed DHS secretary." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A reminder that Trump planted the seeds of sedition deeper & earlier than most people credit him. His failure to maintain a stable national security apparatus & his refusal to countenance briefings he doesn't want to hear, much less act on right-wing domestic security risks, his never-ending lies & his attacks on the press's factual reports are part & parcel of his more direct & overt acts surrounding the election.

Helen of Margaret & Helen releases her letter to Donald. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump's incitement of his supporters before their attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 has galvanized a nationwide extremist movement and fueled those determined to disrupt the transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden and violently challenge the legitimacy of the election for months -- and possibly years, according to U.S. officials and independent experts.... At the center of the amorphous but increasingly motivated extremist movement sits the current president, now twice impeached, deprived of his social media megaphones but still exerting a powerful influence over his followers who take his baseless claims of election fraud as an article of faith.... FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told reporters that officials were monitoring 'an extensive amount of concerning online chatter' about events surrounding the inauguration.... It's a measure of Trump's influence that the extremists are expressing frustration that they are left without clear guidance by any central figure about what to do and when and where to gather. But they are adapting.... Experts said far-right extremists have called on their followers to loot and burn buildings and engage in physical violence against those they perceive to have aided Biden in illegitimately seizing the presidency."

Trump's Terrorist Base. Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: “Dozens of people on a terrorist watch list were in Washington for pro-Trump events Jan. 6.... The majority of the watch-listed individuals in Washington that day are suspected white supremacists whose past conduct so alarmed investigators that their names had been previously entered into the national Terrorist Screening Database, or TSDB, a massive set of names flagged as potential security risks, these people said. The watch list is larger and separate from the 'no-fly' list the government maintains.... The presence of so many watch-listed individuals in one place -- without more robust security measures to protect the public -- is another example of the intelligence failures preceding last week's fatal assault that sent lawmakers running for their lives, some current and former law enforcement officials argued.... Several law enforcement officials said they are shocked by the backgrounds of some individuals under investigation in connection with the Capitol riot, a pool of suspects that includes current and former law enforcement and military personnel as well as senior business executives and middle-aged business owners." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alan Feuer & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "One week after an angry mob stormed the Capitol..., lawmakers called for new investigations and federal authorities fanned out across the country, taking into custody several more suspects, including two police officers from Virginia and a firefighter from Florida.... Federal law enforcement officials continued to examine whether the assault on the Capitol included coordinated efforts by small groups of extremists and was not merely a mass protest that spiraled out of control.... The inspector general's office of the Capitol Police said it was opening a potentially wide-ranging inquiry into security breaches connected to the siege. The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency, signaled that it would look into what role, if any, members of Congress may have played in inciting the mob of Trump supporters.... The Houston police chief, Art Acevedo, said in an interview on Wednesday that one of his officers, an 18-year veteran of the force, was also under investigation in connection to the Capitol attack and was likely to face charges.... Federal agents made more arrests on Wednesday in New York, Maryland, Texas and Florida, among them a firefighter from the town of Sanford, near Orlando. The firefighter, Andrew Williams, was charged with unlawful entry and disorderly conduct.... A group of Arizona state lawmakers released a letter on Wednesday that they had sent a day earlier to [acting AG Jeffrey] Rosen and [FBI Director Christopher Wray, calling for an investigation into two of their own colleagues, Mark Finchem and Anthony Kern, who, according to social media posts, were at the riot at the Capitol." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"Kill Him with His Own Gun." Mark Morales of CNN: "As DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone lay on the ground at the US Capitol building, stunned and injured, he knew a group of rioters were stripping him of his gear. They grabbed spare ammunition, ripped the police radio off his chest and even stole his badge. Then, Fanone, who had just been Tasered several times in the back of the neck, heard something chilling.... 'Some guys started getting a hold of my gun and they were screaming out, "Kill him with his own gun."... A group within the rioters circled Fanone and protected him until help arrived, saving his life. 'Thank you, but f*** you for being there,' Fanone said of the rioters who protected him in that moment.... Fanone, one of three officers who spoke with CNN, described his experience fighting a mob of ... Donald Trump's supporters who'd invaded the Capitol in an insurrection unheard of in modern American history. Federal officials have said the details of the violence that come out will be disturbing."

Trump Found This Fun & Fascinating. Brad Heath & Sarah Lynch of Reuters: "Federal prosecutors offered an ominous new assessment of last week's siege of the U.S. Capitol by ... Donald Trump's supporters on Thursday, saying in a court filing that rioters intended 'to capture and assassinate elected officials.' Prosecutors offered that view in a filing asking a judge to detain Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man and QAnon conspiracy theorist who was famously photographed wearing horns as he stood at the desk of Vice President Mike Pence in the chamber of the U.S. Senate." BTW, Chansley's lawyer is asking Trump for a pardon: "... it would be appropriate and honorable for the president to pardon Mr. Chansley and other like-minded, peaceful individuals who accepted the president's invitation with honorable intentions," the lawyer said.

Jake Bleiberg of the AP: "A retired Air Force officer who was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he intended 'to take hostages,' a prosecutor said in a Texas court on Thursday. 'He means to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said of retired Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. without providing specifics.... [Weimer] also read in court social media posts from Brock, including one posted on the day of the Capitol riot that said: 'Patriots on the Capitol. Patriots storming. Men with guns need to shoot their way in.'... Weimer read a termination letter from Brock's former employer that said he had talked in the workplace about killing people of a 'particular religion and or race.' Weimer also read social media posts in which Brock referred to a coming civil war and the election being stolen from ... Donald Trump. Weimer said Brock's posts also referenced the far-right and anti-government Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters.... Before his arrest, Brock told The New Yorker magazine that he found the zip-tie cuffs on the floor and that he had planned to give them to a police officer."

Giulia Nieto del Rio, et al., of the New York Times: 'A man who was photographed holding a Confederate battle flag inside the U.S. Capitol last week during the riot was arrested Thursday in Delaware, two law enforcement officials said. The man, Kevin Seefried, was wanted by the F.B.I., which had sought help from the public to identify him and had widely circulated a dispatch plastered with images of him.... According to court documents, Mr. Seefried and his son, Hunter Seefried, were identified after the F.B.I. received a report from a co-worker of Hunter Seefried that said that the man had bragged about being in the Capitol with his father on January 6. Mr. Seefried's son was also charged.... A retired firefighter from Chester, Pa., [Robert Sanford,] was also arrested on Thursday after he was identified as the man seen in a video throwing a fire extinguisher at police officers during the riot.... Mr. Sanford went to the Capitol following 'the president's instructions,' a complaining witness told the F.B.I." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Anne Ryman of the Arizona Republic: "A Scottsdale judge issued a warrant for the arrest Thursday of far-right social media personality Tim 'Baked Alaska' Gionet after he said Gionet violated conditions of his release by leaving the state last week to go to Washington, where he apparently livestreamed the U.S. Capitol riot. Gionet already was facing misdemeanor charges of assault, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass in Scottsdale City Court after police allege he refused to leave a Scottsdale bar and then pepper sprayed an employee. He had been released in that case with the agreement he not leave the state without the court's permission.... [Gionet] livestreamed from inside the historic building as thousands of people overran Capitol Hill and drove lawmakers into hiding." Ben Smith of the New York Times profiled Gionet Sunday.

Laura Kelly of the Hill: "Police arrested a Utah man for participating in the deadly breach of the U.S. Capitol last week following his publication of a more than half-hour long recording that documented disturbing images of the mob of Trump supporters storming the building and a woman being fatally shot. John Sullivan was arrested Thursday and charged with civil disorders, violent entry or disorderly conduct, and violating restricted buildings or grounds.... Sullivan -- who claims to be an activist, journalist and protest organizer -- published online an unedited recording of the breach of the Capitol.... At times Sullivan can be heard narrating what is happening, although his face is never seen. Other times he celebrates the breach of the Capitol, assists rioters in breaking through walls and offers a knife to those who wanted to break in and occupy the House chambers. 'This sh-- is ours! F--- yeah,' Sullivan can be heard saying.... 'We accomplished this sh--. We did this together. F--- yeah! We are all a part of this history,' he continues. At another point he says, 'Let's burn this sh-- down.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico describes Sullivan as "a liberal activist.... While the vast majority of the roughly 100 people hit with federal charges appear to be supporters of ... Donald Trump and some backed known right-wing organizations, Sullivan is the first person to be charged who appears to have been active in liberal causes. Trump and some of his closest allies have blamed infiltrators from the left-wing Antifa movement for instigating the violence at the Capitol, despite evidence that the overwhelming bulk of the rioters and protesters were in town to support Trump's drive to block certification of the election of President-elect Joe Biden."

Will Sommer of the Daily Beast, republished in Yahoo! News: "[Ali] Alexander[..., a convicted felon,] first appeared in conservative politics in the Tea Party era under the name 'Ali Akbar,' organizing a group called the National Bloggers' Club that was tied to 'shady data collection operations.'... Before Trump's 2020 election defeat, Alexander was perhaps best known for Donald Trump Jr. retweeting his groundless claim that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is not an 'American Black.' He was invited to the White House for Trump's 'Social Media Summit.'... After Trump's election defeat, Alexander positioned himself as one of the leading Trump re-election dead-enders with his 'Stop the Steal' group.... [I]n the lead-up to the Jan. 6 rally..., he tweeted that he would 'give my life for this fight,' a call that was promoted by the Arizona Republican Party.... For Jan. 6, Alexander claimed in a video, he had some organizing assistance from pro-Trump Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Mo Brooks (R-AL).... Now Alexander claims to be in hiding[.]" --s

Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Hours before a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, John Eastman, a conservative attorney and professor who challenged election results on President Trump's behalf, took the stage to rally the president's supporters outside the White House. 'We know there was fraud,' the Chapman University professor said to loud cheers.... His remarks at the rally sparked outrage from his colleagues at the Orange County, Calif., school, with scores of faculty demanding the university remove him from his role and the school president denouncing his speech. On Wednesday, Chapman announced Eastman would retire immediately. In exchange, the school and professor agreed not to sue each other.... Eastman ... drew national attention in August with an op-ed in Newsweek that falsely cast doubt on Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris's citizenship and eligibility for the White House. President Trump and his allies seized on the argument, which Newsweek later apologized for.... A day before the Capitol riots, the New York Times reported, Eastman met with Trump and Vice President Pence in the Oval Office, where he argued Pence had the power to block Congress from certifying Biden's victory." ~~~

     ~~~ Karen Freifeld of Reuters: "... Donald Trump may hire ... [John Eastman] to help defend him in an impeachment trial over a charge that he incited the violence, according to two people familiar with the matter." MB: Looks like Trump's defense lawyers -- Eastman & Giuliani -- will have been co-conspirators in the coup attempt.

Lankford Suddenly Realizes that GOP Lies Are Racist. Randy Krehbiel of the Tulsa World: "U.S. Sen. James Lankford apologized to Black Tulsans on Thursday for not recognizing that his involvement in questioning presidential election results would offend them.... Arguably, Lankford has been more involved with Black Tulsans, and particularly the historic Greenwood District, than any statewide Republican officeholder in decades.... 'What I did not realize was all of the national conversation about states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, was seen as casting doubt on the validity of votes coming out of predominantly Black communities like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Detroit,' he wrote.... 'I should have recognized how what I said and what I did could be interpreted by many of you,' he said.... His decision to raise issues about the presidential election in several key states -- most of them with large African American populations -- hurt and angered many Tulsans, however, with some leaders saying he should resign or be removed from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission...." MB: Well, okay, a step in the right direction.

Must Rethink Award of "Stupidest Senator" Prize. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Thursday, WKRG reported that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) suggested pushing back the inauguration date for President-elect Joe Biden during an interview in which he also claimed that impeaching outgoing President[*] ... Trump 'makes no sense.'... [WKRG reported,] '... the 20th Amendment to the Constitution requires that the inauguration and swearing-in of a new President take place on January 20th. It wasn't clear if Tuberville was aware of that during the interview.' Tuberville ... has attracted attention for flubbing basic civics information. In another interview, he wrongly claimed that America fought in World War II 'to free Europe of socialism,' and was unable to correctly identify the three branches of government." MB: Ron Johnson's term expires in 2022. I just don't know if he will be able to keep the prize that long. Sen. Potatohead is making a real effort to wrench it from Johnson's grip.

Trump Pushed Kids-in-Cages Policy. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump and top aides in the White House aggressively pushed the get-tough policy that led migrant children to be separated from adults at the border with Mexico, according to a top Justice Department official [-- Gene Hamilton --] in a new report from the department's inspector general and other internal documents.... Notes ... [from] two meetings ... between federal prosecutors along the southwestern border and [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions, and another with [Deputy AG Rod] Rosenstein -- also indicate that law enforcement officials were pushing the separation policy in response to pressure from the president.... Mr. Sessions on May 11, 2018..., described Mr. Trump as 'very intense, very focused' on the issue, according to one person taking notes at the meeting.... Mr. Trump has repeatedly tried to avoid responsibility for his administration's family separation policy by falsely blaming Democrats and former President Barack Obama.... On May 22, Mr. Rosenstein ... dismissed concerns from at least one prosecutor that children under 5 would be separated from parents if the adults were prosecuted. 'If they are referring, then prosecute. Age of child doesn't matter,' Mr. Rosenstein said, according to the notes of one person at the meeting.... Despite Mr. Trump's decision to largely abandon the family separation policy in 2018, [Trump aide Stephen] Miller and top Homeland Security officials have continued to work to put Mr. Trump's immigration agenda in place during the final days of his term." ~~~

~~~ Adolfo Flores & Hamed Aleaziz of BuzzFeed News: "Top Justice Department officials under ... Donald Trump pushed to separate immigrant families at the border despite knowing how difficult it would be to reunite them, according to a government watchdog report released Thursday. In spring 2018, the Trump administration announced the 'zero tolerance' policy, which called for prosecuting everyone who was caught crossing the border illegally. In practice, from May 5 to June 20 that year, the policy resulted in the separation of more than 3,000 children from their parents, prompting widespread backlash and confusion. Lawyers working to reunite immigrant families separated at the border said Wednesday that they still can't find the parents of 611 children. In its report, the Department of Justice's inspector general found that Jeff Sessions, who was attorney general at the time, and other leaders at the department did not effectively coordinate with government agencies that would ultimately be involved in prosecuting the parents and caring for the children. 'We concluded that the Department's single-minded focus on increasing immigration prosecutions came at the expense of careful and appropriate consideration of the impact of family unit prosecutions and child separations,' the report states. During a call with five US attorneys along the southern border who expressed concern about the separations, Sessions said ... 'We need to take away children,'... according to notes taken by one of the attorneys during the meeting.... 'If care about kids, don't bring them in; won't give amnesty; to people with kids.' The report also documented how planning between the departments of Justice and Homeland Security -- and within the agency itself -- had broken down throughout the process." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Julia Ainsley & Jacob Soboroff of NBC News: "After a scathing new report from the Justice Department's watchdog blamed top department officials for being the 'driving force' behind the Trump administration's 2018 migrant family separation policy, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein issued a statement of regret Thursday and current DOJ official Gene Hamilton blamed the president for the policy. In interviews with the DOJ Office of Inspector General in the lead-up to the report, Gene Hamilton, known as a close ally of White House adviser Stephen Miller, said the decision to separate families, a policy known as 'zero tolerance' that lasted two months in 2018 before it was terminated by executive order, ultimately rested with ... Donald Trump and then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.... [Former AG Jeff] Sessions refused to be interviewed by the Inspector General.... The report could provide a road map for the incoming Biden administration to investigate those responsible for a policy President-elect Joe Biden has called criminal." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Murray Waas of the Guardian: "The White House liaison to the Department of Justice (DoJ), Heidi Stirrup, sought out derogatory information late last year from a senior justice department official regarding [E. Jean Carroll,] a woman who alleges she was raped by Donald Trump, according to the person from whom Stirrup directly sought the information. The revelation raises the prospect that allies of the US president were directly pressing the justice department to try to dig up potentially damaging information on a woman who had accused Trump of sexually attacking her.... The attorney who Stirrup sought information from regarding Carroll said that Stirrup approached them not long after a judge had ruled the justice department could not take over Trump's defense.... Stirrup also suggested that she could serve as a conduit between the department and individuals close to the president or his private legal team. Stirrup also asked the official whether the justice department had any information that Carroll or anyone on her legal team had links with the Democratic party or partisan activists.... Earlier, Trump himself, without citing any evidence, suggested that his political opponents were behind the allegations.... When it was learned Stirrup had later sought out non-public information from other justice department officials..., Stirrup was told she was unwelcome at the justice department and banned from the building."

The Remarkable Arrogance of Jared & Ivanka. Peter Jamison, et al., of the Washington Post: "Many U.S. Secret Service agents have stood guard in Washington's elite Kalorama neighborhood, home over the years to Cabinet secretaries and former presidents.... But with the arrival of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, they had a new worry: finding a toilet. Instructed not to use any of the half-dozen bathrooms inside the couple's house, the Secret Service detail assigned to ... [the couple] spent months searching for a reliable restroom to use on the job.... After resorting to a porta-potty, as well as bathrooms at the nearby home of former president Barack Obama and the not-so-nearby residence of Vice President Pence, the agents finally found a toilet to call their own.... Since September 2017, the federal government has been spending $3,000 a month -- more than $100,000 to date -- to rent a basement studio, with a bathroom, from a neighbor of the Kushner family." The Raw Story's report is here. As RAS remarked in yesterday's comments, "... the Obamas literally had to take more shit because of the Trumps."

Hailey Fuchs of the New York Times: "The Trump administration executed Corey Johnson on Thursday for a series of seven murders in 1992. He was the 12th federal inmate put to death under President Trump. Mr. Johnson committed the murders in the Richmond, Va., area to further a drug enterprise that trafficked large quantities of cocaine. Among his crimes were the shooting with a semiautomatic weapon of a rival drug dealer, the killing of a woman who had not paid for some crack cocaine and the shooting of a man at close range whom Mr. Johnson suspected of cooperating with the police."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

Laurie McGinley, et al., of the Washington Post: "... as the coronavirus overwhelms U.S. hospitals and kills more than 3,300 people a day on average, the Trump administration has balked at providing access to information and failed to consult with its successors, including about distributing the vaccines.... [Biden's team members] also were not invited to the two Warp Speed sessions this weekend when Trump officials decided on sweeping changes to try to speed up the sluggish vaccine rollout. Nor were they briefed on those changes in advance. While some of those policies mirrored Biden plans, others raised red flags among the president-elect's advisers.... The decision to urge states to immediately vaccinate a much larger pool of people -- about 81 million between the ages of 16 and 64 with high-risk medical conditions -- was 'absolutely inappropriate,' said Michael Osterholm, a member of Biden's covid-19 advisory board.... The lack of coordination has alarmed public health officials and experts on presidential transitions...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's what this boils down to: people will die because Trump aides view soothing Trump's hurt feelings about losing the election as more important than Americans' lives. Murder by sycophancy is a new one to me.

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan. Kathleen Gray & Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "After a criminal investigation that stretched close to two years, prosecutors in Michigan on Thursday announced 41 counts -- 34 felonies and seven misdemeanors -- against nine officials [in the contaminated Flint water scandal] who once worked in the highest echelons of state government. Along with the former governor [-- Rick Snyder (R) --] were his trusted advisers, top medical officials and two emergency managers who had been tasked with guiding Flint out of financial distress. Prosecutors said the officials failed to protect the safety and health of the residents of Flint, who were sickened by increased levels of lead and by Legionnaires' disease after the city's water supply was switched to the Flint River in April of 2014. At least nine people died of Legionnaires' in the Flint region from June of 2014 through October of 2015; two of the officials on Thursday were charged with nine counts of involuntary manslaughter. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As Rachel Maddow emphasized in her opening segment last night, the murderous Flint catastrophe came about because Michigan Republicans, including Rick Snyder, decided that Snyder could remove democratically-elected local officials & replace them with his own appointees, accountable only to him. He, apparently, was not paying attention.

Comments

[unwashed]

Spare me a dime? How 'bout Loan Me a Dime (classic Boz Scaggs with Duane Allman.) Crank it up to 12 so you feel it.

[Ken Winkes]

Had one of those revelations upon awakening this AM that turn out to be old hat, commonplace observations at best, but since I count you all as friends, I'll beg your indulgence for a moment and share it anyway.

One more observation about why it was so easy for the Pretender to take over the Republican Party, which despite the exodus of some old line Republican intellectuals and operatives and recent isolated bleats from a few Congressional quarters, he has done so effectively.

It's the obvious racism that was always there, yes, that he's given the rank and file permission to express, but I'd locate the reason a little deeper than that.

It's uncontained ego that propels the Pretender. Everything, including the few relatively consistent policy areas like the environment and immigration mostly controlled by functionaries, is about how it makes the Pretender feel, about how it affects him. If it seems good for the '
economy, then its good for him. If it keeps his racist base in line, great. But outside of most policy areas it's hard to find equal consistency in his behavior or remarks, because he instinctively goes with whatever makes him feel best at the time.

In that sense, most of his lies about the virus, for just one instance, might be taken not so much lies as expressions of how he felt at the moment about a world he knew existed to serve him. It will go away. It's no worse than the flu. We're doing a great job. All these seeming dismissals of fact more statements of what he preferred to believe.

And the paranoia? If you are the center of the universe paranoia makes equal sense. If it's all about you, then anything that inconveniences you, like a Chinese virus or another charge of sexual impropriety from a damn Democrat is clear evidence of a conspiracy against you. In a world you don't really control but believe you should, paranoia is the logical response.

The revelation such as it was? The Pretender took over the Republican Party so easily because over the years it had become the party of feeling, not of thought. Its adherents operate on the same bases of whatever makes it feel good, which is why it has also become the party of paranoia and denial.

And, because just wishing that everyone and everything else were there to serve you and your feelings doesn't make it so, it is also the party of lashing out, of anger, and as we have just seen, of violence egged on by its leader's public four year tantrum.

The Pretender and the Party. The Pretender fit into it like into a glove long waiting for exactly the right hand.

Could this possibly be my last observation about the Pretender?

Not likely, but we can hope.

[PD Pepe]

@Ken: your glove/ hand analogy fits perfectly. Or put another way, the sauce was already on the stove, it just needed to be stirred. And the stirrer in this case, right from the beginning, began violating the Constitution. (recall Maxine Waters calling for Trump's impeachment early in 2017 and she was the only one who objected on the senate floor the Bush/Gore decision). Trump deliberately chose to undermine the interest and needs of the people he represents to further the interests of the one person he cares about most. He found the perfect venue to accomplish this feat.

I just remembered something Fintan O’Toole mentioned about Biden. At the National Democratic Convention Biden quoted Seamus Heaney. O’Toole said that it is an infallible law that if Heaney is the Irish poet of choice, things are looking up, but if W.B. Yeats is in the air they look ominous. Biden quoted—“once in a lifetime…longed for a tidal wave…/Of justice." But there is no blue tsunami. says Fintan. Instead, we must turn, fretfully, to Yeats:

“We are closed in, and the key is turned
On our uncertainty “

That key was always in the hands of Donald Trump. "It has been obvious from the beginning that his strategy for retaining power would center on the generation of a force field of radical indecision."

Biden, Irish. and a devout Catholic believes, I assume, in an afterlife. But he needs to confront an afterlife that is not in the next world but in this one–-the long posterity of Donald Trump and the many thousand clowns that will continue to terrorize.

[Victoria]

Ken:
Thanks for your meditation on what I call malignant narcissism.
And also thanks for rendering the most primitive of our psychological defenses (denial, projection/introjection) into american english.
People who operate at this level are also at risk of psychological decompensation if these defenses are removed from him.
Since I do not name the individual you were describing, I would say that this sort of person could actually decompensate into psychosis if a reality becomes undeniable. ***** might actually believe he won.

[PD Pepe]

When I started my career teaching I started out in a pilot program for what was called then–-"Disturbed Children"–-an English position was not available until later so I was hired because of my many years of experience working at a center for those kinds of kids. The idea was to have a closed classroom along with two teachers and a therapist and if and when kids excelled we could move them into the main classrooms. I mention this because I was thinking about some of those kids–-one especially–-that reminded me of the mob that stormed the Capitol–-the verbal vomit that we have heard on the videos. During my bout with similar voices here is a segment of the notes I took:

Twelve year old boy speaking to me: "I told you he's (the other teacher) not going to do a thing about giving me another chance! He's so STUPID! After lunch I'm going home–-I'm not taking any more of this shit! and I'm not coming back! Bellini (the principal) is a bitch! she thinks she's hot shit. Her and (the other teacher) are on a big ego trip. I hate that guy so much!!! He can't handle what he's dishing out. He doesn't explain shit to me––why can't you be my only teacher–-you know the nice Mr W., you don't know the jerk that's inside."

This boy, filled with fury, hell bent on destruction came from a home where Father was a junkie and mother was a depressive. The one positive that I used with him was his love for animals––he had quite a few and took care of them like he needed and wanted someone to take care of him. And I wonder–-would he be one of those angry and disturbed terrorists that stormed the Capitol? That kind of anger and feelings of being "put upon" must have been incubating for years. For many, I imagine, it's that old wound that is still festering––racism. Fatty has fallen but THEY haven't.

[Jeanne]

The main characteristic of time these days seems to be how fast it goes, how it is compressed, compartmentalized and discounted... I had forgotten about the general managers in Michigan. When that started I do not remember, but it dominated midwest news for years. I never figured out how Snyder could just remove elected officials and install cronies, or why it occurred, or in how many communitites. I do remember that it was definitely happening to communities of color, so general liberal attitudes were that this was racist in nature, even if not strictly spoken about. Since Flint, which, by the way was fully covered by Rachel Maddow before anyone else, some people have been indicted but never Snyder until now. Until yesterday, I wondered why he was getting away with his cruelty to children and evil empire-crushing. So, I guess in some ways we are impatient-- finally some justice is happening. But meanwhile those children and families have suffered for years.

Does this mean we have to just be patient and eventually this current cruel national regime will be dealt with in a fair manner? I don't know. I'm not sure we can count on that, as mass psychosis seems to be the order of the day. I read an article in Buzzfeed enumerating how many cops are crazy as loons, and hence very dangerous. When lawmakers are afraid of their fellow lawmakers, cops afraid of their fellow cops, how do we move forward? I personally am terrified the launching of new riots will involve a lot more guns, and I think we are lucky there weren't more shootings on January 6.

Also, I am tired of seeing smug Comey on shows this week-- he immediately gets muted or turned off. I will never forgive him.