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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Wednesday
Mar202024

The Conversation -- March 21, 2024

** Luke Broadwater & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The threat from ... Donald J. Trump to his vice president, Mike Pence, was clear and direct: If you defy my effort to overturn the 2020 election by certifying the results, your future in Republican politics is over. 'Mike, this is a political career killer if you do this,' Mr. Trump told Mr. Pence by phone on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, according to the White House valet who was with the president for much of the day and told Congress he had overheard the conversation. The testimony of Mr. Trump's valet, provided to the now-defunct House Jan. 6 Committee in 2022 but not previously released publicly, offers a rare firsthand look into the former president's behavior in the hours before, during and after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol seeking to halt the certification of President Biden's victory.... Mr. Trump ... stewed about Mr. Pence's refusal for hours after violence engulfed Congress. Told that a civilian had been shot outside the House chamber amid the mob attack, he recalled, Mr. Trump appeared unconcerned.... [The valet] did recall hearing the president ask about contacting top officials on the possibility of dispatching the National Guard to Capitol Hill -- though there is no indication that he ever followed through.... The copy [of the transcript] reviewed by The Times is heavily redacted, and the valet is referred to simply as 'a White House employee.'" Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' copy of the valet's transcript is here.

The New York Times live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The United States has submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council calling for 'an immediate cease-fire tied to the release of hostages' in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, during his latest trip to the region to broker a diplomatic resolution to the war between Israel and Hamas. Biden administration officials have grown more forceful in recent weeks in their push for a cease-fire, as conditions worsen for Gazan civilians and pressure mounts for stronger international action.... Israeli officials said ahead of this week's talks that the broad proposal being discussed includes a 42-day pause in fighting, in exchange for the release of 40 of the more than 100 hostages taken from Israel who remain captive in Gaza." MB: There seems to be a good deal of confusion over whether the draft resolution is for a permanent or temporary cease-fire.

Tara Bernard of the New York Times: "The Biden administration continued its effort to extend student debt relief on Thursday, erasing an additional $5.8 billion in federal loans for nearly 78,000 borrowers, including teachers, firefighters and others who largely work in the public sector. To date, the administration has canceled $143.6 billion in loans for nearly four million borrowers through various actions, fixes and federal relief programs. That's the largest amount of student debt eliminated since the government began backing loans more than six decades ago, but it's still far less than President Biden's initial proposal, which would have canceled up to $400 billion in debt for 43 million borrowers but was blocked by the Supreme Court." The AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Have I thanked the Supremes yet? Nothing like a cabal of old fogies sticking it to young people and families who not only need the money but also would have put most of that money right back into the economy in the form of purchases that young people need. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's President Biden's statement, via the White House.

David McCabe & Tripp Mickle of the New York Times: "The Justice Department joined 16 states and the District of Columbia to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, the federal government's most significant challenge to the reach and influence of the company that has put iPhones in the hands of more than a billion people. In an 88-page lawsuit, the government argued that Apple had violated antitrust laws with practices that were intended to keep customers reliant on their iPhones and less likely to switch to a competing device. The tech giant prevented other companies from offering applications that compete with Apple products like its digital wallet, which could diminish the value of the iPhone, the government said. Apple's policies hurt consumers and smaller companies that compete with some of Apple's services, in the form of 'higher prices and less innovation,' the lawsuit said." The AP story is here.

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Top congressional negotiators in the early hours of Thursday unveiled the $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September, though it remained unclear whether Congress would be able to complete action on it in time to avert a brief partial government shutdown over the weekend. Lawmakers are racing to pass the legislation before a Friday midnight deadline in order to prevent a lapse in funds for over half the government, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon and health agencies. They are already six months behind schedule because of lengthy negotiations to resolve funding and policy disputes. Now that they have agreed on a final package, which wraps six spending bills together, passage could slip past 12:01 on Saturday morning because of a set of arcane congressional rules."

Jesse McKinley & Kate Christobek of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office said in court papers Thursday that a large cache of newly disclosed documents contained little that might influence or delay the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, which is scheduled to begin in mid-April.... 'The people now have good reason to believe that this production contains only limited materials relevant to the subject matter of this case and that have not previously been disclosed to defendant,' the filing read. 'The overwhelming majority of the production is entirely immaterial, duplicative or substantially duplicative of previously disclosed materials.' It added that the current delay == until April 15 -- 'is a more than reasonable amount of time for defendant to review the information provided.'" CNN's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Four-time indicted ... Donald Trump suffered arguably his worst loss(es) in any criminal matter this week when, in his New York trial for alleged falsification of business records, Judge Juan M. Merchan ruled against him in virtually all of his motions to exclude evidence. By contrast, the judge largely granted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's motions to exclude evidence for trial that Trump believed might be exculpatory.... Trump, for example, moved to exclude testimony of former fixer Michael Cohen on the grounds Cohen is 'a liar.' The court rebuked this desperate move.... Most important, Merchan refused to exclude more than 100 Trump statements since these can be classified as 'admissions against interest.' Despite Trump's plea, he will also allow in Allen Weisselberg's notes, if the prosecutor shows they are business records. In sum, the lion's share of the evidence that Trump views as damaging will be heard by the jury." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you read through Rubin's quick summary of Merchan's rulings and compare them to the "fantastical, absurd" hoohah from Judge Aileen Cannon (only a bit of which is discussed in the Barrett & Stein WashPo story linked below), you likely will be struck by what a difference a judge makes. Somehow or the other, Jack Smith has got to get Miss Aileen removed to traffic court, where she can equivocate over the meaning of stop signs (hey, maybe they're optional when a rich Republican rolls through them).

Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "When ... Donald Trump's Trump Media & Technology Group and its proposed merger partner, Digital World Acquisition, announced last month a shareholder vote on their long-delayed deal, it marked a final step for the owner of Truth Social to become a public company potentially worth billions of dollars -- most of which is owned by Trump himself. But in the lead-up to Friday's vote, both companies have been rocked by legal warfare. Their leaders, past and present, have traded heated accusations of deception and impropriety across four lawsuits in three states. And the cases threaten to erode Trump's grasp on a stake in the post-merger company potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars -- a possible financial lifeline, given that he owes more than $500 million in legal fines.... If the deal is approved, Trump would own about 60 percent of the post-merger company, a stake that at Digital World's current price would be worth more than $3 billion."

Alabama. Praveena Somasundaram & Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed a sweeping bill Wednesday that will restrict the teaching of 'divisive concepts' and limit diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at public schools, universities and state agencies. The legislation, which the state's GOP-controlled legislature sent to Ivey's desk Tuesday, stipulates that schools and agencies cannot sponsor any DEI programs or require their students or employees to participate in them. It also states that they cannot punish students or employees for their 'refusal to support, believe, endorse, embrace, confess, or otherwise assent to a divisive concept or diversity statement.'... The legislation also includes language that public colleges and universities must require students to use bathrooms based on their biological sex at birth, citing existing state law.... Civil rights groups have condemned the bill, saying it furthers the chilling effect classrooms have experienced in recent years as they become the site of culture wars across the country."

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Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Wednesday issued one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation's history, a rule designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032. Nearly three years in the making, the new tailpipe pollution limits from the Environmental Protection Agency would transform the American automobile market. A record 1.2 million electric vehicles rolled off dealers' lots last year, but they made up just 7.6 percent of total U.S. car sales, far from the 56 percent target under the new regulation. An additional 16 percent of new cars sold would be hybrids. Cars and other forms of transportation are, together, the largest single source of carbon emissions generated by the United States, pollution that is driving climate change and that helped to make 2023 the hottest year in recorded history." (Also linked yesterday.)

Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden on Wednesday awarded $8.5 billion in grants to Intel, a major investment to bolster the nation's semiconductor production, during a tour of battleground states meant to sell his economic agenda. Speaking from the Intel campus in Chandler, Ariz., Mr. Biden said the award would support thousands of new manufacturing jobs, including ones that do not require a college degree.... The award, which will go to the construction and expansion of Intel facilities around the United States, is the biggest the federal government has made with funding from the CHIPS Act, which lawmakers passed in 2022 to help re-establish the United States as a leader in semiconductor manufacturing.... In addition to the grants, the federal government is planning to award Intel up to $11 billion in loans on what the company characterized as generous terms.... The grants are intended to help fund the company's construction plans in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon. The projects are expected to create more than 10,000 manufacturing jobs and roughly 20,000 construction jobs, according to Biden administration officials."

Jeanna Smilek of the New York Times: "Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and continued to forecast that borrowing costs will come down somewhat by the end of the year as inflation eases. Fed policymakers have been battling rapid inflation for two full years as of this month, and while they have been encouraged by recent progress, they are not yet ready to declare victory over price increases. Given that, they are keeping interest rates at a high level that is expected to weigh on growth and inflation, even as they signal that rate cuts are likely in the months ahead. Officials held interest rates steady at about 5.3 percent, where they have been set since July 2023, in their March policy decision." (Also linked yesterday.)

Rachel Frazen & Zack Budryk of the Hill: "House Republicans on Wednesday kicked off voting on a slate of legislation for what they are dubbing 'energy week,' passing two measures in support of oil and gas development. Collectively, the energy-related legislation that passes this week is virtually certain not to become law because it would be unlikely to be taken up in the Democratic-led Senate or approved by the White House."

A Budget to Die From. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "A new budget by a large and influential group of House Republicans calls for raising the Social Security retirement age for future retirees and restructuring Medicare. The proposals, which are unlikely to become law this year, reflect how many Republicans will seek to govern if they win the 2024 elections. And they play into a fight President Joe Biden is seeking to have with ... Donald Trump and the Republican Party as he runs for re-election. The budget was released Wednesday by the Republican Study Committee, a group of more than 170 House GOP lawmakers, including many allies of ... Donald Trump. Apart from fiscal policy, the budget endorses a series of bills 'designed to advance the cause of life,' including the Life at Conception Act, which would aggressively restrict abortion and potentially threaten in vitro fertilization, or IVF, by establishing legal protections for human beings at 'the moment of fertilization.' It has recently caused consternation within the GOP following backlash to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that threatened IVF." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As usual, the Republican plan is both cruel and stupid. It's true that many workers -- primarily those who work in white-collar jobs -- prefer to work past age 65. And they do, deferring Social Security benefits up to age 70. The plan is hardest on individuals who work in demanding physical jobs. And it's probably bad for the economy: in general, older workers cost industry more because they have seniority. And they are not necessarily more effective workers or more innovative than young workers.

The only information ever pushed on the Bidens and Ukraine has come from one source and one source only: Russia and Russian agents, which everyone sitting here today knows. -- Lev Parnas, testimony at House hearing Wednesday ~~~

~~~ Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "Lacking support and evidence, the GOP-led impeachment inquiry against President Biden continued to sputter out, even as House Republicans on Wednesday held a hearing that featured witnesses who reiterated thin allegations that members of the Biden family capitalized financially on their father's name.... Fifteen months [into their 'investigation,'] no evidence or testimony obtained by congressional Republicans has showed that Joe Biden was a direct participant in or beneficiary of his son Hunter Biden's business dealings.... Tony Bobulinski, a onetime business associate of Hunter Biden's, and Jason Galanis, who is serving a nearly 16-year federal prison sentence ... for multiple fraud schemes, both testified at the hearing Wednesday at the behest of House Republicans.... Galanis, who testified via Zoom from prison..., described a 'relatively short discussion with then-Vice President Biden in May 2014....

"Several Democrats needled Republicans for choosing to hold a hearing for an impeachment inquiry that was in part opened on the basis of a claim that authorities now say was untrue.... The allegations made by [Alexander] Smirnov [MB: now jailed under a DOJ indictment & thought to be a Russian asset] were previously reviewed by the FBI under then-Attorney General William P. Barr and found not to be supported by facts.... Democrats also questioned Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani's who was convicted in a campaign finance fraud case and appeared Wednesday, about his time working with Giuliani in 2018 and 2019 to track down damaging information about Joe Biden.... At the end of the hearing, Comer said he was inviting the president to testify to Congress, an invitation a White House spokesperson laughed off on social media." The AP's report, also linked yesterday, is here. ~~~

~~~ Andrew Feinberg & Eric Garcia of the Independent: "The House Oversight Committee's latest attempt to hold an impeachment hearing on President Joe Biden took a bizarre turn on Wednesday when one of the three witnesses who gave evidence before the Republican-led panel began revealing unflattering information on ... Donald Trump's disgraced ex-personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani. Lev Parnas ... told committee members that he'd been a 'key participant' in a scheme to dig up dirt on Mr Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. He said Mr Giuliani had 'tasked' him with 'finding dirt on the Bidens so that an array of networks could spread misinformation about them' so Mr Trump and his allies could 'damage the Bidens' reputations and secure the 2020 election for Trump'....

"Under questioning from Republicans, the incarcerated felon [Jason Galanis] described Hunter Biden as offering what he called a 'Biden lift' to potential business deals through his father's involvement.... Yet in a 2018 court opinion, US District Judge Ronnie Abrams said it was Galanis — not Hunter Biden -- who was leveraging Hunter's family name for his own gain.... [Tony] Bobulinski, who was represented by an attorney from Elections LLC -- a firm run by former Trump administration officials which has been paid by Mr Trump's political action committee, repeatedly engaged in theatrics throughout his testimony, displaying visible contempt for Democrats on the panel and personally attacking two Democratic members...." ~~~

~~~ Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Lev Parnas ... named members of Congress on Wednesday he alleged were 'doing the bidding' of Russia by attempting to dig up 'dirt' on President Biden during his 2020 campaign.... Parnas named Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) during his testimony as collaborators in their efforts.... Parnas, whom Democrats selected as a witness, was indicted on fraud and campaign finance crimes and was sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2022.... The indictment accused Parnas and his business partner Igor Fruman, who was also indicted, of heavily lobbying an unnamed congressman for the removal of Marie Yovanovitch as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The indictment said they 'committed to raise $20,000 or more for a then-sitting U.S. Congressman.' The unnamed congressman, 'Congressman-1,' was later reported by multiple outlets to be Sessions." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Jamie Raskin, appearing on MSNBC, spoke to a remarkable irony: that House Republicans' entire effort to impeach Joe Biden is based on the very lies that Trump tried to pressure Ukraine President Zelensky to falsely confirm in the "perfect phone call" that led directly to Trump's first impeachment. Raskin said he wish he had understood at the time that the whole Trump/Giuliani/Lev & Igor tall tale was the product of Russian disinformation. Decades past my time, Americans may get a fairly full picture of the conspiracy between the Trump gang and their Putin handlers. This pathetic little impeachment effort against Biden is a piece of a much bigger American story, and we know only bits of it. ~~~

     ~~~ It's also worth noting that RAS posted a list in yesterday's Comments of nine House Republicans who voted against a resolution condemning the Russian abduction of Ukrainian children. You have to be pretty deep in the tank to want to appear to favor child abduction. Maybe the GOP has adopted IOKIYAR and given it a new meaning: "It's Okay If You're A Russian."

~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Republicans on the House Oversight Committee tabled a motion to subpoena Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of, and former White House adviser to Donald Trump. [Democrat Jamie Raskin (Md.) brought the motion.] Six months after exiting the White House, Kushner's private equity firm Affinity Partners received a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund over the objections of the fund's advisers. They were overruled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had developed a close relationship with Kushner. The Oversight Committee convened on Wednesday for another hearing on Hunter Biden and his business dealings that Republicans say illicitly benefitted his father President Joe Biden. Despite investigating the matter for more than a year, the committee has turned up no proof." MB: Why, you'd almost think the "oversight" committee is not serious about overseeing administrative affairs. ~~~

~~~ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sparred with Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, at a GOP-led impeachment hearing for President Joe Biden on Wednesday. Ocasio-Cortez pressed Bobulinski to name a 'specific crime' committed by President Biden and when he could not do so she turned her ire to the Republican Party for continuing an investigation despite its key witness being arrested by the FBI for lying to officials about the Bidens.... '... At this point, the story is not the fact that the basis of this impeachment inquiry is wrong. The story is why it's proceeding anyway. Why is this committee proceeding based on false charges?... I have yet to hear in the chairman's opening the allegation that they are specifically charging the president of the United States with.... I have yet to hear in the chairman's opening the allegation that they are specifically charging the president of the United States with."

The Trials of Trump

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday urged an appeals court not to believe Donald Trump's recent assertion that he is unable to secure a bond for more than $450 million to satisfy the civil business-fraud judgment against him.... On Wednesday, Dennis Fan, a lawyer for James, told the appeals court that Trump's claims of striking out with insurance companies are not reliable because they are based on sworn statements from Gary Giulietti, a personal friend of Trump's, and from Alan Garten, general counsel at the Trump Organization. Fan wrote that New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who oversaw James's civil trial against Trump, decided Giulietti was not a credible witness. He argued that Garten was involved in the conduct at issue and 'has professional interests in this litigation.'" The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump is in panic mode as the deadline approaches to secure a half-billion-dollar bond to appeal his civil fraud case in New York, according to multiple sources.... Trump's team has sought out wealthy supporters and weighed what assets could be sold -- and fast. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee himself has become increasingly concerned about the optics the March 25 deadline could present -- especially the prospect that someone whose identity has long been tied to his wealth would confront financial crisis."

"A Fantastical View of the Law.... Absurd." Devlin Barrett & Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "On Monday evening, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon ordered the defense lawyers and the prosecutors in the [Trump documents] case to file submissions outlining proposed jury instructions based on two scenarios, each of which badly misstates the law and facts of the case, according to legal experts.... 'What she has asked the parties to do is very, very troubling,' Nancy Gertner, a former federal judge in Massachusetts, said of Cannon. 'She is giving credence to arguments that are on their face absurd. She is ignoring a raft of other motions, equally absurd, that are unreasonably delaying the case.'... 'The [Presidential Records Act] is just not relevant here in any way it all; it provides no defense. To even allow it to be argued at trial would create confusion for the jury,' said Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan and a former U.S. attorney.... Cannon's order suggests that she thinks the PRA is critical to the case -- and that parts of the law are open to interpretation. Jason R. Baron, former director of litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration, said that's just not true. He said Cannon seems to continually conflate the PRA with the Espionage Act.... Baron said the judge, who has not previously overseen a major national security trial, seems to be embracing a fantastical view of the law." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jason Morris & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "A Georgia judge on Wednesday greenlit an effort by ... Donald Trump and his co-defendants to appeal the decision to allow Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue to prosecute the 2020 election subversion case there. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who ruled last week against the defendants' efforts to disqualify Willis, has issued a certificate of immediate review, allowing the case to be revealed by a Georgia Appeals Court.... The move doesn't pause the prosecution but allows appeals on the disqualification effort to play out before trial." (Also linked yesterday.)


Nick Miroff & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "The push by Republican-led states to take on a direct role in immigration enforcement -- historically a federal matter -- went before an appeals court Wednesday morning, a day after the Supreme Court briefly allowed Texas to begin arresting and deporting migrants under a controversial new law.... The push by Republican-led states to take on a direct role in immigration enforcement -- historically a federal matter -- went before an appeals court Wednesday morning, a day after the Supreme Court briefly allowed Texas to begin arresting and deporting migrants under a controversial new law.... Whatever the 5th Circuit decides, the status of the law is likely to end up back before the Supreme Court." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Here's the New York Times' liveblog of developments. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race

Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "President Biden's re-election campaign had $71 million on hand at the end of February, more than double the $33.5 million in ... Donald J. Trump's campaign account, as Democrats continued to expand their fund-raising advantage over Republicans in the presidential race. The cash disparity was detailed in filings with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, when campaigns and some presidential committees had a deadline to file fund-raising and spending reports for February.... Over the weekend, Mr. Biden's team reported raising a combined $53 million in February across the committees backing his re-election bid, with a combined total of $155 million, up from $130 million at the end of January.... Mr. Biden will also be backed by more than $1 billion that outside groups have pledged to support his bid -- money that is separate from the party accounts that filed on Wednesday. Mr. Trump's campaign told Fox News on Wednesday that it had raised a combined $20.3 million with a joint fund-raising committee, with $42 million on hand between the two groups." ~~~

~~~ Jessica Piper, et al., of Politico: "Donald Trump's leadership PAC spent another $5.6 million on legal expenses in February, furthering a trend that has seen the former president put valuable campaign dollars into his courtroom fights. That leadership PAC, Save America, was kept afloat last month by a $5 million refund from another Trump-related political group, the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. The latter entity has now sent more than $50 million to Save America since last year to help cover Trump's many legal costs. The arrangement raises questions about where Trump will continue to find the money to pay his lawyers. Save America ended the reporting period with just over $4 million in cash on hand. And MAGA Inc. has just $7.75 million more that it can refund the group."

Adam Kinzinger on Substack: "As he campaigned for president last week Donald Trump turned up the volume on his authoritarian message. He followed the well-known blueprint for dictatorship, which included dehumanizing outsiders, predictions of violence, and dramatic warnings about a supposed emergency facing the nation.... Many of the fans -- err, voters -- who stand in line for hours to be admitted to a rally, seemed to be bored by the show."

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link.

Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump's long fixation on mental fitness followed years of watching his father's worsening dementia -- a formative period that some associates said has been a defining and little-mentioned factor in his life, and which left him with an abiding concern that he might someday inherit the condition. While much remains unknown about Alzheimer's, experts say there is an increased risk of inheriting a gene associated with the disease from a parent.... Trump's father's condition also drove a wedge into his family, which fell into years of lawsuits that alleged in part that Donald Trump sought to take advantage of his father's dementia to wrest control of the family estate -- litigation that introduced reams of medical records detailing Fred Trump Sr.'s condition.... (A White House spokesman, Andrew Bates, told The Post via email that neither of [President] Biden's parents had dementia.)" (Also linked yesterday.)

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Mississippi. Michael Goldberg & Emily Pettus of the AP: "Two former Mississippi deputies wept in court Wednesday as a federal judge sentenced them to years in prison and condemned their cruelty for breaking into a home with four other white officers and torturing two Black men. U.S. District Judge Tom Lee sentenced Christian Dedmon, 29, to 40 years in prison and Daniel Opdyke, 28, to 17.5 years. Lee said Dedmon carried out the most 'shocking, brutal and cruel attacks imaginable' against the two Black men, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, and against a white man during a traffic stop weeks earlier.... Jenkins, who has trouble speaking after being shot in the mouth during the January 2023 attack, said in a statement read by his lawyer that Dedmon's actions were the most depraved of any of those who attacked him.

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Ireland. Megan Specia of the New York Times: "Leo Varadkar, Ireland's barrier-breaking taoiseach or prime minister, said on Wednesday that he would step down as the country's leader, days after the defeat of two referendums that the coalition government had championed and after years of waning public support for his political party, Fine Gael. Ireland is scheduled to hold a general election early next year, and his decision will not trigger an earlier election, he said.... Citing reasons both 'personal and political,' Mr. Varadkar said he would step down from the party leadership effective immediately and would continue to serve as prime minister until his party elects a new leader.... There had been little indication of his decision just days earlier when he visited the White House and met with President Biden for St. Patrick's Day.... Mr. Varadkar, who is gay and whose father is of Indian heritage, broke a number of barriers when he became the country's youngest-ever leader in 2017." (Also linked yesterday.)

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Egypt on Thursday, and will make a stop in Israel on Friday, as talks for a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza falter. The United States said it will review a written assurance from Israel that its use of U.S.-supplied defense equipment does not violate international or U.S. human rights law.... The Israeli military said Thursday its raid of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City was ongoing and that 140 militants were killed. Civilians in the area have said they were trapped in dire conditions. Israel's chief of staff said from the hospital that the goal was striking Hamas and 'putting pressure on the negotiations.'"

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel assailed Senator Chuck Schumer on Wednesday in a closed-door speech to Senate Republicans, days after the Democratic majority leader branded him an impediment to peace in the Middle East and called for a new election to replace him after the war winds down. Mr. Netanyahu's virtual appearance at a weekly gathering of Republican senators -- and a refusal by Mr. Schumer to allow him to make a similar address to Senate Democrats -- dramatized the growing partisan split on Capitol Hill and in American politics over Mr. Netanyahu's leadership and Israel's offensive in Gaza. 'Senator Schumer made it clear that he does not think these discussions should happen in a partisan manner,' said Alex Nguyen, a spokesman.... Inside the meeting with Republicans, Mr. Netanyahu called Mr. Schumer's speech last week on the Senate floor 'wholly inappropriate and outrageous,' according to Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri.... And many Republican senators spoke up to say they agreed with him."

Ukraine, et al.

Constant Méheut of the New York Times: "Russian missiles streaked into Kyiv early Thursday in the biggest assault on the Ukrainian capital in weeks, injuring at least 13 people and damaging several residential buildings and industrial facilities, according to local officials. The Ukrainian Air Force said that air defense systems had intercepted all 31 of the Russian missiles that targeted Kyiv. Still, debris from the downed missiles fell in various parts of the city, causing the injuries and damage. No deaths have been reported so far."

John Hudson & Siobhan O'Grady of the Washington Post: "National security adviser Jake Sullivan traveled in secret to Ukraine on Wednesday in a trip aimed at reaffirming U.S. support for the beleaguered ally despite an impasse in Congress over additional funding for the war effort.... Kyiv is facing chronic shortages of ammunition and soldiers as House lawmakers in the United States weigh a Senate aid package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has thus far refused calls to vote on the measure, sending the White House scrambling to find weaponry and equipment it can send to Ukraine. 'You should believe in the United States,' Sullivan told reporters in a briefing at Ukraine's presidential office in Kyiv. 'We are confident we will get this done....'"

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Reader Comments (7)

Spocko discusses the inaction on all the threats from MAGA.

March 21, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Can’t you just see it? Putin and his inner circle of cutthroats and propaganda pushers, listening in on the latest Party of Traitors attempt to impeach and discredit Joe Biden solely—SOLELY—on the basis of whole cloth whoppers invented in the Kremlin years ago.

“Look! Even when cat is out of bag, these Americanski stupidos STILL working hard to prop up our bullshit lies. Ron Johnson, biggest dumb shitski we ever turn, still does our bidding! Get more wodka, this great stuff!”

Party of Traitors, indeed. Still at it. Traitors til the last dog dies from chewing on novichok laced bones.

March 21, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Guardian

"California tribe becomes the first to manage land with National Park Service
Yurok Tribe, which had 90% of its territory taken during the gold rush, will get 125 acres returned after it was stolen in the mid-1800s"

March 21, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

This morning's WAPO pairs two stories about disinformation.

One is about all the misinformation spread on the internet ( for far too many, the go-to source for medical knowledge) about birth control that is harmfully affecting many women's birth control use....

And....a retrospective about a "ghost" army that fooled Hitler into adjusting his war plans in light of information about an army that didn't exist.

So what to say about disinformation?

The same thing we could say about any weapon. It can be used for ill or good.

But I don't want to take that argument too far. Otherwise, I'd end up in the same stupid place occupied by those who say "guns don't kill people; people do."

And if Covid taught us nothing else, we should know by now that misinformation is the equivalent of a loaded gun and often has the same deadly effect.

And Republicans who have weaponized lying about everything know it.

March 21, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

The Donald is pleading, begging desperately for one million of his
loyal MAGAts to send him lotsa money. Send me your beer money,
your rent money, your grocery money, a dollar, a nickel, a thousand
dollars, whatever.
His request includes the comment "KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF TRUMP TOWER."

That sounds like something Jared Kushner could have said to Donald:
"Keep your filthy hands off my wife."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-campaign-pleads-one-million-donations-cash-crunch-looms-2014-03-20/

March 21, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

@Forrest Morris: Looks like you're right about Donald/Ivanka. According to this story, appropriate enough from Boing Boing, "In a new documentary, adult film star Stormy Daniels shares disturbing details about her alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump in 2006, including how the future president compared her to his daughter Ivanka just before cornering her. 'He told me I reminded him of his daughter,' Daniels says in the film, according to an interview with director Sarah Gibson on CNN."

March 21, 2024 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

@Marie: Myles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of
Homeland Security mentions Donald's making many women who
came into contact with him cringe from his sexist comments.
Also making remarks to others about Ivanka's breasts (he probably
used a diferent word) and rear (again, a different word) and what it
would be like to have sex with her.

And the evangelicals still believe he is Jesus reincarnated. Give me
a break!

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-ivanka-naked-sexism-miles-taylor-book-nyt-anonymous-1809187

March 21, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris
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