The Commentariat -- June 4, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Job creation disappointed again in May, with nonfarm payrolls up what normally would be considered a solid 559,000 but still short of lofty expectations, the Labor Department reported Friday. Payrolls were expected to increase by 671,000, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones." MB: President Biden will speak about the jobs report this morning.

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

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Seung Min Kim & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "President Biden signaled at a private meeting on Wednesday that he would be open to significant revisions on the size of his infrastructure package and how it would be paid for in order win Republican backing, outlining a plan for about $1 trillion in new spending financed through tax changes that do not appear to raise the top corporate rate. While Biden has not abandoned his support for the tax increase generally, believing profitable companies must pay their fair share, the moves still mark a potential new concession in stalled talks over funding to improve the country's roads, bridges, pipes and ports.... In his meeting with the GOP's top negotiator, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Biden raised the possibility he could take the proposed increase off the table in an attempt to broker a compromise.... The president still intends to seek the tax increase, [a] source said, meaning the White House could pursue the policy outside of infrastructure talks -- or in the case that bipartisan negotiations ultimately collapse." A USA Today story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times' story is here.

Hans Nichols of Axios: "President Biden has decided against appointing his own commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection and will instead increase pressure on Congress to establish a committee, White House officials tell Axios.... 'Congress was attacked on that day, and President Biden firmly agrees with Speaker Pelosi that Congress itself has a unique role and ability to carry out that investigation,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki tells Axios."

The Biden Way: Engage the Jackass. Tyler Pager & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "President Biden recently called former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, a Democrat who has been openly critical of his economic agenda, to acknowledge Summers's concerns and ask him to explain his objections.... Summers has engaged in increasingly bitter disagreements with White House aides.... Summers -- a treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, top economic adviser to President Barack Obama and former president of Harvard University -- is a prominent Democratic voice on economic matters. But he has also become a nemesis of the party's left flank, which sees him as representative of a misguided centrism that Democrats have moved beyond. Summers has been warning that Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package is too big and will overheat the economy...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Another Economist Looks at Biden's Budget Proposal. Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "... is trying to 'build back better' by taxing only the very affluent feasible? Is it wise? Could it be done more effectively? My answer is yes to the first two questions, if you assume -- as I think we should -- that given the political realities Biden needs to keep his ambitions fairly modest. The answer to the third is, it's complicated.... Biden's proposals are appropriate in their general thrust and probably don't have huge flaws in their details. My biggest concern isn't that he'll botch important issues, it is that Democrats in Congress -- some of whom are still far too deferential to moneyed interests -- will water down the things he's trying to do right."

John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Vice President Harris announced Thursday that the Biden administration is making available $1 billion in grants to improve high-speed Internet on tribal lands and argued that passage of an infrastructure proposal pending in Congress would help many others across the country who lack the benefits of broadband. The event follows President Biden's meeting at the White House on Wednesday with a key Republican negotiator on infrastructure." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jeanne Whalen & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration is expanding a Trump-era order that banned U.S. investment in Chinese companies that it said support China's military to include those selling surveillance technology, calling the entities a threat to U.S. interests and values. A new executive order set for release Thursday broadens prohibitions that the Donald Trump administration enacted and moves authority for the ban to the Treasury Department, from the Defense Department, to give it stronger legal grounding, senior administration officials said."

Amanda Macias & Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "The Biden administration is urging corporate executives and business leaders to take immediate steps to prepare for ransomware attacks, warning in a new memo that cybercriminals are shifting from stealing data to disrupting core operations. 'The threats are serious and they are increasing,' wrote Anne Neuberger, President Joe Biden's deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, in a June 2 memo obtained by CNBC from the White House. 'The private sector also has a critical responsibility to protect against these threats. All organizations must recognize that no company is safe from being targeted by ransomware, regardless of size or location,' Neuberger wrote." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Brian Fung & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "The Justice Department signaled Thursday it plans to coordinate its anti-ransomware efforts with the same protocols as it does for terrorism, following a slew of cyberattacks that have disrupted key infrastructure sectors ranging from gasoline distribution to meatpacking. On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco issued an internal memo directing US prosecutors to report all ransomware investigations they may be working on, in a move designed to better coordinate the US government's tracking of online criminals. The memo cites ransomware -- malicious software that seizes control of a computer until the victim pays a fee -- as an urgent threat to the nation's interests."

** Ira Shapiro, former counsel to Sen. Robert Byrd, Joe Manchin's predecessor, in a New York Times op-ed: "Senators must confront what has proved to be a debilitating obstacle: the legislative filibuster -- more precisely, the minimum 60-vote supermajority requirement for most legislation.... The filibuster should not shape the workings of the Senate, but the other way around. For Mr. Byrd and other senators of his era, the overriding goal was to ensure not that certain rules were respected above all else but that the Senate could deliver for the nation -- even if it meant reforming rules like the filibuster.... When the Senate was at its best -- from the 1960s through the 1980s -- it regularly had intensive debates and passed major legislation without filibusters. The Senate often approved landmark legislation with fewer than 60 votes...." (Emphasis added.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Manchin should be required to read every word of Shapiro's op-ed, chew them up & swallow them, a word at a time. (More seriously, he should meet with & debate Shapiro, who might be able to talk some sense into Filibuster Joe.) ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... in red states, Trump's party, motivated by his big lie about his 2020 loss, is systematically changing electoral rules to make it harder for Democratic constituencies to vote and, should Democrats win anyway, easier for Republicans to overturn elections.... Republicans have an excellent chance of gerrymandering their way to control of the House in 2022, whether or not they increase their vote share.... Two Democratic senators, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, could save us by joining their colleagues in breaking the filibuster and passing new voting rights legislation. But they prefer not to.... 'The idea of the filibuster was created by those who came before us in the United States Senate to create comity and to encourage senators to find bipartisanship and work together,' [Sinema] said [Tuesday]. This is nonsense. The filibuster was created by mistake when the Senate, cleaning up its rule book in 1806, failed to include a provision to cut off debate.... The filibuster encouraged extremism, not comity: It was a favorite tool of pro-slavery senators before the Civil War and segregationists after it." Read on.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "U.S. prosecutors this week put a price tag on damage to the U.S. Capitol from the Jan. 6 breach -- $1.5 million so far -- and for the first time are asking defendants to cover some of the bill in plea offers, prosecutors and defense lawyers said.... Several defense attorneys said prosecutors with the U.S. attorney's office in Washington are seeking to require restitution of $2,000 in each felony case and $500 in each misdemeanor case." A plea agreement signed by Paul Hodgkins, who pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing a federal proceeding, said he agreed to pay $2,000 in partial restitution.

After Getting to Carnegie Hall, This Woman Had a Less Impressive Second Act. Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "When Audrey Ann Southard took the stage at Carnegie Hall in 2012, she belted out an opera aria.... When she stormed into the U.S. Capitol in January, the FBI said, her audience was the police officers defending the building.... 'Tell Pelosi we're coming for that b----,' video shows her screaming at officers, according to court documents. 'There's a hundred thousand of us, what's it going to be?' Southard later used a flagpole to shove a sergeant backward until he slammed his head into a statue, the FBI said, all while agitating the crowd behind her to 'push in here' as they sought to disrupt Congress as it certified President Biden's victory. Southard, a 52-year-old who the Tampa Bay Times reported works as a private music instructor in Florida, was charged this week with numerous counts connected to the deadly insurrection, including assaulting a federal employee." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's Audrey at Carnegie Hall. I'm far from being a qualified music critic, but I think her performance was pretty awful there, too.

Jamie Gangel & Donie O'Sullivan of CNN (June 2): "Online conversation among Trump supporters and QAnon followers on new and emerging social media platforms is creating concern on Capitol Hill that ... Donald Trump's continued perpetuation of the falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen could soon incite further violence, three congressional sources tell CNN.... Trump's comments to right-wing media outlets in recent weeks have played directly into the false belief among some of his supporters that he will be reinstated as president in the coming months.... In [a] May interview with a right-wing radio host, Trump falsely suggested the controversial Republican-led audit in Arizona and audits elsewhere would show he didn't lose the election. 'It's going to be a very interesting time in our country,' he said. 'How do you govern when you lost?'" (Emphasis added.)

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "One of the undersold aspects of the Trump presidency isn't so much what he did while in office, but how much he elevated fringe figures like [Michael] Flynn who would never have set foot inside virtually any other president's orbit. With Trump now out of office, those figures' continued drift toward the fringe and the credibility Trump lent to them is surely one of the lasting impacts of his presidency.... As with Flynn, Trump reserved some of his most controversial pardons for people with ties to fringe elements of the conservative base." Blake asserts that these fringe characters are pulling the GOP even further rightward.

More News from the Most Corrupt Administration Evah: ~~~

~~~ Louie, Louie, Oh No. Matt Zapotosky & Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in connection with campaign fundraising activity involving his former business, according to people familiar with the matter and a spokesman for DeJoy. FBI agents in recent weeks interviewed current and former employees of DeJoy and the business, asking questions about political contributions and company activities, these people said. Prosecutors also issued a subpoena to DeJoy himself for information, one of the people said.... n early September, The Washington Post published an extensive examination of how employees at DeJoy's former company, North Carolina-based New Breed Logistics, alleged they were pressured by DeJoy or his aides to attend political fundraisers or make contributions to Republican candidates, and then were paid back through bonuses. Such reimbursements could run afoul of state or federal laws, which prohibit 'straw-donor' schemes meant to allow wealthy donors to evade individual contribution limits and obscure the source of a candidate's money." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story is here. As Katie Benner makes clear in her lede, DeJoy is being investigated for a crime, not a civil offense. Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Four for Four. Steve Benen of MSNBC: "In April 2017, the Republican National Committee issued a press release introducing the members of its finance team, which was responsible for helping raise money for Donald Trump and his party...: 'Today Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and RNC Finance Chairman Steve Wynn announced additional members of the RNC's Finance leadership team:... "Elliott Broidy, Michael Cohen, and Louis DeJoy will serve as National Deputy Finance Chairmen...."' Steve Wynn ... was forced to resign from his RNC post following sexual misconduct allegations.... The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Justice Department has also examined Wynn's 2017 efforts in support of Chinese officials.... Elliott Broidy, meanwhile, found himself at the center of multiple controversies, and pled guilty last fall to federal charges related to illegal lobbying. [Trump pardoned him.]... Michael Cohen ... was at the center of multiple Trump-related scandals, and was even sentenced to prison.... And as of this afternoon, Louis DeJoy, whose tenure as postmaster general has been controversial for all sorts of reasons, is also facing an ongoing FBI investigation."

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Former vice president Mike Pence said Thursday he has spoken with ... Donald Trump 'many times' since they left office in January and admitted that the two still do not 'see eye-to-eye' about the insurrection on Jan. 6, in which a pro-Trump mob overran the U.S. Capitol in a violent siege that resulted in five deaths -- and endangered the lives of Pence and his family. Pence acknowledged Thursday that Jan. 6 was 'a dark day' but also cast it as 'one tragic day' that Democrats were using to divide the GOP, in a speech ... in Manchester, N.H.... [But] he spent nearly 40 minutes Thursday lauding Trump and their administration's accomplishments and criticizing President Biden's first several months in office." Politico's story is here.

Rudy Sits on My Pillows. This is not an SNL spoof; it's really Rudy, it's a real ad, and we presume Rudy needed what My Pillow Guy paid him for this ass-felt endorsement: ~~~

~~~ Speaking of asses and their sleazy money-making endeavors, this Son-of-a-Trump must need the McKinleys, too. ~~~

~~~ Sean Neumann of People, republished in Yahoo! News: "Who wants a personalized video message from Donald Trump Jr.? Donald Trump's eldest son has joined Cameo.... The social media site ... lets users ... purchase videos from an array of ... personalities and influencers. Don Jr. is selling clips for $500 apiece. His bio says 'a portion of proceeds will be donated to Shadow Warriors Project' supporting military contractors, although it's not clear what percentage of the proceeds are being donated.... In video examples so far..., he has sent birthday messages, congratulations on engagements and anniversaries and thanked a veteran over the Memorial Day weekend. The videos also come with some self-promotion. In one clip, Don Jr. encouraged a couple who recently got engaged to celebrate their honeymoon at his family's private resorts and in multiple clips he slipped in false claims about his father's 2020 election loss and attacks President Joe Biden's family."

UFOs Are Still UFOs. Julian Barnes & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "American intelligence officials have found no evidence that aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots in recent years are alien spacecraft, but they still cannot explain the unusual movements that have mystified scientists and the military, according to senior administration officials briefed on the findings of a highly anticipated government report. The report determines that a vast majority of more than 120 incidents over the past two decades did not originate from any American military or other advanced U.S. government technology, the officials said. That determination would appear to eliminate the possibility that Navy pilots who reported seeing unexplained aircraft might have encountered programs the government meant to keep secret. But that is about the only conclusive finding in the classified intelligence report...."

Eric Geller & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court has sharply curtailed the scope of the nation's main cybercrime law, limiting a tool that civil liberties advocates say federal prosecutors have abused by seeking prison time for minor computer misdeeds. The 6-3 decision handed down Thursday means federal prosecutors can no longer use the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to charge people who misused databases they are otherwise entitled to access. The ruling comes six months after justices expressed concern that the government's sweeping interpretation of the law could place people in jeopardy for activities as mundane as checking social media on their work computers, with Justice Neil Gorsuch saying prosecutors' view risked 'making a federal criminal of us all.' In an unusual lineup, the court's three Trump appointees ... joined the court's three liberals to reject the Justice Department's interpretation of the statute." Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion.

Carol Rosenberg of the New York Times: "The military judge presiding in the death penalty case of a man accused of orchestrating the U.S.S. Cole bombing has agreed to consider information obtained during the man's torture by C.I.A. interrogators to support an argument in pretrial proceedings at Guantánamo Bay. Defense lawyers cast the decision as the first time that a military judge at the war court is publicly known to have agreed to consider information obtained through the C.I.A. torture of a prisoner, and on Thursday they asked a higher court to reverse it.... 'No court has ever sanctioned the use of torture in this way,' the defense lawyers wrote in their 20-page filing that asked a Pentagon panel, the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review, to intervene in the case against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi prisoner awaiting trial at Guantánamo Bay. 'No court has ever approved the government's use of torture as a tool in discovery litigation' or as 'a legitimate means of facilitating a court's interlocutory fact-finding.'"

David Mack of BuzzFeed News: "A former Treasury Department official was sentenced to six months in prison on Thursday after she admitted to providing highly confidential banking documents to a BuzzFeed News reporter. Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards pleaded guilty in January 2020 to one count of conspiracy to make unauthorized disclosures of suspicious activity reports. These documents, known as SARs, are filed by banks to the federal government to alert authorities of potential criminal activity.... Speaking in court ahead of her sentence being handed down, Edwards said she had taken an oath to protect the American people and 'could not stand by aimlessly' when she saw corruption. But, she added, 'I do apologize for the disclosure of that information.'"

Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Facebook plans to announce Friday that it will no longer automatically give politicians a pass when they break the company's hate speech rules, a major reversal after years of criticism that it was too deferential to powerful figures during the Trump presidency. Since the 2016 election, the company has applied a test to political speech that weighs the newsworthiness of the content against its propensity to cause harm. Now the company will throw out the first part of the test and will no longer consider newsworthiness as a factor.... But Facebook doesn't plan to end the newsworthiness exception entirely. In the cases where an exception is made, the company will now disclose it publicly...." The Verge's story is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.

Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced Thursday the U.S. will donate 75% of its unused COVID-19 vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program, acting as more Americans have been vaccinated and global inequities have become more glaring. Of the first tranche of 25 million doses, the White House said about 19 million will go to COVAX, with approximately 6 million for South and Central America, 7 million for Asia and 5 million for Africa. The doses mark a substantial -- and immediate -- boost to the lagging COVAX effort, which to date has shared just 76 million doses with needy countries. Overall, the White House aims to share 80 million doses globally by the end of June, most through COVAX. But 25% of the nation's excess will be kept in reserve for emergencies and for the U.S. to share directly with allies and partners." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Minnesota. Deena Winter, et al., of the New York Times: "The bulldozers arrived before dawn on Thursday at the South Minneapolis intersection where the police killed George Floyd. Moving quickly, city workers in neon vests hauled away flowers, artwork and large cement barricades that have allowed the corner to serve as an ever-growing memorial to Mr. Floyd.... By the time hundreds of people began flocking to the scene in protest, many of the tributes at the intersection known as George Floyd Square were gone.... The city had put most of the items honoring Mr. Floyd into storage. The mayor and other city officials hoped that the effort would let traffic flow through the intersection again, allowing businesses to prosper and cutting down on the violence in the neighborhood. But demonstrators said that the unannounced action was disrespectful to Mr. Floyd's memory and that the city was trying to force people to move on from his killing." The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Seems to me if you are looking for a stupid, insensitive way to dismantle a memorial, you should turn to Minneapolis' mayor & cohort.

Ohio. Local American Legion Cuts Mic so Colonel Couldn't Give Credit to Black Americans for Celebrating the First Memorial Day. Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter was midway through his speech at a Memorial Day ceremony in an Ohio cemetery when he started discussing the role that freed Black enslaved people played in an early event honoring Civil War dead.... The disruption was no glitch. One of the event's organizers later admitted the audio had been deliberately turned down, telling the Akron Beacon Journal that Kemter's discussion of Black history 'was not relevant to our program for the day. We asked him to modify his speech, and he chose not to do that,' Cindy Suchan, president of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, told the Beacon Journal.... The Ohio American Legion said it is investigating the incident." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Kemter is 77 years old, served as a medic, and looks white to me. Not the picture of a "radical" BLM "rioter" his censors probably envision. But the very idea that lovely white people had gathered to celebrate a holiday started by Black people was just too much for them to handle. This is racism in its most petty form. I'm sure Cindy there thinks she's the paragon of civic engagement & a great credit to her community. With all due respect, she's an embarrassing pile of crap. ~~~

     ~~~ "White Fragility." Paul Campos in LG&$: "Just as was the case with the original complaints about PC culture, this is all a massive case of projection by the proponents of the original and still by far most dominant form of political correctness in this country, which is simply white supremacy in all its guises, overt and covert. That form of PC/Cancel Culture is based on the fundamental axiom that making a white person feel bad about being white is the very worst form of racism there is --in fact it's pretty much the only real form of racism that still exists...." Campos republishes much of the WashPo story. (Also linked yesterday.)

Washington State. Johnny Diaz of the New York Times: "Fifteen men were charged in connection with the alcohol-poisoning death of a Washington State University student, prosecutors said on Wednesday, after a yearlong police investigation into a fraternity pledging case from 2019. The men were members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity when the student, a freshman named Samuel Martinez, died in 2019, according to Denis Tracy, the prosecutor for Whitman County. The men, now ages 20 to 23, were each charged with supplying liquor to minors, Mr. Tracy said in a statement.... The family of Mr. Martinez said in a statement ... it was 'deeply disappointed' that hazing charges were not filed. 'The Pullman Police Department allowed the statute of limitations for that charge to expire,' the family's statement said. 'That's despite the fact that Pullman police found substantial evidence of hazing that would have supported hazing charges.'"

The Commentariat -- June 3, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced Thursday the U.S. will donate 75% of its unused COVID-19 vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program, acting as more Americans have been vaccinated and global inequities have become more glaring. Of the first tranche of 25 million doses, the White House said about 19 million will go to COVAX, with approximately 6 million for South and Central America, 7 million for Asia and 5 million for Africa. The doses mark a substantial -- and immediate -- boost to the lagging COVAX effort, which to date has shared just 76 million doses with needy countries. Overall, the White House aims to share 80 million doses globally by the end of June, most through COVAX. But 25% of the nation's excess will be kept in reserve for emergencies and for the U.S. to share directly with allies and partners."

Seung Min Kim & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "President Biden signaled at a private meeting on Wednesday that he would be open to significant revisions on the size of his infrastructure package and how it would be paid for in order win Republican backing, outlining a plan for about $1 trillion in new spending financed through tax changes that do not appear to raise the top corporate rate. While Biden has not abandoned his support for the tax increase generally, believing profitable companies must pay their fair share, the moves still mark a potential new concession in stalled talks over funding to improve the country's roads, bridges, pipes and ports.... In his meeting with the GOP's top negotiator, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Biden raised the possibility he could take the proposed increase off the table in an attempt to broker a compromise.... The president still intends to seek the tax increase, [a] source said, meaning the White House could pursue the policy outside of infrastructure talks -- or in the case that bipartisan negotiations ultimately collapse." A USA Today story is here.

The Biden Way: Engage the Jackass. Tyler Pager & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "President Biden recently called former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, a Democrat who has been openly critical of his economic agenda, to acknowledge Summers's concerns and ask him to explain his objections.... Summers has engaged in increasingly bitter disagreements with White House aides.... Summers -- a treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, top economic adviser to President Barack Obama and former president of Harvard University -- is a prominent Democratic voice on economic matters. But he has also become a nemesis of the party's left flank, which sees him as representative of a misguided centrism that Democrats have moved beyond. Summers has been warning that Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package is too big and will overheat the economy...."

John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Vice President Harris announced Thursday that the Biden administration is making available $1 billion in grants to improve high-speed Internet on tribal lands and argued that passage of an infrastructure proposal pending in Congress would help many others across the country who lack the benefits of broadband. The event follows President Biden's meeting at the White House on Wednesday with a key Republican negotiator on infrastructure."

Jeanne Whalen & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration is expanding a Trump-era order that banned U.S. investment in Chinese companies that it said support China's military to include those selling surveillance technology, calling the entities a threat to U.S. interests and values. A new executive order set for release Thursday broadens prohibitions that the Donald Trump administration enacted and moves authority for the ban to the Treasury Department, from the Defense Department, to give it stronger legal grounding, senior administration officials said."

Amanda Macias & Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "The Biden administration is urging corporate executives and business leaders to take immediate steps to prepare for ransomware attacks, warning in a new memo that cybercriminals are shifting from stealing data to disrupting core operations. 'The threats are serious and they are increasing,' wrote Anne Neuberger, President Joe Biden's deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, in a June 2 memo obtained by CNBC from the White House. 'The private sector also has a critical responsibility to protect against these threats. All organizations must recognize that no company is safe from being targeted by ransomware, regardless of size or location,' Neuberger wrote."

Ohio. Local American Legion Cuts Mic so Colonel Couldn't Give Credit to Black Americans for Celebrating the First Memorial Day. Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter was midway through his speech at a Memorial Day ceremony in an Ohio cemetery when he started discussing the role that freed Black enslaved people played in an early event honoring Civil War dead.... The disruption was no glitch. One of the event's organizers later admitted the audio had been deliberately turned down, telling the Akron Beacon Journal that Kemter's discussion of Black history 'was not relevant to our program for the day. We asked him to modify his speech, and he chose not to do that,' Cindy Suchan, president of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, told the Beacon Journal.... The Ohio American Legion said it is investigating the incident." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Kemter is 77 years old, served as a medic, and looks white to me. Not the picture of a "radical" BLM "rioter" his censors probably envision. But the very idea that lovely white people had gathered to celebrate a holiday started by Black people was just too much for them to handle. This is racism in its most petty form. I'm sure Cindy there thinks she's the paragon of civic engagement & a great credit to her community. With all due respect, she's an embarrassing pile of crap. ~~~

     ~~~ "White Fragility." Paul Campos in LG&$: "Just as was the case with the original complaints about PC culture, this is all a massive case of projection by the proponents of the original and still by far most dominant form of political correctness in this country, which is simply white supremacy in all its guises, overt and covert. That form of PC/Cancel Culture is based on the fundamental axiom that making a white person feel bad about being white is the very worst form of racism there is -- in fact it's pretty much the only real form of racism that still exists...." Campos republishes much of the WashPo story.

More News from the Most Corrupt Administration Evah: ~~~

~~~ Louie, Louie, Oh No. Matt Zapotosky & Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in connection with campaign fundraising activity involving his former business, according to people familiar with the matter and a spokesman for DeJoy. FBI agents in recent weeks interviewed current and former employees of DeJoy and the business, asking questions about political contributions and company activities, these people said. Prosecutors also issued a subpoena to DeJoy himself for information, one of the people said.... in early September, The Washington Post published an extensive examination of how employees at DeJoy's former company, North Carolina-based New Breed Logistics, alleged they were pressured by DeJoy or his aides to attend political fundraisers or make contributions to Republican candidates, and then were paid back through bonuses. Such reimbursements could run afoul of state or federal laws, which prohibit 'straw-donor' schemes meant to allow wealthy donors to evade individual contribution limits and obscure the source of a candidate's money." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story is here. As Katie Benner makes clear in her lede, DeJoy is being investigated for a crime, not a civil offense. Politico's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Joe Goes Nuclear. Lara Seligman, et al., of Politico: "President Joe Biden ran on a platform opposing new nuclear weapons, but his first defense budget backs two controversial new projects put in motion by ... Donald Trump and also doubles down on the wholesale upgrade of all three legs of the arsenal. The decision to retain a low-yield warhead that was outfitted on submarine-launched ballistic missiles in 2019, and to initiate research into a new sea-launched cruise missile, has sparked an outcry from arms control advocates and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which is vowing a fight to reverse the momentum.... [Rep. Ro] Khanna [D-Calif.] and other Democrats are spoiling for a fight over nuclear funding in the coming months, including slashing money for a new fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles and the new sea-launched missiles."

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Nearing a self-imposed deadline for a bipartisan infrastructure deal, President Biden met again on Wednesday with the lead Republican negotiator to try to resolve major differences over the size, structure and financing of an expansive public-works plan. The roughly hourlong meeting in the Oval Office between Mr. Biden and Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia, did not end with any public breakthroughs, but they agreed to continue their discussions on Friday."

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: President Biden "had some harsh words [Tuesday] for Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, whose support for the filibuster is preventing Senate Democrats from passing bills that would block Republican efforts to dismantle fair election systems.... As much as political Twitter would like to believe otherwise, shaming is not, in fact, an effective persuasion technique.... The only real hope that it works lays in the fact that Manchin and Sinema have spent months getting attention for being the holdouts. This likely means they can no longer bask in the ego boost from having the president and others cajole and plead for them to do the right thing.... But it's a troubling sign that Democrats are at the end of the line, seemingly short on strategies to save American democracy. Everything now depends on two people, both who seem unbelievably pigheaded and egotistical, to grow up and start acting like they care about the people who got them elected." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Psaki Says a Very Spicer Thing. Molly Nagle & Libby Cathey of ABC News: "White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday denied President Joe Biden was criticizing Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., during remarks the day before in Tulsa, when he jabbed that two Senate Democrats vote more with Republicans than they do their own party.... [In explaining why he could get his proposed legislation passed, Biden said,] 'Well, because Biden only has a majority of, effectively, four votes in the House and a tie in the Senate, with two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends.'" MB: C'mon, Jen, you can do better.

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has effectively ruled that only one more automatic budget reconciliation is permissible this year, dealing a blow to Democrats who previously thought they would have two more chances to sidestep Republicans in advancing President Biden's agenda. MacDonough ruled that a revision to the 2021 budget resolution cannot be automatically discharged from the Senate Budget Committee, meaning Democrats would need at least one Republican on the 11-11 panel to vote with them." MB: Change the rule, ladies & gentlemen. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Charlie Savage & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Trump Justice Department secretly seized the phone records of four New York Times reporters spanning nearly four months in 2017 as part of a leak investigation, the Biden administration disclosed on Wednesday. It was the latest in a series of revelations about the Trump administration secretly obtaining reporters' communications records in an effort to uncover their sources. Last month, the Biden Justice Department disclosed Trump-era seizures of the phone logs of reporters who work for The Washington Post and the phone and email logs for a CNN reporter. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, condemned the action by the Trump administration.... Last month, after the disclosures about the seizures of communications records involving Post and CNN reporters, President Biden said he would not allow the department to take such a step during his administration...." Trump's DOJ seized phone records fro January 14 to April 30, 2017, "for four Times reporters: Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eric Lichtblau and Michael S. Schmidt. The government also secured a court order to seize logs -- but not contents -- of their emails, it said, but 'no records were obtained.'" ~~~

     ~~~ MB: It's odd Jefferson Beauregard Sessions didn't know about the First Amendment. I checked, and freedom of the press appears in the Confederate Constitution, too. So JeffBo should have known about it.

To the Moon Venus, Alice. Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "... on Wednesday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the space agency would set its sights on a world that has not received much attention in decades: Venus, the fiery mystery of a planet that is Earth's closest planetary neighbor. In an address at NASA headquarters, Nelson said the agency would send not one but two missions there in an effort hailed by scientists as long overdue. NASA has not sent a probe to Venus in more than 30 years.... Though Venus is 'hot, hellish and unforgiving' in NASA's words, it has 'so many characteristics similar to ours.'" MB: "Hot, hellish & unforigiving"? I predict the probes will discover that Venus once had a thriving humanoid culture, but the Venusites ignored climate change and it killed them all off.

Marc Caputo of Politico: "Federal prosecutors are examining whether Rep. Matt Gaetz obstructed justice during a phone call he had with a witness in the sex-crimes investigation of the Florida congressman, according to two sources familiar with the case. The witness in question was one of a handful of women who entered Gaetz's orbit via his one-time 'wingman,' former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty last month to a host of crimes, including sex-trafficking a 17-year-old in 2017. The obstruction inquiry stems from a phone call the witness had with Gaetz's ex-girlfriend. At some point during the conversation, the ex-girlfriend patched Gaetz into the call, sources said. While it's unknown exactly what was said, the discussion on that call is central to whether prosecutors can charge Gaetz with obstructing justice, which makes it illegal to suggest that a witness in a criminal case lie or give misleading testimony. The witness later spoke with prosecutors...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For Matt, lying seems to be a way of life. So it's hardly surprising he might encourage others to lie for him, too. In his defense, if you lie every day as a matter of course, it's hard to notice when those lies might cross a line into criminality. Such nuance, you may know, is not Matt's thing.

Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post names "the 139 Republicans who lied, fueled an insurrection and then voted to cover it up.... Why would any U.S. senator or member of Congress oppose an independent commission to investigate what led to a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol ― one aimed squarely at undermining American democracy and the peaceful transfer of power?... Most of these Republicans lied about the presidential election being stolen from Donald Trump. That lie helped motivate a white supremacist mob of Trump's supporters to smash their way into the Capitol ― some with plans to kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Vice President Mike Pence and others ― to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's electoral win. Republicans >don't want a respected panel of experts publicly connecting these dots heading into the 2022 elections. They also don't want to get on Trump's bad side by supporting a commission that would show, in detail, how his lie incited an attack on democracy that left five people dead, hundreds of police officers injured and countless others traumatized. It gets uglier. Their party is counting on people to keep believing the lie."

Ben Leonard of Politico: "Former special counsel Robert Mueller will take part in a University of Virginia law school class covering his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential ties to the Trump campaign, the school announced Wednesday. Mueller, who graduated from the school in 1973, will lead "at least one class" of the course, which is being taught by three former senior Mueller team members, including deputy special counsel Aaron Zebley, according to a release from the school. The 'short' class, called 'The Mueller Report and the Role of the Special Counsel,' will be taught in person this fall." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Remember the Olive Oil! Chandelis Duster & Barbara Starr of CNN: "The US military has issued an apology after soldiers accidentally stormed a factory in Bulgaria that produces processing machinery for olive oil during a training exercise last month.... Bulgarian President Rumen Radev condemned the incident and said he expects there will be an investigation, CNN affiliate Nova TV reported Monday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Shocking News! Trump Subpoenaed for Misplaced Comma. Elizabeth Dye of Above the Law: Eric Trump confirmed the existence of investigations into the Trump Organization, which he "runs," when he appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox "News" show Tuesday night: "'Listen, I'm on the receiving end of it every single day,' he said, almost tearing up in righteous indignation. 'My father gets subpoena after subpoena. We do as a family.'... 'They look for any single comma that's out of place.... Every single day my family is attacked.'" And, so, forth. MB: Oops! Now I'll be subpoenaed, too. Damned commas.

A Florida Man Lost His Job, His Home & His Mind. Josh Dawsey & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump remains relentlessly focused on the false claim that the November election was stolen from him and is increasingly consumed with the notion that ballot reviews pushed by his supporters around the country could prove that he won, according to people familiar with his comments. Trump has rebuffed calls from some advisers to drop the matter, instead fixating on an ongoing Republican-commissioned audit in Arizona and plotting how to secure election reviews in other states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Georgia, according to advisers.... Trump's interest has been fueled by conversations he has had with an array of figures who have publicly touted false claims of election fraud.... Trump has become so fixated on the audits that he suggested recently to allies that their success could result in his return to the White House this year...." ~~~

~~~ Uneasy Lies the Head that Wore a Crown. My Pillow Guy Takes Credit for Trump's Soft Head. Will Sommer & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump now has the notion in his head that he could return to the White House in August. But the twice-impeached former president isn't getting that idea from constitutional scholars or his attorneys. Instead, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell apparently inspired him. 'If Trump is saying August, that is probably because he heard me say it publicly,' Lindell told The Daily Beast on Wednesday.... In the past few weeks..., [Trump has] claimed that a lot of 'highly respected' people -- who[m] Trump did not name -- have been saying it's possible [he'll be the sitting president by August]."

Donald Dumps Desk. Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "Former President Donald Trump's blog -- a webpage where he shared statements after larger social media companies banned him from their platforms -- has been permanently shut down, his spokesman said Wednesday. The page 'From the Desk of Donald J. Trump' has been scrubbed from Trump's website after going live less than a month earlier." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Drew Harwell & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Upset by reports from The Washington Post and other outlets highlighting its measly readership and concerns that it could detract from a social media platform he wants to launch later this year, Trump ordered his team Tuesday to put the blog out of its misery, advisers said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Nicole Perlroth, et al., of the New York Times: "The perpetrators of a ransomware attack that shut down some operations at the world's largest meat processor this week was a Russian-based cybercriminal group known for its attacks on prominent American companies, the F.B.I. said Wednesday. The group, known as REvil, is one of the most prolific of the roughly 40 ransomware organizations that cybersecurity experts track and has been identified as responsible for a coordinated strike against operations in almost two dozen Texas cities in 2019. The group is among dozens of ransomware groups that enjoy safe harbor in Russia, where they are rarely arrested or extradited for their crimes. REvil, which stands for Ransomware Evil, is known as a 'ransomware as a service' organization, meaning it leases its ransomware to other criminals, even the technically inept.... Production began to resume at nine JBS beef plants in the United States on Wednesday.... Union officials said Wednesday that beef plants were operational but were not at full capacity yet."

Christina Goldbaum & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "A hacking group believed to have links to the Chinese government penetrated [New York City's] Metropolitan Transportation Authority's computer systems in April, exposing vulnerabilities in a vast transportation network that carries millions of people every day, according to an M.T.A. document that outlined the breach. The hackers did not gain access to systems that control train cars and rider safety was not at risk, transit officials said, adding that the intrusion appeared to have done little, if any, damage."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

NEW. Libby Cathey of ABC News: "President Joe Biden on Wednesday declared June a 'national month of action' to mobilize even more Americans to get vaccinated by July Fourth, in order to enjoy what he called 'a summer of freedom.' With the help of vaccinations, Biden said, Americans are headed into a summer vastly different from last year.... He also sent a warning. 'For all the progress we're making as a country, if you're unvaccinated, you are still at risk of getting seriously ill or dying or spreading disease to others,' he continued." Includes video.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "Global headlines reflected the anger of death camp survivors and others after The Guardian published documents showing [Arizona] planned to return to the use of hydrogen cyanide, a gas associated with what the Nazis called Zyklon B."

California. Stanford U. Law School Suddenly Learns about First Amendment. Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "A 3L at Stanford Law sent out this very funny satirical flyer after the Trump/Hawley/Cruz/McCarthy Sedition Riots[.]... Alas, some dipshits in the [Standford Federalist Society] took some time off their complaints about CANCEL CULTURE to write a long whiny email to the authorities falsely claiming that the satirical poster was defamatory, which is currently preventing the student from graduating[.]... The real villains here are the Stanford administration for materially punishing a student for expressive acts protected by both California law and basic principles of free speech.... UPDATE: Stanford ultimately did the right thing, but for the Stanford Federalist Society the disgrace is permanent[.]" Stanford Law will now allow Nicholas Wallace, the student with the sense of humor, to graduate. Lemieux's post includes Wallace's flyer and extensively sites Slate stories on this immensely stupid incident.

Florida. Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: A Florida man in Palm Beach County is invoking the state's infamous "stand your ground" law to defend torturing and murdering ... an iguana. "Circuit Judge Jeffrey Dana Gillen on Friday rejected [the] argument, the South Florida Sun Sentinel first reported.... Green iguanas are considered an invasive species in Florida. State law allows people to 'humanely' kill them on private property -- a guideline generally interpreted to mean that the animal must die instantly and without suffering, the Sun Sentinel reported." The Florida man allegedly allegedly kicked, tossed and stepped on the iguana until it was near death. And no, this particular Palm Beach area Florida man is not the mass murderer you maybe thinking of.

Minnesota. Chauvin Murdered George Floyd Because "Broken System." Blake Montgomery of the Daily Beast: "Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd, has requested a judge reduce his sentence to time served or probation. In a motion filed Wednesday, Chauvin's lawyers wrote, 'Mr. Chauvin asks the Court to look beyond its findings, to his background, his lack of criminal history, his amenability to probation, to the unusual facts of this case, and to his being a product of a "broken" system."'" MB: Uh, yeah, the system is broken, and Derek there was the system. You may have heard of "systemic racism," Derek. Whatever made you think it was okay to murder a Black man in broad daylight in front of numerous witnesses because the man might have committed a petty crime is no doubt a piece of systemic racism.

New Mexico. Running for Public Office Is Difficult. AP: "A New Mexico sheriff who is running for mayor of Albuquerque was interrupted while on stage at a campaign event by a flying drone with a sex toy attached to it and a man who punched him.... The Albuquerque Journal reported that a video posted on Facebook shows [Bernalillo County (includes Albuquerque) Sheriff Manuel] Gonzales [D] answering questions from the audience while standing on a stage at an events center when the drone bearing the sex toy started buzzing near the stage. A sheriff's office report said ... 20-year-old Kaelan Ashby Dreyer unsuccessfully tried to grab [the drone.] The report said Dreyer then turned his attention to Gonzales, swinging his fist and calling him a 'tyrant.' A deputy wrote that Dreyer punched Gonzales' hands and was then removed from the event by deputies."

New York. Marina Villeneuve of the AP: "Taxpayers are set to foot the bill for a $2.5 million contract for lawyers representing Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office in an ongoing federal investigation over his administration's handling of COVID-19 data in nursing homes, the governor said Wednesday.... The Department of Justice and state Attorney General's office have launched probes of such allegations, while the state Assembly judiciary committee's separate investigation is also considering whether there are grounds to impeach Cuomo."

South Dakota. Rae Yost of KELO (Sioux Falls): "A federal court has ruled there will be no Fourth of July fireworks at Mount Rushmore. Judge Roberto A. Lange said [Wednesday] in the ruling that ... the state did not meet requirements for him to rule in [Gov. Kristi] Noem [R] and the state’s favor. In a post on her Governor's Twitter Account, Noem said 'The Biden Administration cancelled South Dakota's Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on completely arbitrary grounds. I am disappointed the court gave cover to this unlawful action with today's decision.'... Noem said in the Twitter post that her legal team will appeal in the pursuit of fireworks in 2022."

Way Beyond

Iran. Amir Vahdat & Jon Gambrell of the AP: "The largest warship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances.... State media reported 400 sailors and trainee cadets on board fled the vessel, with 33 suffering injuries.... Meanwhile, a massive fire broke out Wednesday night at the oil refinery serving Iran's capital, sending thick plumes of black smoke over Tehran.... The fire Wednesday aboard the Kharg warship follows a series of mysterious explosions that began in 2019 targeting commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines, timed explosives typically attached by divers to a vessel's hull." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Israel. Josef Federman of the AP: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents on Wednesday announced they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader. The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came shortly before a midnight deadline and prevented the country from plunging into what would have been its fifth consecutive election in just over two years.... The agreement still needs to be approved by the Knesset, or parliament, in a vote that is expected to take place early next week. If it goes through, Lapid and a diverse array of partners that span the Israeli political spectrum will end the record-setting 12-year rule of Netanyahu. Netanyahu, desperate to remain in office while he fights corruption charges, is expected to do everything possible in the coming days to prevent the new coalition from taking power." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments in Israel's power struggle: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled early Thursday that he would not go down without a struggle. He called on lawmakers to oppose 'this dangerous left-wing government.'"

U.K. David Pegg & Rob Evans of the Guardian: The Queen's courtiers banned 'coloured immigrants or foreigners' from serving in clerical roles in the royal household until at least the late 1960s, according to newly discovered documents that will reignite the debate over the British royal family and race. The documents also shed light on how Buckingham Palace negotiated controversial clauses -- that remain in place to this day -- exempting the Queen and her household from laws that prevent race and sex discrimination.... The Queen has remained personally exempted from those equality laws for more than four decades. The exemption has made it impossible for women or people from ethnic minorities working for her household to complain to the courts if they believe they have been discriminated against." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

New York Times: "F. Lee Bailey, the theatrical criminal lawyer who invited juries into the twilight zone of reasonable doubt in defense of Patricia Hearst , O.J. Simpson, the Boston Strangler, the army commander at the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam and other notorious cases, died on Thursday in Atlanta. He was 87."

The Commentariat -- June 2, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: President Biden "had some harsh words [Tuesday] for Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, whose support for the filibuster is preventing Senate Democrats from passing bills that would block Republican efforts to dismantle fair election systems.... As much as political Twitter would like to believe otherwise, shaming is not, in fact, an effective persuasion technique.... The only real hope that it works lays in the fact that Manchin and Sinema have spent months getting attention for being the holdouts. This likely means they can no longer bask in the ego boost from having the president and others cajole and plead for them to do the right thing.... But it's a troubling sign that Democrats are at the end of the line, seemingly short on strategies to save American democracy. Everything now depends on two people, both who seem unbelievably pigheaded and egotistical, to grow up and start acting like they care about the people who got them elected." ~~~

~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has effectively ruled that only one more automatic budget reconciliation is permissible this year, dealing a blow to Democrats who previously thought they would have two more chances to sidestep Republicans in advancing President Biden's agenda. MacDonough ruled that a revision to the 2021 budget resolution cannot be automatically discharged from the Senate Budget Committee, meaning Democrats would need at least one Republican on the 11-11 panel to vote with them." MB: Change the rule, ladies & gentlemen.

Ben Leonard of Politico: "Former special counsel Robert Mueller will take part in a University of Virginia law school class covering his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential ties to the Trump campaign, the school announced Wednesday. Mueller, who graduated from the school in 1973, will lead "at least one class" of the course, which is being taught by three former senior Mueller team members, including deputy special counsel Aaron Zebley, according to a release from the school. The 'short' class, called 'The Mueller Report and the Role of the Special Counsel,' will be taught in person this fall."

Remember the Olive Oil! Chandelis Duster & Barbara Starr of CNN: "The US military has issued an apology after soldiers accidentally stormed a factory in Bulgaria that produces processing machinery for olive oil during a training exercise last month.... Bulgarian President Rumen Radev condemned the incident and said he expects there will be an investigation, CNN affiliate Nova TV reported Monday."

Donald Dumps Desk. Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “Former President Donald Trump’s blog — a webpage where he shared statements after larger social media companies banned him from their platforms — has been permanently shut down, his spokesman said Wednesday. The page 'From the Desk of Donald J. Trump' has been scrubbed from Trump’s website after going live less than a month earlier.” ~~~

     ~~~ Drew Harwell & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Upset by reports from The Washington Post and other outlets highlighting its measly readership and concerns that it could detract from a social media platform he wants to launch later this year, Trump ordered his team Tuesday to put the blog out of its misery, advisers said."

Iran. Amir Vahdat & Jon Gambrell of the AP: "The largest warship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances.... State media reported 400 sailors and trainee cadets on board fled the vessel, with 33 suffering injuries.... Meanwhile, a massive fire broke out Wednesday night at the oil refinery serving Iran’s capital, sending thick plumes of black smoke over Tehran.... The fire Wednesday aboard the Kharg warship follows a series of mysterious explosions that began in 2019 targeting commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines, timed explosives typically attached by divers to a vessel’s hull."

** Israel. Josef Federman of the AP: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents on Wednesday announced they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader. The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came shortly before a midnight deadline and prevented the country from plunging into what would have been its fifth consecutive election in just over two years.... The agreement still needs to be approved by the Knesset, or parliament, in a vote that is expected to take place early next week. If it goes through, Lapid and a diverse array of partners that span the Israeli political spectrum will end the record-setting 12-year rule of Netanyahu. Netanyahu, desperate to remain in office while he fights corruption charges, is expected to do everything possible in the coming days to prevent the new coalition from taking power."

U.K. David Pegg & Rob Evans of the Guardian: “The Queen’s courtiers banned 'coloured immigrants or foreigners' from serving in clerical roles in the royal household until at least the late 1960s, according to newly discovered documents that will reignite the debate over the British royal family and race. The documents also shed light on how Buckingham Palace negotiated controversial clauses – that remain in place to this day – exempting the Queen and her household from laws that prevent race and sex discrimination.... The Queen has remained personally exempted from those equality laws for more than four decades. The exemption has made it impossible for women or people from ethnic minorities working for her household to complain to the courts if they believe they have been discriminated against.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Katie Rogers & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "A century after a white mob destroyed a vibrant African American community in Tulsa, Okla..., President Biden ... visited the area to address ... one of the worst outbreaks of racist violence in the United States but was largely ignored in history books.... Mr. Biden ... recalled in detail the horror that occurred.... The president’s visit was also intended to highlight steps his administration is taking to close the wealth gap between Black and white people in the United States.... Administration officials on Monday detailed efforts to direct more federal spending to small and minority-owned businesses, fair housing enhancements and programs intended to repair the damage to neighborhoods divided by transportation projects.... Before he delivered remarks, he met privately with survivors of the massacre, each between the ages of 101 and 107, whom he mentioned throughout his speech." ~~~

~~~ Marie: At long last, many influential politicians, intellectuals & pundits, from the President on down, are beginning to grasp -- and say out loud -- what I've been arguing for some time: Republicans are determined to destroy our democracy. They're on overdrive in today's news. Even CNN's morning show is leading with Donald Trump's dreams of reinstatement (story linked below). ~~~

~~~ Biden Elevates Harris, Knocks Manchin & Sinema. Katie Rogers of the New York Times: “President Biden said on Tuesday that he had directed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead Democrats in a sweeping legislative effort to protect voting rights, an issue that is critical to his legacy but one that faces increasingly daunting odds in a divided Senate.... In Tulsa, Mr. Biden seemed to express open frustration at the odds facing the bill — and at the Democratic lawmakers who may stand in the way of its success. 'I hear all the folks on TV saying, “Why doesn’t Biden get this done”?' the president said. 'Well, because Biden only has a majority of effectively four votes in the House and a tie in the Senate, with two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends,' a likely swipe at [Senator Joe] Manchin [of West Virginia] and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona....” ~~~

~~~ President Biden begins speaking at about 4:00 minutes in: ~~~

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: “... in a striking intervention, more than 100 scholars of democracy have signed a new public statement of principles that seeks to make the stakes unambiguously, jarringly clear: On the line is nothing less than the future of our democracy itself.... And these scholars underscore the crucial point: Our democracy’s long-term viability might depend on whether Democrats reform or kill the filibuster to pass sweeping voting rights protections. 'We urge members of Congress to do whatever is necessary — including suspending the filibuster — in order to pass national voting and election administration standards,' the scholars write....”

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: On the very day that Republicans like Mitch McConnell declared, “'I’m looking forward not backward,' Republicans took two giant steps backward.... In Texas, the Republican-controlled legislature tried to ram through a bill so flagrantly restricting the ability of Blacks and Latinos to vote that it wouldn’t have been entirely out of place in the Jim Crow era.... Also Sunday, and also in Texas..., Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, told a gathering of QAnon followers that a military coup 'should' happen in the United States. (Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell earlier told the assembly that Trump could be 'reinstated.') Taking the stage at the same conference were Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) and state Republican Party Chairman Allen West, a former congressman. Gohmert ... posed with a self-proclaimed participant in the insurrection.... After a social media uproar, Flynn later walked back his endorsement of the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. But he offered no such retreat from the lies that caused the deadly attack on the Capitol. 'Trump won,' he told the QAnon faithful. 'He won the popular vote, and he won the electoral college vote.' And that would be true — if you counted only the votes of White people.” ~~~

~~~ Conservative Max Boot of the Washington Post: “Republicans have spent nearly seven months making bogus charges of fraud in the 2020 election under the banner of 'stop the steal.' Now they have segued into a 'start the steal' offensive to ensure that they will win the 2022 and 2024 elections — even if most voters once again support the Democratic Party. The Brennan Center for Justice reports that 'between January 1 and May 14, 2021, at least 14 states enacted 22 new laws that restrict access to the vote' and 'at least 61 bills with restrictive provisions are moving through 18 state legislatures.' Those bills are designed not to avert nonexistent voter fraud but to avert another election defeat for Republicans — and they are drawing perilously close to that goal.... This brings us to a nightmare scenario: a Republican-controlled Congress overturning the 2024 presidential election results to install Trump or a Trump mini-me in the White House.” ~~~

~~~ Conservative Matt Lewis of the Daily Beast: “It Can’t Happen Here is a dystopian novel about the rise of an American dictator that Sinclair Lewis wrote in 1935. It Should Happen Here,' is an even more dystopian idea, authored by Mike Flynn in 2021, and it’s non-fiction.... This is a former general and national security adviser endorsing a military coup to overthrow a democratic election, depose Joe Biden, and install Donald Trump as president.... Lewis describes [the main character Buzz Windrip] as 'a Professional Common Man' who was 'vulgar, almost illiterate,' and 'a public liar easily detected.' Sound familiar?... If there’s a character resembling Flynn, it would be Herbert Y. Edgeways, the general who rails against 'college professors, newspapermen, and notorious authors.'... Edgeways says he’d like to come out and tell the whole world, 'Now you boys never mind about the moral side of this. We have power, and power is its own excuse!'... How do we preserve this precious democracy when a good chunk of Americans are actively rooting for a democratic election to be forcefully overthrown, and that chunk is over-represented at the upper-echelon of one of the two major political parties whose 'leaders' are too weak or too addled to stand up to this madness?” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Never noticed till today that Buzz's last name is not "Win-drip" but "Wind-rip." Clearly, (Sinclair) Lewis meant to call his irredeemable anti-hero "BuzzFart." I'll bet the schoolboys forced to read the novel couldn't stop snickering. BTW, I had to sign up for a "free, 30-day trial" to access the article. I assume that at the end of this period of grace, the Beast will once again be inaccessible to me.

** Susie Madrak, writing in Crooks & Liars, goes a'Twitter-winnowing, and puts together tweets from people we know are not Chicken Little sky-is-falling alarmists. I'm cherrypicking excerpts that summarize the situation: "A general who served at the highest levels of intel, then nat security for Trump, who colluded w Russia + planned a rendition w Turkey, is openly talking of a coup.... Cover w the gravity it merits." -- Cliff Schecter; "Trump has been telling a number of people he’s in contact with that he expects he will get reinstated by August." -- Maggie Haberman; "I think it's a grave mistake for people to dismiss Trump's plan to resume power in August as the rantings of a madman." -- Marcy Wheeler. AND Arieh Kovler, who on December 21 predicted the January 6 insurrection, adds, "The United States is just one Trump statement away from a civil war.... If he calls for people to rise up they will." Thanks to unwashed for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One wag wondered why Republicans voted against a January 6 commission when they said the insurrectionists were all violent, far-left antifa adherents dressed up as Trumpsters. ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Campos, in LG&$, responds to Trump's prognostication: "The savvy response to this kind of thing is that of course he doesn’t believe it, it’s just part of an eleventydimensional scheme to A B and C, etc. The truth is probably simpler: Donald Trump is a deranged old man who genuinely believes some completely crazy things." MB: It remains to be seen if Trump will act on his dream, but he might. If he does, someone will have to lock him up in a very secure location & take away his big Sharpie. Because, as Matt Lewis reiterates, 15 percent of Americans believes they should act upon his fever dreams.

Coral Davenport, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, unspooling a signature achievement of the Trump presidency and delivering on a promise by President Biden to protect the fragile Alaskan tundra from fossil fuel extraction. The decision sets up a process that could halt drilling in one of the largest tracts of untouched wilderness in the United States.... A formal order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland paused the leases until her agency has completed an environmental analysis of their impact and a legal review of the Trump administration’s decision to grant them.... Still, the ... administration has only committed to reviewing the Trump leases, not canceling them. If it determines that the leases were granted illegally, it could then have legal grounds to cancel them.... Alaskan elected officials were livid.... Environmentalists have criticized moves by the White House last month to legally defend a major drilling project elsewhere in Alaska, to pass on an opportunity to block the contentious Dakota Access oil pipeline, and to support a Trump-era decision to grant oil and gas leases on public land in Wyoming."

Mary Jalonick of the AP: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is ruling out a presidential commission to study the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, telling House Democrats on Tuesday that having President Joe Biden appoint a panel is unworkable even after the Senate blocked an independent probe last week. Pelosi laid out possible next steps after Friday’s Senate vote, in which Senate Republicans blocked legislation to create an independent, bipartisan panel.... She proposed four options for an investigation of the attack, according to a person on the private Democratic caucus call.... But the speaker said she believed a commission appointed by Biden — an idea pitched by some in her caucus after Friday’s Senate vote — was 'not a workable idea in this circumstance' because Congress would still need to approve money and subpoena authority for the panel.... On Friday, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters..., 'We will continue to work with Congress to find a path forward to ensure that [an investigation] happens.'...”

New Mexico Congressional Race. Susan Bryan & Morgan Lee of the AP: "Democrat Melanie Stansbury has won election to Congress for New Mexico to fill a vacant seat previously held by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Stanbury prevailed Tuesday in a four-way race after campaigning in support of major initiatives of the Biden administration.... Stansbury defeated third-term Republican state Sen. Mark Moores to fill an Albuquerque-based seat that has been held by Democrats since 2009." MB: According to MSNBC Tuesday night, Stansbury is running well ahead of expectations, though only a portion of the votes have been counted. The Washington Post has vote totals here. The WashPo report on the results, by Dave Weigel, is here. The New York Times report, by Jonathan Martin, is here.

Jonathan O'Connell & Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump’s company has again hired a broker to sell the lease to its D.C. hotel, according to two people familiar with the discussions, a second attempt to unload the property after the pandemic thwarted a previous effort." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Trump Continues to Piss on Taxpayers. Justin Rohrlich of the Daily Beast: “The Secret Service is spending nearly $35,000 to rent portable toilets for the next four months in Bedminster, New Jersey — where ... Donald Trump is reportedly summering — according to federal procurement data reviewed by The Daily Beast.... 'Even now, taxpayers continue to spend many thousands of dollars to facilitate Donald Trump's businesses,' Noah Bookbinder, executive director of ... [CREW] ..., told The Daily Beast. '... Forcing taxpayers to spend all of this money for porta potties at a business that surely has sufficient bathrooms is confounding.'... After Trump was elected in 2016, controversy over pricey bathroom leases began to follow the president’s family like an unpleasant odor. When ... Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner moved into their new home in Washington, D.C., the Secret Service agents assigned to protect them were told the half-dozen bathrooms inside the couple’s house were off-limits to them. Instead, American taxpayers were forced to spend $3,000 per month -- more than $100,000, in all — to rent a nearby studio apartment so agents could use its bathroom during their shifts.” MB: The Bedminster outhouses are not just any plastic outhouses. According to the vendor, their product provides “an upscale, portable restroom experience.”

Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: “The tabloid publishing company that paid $150,000 to a former Playboy model in 2016 to suppress her account of an alleged affair with Donald J. Trump, then a presidential candidate, has agreed pay $187,500 to the Federal Election Commission to settle accusations that the company violated campaign finance law in making the payment. The commission found that the firm, American Media Inc., and its former chief executive, David J. Pecker, had 'knowingly and willfully' violated campaign laws by secretly routing the $150,000 payment to the former model, Karen McDougal, in coordination with senior officials with the Trump campaign, including Michael D. Cohen, who served as Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer at the time.” The Hill's story is here.

Where's the Beef? And the Pork? And the Chicken? Julie Creswell, et al., of the New York Times: “A cyberattack on the world’s largest meat processor forced the shutdown of nine beef plants in the United States on Tuesday, according to union officials, and disrupted production at poultry and pork plants. The attack could upset the nation’s meat markets and raises new questions about the vulnerability of critical American businesses. The company, JBS, said the majority of its plants would reopen on Wednesday. But even one day’s disruption at JBS could 'significantly impact' wholesale beef prices, according to analysts at Daily Livestock Report. The breach at JBS was a ransomware attack, the White House said.... JBS has said that it was the target of an 'organized cybersecurity attack' that affected systems in North America and Australia.... Karine Jean-Pierre, a White House deputy press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday that JBS had told the Biden administration that it was a ransomware attack, and that the ransom demand had come from 'a criminal organization likely based in Russia.'”

Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon: "Google’s head of diversity strategy said in a 2007 blog post that Jews have an 'insatiable appetite for war' and an 'insensitivity to the suffering [of] others.' The comments were part of a longer meditation from Kamau Bobb, now head of diversity strategy at Google, that also slammed Israel’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon that same year. Bobb was at the time a research associate in technology at Georgia Tech, according to his LinkedIn. The post, titled 'If I Were A Jew,' described how he believed Jewish people should view the Middle East conflict."

Samson Amore of the Wrap: “Tesla CEO Elon Musk continued to get the company into trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission last year because of his reckless Twitter habits, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported Tuesday that it had recently acquired documents from last May when the SEC wrote Tesla a letter chiding the company for not complying with a court order to review his social media posts. In 2019 and 2020 Musk posted several tweets about Tesla’s stock price and its solar roof production but the tweets were sent without 'required preapproval' from Tesla’s lawyers, the SEC said. According to the Journal the SEC sent at least two separate letters warning Tesla about Musk’s Twitter.”

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Jaclyn Diaz of NPR: "West Virginia is giving its vaccine incentive program a boost to get more residents immunized from the coronavirus, Gov. Jim Justice announced on Tuesday. All residents who get a COVID-19 vaccine will be enrolled in the chance to win a college scholarship, a tricked out truck, or hunting rifles, in addition to a $1.588 million grand prize. The program, which will run from June 20 through Aug. 4, will be paid for through federal pandemic relief funds." MB: Aren't we thrilled that our federal tax dollars are to be used to give rifles to vaccine skeptics.

Beyond the Beltway

Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Florida's Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is officially running for governor. The lone statewide elected Democrat announced on Tuesday that she will challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2022 after months of speculation about a potential gubernatorial bid.... Fried’s announcement sets her up for a primary battle against Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), himself a former governor who announced last month that he would make another run for his old job.... Beating DeSantis likely won’t prove easy, however. The governor is beloved by conservatives and has amassed a staggering warchest for his reelection bid."