;)
The Conversation -- October 7, 2023
The New York Times has maps showing where Hamas hit Israel and where Israeli retalitory strikes hit Gaza.
How George "Got Rich" Quick. Josh Kovensky & Hunter Walker of TPM have figured out how Rep. George Santos increased his annual income from $55,000 to more than $700,000 in just a few months & how he amassed a $1MM bank balance. According to his FEC filings, Santos lent his campaign more than $500,000 from these sources. But prosecutors' filings related to Santos campaign treasurer Nancy Marks, who pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy fraud, "accused Santos and Marks of falsely filing documents that showed their family members made donations to the campaign that were not actually received." The filings also alleged that Santos never the lent the half-million dollars to his campaign, and he "did not have the funds necessary to make such loans at the time." The reason for claiming the fake campaign donations was to qualify for a Republican Congressional Committee program that helps GOP candidates who bring in at least $250,000. MB: You don't have to be rich to say you're rich. See also "Trump, Donald & Co. New York Fraud Case."
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Michael Shear of the New York Times: "... a massive surge of migration in the Western Hemisphere has scrambled the dynamics of an issue that has vexed presidents for decades, and radically reshaped the political pressures on [President] Biden and his administration. Instead of becoming the president who quickly reversed his predecessor's policies, Mr. Biden has repeatedly tried to curtail the migration of a record number of people -- and the political fallout that has created -- by embracing, or at least tolerating, some of Mr. Trump's anti-immigrant approaches." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yesterday, I linked to a New York Times story that said, "... Donald J. Trump said undocumented immigrants were 'poisoning the blood of our country' in a recent interview, language with echoes of white supremacy and the racial hatreds of Adolf Hitler." If you look in the right-hand column, you'll see a link to a Washington Post story about how archaeologists had discovered footprints at White Sands, New Mexico, that may be as old as 29,000 years; that is, roughly 28,900 years before Donald Trump's family got to this continent. Most of the migrants coming across the U.S.-Mexico border are Indios or mostly Indio. So I'd like to know who's "poisoning" whose blood? Anyhow, Happy Indigenous People's Day, Donald.
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "As a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, once antagonized his party's leadership so mercilessly that former Speaker John A. Boehner, whom he helped chase from his position, branded him a 'legislative terrorist.' Less than a decade later, Mr. Jordan -- a fast-talking Republican often seen sans jacket, known for his hard-line stances and aggressive tactics -- is now one of two leading candidates to claim the very speakership whose occupants he once tormented. Mr. Jordan's journey from the fringe of Republican politics to its epicenter on Capitol Hill is a testament to how sharply his party has veered to the right in recent years, and how thoroughly it has adopted his pugilistic style.... His candidacy for speaker has drawn a stark warning from former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who was the No. 3 Republican and vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, who said that if he prevailed, 'there would no longer be any possible way to argue that a group of elected Republicans could be counted on to defend the Constitution.'" ~~~
~~~ Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "... one critical aspect of [Jim] Jordan's history that has been omitted by most Beltway publications is the prominent role he played in spreading lies about the 2020 election and rallying supporters to contest the results.... 'Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for Jan. 6 than any other member of the House of Representatives,' former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who co-chaired the House Select Committee tasked with investigating the insurrection, said in a speech at the University of Minnesota this week. 'Jim Jordan was involved, was part of the conspiracy in which Donald Trump was engaged as he attempted to overturn the election,' she added. Jordan ... refused to cooperate with the select committee regarding his communications with Trump as the attack was occurring, defying subpoenas for testimony. Trump spoke on the phone with Jordan for 10 minutes on the morning of Jan. 6. Jordan has never divulged the nature of the conversation, saying only that he had spoken to Trump 'a number of times' that day." ~~~
~~~ Marie: There much more than Bobic mentions to Jordan's integral role in Trump's attempt to overthrow the election. For instance, he "attended a Dec. 21 White House meeting focused on efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to help overturn the 2020 election, according to the Jan. 6 committee." When Trump told the DOJ to "just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen," he was talking about Jordan & the other 146 GOP members of Congress who voted to challenge certain states' Biden electors -- after the insurrection. (Had DOJ done as Trump demanded & made a false claim that the election was corrupt, the number of challengers most certainly would have been larger.)
Potential House "Leaders" Have No Idea What They're Doing. Melanie Zanona & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "House speaker candidates have pulled out of a planned joint interview on Fox News next week just hours after it was announced amid fierce blowback from GOP lawmakers, the latest sign of how simmering tensions within the conference are boiling over as Republicans scramble to find a new leader following Kevin McCarthy's stunning ouster. Both of the leading Republican candidates for speaker -- Rep. Jim Jordan and Majority Leader Steve Scalise -- backtracked from the plan to be interviewed jointly on Fox News with anchor Bret Baier from the Capitol next Monday after it had been announced by the network Friday morning. A third potential speaker candidate also said he would not participate in the forum." (Also linked yesterday.)
Former House "Leader" Has No Idea What He's Doing. Olivia Beavers of Politico: "Kevin McCarthy is considering resigning from the House before the end of his term, two people familiar with the matter told Politico. The deposed former speaker has made clear he plans to stay at least through the speakership election that begins next week before ending his House career, these people said, in order to help the party steady itself after a seismic shakeup." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. BUT this CNN story by Melanie Zanona & others, which originally said My Kevin was leaving Congress, perhaps in a few weeks, now leads with, "Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is denying reports that he is expected to step down from Congress before the end of his term -- telling reporters on Friday that he still has 'work to do,' after sending signals in private conversations that he could step down early from Congress. 'No, I am not resigning,' he told reporters." (Also linked yesterday.)
** House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Washington Post op-ed: "Over the past several weeks, when it appeared likely that a motion to vacate the office of speaker was forthcoming, House Democrats repeatedly raised the issue of entering into a bipartisan governing coalition with our Republican counterparts, publicly as well as privately.... Regrettably, at every turn, House Republicans have categorically rejected making changes to the rules designed to accomplish two objectives: encourage bipartisan governance and undermine the ability of extremists to hold Congress hostage. Indeed, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) publicly declared more than five hours before the motion to vacate was brought up for a vote that he would not work with House Democrats as a bipartisan coalition partner.... Things further deteriorated from there.... [Republicans'] decision to strip Speaker Emerita Pelosi and Leader Hoyer of office space was petty, partisan and petulant....
"The rules of the House should reflect the inescapable reality that Republicans are reliant on Democratic support to do the basic work of governing. A small band of extremists should not be capable of obstructing that cooperation.... Traditional Republicans need to break with the MAGA extremism that has poisoned the House of Representatives since the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and its aftermath -- when the overwhelming majority of House Republicans continued to promote the 'big lie' and voted not to certify the presidential election." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ryan Lizza & Rachel Bade of Politico: "Just hours after Kevin McCarthy was deposed as House speaker, the 'draft Trump' movement began. 'I called him and I said, "Sir, I'm nominating you for the speaker of the House,"' said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), describing a Tuesday call to ... Donald Trump. 'I said, "I think that you would do a great job fixing the brokenness we see in the Congress."' So began a wild 48-hour scramble that saw Trump openly pondering a quixotic bid to become the first nonmember to be elected speaker before his political advisers and House allies managed to convince him it was a terrible idea. The Trump-for-speaker bubble officially popped early Friday morning, when he took sides in the brewing battle between Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.)." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The remarkable news here is that someone claimed he really did address Trump as "Sir."
The Trials of Trump
Surprise, Surprise! Alex Nguyen of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: "A federal judge has gifted Donald Trump a step toward getting his classified documents case delayed until after the 2024 presidential election. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted a temporary stay on a filing deadline for Trump as she deliberates whether to postpone the entire schedule of pre-trial proceedings. Her order didn't, however, address whether the May 2024 trial date will be moved. Trump's legal team had requested in a Wednesday filing that Cannon push back the trial from May to 'until at least mid-November 2024.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Ella Lee of the Hill: "Attorneys for former President Trump are seeking to temporarily pause his civil fraud trial, along with the enforcement of a ruling issued before the trial started that found Trump and his business liable for fraud, until after the case has been appealed. Trump's legal team wrote in a 1,154-page court filing that Judge Arthur Engoron's decision imposed 'unauthorized, undemanded, overbroad relief' to the New York attorney general's office, which will result in 'significant, irreparable harm' to the former president and his business." MB: Curious that Trump's lawyers didn't file this tome before the trial started Monday. I supposed Trump had one of his hissy-fits and ordered his lawyers to make this mess go away. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Lauren del Valle & Kara Scannell of CNN: "A New York appeals court judge on Friday rejected Donald Trump's attempt to stop the ongoing $250 million civil fraud trial, but temporarily halted the process of breaking up the former president's businesses. Associate Justice Peter Moulton issued the ruling after a brief hearing Friday afternoon. It leaves Trump's empire untouched for at least another month and perhaps offers the former president and his family a glimmer of hope.... Trump's legal team believes the appellate court could eventually reverse at least part of Engoron's bombshell order and gut New York Attorney General Letitia James' case by dismissing a majority of the lawsuit's claims.... The New York attorney general's office opposed the request to delay the trial, saying Trump and the other defendants are attempting'to sow chaos by disrupting an ongoing trial that has now been going for a week. Yet defendants fail to point to any purported irreparable harm from proceeding with a trial that has already begun.' The attorney general's office also criticized Trump's team for waiting days into trial testimony to file the stay request." (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump has dropped a last-resort lawsuit against the judge overseeing his New York fraud trial. The former president's attorneys withdrew their lawsuit against Justice Arthur Engoron, which had been seen as a long-shot attempt to stop his real estate empire from being dismantled after he found that Trump and his adult sons had filed fraudulent financial statements, reported The Daily Beast." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump has been raging against the New York judge who will decide his financial fate, but his attorneys botched a crucial deadline that could have put the case in a jury's hands.... 'I wish I'd had a jury trial,' Trump grumbled to his lawyers in court, after [Judge Arthur] Engoron reminded him that he alone would decide his fate. A Daily Beast reporter was present in court when Trump attorney Alina Habba requested a jury trial, but neither she or anyone else on the former president's defense team ever followed up, and they blew a 15-day deadline to respond when New York attorney general Letitia James' office alerted the court they were ready for trial." (Also linked yesterday.)
Lauren del Valle & Kara Scannell of CNN: "The former controller of the Trump Organization says that Eric Trump directed him to make certain decisions that led to the inflated valuations of several Trump properties. Jeff McConney, also a co-defendant of ... Donald Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., testified Friday as the first week of the civil fraud trial came to an end. Internal Trump Org. spreadsheets shown in court Friday show notations by McConney that say Eric Trump directed McConney in phone conversations about certain property valuations that would later appear on the financial statements the judge in this case has ruled fraudulent." The article outlines some of the schemes McConney, Eric Trump & Allen Weisselberg used to inflate the values of Trump properties, like including the value of structures that had not been built yet & ignoring deed restrictions that lowered a property's value.
Trump Choir Boy Sentenced to Seven Years. Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "A man who joined a nightly performance of the national anthem inside the D.C. jail that has been promoted by ... Donald Trump and his allies was sentenced to seven years in prison for assaulting police and obstructing Congress on Jan. 6. Shane Jenkins, 46, acknowledged in D.C. federal court that he had an 'extensive' criminal history and apologized 'for all the pain and suffering I've caused.'... Using a tomahawk he brought with him from Texas, Jenkins was the first to smash a window on the West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol, and was caught on video shouting: 'We paid for it, it's our f---ing building.' That breach gave rioters access to senators" offices, which were trashed and ransacked."
Tracey Tully, et al., of the New York Times: "The New Jersey attorney general's office seized records on Thursday from Bergen County law enforcement agencies to review whether the investigation of a fatal 2018 car crash involving the soon-to-be wife of Senator Robert Menendez was handled properly.... The attorney general's office began its inquiry a day after details of the collision were reported publicly for the first time by The New York Times and The Record of New Jersey, nearly five years after it happened. A review by The Times of police reports, dashcam footage, 911 call recordings and a video of the collision raises new questions about the rigor of an investigation that [the victim's] relatives have long believed was inadequate." (Also linked yesterday.)
Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "A former U.S. Army soldier who fled to Hong Kong has been charged with trying to deliver classified secrets to the Chinese government, according to federal court documents unsealed on Friday. Joseph D. Schmidt, 29, who served in a military intelligence battalion in Washington State, was indicted in Seattle on two counts of violating the Espionage Act. He was arrested this week after flying from Hong Kong to San Francisco and appeared in federal court on Friday." An NPR story is here. MB: Other than committing treason, Schmidt's big mistake was not becoming president* before he started hawking U.S. classified secrets. You don't see Donald Trump in jail, do you? And Trump stole hundreds of secrets which he may or may not sell but definitely doles out as party favors.
Gary Grumbach & Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "Hunter Biden will seek to dismiss the federal indictment against him that included three charges he was arraigned on earlier this week, according to a new court filing. The president's son 'maintains' that the original plea deal, or diversion agreement, 'remains in force,' Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's lawyer, wrote in the filing on Thursday.... Under the terms of the original agreement, the younger Biden would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges over his failure to pay income taxes, and prosecutors had agreed to a related agreement that could have resulted in the gun charges being dismissed. But the deal collapsed in federal court on the day of his arraignment ... and he wound up pleading not guilty on the tax charges." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Races
Tyler Pager & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "The Democratic Party officially dislodged Iowa from its prized status as the first state in the presidential nominating process Friday, approving the state Democratic Party's plan to release their results on Super Tuesday next year. The decision ends a nearly two-year fight over Iowa's place in selecting a Democratic nominee, which resulted in a complete overhaul of the calendar. President Biden and his aides elevated South Carolina to the first spot, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada a week later, and then Michigan. The original plan called for Georgia holding a primary just before Michigan, but Democrats in that state were unable to move up their date, because of Republican opposition."
Ramaswamny Makes Up Stuff About Protesters. Kierra Frazier of Politico: "Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign claimed Thursday that protesters ran into their parked car at a campaign stop in Grinnell, Iowa. But local police later said that's not what really happened. Ramaswamy's car, with no one inside it, was struck by another car in a parking lot outside a coffeehouse. His campaign told Politico Thursday that two protesters hit Ramaswamy's car, but police say that the accident involved a driver unconnected to the protest. 'Our investigation has revealed no evidence to substantiate' the claim that protesters hit Ramaswamy's car on purpose and fled, police said in a statement Thursday night. Instead, police say that a woman had eaten lunch at a deli and backed out of a parking spot into the campaign's rental vehicle. A report was taken and the driver was released with a summons for unsafe backing. '[The driver] stated she was not in the area to protest, she did not know who the vehicle she struck belonged to, she did not intentionally back into the vehicle, and she did not flee the scene of the accident,' police said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.)"
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It turns out that hawking Donald Trump's Miracle Covid Cure can land you in jail for quite a spell: ~~~
~~~ Florida Man et Fils. Orlando Mayorquin of the New York Times: "A Florida man and three sons who used a business masquerading as a church to sell more than $1 million of a deadly bleach solution that they claimed was a 'miracle' cure for Covid-19 and other diseases were each sentenced on Friday to several years in prison, federal prosecutors in Miami said. Mark Grenon, 66, of Bradenton, Fla., and one of his sons, Joseph Grenon, 36, were sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the government, while the two other sons, Jonathan Grenon, 37, and Jordan Grenon, 29, were sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison for defrauding the government and contempt of court, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a news release."
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** Israel/Palestine. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Israel and Gaza were at war on Saturday after Palestinian militants fired barrages of rockets into southern and central Israel in a surprise morning attack that was among the biggest from Gaza in years, and the Israeli military said that armed gunmen had crossed the border fence in several locations and infiltrated Israeli communities.... The assault began without any warning about 6:30 a.m. on the Jewish Sabbath and the morning of a festival, the last of the series of Jewish high holidays. It was almost 50 years to the day after the surprise attack by Egyptian and Syrian forces over Israel's northern and southern borders at the opening of the 1973 war that traumatized the nation. Within the first hour of the attack, salvos of rockets had slammed relentlessly into Israeli towns and cities, striking as far north as Rishon LeZion, about 10 miles south of Tel Aviv, and Ramla, near Israel's international airport. At 8:15 a.m. sirens also sounded in central Jerusalem, and loud booms could be heard." This is a liveblog. ~~~
~~~ CNN's live updates are here: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel is at war following an early morning surprise attack from Gaza that left at least 22 people dead. Hamas claimed to have captured several Israeli soldiers near the border after its militants entered Israel by land, sea and air using paragliders. The assault came after thousands of rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said its troops are fighting in at least a half-dozen locations. Some residents in Israel said militants were trying to break into their homes."
News Lede
Afghanistan. New York Times: "Two 6.3-magnitude earthquakes killed nearly 200 people in western Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, the second major quake to hit the country in less than two years. At least 180 people were killed and around 600 injured, according to the chief of the regional hospital in Herat Province, where the quake struck hardest. The number of casualties is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue, officials said."
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Reader Comments (10)
If and when MAGA thug and insurrection supporter My Gym becomes Speaker (not very long ago, two weeks maybe, such a suggestion might be up there on the unlikely to the point of stupid chart with a claim that my dog could talk) will the terrorists conveniently remove the rule that allowed trafficker of underage girls, Matt Gaetz, to shove My Kevin out the door?
The terrorists demanded that My Kevin accept this new rule (a kind of Turn Around and Touch the Ground, Black and White Magic Rule) that sed any one imbecile (Matt Gaetz, eg) could call for a vote to kick him out.
I’m guessing My Gym would not accept such a poison pill clause and likely, now that they have a reliably undemocratic liar set to “run” (hang on…*choke-gasp*) the House that Represents Only Thugs and Assholes, they would want to ensure that no one could kneecap their guy the way they did the previous guy.
Somewhere the Founders are saying to themselves “Christ, did we fuck up!”
@Akhilleus: According to Carl Hulse of the NYT, "In the aftermath of Mr. McCarthy’s toppling, many more mainstream Republicans have demanded that the chamber dump the single-member motion to vacate, as Democrats did when they controlled the House.... Yet so far, the two leading candidates for the post, Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Steve Scalise of Louisiana, do not appear eager to get out in front on this inflammatory issue."
re blood poisoning:
A book I highly recommend is 1491 by Charles Mann.
see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491:_New_Revelations_of_the_Americas_Before_Columbus
It details how densely populated and sophisticated the Americas were before Europeans arrived. But within a generation, the introduction of small pox and other diseases had wiped out so many people, that those civilizations collapsed.
So who poisoned whom?
Glad the R's have found themselves something to think about. To vacate or not to vacate? To install an insurrectionist or a KKK supporter as House Speaker? So many tough decisions for those deep thinkers.
But dealing with the consequences of massive migration or with climate change or with wealth inequality or with paying the nation's bills or addressing the sad state of its democracy?
Well, that's all up to the Dems.
IRS. This is probably why the GOP and their media partners were so mad about Biden funding the auditors.
"During the final year of Donald Trump's presidency, the Internal Revenue Service audited low-income families at a higher rate than millionaires for the first time, according to an Americans for Tax Fairness analysis released as congressional Republicans work to further hamper the agency's ability to crack down on rich tax cheats.
ATF noted in its analysis, "audits of millionaires have dropped 92% over the last decade.""
1491 is a fascinating read. All the lost Amazonian civilizations may be easier for scientists to find if "South American monsoon heading towards ‘tipping point’ likely to cause Amazon dieback. Human degradation of the Amazon – by land clearance, fire, logging and mining – is pushing that system towards a tipping point, after which drier conditions would be expected to cause an abrupt “regime shift” in the rainforest, which would be unable to sustain itself and transport moisture."
RAS,
And those IRS numbers are further proof that there is no class war, huh?
And we know that when R's are in charge who is losing the war that ain't.
Thanks to D in Md for referencing the book 1491. It's on my winter
reading list if our library system can fetch it from somewhere.
My maternal grandmother always claimed that her ancestors were
mostly Cherokee with some Dutch thrown in.
My DNA revealed otherwise: British, Scottish, Scandinavian and
Romanian. The Scandinavians invaded Britain and the Gypsies from
Eastern Europe roamed the continent diluting the gene pool, evidently.
@RAS: It is curious to me as I read and hear so much about Donald Trump's financial fraud case that the IRS barely touched him, even when it was required by law to conduct audits of a sitting president*'s returns.
Meanwhile, the same IRS decided I had to appear before an agent with multiples proofs of my identity, a demand apparently triggered by a question (unrelated to my identity) I had previously answered satisfactorily several years earlier.
It really baffles me. I've always thought you could tell everything about me by looking at my tax returns & bank accounts. Apparently not.
The best line today on Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen and Elie Mystal talking about Gymbag Jerkoff as potential House Speaker -
Q: What's the difference between a brown-noser and an ass-kisser?
A: Depth Perception!