The Commentariat -- February 27, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Bethan McKernan of the Guardian & Agencies: "Joe Biden has carried out his first military action as president, with airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed fighters in Syria, in what the Pentagon said was retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a US service member and other coalition troops. The overnight strikes killed 22 people after hitting three trucks loaded with munitions near the border town of Abu Kamal, a war monitor said on Friday." MB: A report I ran yesterday said at least one person was killed.

Matt Egan of CNN: "A former Republican operative who now leads one of the nation's most powerful business groups is praising President Joe Biden's efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. 'It is fantastic to have a partner in the White House,' Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, told CNN Business. 'We felt like we were fighting this fight, frankly, all alone for the last year.' NAM, which represents more than 130,000 manufacturers, announced Friday it is planning to partner with the Biden administration to help fight the pandemic. Timmons, who said his father died from Covid, criticized the Trump administration's track record on the health crisis."

Trump de Oro: Hecho en Mexico. Guardian: "A golden statue of Donald Trump that has caused a stir at the annual US gathering of conservatives was made in Mexico -- a country the former president frequently demonized. ~~~

~~~ Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "A former chair of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday slammed what the event has now become.... Mickey Edwards -- who led the American Conservative Union, which organizes the event, for five years until 1983 -- ripped Republicans attending this year's CPAC in Orlando for their devotion to ... Donald Trump. In an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett, Edwards likened the GOP to a cult whose members are living in an alternate reality. Edwards served as a GOP representative for Oklahoma for 16 years until 1993 but quit the GOP in January following the deadly U.S. Capitol riot."

Worse Than CPAC. Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "A sitting member of Congress appeared at a white nationalist convention Friday night, marking new GOP support for the racist movement. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) spoke in Orlando, Florida, at the America First Political Action conference, a far-right event meant to mimic the establishment Republican Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). After Gosar's speech, AFPAC organizer Nick Fuentes, who marched in the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville and was outside the Capitol with his supporters during the Jan. 6 riot, took the podium that warned that 'white people are done being bullied.' Fuentes praised the fatal riot as 'awesome,' describing it as 'light-hearted mischief.' He also mocked Gosar's colleague, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), for needing a wheelchair, saying Cawthorn couldn't 'stand up' for his constituents." ~~~

~~~ Addy Baird & Brianna Sacks of BuzzFeed News: Former students former Patrick Henry College, a small, Christian school in Northern Virginia, "said it didn't take long for women on campus to start warning one another: You don't want to be alone with [fellow student Madison Cawthorn], especially in his car. BuzzFeed News spoke with more than three dozen people ... who described or corroborated instances of sexual harassment and misconduct on campus, in Cawthorn's car, and at his house near campus. Four women told BuzzFeed News that Cawthorn, now a rising Republican star, was aggressive, misogynistic, or predatory toward them. Their allegations include calling them derogatory names in public in front of their peers, including calling one woman 'slutty,' asking them inappropriate questions about their sex lives, grabbing their thighs, forcing them to sit in his lap, and kissing and touching them without their consent.... According to more than a dozen people ... Cawthorn often used his car as a way to entrap and harass his women classmates, taking them on what he could call 'fun drives' off campus. Two said he would drive recklessly and ask them about their virginity and sexual experiences while they were locked in the moving vehicle." Madison became a student at the college when he was 21, so older than most of the women he allegedly harassed.

Keith Coffman of Reuters: "An avowed white supremacist was sentenced on Friday to 19-1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty months ago to a federal hate-crimes case stemming from a botched plot to bomb a historic Colorado synagogue in 2019. Richard Holzer, 28, appeared in a federal courtroom in Denver for a sentencing that capped an undercover FBI investigation of a plan to blow up Temple Emanuel in Pueblo, Colorado, the second-oldest synagogue in the state. Although the plot was thwarted, U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore said Holzer had sought 'to terrorize the Jewish community' of Pueblo...."

New York. Paul Liotta of the Staten Island Advance: "Andrew Yang, a former Democratic presidential candidate and current frontrunner in the race for NYC mayor, came to the rescue of a photojournalist who was attacked Friday on the Staten Island Ferry.... When a ferry passenger carrying what appeared to be a metal pole approached the photographer, shoved him, and threateningly raised the implement, Yang sprang into action.... The man recognized Yang, who engaged and calmed him, speaking with him briefly and allowing the photographer to get away from the tense situation.... The incident happened at about 11:15 a.m., on an outdoor portion of the ferry's top deck. [Spencer] Platt, the photographer, expressed gratitude to Yang and his team."

Return of the Sea Turtles/Best Waterslide. Thanks to RAS for the lead:

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Sydney Ember & Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The American economic recovery came perilously close to falling off a cliff at the end of last year. But government aid arrived just in time to prevent a disaster -- and possibly paved the way for a dynamic rebound. Personal income surged a remarkable 10 percent in January, the Commerce Department reported on Friday. Spending increased last month, too, by a healthy 2.4 percent, largely fueled by a rise in purchases of goods. The report was the latest sign of the economy's slow but steady march forward after a series of setbacks. Yet the data also underscored the extent to which government aid is buoying the economy. The rise in income last month was almost entirely attributable to the $600 government relief checks approved in December and to unemployment insurance payments. And while spending ticked up, purchases of services remained depressed as the pandemic continued to weigh heavily on the leisure and hospitality industries even as coronavirus cases fell."

Lauren Egan & Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "President Joe Biden traveled to Houston on Friday to survey the damage from Texas' recent historic winter storm, the president's first trip as commander in chief to a state following a natural disaster. Biden met with state and local officials about the recovery efforts at the Harris County Emergency Operations Center in Houston, commending them for putting together a 'hell of an operation,' before he and first lady Jill Biden toured a local food bank to thank volunteers." ~~~

~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "... when he traveled to Houston with Jill Biden, the first lady, the president used the power of his office for the first time to show support for a community ravaged by twin crises.... At an emergency response center in Houston on Friday, President Biden praised officials who had slept in stairwells as they worked around the clock to help people with no power or drinkable water because of the devastating storms, low temperatures and breakdown of basic utilities that had paralyzed Texas. At a food bank, Mr. Biden hugged a little girl who was volunteering, then talked to a woman about the death of his eldest son, once again plugging into the pain of others by accessing his own. Later, when visiting a stadium converted into a mass-vaccination site that will administer shots into the arms of some 6,000 Texans a day, Mr. Biden offered reassurance that the federal government would be working to provide clean water, blankets, food, fuel and shelter to people struggling to rebuild their lives in the state. 'We will be true partners to help you recover,' Mr. Biden said. 'We're in for the long haul.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Matthew Daly of the AP: "The deadly winter storm that caused widespread power outages in Texas and other states is a 'wake-up call' for the United States to build energy systems and other infrastructure that are more reliable and resilient in the face of extreme-weather events linked to climate change, President Joe Biden's national climate adviser says. In an interview with The Associated Press, Gina McCarthy said Friday that the storm that devastated Texas and other states 'is not going to be as unusual as people had hoped. It is going to happen, and we need to be as resilient and working together as much as possible. We need systems of energy that are reliable and resilient as well.'"

Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia approved the plan for operatives to assassinate the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, according to a previously classified intelligence report released on Friday, a step by the Biden administration to remind the world of the brutal killing and temper relations with the Saudi government. Much of the evidence the C.I.A. used to draw that conclusion remains classified, including recordings of Mr. Khashoggi's killing and dismemberment at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul that were obtained by Turkish intelligence. But the report does outline who carried out the killing, describe what Prince Mohammed knew about the operation and lay out how the C.I.A. concluded that he ordered it and bears responsibility for Mr. Khashoggi's death. The release of the report also signaled that President Biden, unlike his predecessor, would not set aside the killing of Mr. Khashoggi and that his administration intended to attempt to isolate the crown prince, although it will avoid any measures that would threaten ties to the kingdom.... The Biden administration also announced penalties against Saudi officials, including a travel ban and freezing of assets of the kingdom's former intelligence chief and sanctions against members of a paramilitary unit that took part in the assassination." An AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The unclassified report, by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), confirmed classified conclusions reached by the CIA just weeks after the killing of the dissident writer, a Virginia resident and contributing columnist for The Washington Post.... The State Department ... announced a new visa restriction policy against anyone 'acting on behalf of a foreign government' involved in 'serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities.' But in a reflection of what officials described as the complications of bilateral relations with a traditional partner nation, the restrictions will not be applied against the 35-year-old crown prince.... Failure to impose direct penalties on Mohammed is not likely to sit well with lawmakers who for years have pushed for him to be held accountable.... Donald Trump, who had also been briefed [on the classified report], continued to [MB: falsely] insist there no firm conclusions, asking, 'Well, will anybody really know?'... In an early 2019 measure..., Congress demanded that the ODNI produce an unclassified report of U.S. intelligence conclusions, including names of involved Saudi officials at all levels, and passed legislation giving the administration 30 days to release it. For the next two years, Trump ignored the law, while he and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner..., continued to develop a close relationships with Mohammed."(Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The Washington Post and others reported in November 2018 that the CIA had concluded with high confidence that the crown prince was behind [the murder of Jamal Khashoggi]. Trump repeatedly questioned that intelligence, as he did with other intelligence he didn't like. He also suggested in a bizarre statement that we might never know the truth.... He also conveniently inserted allegations from Saudi Arabia that Khashoggi was aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood -- as if Khashoggi actually might have deserved what befell him.... Trump made a clear choice.... Despite all the evidence Trump was being fed, it was met with a shrug from the leader of the free world. On Friday, we learned that shrug was as ill-founded as it appeared. And if it wasn't clear two years ago, it became even clearer that it didn't exactly project his message of American strength." ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: "The United States government publicly identified Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia as the murderer of an American resident, and then President Biden choked. Instead of imposing sanctions on M.B.S., Biden appears ready to let the murderer walk. The weak message to other thuggish dictators considering such a murder is: Please don't do it, but we'll still work with you if we have to. The message to Saudi Arabia is: Go ahead and elevate M.B.S. to be the country's next king if you must. All this is a betrayal of my friend Jamal Khashoggi and of his values and ours. But even through the lens of realpolitik it's a missed opportunity to help Saudi Arabia understand that its own interest lies in finding a new crown prince who isn't reckless and doesn't kill and dismember journalists."

Juliet Eilperin & Dennis Brady of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Friday dramatically altered the way the U.S. government calculates the real-world cost of climate change, a move that could reshape a range of consequential decisions, from whether to allow new coal leasing on federal land to what sort of steel is used in taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects. The administration plans to boost the figure it will use to assess the damage that greenhouse gas pollution inflicts on society to $51 per ton of carbon dioxide -- a rate more than seven times higher than that used by ... Donald Trump's administration. But the number, known as the 'social cost of carbon,' could reach as high as $125 per ton once the administration conducts a more thorough analysis.... While this is not a new tax that consumers would have to pay, it would make it harder for fossil fuel projects to win government approval by factoring in their long-term costs to society." A Politico report is here.

Helluva a Job, Louie. Jacob Bogage & Hannah Denham of the Washington Post: "As the service crisis at the U.S. Postal Service drags into its eighth month, complaints are reaching a fever pitch. Consumers are inundating members of Congress with stories of late bills -- and the late fees they've absorbed as a result. Small-business owners are waiting weeks, even months, for checks to arrive, creating cash-flow crunches and debates on whether to switch to costlier private shippers. Large-scale mailers, such as banks and utilities, are urging clients to switch to paperless communication, a shift that would further undercut the agency's biggest revenue stream. The growing outcry adds another dimension to the agency's myriad crises: a clogged processing and transportation network, severe staffing shortages and $188.4 billion in liabilities. The prolonged performance declines have eroded the reputation of the few government agencies that boasts generations of broad public support.... The agency's delivery times have sunk to historic lows since [Louis] DeJoy took over last June.... The delays stem from DeJoy's abrupt reorganization of the Postal Service last July and residual holiday backlogs...." ~~~

~~~ Tanya Snyder of Politico: "United Airlines has been fined more than $49 million for fraud on postal service contracts for transportation of international mail.... The Justice Department announced on Friday that United had entered into a non-prosecution agreement and agreed to pay $17 million in criminal penalties and to return funds that were received through a fraud scheme perpetrated by former employees of United's Cargo Division. United will pay an additional $32 million as part of the settlement of a separate civil complaint.... From 2012 to 2015, United submitted false delivery scan data, which it owed USPS as part of its contract both when the airline took possession of the mail receptacles and when they delivered them. United was submitting automated delivery scans 'based on aspirational delivery times,' not the actual time of pickup or delivery. 'Through this data automation scheme, United secured millions of dollars in payments from the USPS to which United was not entitled under the [International Commercial Air] contracts,' the Justice Department said.... United employees 'knew that the data being transmitted was fabricated' and 'that the transmission of false data violated the terms of the ICAIR contracts.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There's no indication in the report that any United employees or management staff suffered any consequences from the fraud they perpetrated.

Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have tapped a private database containing hundreds of millions of phone, water, electricity and other utility records while pursuing immigration violations, according to public documents uncovered by Georgetown Law researchers and shared with The Washington Post. ICE's use of the private database is another example of how government agencies have exploited commercial sources to access information they are not authorized to compile on their own. It also highlights how real-world surveillance efforts are being fueled by information people may never have expected would land in the hands of law enforcement. The database, CLEAR, includes more than 400 million names, addresses and service records from more than 80 utility companies covering all the staples of modern life, including water, gas and electricity, and phone, Internet and cable TV.... On Friday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent letters to the chief executives of Thomson Reuters and Equifax seeking documents and other information on how ICE has used the utility data in recent years."

Nahal Toosi of Politico: "A State Department official for several years has been publicly calling for the establishment of Christian nation-states, warning that white people face 'elimination' and railing against Jews as well as Black Lives Matter and other social movements. Fritz Berggren, a mid-ranking Foreign Service officer, openly uses his name and image as he espouses these and other controversial views, according to a review of his online postings.... According to a directory viewed by Politico, Berggren is currently assigned to a State Department unit that handles special immigrant visas for Afghans.... The State Department's options for addressing Berggren's online postings may be limited. There are rules that govern diplomats' on- and off-duty behavior that could be grounds for punishment or dismissal in similar instances -- rules that can differ based on whether a person is serving overseas or in the United States. But the federal government, for First Amendment reasons, is not supposed to dictate its employees' religious views." MB: If State really can't get rid of Fritz, it should stick him in a windowless room counting paperclips.

Marianne Levine, et al., of Politico: "Progressives are willing to accept defeat on the minimum wage for now and vote for President Joe Biden's coronavirus relief package. But they're channeling their energy into a renewed push to kill the filibuster. One day after the Senate parliamentarian effectively forced a $15 minimum wage hike out of Democrats' coronavirus relief package, leading liberal activists are racing to turn their bitter setback into opportunity. The need to sacrifice a key Biden priority in order to ensure the Covid aid bill can pass the Senate with a simple majority has handed progressive lawmakers and their allied groups a new talking point in their long-running quest to eliminate the legislative filibuster." MB: I don't see why they need "a new talking point." Tell dumbclucks Joe Manchin & Kyrsten Sinema that Senate Republicans have not captured a majority of voters in a quarter century, yet they've been stymieing Democratic bills -- that is, bills backed by representatives of a majority of voters -- all that time. If Republican senators were acting in good faith & tweaking bills to make them a teeny bit more moderate, then you might argue the filibuster had a legitimate purpose. But -- especially thanks to "Grim Reaper" Mitch McConnell -- good-faith tweaking hasn't happened for a long time.

"Bienvenido de Nuevo, Ted!" Carol Lee & Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "When senators arrived at the Senate gym on Wednesday morning, they found that one of them had taped memes on the lockers welcoming [Ted] Cruz home and showing him in the short-sleeve polo shirt, jeans and Texas-flag mask that he had at the airport, according to two people familiar with the prank. 'Bienvenido de Nuevo, Ted!' was the 'welcome back' message typed at the top of the color printouts.... The rendering featured a manipulated photo of Cruz from his well-documented trip to Mexico, dragging his luggage across an arctic landscape while holding a tropical cocktail garnished with a slice of fruit in his other hand. He is shown walking toward an image of a masked Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. with his arms crossed and wearing striped, knitted gloves -- a pose famously captured during January's inauguration." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Katie Benner & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. has pinpointed an assailant in its investigation into the death of Brian D. Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer who was injured while fending off the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol last month and later died, according to two law enforcement officials.... In a significant breakthrough in the case, investigators have now pinpointed a person seen on video of the riot who attacked several officers with bear spray, including Officer Sicknick, according to the officials. And video evidence shows that the assailant discussed attacking officers with the bear spray beforehand, one of the officials said. While investigators narrowed potential suspects seen in video footage to a single person this week, they have yet to identify the assailant by name." The Raw Story has a summary report here.

Garance Burke, et al., of the AP: "A faction of local, county and state Republican officials is pushing lies, misinformation and conspiracy theories that echo those that helped inspire the violent U.S. Capitol siege, online messaging that is spreading quickly through GOP ranks fueled by algorithms that boost extreme content. The Associated Press reviewed public and private social media accounts of nearly 1,000 federal, state, and local elected and appointed Republican officials nationwide, many of whom have voiced support for the Jan. 6 insurrection or demanded that the 2020 presidential election be overturned, sometimes in deleted posts or now-removed online forums." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dana Bash, et al., of CNN: "More than a dozen of ... Donald Trump's closest Republican allies in the House have skipped Friday's votes and enlisted their colleagues to vote on their behalf, signing letters saying they can't attend 'due to the ongoing public health emergency.' But those members are actually expected to be in Orlando and listed as speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual meeting aimed at energizing conservative activists and boosting their own profiles." MB: They can't do their day jobs because they're in Orlando to pledge their fealty to the Golden Ass. ~~~

~~~ Freeedumb! Here's the evidence for the Trumpies' deep concern over "the ongoing public health emergency": Quint Forgey of Politico: "Organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference were met with boos on Friday morning as they encouraged the crowd inside a Florida hotel ballroom to put on face masks in compliance with the host venue's policies. The awkward moment unfolded early on the first day of programming at the American Conservative Union's annual confab and represented a confusing shift in rhetoric from prior speakers who uniformly mocked coronavirus-related restrictions in a series of sharply partisan remarks." Emphasis added.

#CPAC #AmericaUncancelled pic.twitter.com/mVqBuF2blY

— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 26, 2021

~~~ Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "The Golden Calf is one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament.... It's a story about the allure of idolatry, how easy it is to abandon one's commitments to principle in favor of shiny, easy falsehoods. This biblical tale trended on Twitter in the US Frida morning because of the ... video [posted above], filmed on the first day of the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Someone involved in the conference constructed a golden statue -- not of a calf, but of Trump -- and wheeled it out to cheers from conference attendees.... There are so many reasons why this is a perfect metaphor for the state of the GOP after the Trump presidency.... In the Bible, the Golden Calf story ends with a furious Moses destroying the idol.... And yet, here they are, still building idols of a false god." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: At least the biblical Golden Calf was made of, well, gold. The Gilded Ass is, well, painted with a cheap metal slurry. Not even a blasphemous idol, Trump's image is a fake blasphemous idol. Perfect symbol for a fake president*. ~~~

~~~ Jill Colvin of the AP: "A conference dedicated to the future of the conservative movement turned into an ode to Donald Trump as speakers declared their fealty to the former president and attendees posed for selfies with a golden statue of his likeness. As the Republican Party grapples with deep divisions over the extent to which they should embrace Trump after losing the White House and both chambers of Congress, those gathered at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference Friday made clear they are not ready to move on from the former president -- or from his baseless charges that the November election was rigged against him.... At the conference, speakers continued to fan disinformation and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, with panels dedicated to amplifying false claims of mass voter fraud that have been dismissed by the courts, state election officials and Trump's own administration. Indeed, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., another potential 2024 hopeful, drew among the loudest applause and a standing ovation when he bragged about challenging the election certification on Jan. 6 despite the storming of the Capitol building by Trump supporters trying to halt the process." MB: Is there such a thing as "collective insanity"?

Too Bad. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "'The department has determined that due to President Trump's full and unconditional pardon of Paul Manafort, it is necessary to dismiss the criminal forfeiture proceedings involving the four assets which were the subject of the on-going forfeiture ancillary proceedings,' a Justice Department spokesman said Friday afternoon, following a court filing announcing the decision.... The real estate includes Manafort's 10-bedroom, 6-bath home at Bridgehampton, Long Island, valued at $11 million on Zillow, as well as an apartment in New York's Chinatown and a townhouse in Brooklyn. It is unclear what portion, if any, of the assets will return to Manafort as a result of the Justice Department's conclusion that Trump's pardon effectively nullified forfeitures that were not complete at the time he issued it late last year. Most or all of the property is likely to be sold to repay his debts and it is unclear how much money will be left over, if any."

AP: "A federal judge on Friday approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without the permission of its users. U.S. District Judge James Donato approved the deal in a class-action lawsuit that was filed in Illinois in 2015. Nearly 1.6 million Facebook users in Illinois who submitted claims will be affected. Donato called it one of the largest settlements ever for a privacy violation." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. David Brooks Is Moonlighting at Facebook. Craig Silverman & Ryan Mac of BuzzFeed News: "On Tuesday, New York Times columnist David Brooks published a 900-word ode to Facebook Groups and how they foster online communities around the world. The column didn't appear in Brooks' usual spot in the Times, where he's had a popular opinion column since 2003. Instead, it was published on Facebook's corporate website to promote a new study of groups that was funded by the social media giant.... Brooks' post for Facebook painted a rosy picture of how people use Groups to create community connections.... 'It's not social media that's the problem, it's the ideas and behavior of the people who use it,' he says.... Brooks' ties to Facebook raise questions of conflicts of interest at the world's most influential newspaper.... [Brooks also] maintains commentary roles with NPR and PBS NewsHour."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Caitlin Emma & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "The House approved President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic rescue plan in a 219 to 212 vote early Saturday morning, sending the measure to the Senate as Democrats race to pass it into law before boosted unemployment payments expire next month. All but two Democrats supported the sprawling coronavirus relief package, with zero Republicans backing it -- a major step toward enacting the White House's first major legislative priority amid dueling public health and economic crises.... The House package still includes that federal minimum wage hike to $15-an-hour, assuring minimal drama in the lower chamber, and forcing Senate Republicans to formally nix it next week." The New York Times story is here.

Carolyn Johnson & Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "An expert committee unanimously recommended Friday that the Food and Drug Administration authorize a coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, making it all but certain there will soon be a third vaccine in the United States, the first to require just a single shot. The positive vote, after hours of scientific discussion, paves the way for a decision this weekend. If the vaccine is authorized, the first few million doses of a shot that is relatively simple to store, handle and administer could be distributed next week." Politico's report is here.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Federal health officials warned impatient governors on Friday against relaxing pandemic control measures, saying that a recent steep drop in coronavirus cases and deaths in the United States may be leveling off at a very high number -- a shift that the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 'must be taken extremely seriously.' The pleas from the director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden's chief medical adviser for the virus, came as the Biden administration scrambled to stay ahead of a possible fourth surge of infections and the spread of worrisome variants, which officials say account for a rising percentage of cases in the country."

The Commentariat -- February 26, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia approved the plan for operatives to assassinate the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, according to a previously classified intelligence report released on Friday, a step by the Biden administration to remind the world of the brutal killing and temper relations with the Saudi government. Much of the evidence the C.I.A. used to draw that conclusion remains classified, including recordings of Mr. Khashoggi's killing and dismemberment at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul that were obtained by Turkish intelligence. But the report does outline who carried out the killing, describe what Prince Mohammed knew about the operation and lay out how the C.I.A. concluded that he ordered it and bears responsibility for Mr. Khashoggi's death. The release of the report also signaled that President Biden, unlike his predecessor, would not set aside the killing of Mr. Khashoggi and that his administration intended to attempt to isolate the crown prince, although it will avoid any measures that would threaten ties to the kingdom.... The Biden administration also announced penalties against Saudi officials, including a travel ban and freezing of assets of the kingdom's former intelligence chief and sanctions against members of a paramilitary unit that took part in the assassination." An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The unclassified report, by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), confirmed classified conclusions reached by the CIA just weeks after the killing of the dissident writer, a Virginia resident and contributing columnist for The Washington Post.... The State Department ... announced a new visa restriction policy against anyone 'acting on behalf of a foreign government' involved in 'serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities.' But in a reflection of what officials described as the complications of bilateral relations with a traditional partner nation, the restrictions will not be applied against the 35-year-old crown prince.... Failure to impose direct penalties on Mohammed is not likely to sit well with lawmakers who for years have pushed for him to be held accountable.... Donald Trump, who had also been briefed [on the classified report], continued to [MB: falsely] insist there were no firm conclusions, asking, 'Well, will anybody really know?'... In an early 2019 measure..., Congress demanded that the ODNI produce an unclassified report of U.S. intelligence conclusions, including names of involved Saudi officials at all levels, and passed legislation giving the administration 30 days to release it. For the next two years, Trump ignored the law, while he and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner..., continued to develop a close relationships with Mohammed."

"Bienvenido de Nuevo, Ted!" Carol Lee & Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "When senators arrived at the Senate gym on Wednesday morning, they found that one of them had taped memes on the lockers welcoming [Ted] Cruz home and showing him in the short-sleeve polo shirt, jeans and Texas-flag mask that he had at the airport, according to two people familiar with the prank. 'Bienvenido de Nuevo, Ted!' was the 'welcome back' message typed at the top of the color printouts.... The rendering featured a manipulated photo of Cruz from his well-documented trip to Mexico, dragging his luggage across an arctic landscape while holding a tropical cocktail garnished with a slice of fruit in his other hand. He is shown walking toward an image of a masked Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. with his arms crossed and wearing striped, knitted gloves -- a pose famously captured during January's inauguration."

Garance Burke, et al., of the AP: "A faction of local, county and state Republican officials is pushing lies, misinformation and conspiracy theories that echo those that helped inspire the violent U.S. Capitol siege, online messaging that is spreading quickly through GOP ranks fueled by algorithms that boost extreme content. The Associated Press reviewed public and private social media accounts of nearly 1,000 federal, state, and local elected and appointed Republican officials nationwide, many of whom have voiced support for the Jan. 6 insurrection or demanded that the 2020 presidential election be overturned, sometimes in deleted posts or now-removed online forums." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to CNN, CPAC has at least one breakout session dedicated to the Big Lie. Its main topic is something like "How Democrats Stole the 2020 Election" & there are subheadings that further break down the Big Lie, which is being presented as a Big Truth. Is there such a thing as "collective insanity"?

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Barbara Starr & Oren Liebermann of CNN: "The US military struck a site in Syria on Thursday used by two Iranian-backed militia groups following rocket attacks on American forces in the region in the past two weeks, according to a US official. The strikes mark the military's first known action under President Joe Biden. The site was not specifically tied to the rocket attacks, but were believed to be used by Iranian-backed Shia militias operating in the region. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the strikes took place 'at President Biden's direction' and were authorized not just to respond to recent attacks against American and coalition forces, but to deal with 'ongoing threats to those personnel.' Kirby said that Biden conducted the strikes after consulting with US allies, including coalition partners." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Qassim Abdul-Zahra of the AP: "A U.S. airstrike in Syria targeted facilities belonging to a powerful Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, killing one of their militiamen and wounding a number of others, an Iraqi militia official said Friday. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops.... Syria war monitoring groups said the strikes hit trucks moving weapons to a base for Iranian-backed militias in Boukamal."

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Biden spoke for the first time Thursday with Saudi Arabia's King Salman, following weeks of speculation that relations were headed for a deep freeze as Biden has criticized Saudi human rights abuses, canceled arms sales to the kingdom and scheduled the imminent release of a U.S. intelligence report implicating Salman's son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A White House statement after the call stepped carefully around the divisive issues, saying the two discussed 'renewed diplomatic efforts' to end the war against Houthi rebels in Yemen, where thousands of civilians have died in Saudi air attacks using U.S.-supplied missiles." ~~~

~~~ Margaret Brennan & Ed O'Keefe of CBS News: "The Biden administration is preparing a new policy that it will unveil following the imminent public release of a U.S. intelligence report regarding the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, three sources confirm to CBS News. The policy guidelines will lay out consequences for future attacks on journalists working for U.S. outlets. It will put foreign governments in the U.S. government's crosshairs if they target journalists like Khashoggi, who was a Washington Post contributing columnist and U.S. resident. The directive will apply to all foreign governments...."

Abby Livingston of the Texas Tribune: "President Joe Biden plans visit Texas on Friday in the wake of extensive winter storm damage in the state. The president and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Houston, according to a White House announcement." MB: Biden will meet with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The two are not exactly best buds. #CancunCruz, however, won't be in Texas, as usual. He's going to DisneyWorld! Ted is speaking at CPAC today, which is being held in Orlando, Florida; the "conference" of confederates usually gathers in D.C., but organizers moved it to Florida because of Florida's lax Covid-19 standards. Shouldn't Ted get some kind of Best Senate Vacationer award?

Axios: "The Senate voted 64-35 on Thursday to confirm former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as secretary of the Department of Energy.... Granholm, only the second woman to head the department, will play a key role in President Biden's efforts to accelerate the U.S. shift to clean energy and help other countries do the same. Granholm said she hopes to strengthen solar and wind power usage, and to boost the development of clean-energy technologies, like electric vehicles." MB: Tolja senators prefer blondes. (Also linked yesterday.)

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Sen. John Kennedy apologized on Thursday for calling President Joe Biden's Interior Department nominee, Deb Haaland, a 'whack job.' The Louisiana Republican said he regretted the remark about Haaland, explaining that he was searching for another word [-- 'extremist' --] before calling her 'a neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin whack job.'... His apology comes after women's rights activists and progressive Democrats spoke out to defend Biden's nominees of color, in the face of what they saw as a double standard applied to the aspiring budget chief's teetering nomination." MB: IOW, Kennedy considers falsely calling a member of Congress a "neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin extremist." to be A-OK. (Also linked yesterday.)

Alejandro N. Mayorkas, DHS Secretary, in a Washington Post op-ed: "For several years, the United States has been suffering an upsurge in domestic violent extremism. The horror of seeing the U.S. Capitol, one of the pillars of our democracy, attacked on Jan. 6 was a brutal example of our suffering, and it compels us all to action.... I have designated domestic violent extremism as a National Priority Area for the first time, and will require state and local governments to spend 7.5 percent of their DHS grant awards combating this threat.... Americans have witnessed the costs of allowing politics to pervade intelligence. Since Inauguration Day, DHS has increased the development, production, and sharing of intelligence and other information central to countering domestic violent extremism." (Also linked yesterday.)

Defending the Capitol While Black. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The racist slurs hurled at Harry Dunn, a Capitol Police officer, during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol were cited as evidence this month in the Senate's impeachment trial of ... Donald J. Trump. Until this week, Officer Dunn had remained anonymous. Now, Officer Dunn, 37, who is Black and is a 13-year veteran of the force, and who grew up in nearby Prince George's County, Md., is ready to speak publicly about the violence and racism he experienced at the hands of a pro-Trump mob during that grim day in American history. Standing 6-foot-7 with a muscular frame, Officer Dunn is an imposing figure, but he says the bigotry and trauma he experienced that day were enough to intimidate anyone. Now that he is talking about his experience, he says other Black officers have told him that they, too, experienced racist slurs from the mob." Dunn's interview follows. Definitely worth reading.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Capitol Police is keeping its security posture high in response to intelligence that indicates some extremists who joined the Jan. 6 insurrection have discussed plans to attack the building during the State of the Union, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman revealed Thursday. The chatter among extremists about trying to blow up the Capitol during the still-unscheduled presidential address, Pittman said, has prompted the Capitol Police to maintain the elevated presence it has kept since last month's riot.... 'We know that members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desire that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible, with a direct nexus to the State of the Union,' Pittman said during testimony to a House Appropriations subcommittee.... Pittman said existing intelligence has underscored that insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol 'weren't only interested in attacking members and officers. They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as to who was in charge of that legislative process.'... ~~~

"Pittman said she pulled former chief Steven Sund's phone records and confirmed he reached out to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms at 12:58 p.m. and 1:05 p.m., respectively. Sund has told lawmakers that he first reached out at 1:09 p.m. -- a timeline that one former sergeant-at-arms disputed in Senate testimony this week.... Former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving told senators he did not hear from Sund until 1:28 p.m. and that no formal request for National Guard assistance was lodged until after 2 p.m. Pittman's testimony appears to back up the narrative shared by Sund, who resigned shortly after violent insurrectionists threatened the presidential transfer of power." (Also linked yesterday.) MB: "The Capitol Police is" or "The Capitol Police are"? ~~~

~~~ The New York Times story, by Luke Broadwater, is here.

Adam Rawnsley, et al., of the Daily Beast: "A pickup truck parked at the United States Capitol and bearing a Three Percenter militia sticker on the day of the Jan. 6 riot belongs to the husband of freshman U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, who approvingly quoted Adolf Hitler a day earlier.... In an email to The Daily Beast, Chris Miller, Rep. Miller's husband and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, conceded the truck belonged to him even as he pleaded ignorance about the militia group.... He says he 'never was member' of the militia and 'didn't know anything about 3% till fake news started this fake story and read about them.'... The link between the truck and Rep. Miller was first reported on Twitter on Thursday by the @capitolhunters account, which is organizing research about rioters seen in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot from a large community of volunteers reviewing thousands of hours of footage.... Mary Miller, a Republican, is perhaps best known for speaking at a 'Moms for America' rally in front of the Capitol one day before the riot. 'Hitler was right on one thing: whoever has the youth has the future,' she told the crowd. She later apologized for the remarks...."

Yet Another Cost of Treason. Eric Flack, et al., of WUSA (D.C.): "More than 200 people now face local and federal charges in connection with the Capitol riot.... A WUSA9 analysis of cases currently filed in connection with the Capitol riot found more than 60 defendants who have already been granted taxpayer-funded representation either through the federal public defender's office or private counsel appointed through the Criminal Justice Act -- a 1964 law passed by Congress to ensure federal defendants had adequate legal representation as guaranteed by the 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It's a law that will now help defend people accused of assaulting the very chambers where it was passed.... So many public defenders have been requested by and granted to defendants in the Capitol Riot, the Federal Public Defenders office is running out of staff, forcing judges to appoint court appointed counsel under the Criminal Justice Act." Bernie Grimm, a former federal prosecutor, says the costs for their defense will run in the millions of dollars.

Felicia Sonmez & Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "The House voted Thursday to pass the Equality Act, a far-reaching measure that has been decades in the making and would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The legislation was passed by the House in 2019 but blocked in the Republican-led Senate. This time, Democrats control the White House, House and Senate.... It still faces an uphill fight in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to break a legislative filibuster.... The legislation would amend federal civil rights laws to ensure protections for LGBTQ Americans in employment, education, housing, credit, jury service and other areas. It is a top legislative priority of [President] Biden, who in a statement last week called the bill 'a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.'" ~~~

~~~ Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is facing sharp criticism after she posted an anti-transgender sign outside of her office, directly across the hall from another lawmaker who has a transgender child. The antagonizing move by Greene comes as the House is expected to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would ban discrimination against LGTBQ Americans, later Thursday, after the Georgia Republican's attempt to block the act failed on Wednesday. It also follows a string of incendiary statements and actions by the freshman Georgia congresswoman.... Illinois Rep. Marie Newman, whose daughter is transgender, posted a video on Twitter of her hanging the pink and blue transgender pride flag outside her office Wednesday afternoon, captioning that Greene tried to block the act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is "disgusting, immoral, and evil,' adding, 'thought we'd put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door' with winking and transgender flag emojis. That evening, Greene retweeted Newman's post and added a video of her hanging a sign that reads 'There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE ...Trust The Science!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the lead. RAS asks, "Can you guess which [post] Facebook removed?" CBS News Chicago/CNN: "... on Thursday, as Facebook temporarily removed a video Newman posted showing her displaying the transgender pride flag outside her office on Capitol Hill, labeling it as 'hate speech.' However, Facebook did not remove a video Greene posted showing her hanging an anti-transgender sign at the Capitol.... Facebook later restored the video, and the social media giant's policy communications director, Andy Stone, apologized for mistakenly flagging it as hate speech. 'Congresswoman, this plainly should not have happened. We've restored this content and you have our sincere apologies,' Stone wrote in a Twitter post." Thanks to RAS for the lead here, too. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kara Scannell, et al., of CNN: "Tax records that ... Donald Trump tried to keep secret for years are now in the hands of the New York district attorney. Prosecutors obtained the records on Monday, according to a source, just hours after the US Supreme Court denied Trump's last-ditch effort to keep the records private. The millions of pages of documents, sources say, contain Trump's tax returns spanning from January 2011 to August 2019, as well as financial statements, engagement agreements, documents relating to the preparation and review of tax returns, and work papers and communications related to the tax returns." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times' story is here. MB: Not sure if this is a forensic accountant's dream or nightmare.

Boehner's Audio Book Is Better than the Print Edition. Alayna Treene & Jonathan Swan of Axios: "John Boehner has been going off script while recording the audio version of his new memoir, using expletives and asides not in the book -- such as the former Republican House speaker saying, 'Oh, and Ted Cruz, go f[uc]k yourself.'... The book is appropriately titled, 'On the House: A Washington Memoir.' It promises to share 'colorful tales from the halls of power, the smoke-filled rooms around the halls of power and his fabled tour bus.'"

The Devil & Rush Limbaugh. Via Tom Sullivan of Hullabaloo. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Allyson Waller & Juliet Macur of the New York Times: "The sexual abuse crisis that has shaken American gymnastics deepened on Thursday when a coach of the 2012 women's Olympic team was charged with human trafficking and sexually assaulting a teenage girl, before killing himself a short time later. The charges against the coach and gym owner, John Geddert, once again highlighted the dark side of the marquee Olympic sport that was revealed in the investigation and conviction of Lawrence G. Nassar, the former United States national team doctor, who abused hundreds of girls and women. The Geddert case grew out of the Nassar investigation and Mr. Geddert was suspended by U.S.A. Gymnastics in 2018 after being accused of abuse. He announced his retirement days later. The accusations against Mr. Geddert, 63, revealed a previously unreported level of abuse at the hands of a coach who helped the 2012 team to a gold medal and had worked closely with Mr. Nassar." A CNN story is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd., Etc.

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

Joan Greve of the Guardian: "Joe Biden said on Thursday that 50 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered across the US since he took office last month, outpacing his administration's goal to distribute 100m shots in his first 100 days in office. The moment came days after the US reached the devastating milestone of 500,000 coronavirus deaths -- far more than any other country in the world -- and before a meeting with America's governors on plans to speed vaccine distribution even further. 'The more people get vaccinated, the faster we're going to beat this pandemic,' Biden said at [a] White House ceremony, noting that his administration is on course to exceed his promise to deliver 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office." MB: President Biden & Dr. Jill Biden plan to visit a federally-funded mass vaccination center in Houston today.

Millions and millions of Republicans, who don't think Joe Biden won the election, support his Covid relief package. -- David Plouffe, on MSNBC Thursday afternoon ~~~

~~~ Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "In Washington, Republicans stand united in opposition to President Biden's first major legislative proposal, a $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan that they have labeled a bloated, budget-busting 'blue state bailout.'... While congressional Republicans take a scattershot approach to try to undermine the legislation, mayors and governors in their party push for the plan, saying their states and cities need the federal aid to keep police officers on their beats, reopen schools and help small businesses. Polling shows a significant number of Republican voters agree: More than four in 10 Republicans back Mr. Biden's aid package, according to polling from the online research firm SurveyMonkey for The New York Times. Over all, 72 percent of Americans said they supported the bill, a number that includes 97 percent of Democrats."

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Democrats suffered a critical defeat in their bid to preserve President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Thursday after the Senate's top rule enforcer said a plan to increase the federal minimum wage could not advance as part of it, effectively knocking out a crucial piece of his plan backed by progressives. Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, told senators and staff that the provision, which would gradually increase the wage to $15 an hour by 2025, violated the strict budgetary rules that limit what can be included in the package, two aides said on Thursday. The aides disclosed the ruling on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on it. The House is expected to vote on the $1.9 trillion package as early as Friday, with the wage increase included, and it was not clear whether the decision would alter their plans. But it gave Republicans grounds to jettison the provision when the Senate considers the stimulus measure...." Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, By the Way. Kelly Tyko of USA Today: "Costco is raising its minimum wage to $16 an hour, leapfrogging competitors including Target, Best Buy and Amazon. Costco CEO Craig Jelinek announced the increase Thursday at a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing on worker wages at large companies.... 'Since Costco's inception, the company has been committed to paying the employees very competitive retail wages and providing them broad and affordable health care benefits,' Jelinek said. 'Two years ago, we moved our starting hourly wage to $15 everywhere in the U.S. Effective next week, the starting wage will go to $16.' But the membership-based wholesale chain already is paying many of its 180,000 U.S. workers a much higher rate. Jelinek said the average wage for hourly workers is around $24 per hour. ~~~

     ~~~ Alina Selyukh of NPR: "'I want to note this isn't altruism,' [CEO Craig] Jelinek said. 'At Costco we know that paying employees good wages ... makes sense for our business and constitutes a significant competitive advantage for us. It helps us in the long run by minimizing turnover and maximizing employee productivity.'" ~~~

     ~~~ BUT GOP Senators Are Too Damned Dumb. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "A lot of arguments are being presented for and against the [$15/hour minimum wage].... But then there is that rhetoric that derives from the experiences of some of the most elite people in the world. Take Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). He tweeted his rationale for opposing such an increase. 'I started working by bussing tables at the Star Family Restaurant for $1/hour & slowly moved up to cook -- the big leagues for a kid like me-- to earn $6/hour. Businesses in small towns survive on narrow margins. Mandating a $15 minimum wage would put many of them out of business,' [he tweeted].... Thune [is] appealing to his own experience of having earned $6 an hour [in 1979] as though that shows that the same wage should be sufficient now, when in reality it's the equivalent of nearly $23 in 2021 dollars.... Relying on a 40-year-old understanding of the buying power of the minimum wage is a good way to demonstrate a remarkably limited grasp of the American economy." ~~~

     ~~~ John Thune's Log-Cabin Story. Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Mr. Thune has been rightly and roundly roasted for innumeracy.... On the merits, Mr. Thune ought to endorse a higher minimum wage. Instead, Mr. Thune and his allies are preventing the Senate from passing a bill that would make employers give millions of Americans a long overdue raise. They keep telling stories like Mr. Thune's to explain their opposition.... Mr. Thune is drawing the wrong lessons from his own life.... [The minimum wage] now stands at $7.25 an hour, worth roughly 40 percent less than in 1969.... If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would now be about $12 an hour. If it had kept pace with productivity growth, the minimum would top $24 an hour.... Mr. Thune's invocation of his own log-cabin story also trades on the widely shared misconception that minimum-wage jobs are a gateway to better pay.... Most workers who earn less than $15 an hour are adults in their prime working years, between the ages of 25 and 54. And millions of Americans remain in low-wage jobs throughout their careers."

Konstantin Toropin & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "A federal judge in Texas on Thursday ruled that the federal moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional.... US District Judge John Barker, who was appointed by ... President Donald Trump to the court in the Eastern District of Texas, stopped short of issuing a preliminary injunction, but said he expected the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to respect his ruling and withdraw the moratorium. 'The federal government cannot say that it has ever before invoked its power over interstate commerce to impose a residential eviction moratorium. It did not do so during the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic. Nor did it invoke such a power during the exigencies of the Great Depression. The federal government has not claimed such a power at any point during our Nation's history until last year,' Barker wrote. Although the Covid-19 pandemic persists, he said, 'so does the Constitution.'" Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary below.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- February 25, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

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

Millions and millions of Republicans, who don't think Joe Biden won the election, support his Covid relief package. -- David Plouffe, on MSNBC Thursday afternoon

Alejandro N. Mayorkas, DHS Secretary, in a Washington Post op-ed: "For several years, the United States has been suffering an upsurge in domestic violent extremism. The horror of seeing the U.S. Capitol, one of the pillars of our democracy, attacked on Jan. 6 was a brutal example of our suffering, and it compels us all to action.... I have designated domestic violent extremism as a National Priority Area for the first time, and will require state and local governments to spend 7.5 percent of their DHS grant awards combating this threat.... Americans have witnessed the costs of allowing politics to pervade intelligence. Since Inauguration Day, DHS has increased the development, production, and sharing of intelligence and other information central to countering domestic violent extremism."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Capitol Police is keeping its security posture high in response to intelligence that indicates some extremists who joined the Jan. 6 insurrection have discussed plans to attack the building during the State of the Union, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman revealed Thursday. The chatter among extremists about trying to blow up the Capitol during the still-unscheduled presidential address, Pittman said, has prompted the Capitol Police to maintain the elevated presence it has kept since last month's riot.... 'We know that members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desire that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible, with a direct nexus to the State of the Union,' Pittman said during testimony to a House Appropriations subcommittee.... Pittman said existing intelligence has underscored that insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol 'weren't only interested in attacking members and officers. They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as to who was in charge of that legislative process.'... ~~~

"Pittman said she pulled former chief Steven Sund's phone records and confirmed he reached out to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms at 12:58 p.m. and 1:05 p.m., respectively. Sund has told lawmakers that he first reached out at 1:09 p.m. -- a timeline that one former sergeant-at-arms disputed in Senate testimony this week.... Former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving told senators he did not hear from Sund until 1:28 p.m. and that no formal request for National Guard assistance was lodged until after 2 p.m. Pittman's testimony appears to back up the narrative shared by Sund, who resigned shortly after violent insurrectionists threatened the presidential transfer of power."

Axios: "The Senate voted 64-35 on Thursday to confirm former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as secretary of the Department of Energy.... Granholm, only the second woman to head the department, will play a key role in President Biden's efforts to accelerate the U.S. shift to clean energy and help other countries do the same. Granholm said she hopes to strengthen solar and wind power usage, and to boost the development of clean-energy technologies, like electric vehicles." MB: Tolja senators prefer blondes.

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Sen. John Kennedy apologized on Thursday for calling President Joe Biden's Interior Department nominee, Deb Haaland, a 'whack job.' The Louisiana Republican said he regretted the remark about Haaland, explaining that he was searching for another word [-- 'extremist' --] before calling her 'a neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin whack job.'... His apology comes after women's rights activists and progressive Democrats spoke out to defend Biden's nominees of color, in the face of what they saw as a double standard applied to the aspiring budget chief's teetering nomination." MB: IOW, Kennedy considers falsely calling a member of Congress a "neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin extremist." to be A-OK.

Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is facing sharp criticism after she posted an anti-transgender sign outside of her office, directly across the hall from another lawmaker who has a transgender child. The antagonizing move by Greene comes as the House is expected to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would ban discrimination against LGTBQ Americans, later Thursday, after the Georgia Republican's attempt to block the act failed on Wednesday. It also follows a string of incendiary statements and actions by the freshman Georgia congresswoman.... Illinois Rep. Marie Newman, whose daughter is transgender, posted a video on Twitter of her hanging the pink and blue transgender pride flag outside her office Wednesday afternoon, captioning that Greene tried to block the act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is "disgusting, immoral, and evil,'" adding, 'thought we'd put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door' with winking and transgender flag emojis. That evening, Greene retweeted Newman's post and added a video of her hanging a sign that reads 'There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE ...Trust The Science!'" ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the lead. RAS asks, "Can you guess which [post] Facebook removed?" CBS News Chicago/CNN: "... on Thursday, as Facebook temporarily removed a video Newman posted showing her displaying the transgender pride flag outside her office on Capitol Hill, labeling it as 'hate speech.' However, Facebook did not remove a video Greene posted showing her hanging an anti-transgender sign at the Capitol.... Facebook later restored the video, and the social media giant's policy communications director, Andy Stone, apologized for mistakenly flagging it as hate speech. 'Congresswoman, this plainly should not have happened. We've restored this content and you have our sincere apologies,' Stone wrote in a Twitter post." Thanks to RAS for the lead here, too.

Kara Scannell, et al., of CNN: "Tax records that ... Donald Trump tried to keep secret for years are now in the hands of the New York district attorney. Prosecutors obtained the records on Monday, according to a source, just hours after the US Supreme Court denied Trump's last-ditch effort to keep the records private. The millions of pages of documents, sources say, contain Trump's tax returns spanning from January 2011 to August 2019, as well as financial statements, engagement agreements, documents relating to the preparation and review of tax returns, and work papers and communications related to the tax returns." MB: Not sure if this is a forensic accountant's dream or nightmare.

~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden reopened the country on Wednesday to people seeking green cards, ending a ban on legal immigration that ... Donald J. Trump imposed last spring, citing what he said was the need to protect American jobs during the pandemic. In a proclamation, Mr. Biden said that the ban did 'not advance the interests of the United States,' challenging Mr. Trump's claims that the way to protect the American economy during the health crisis was to shut the country off from the rest of the world. 'To the contrary,' Mr. Biden said of his predecessor's immigration ban, 'it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world.' The president's action was the latest example of his efforts to roll back Mr. Trump's assault on the nation's immigration system."

David Lynch of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Wednesday formally ordered a 100-day government review of potential vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains for critical items, including computer chips, medical gear, electric-vehicle batteries and specialized minerals. The directive comes as U.S. automakers are grappling with a severe shortage of semiconductors, essential ingredients in the high-tech entertainment and navigation systems that fill modern passenger vehicles. Biden’s executive order also is aimed at avoiding a repeat of the shortages of personal protective gear such as masks and gloves experienced last year during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic."

Ode DeJoy: Higher Prices, Slower Service. Jacob Bogage, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House moved toward reasserting control of the U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday even as its Republican postmaster general defiantly told Congress he would press forward with plans to raise prices and slow the mail, brushing off calls for him to resign. President Biden named two Democrats and a voting rights advocate to fill three of the four openings on the Postal Service's governing board, according to three people briefed on the discussions and later confirmed by the White House: Ron Stroman, the Postal Service's recently retired deputy postmaster general; Amber McReynolds, the chief executive of the National Vote at Home Institute; and Anton Hajjar, the former general counsel of the American Postal Workers Union. The new slate would create a Democratic advantage and potentially the votes to oust [Postmaster General Louis] DeJoy, whose summer overhaul led to precipitous service declines that snarled up untold numbers of Americans' bills, prescriptions and paychecks.... DeJoy spent most of the [House Oversight] hearing dodging questions about his forthcoming strategic plan for the Postal Service...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The Constitution gives Congress the power "To establish Post Offices and post Roads." That's it. There's nothing that says the USPS has to make money or break even, nor that it must operate like a successful business. Rather, the Constitution implies that the USPS is a government service, akin to, say, the military. ~~~

EARLIER | @GerryConnolly: "Am I making this up? As Mr. Jordan would apparently have you believe, that the Pres. of the United States, last summer, Donald J. Trump, publicly said, 'voting by mail would lead to massive fraud'?

Mr. Dimondstein: "I don't think you're imagining it" pic.twitter.com/ImmSuqFKxO

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 24, 2021

Senators Prefer Blond(e)s. Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "Many of the president's Black, Latino, Asian and Native American nominees are encountering more political turbulence than their White counterparts, further drawing out the process of staffing the federal government.... Activists say the concerns raised over [Neera] Tanden are part of a broader pattern imperiling many of Biden's nominees of color, making their confirmation process rougher and meaner than in previous years and when compared with their White counterparts. Many of these nominees are still likely to go forward along mostly partisan lines, but with their qualifications scrutinized more closely and their reputations attacked more forcefully than their White counterparts, activists say.... A number of the nominees have been labeled with language that activist groups view as racially coded. For example, Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Biden's nominee to be the first Native American to lead the Department of the Interior, is being cast by Republicans as a 'radical.'... Vanita Gupta, Biden's pick to be associate attorney general at the Justice Department and an Indian American, is the target of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign from conservative groups labeling her 'dangerous.' Heritage Action for America has focused on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, questioning his qualifications to head the Health and Human Services Department because he's not a doctor, which has not always been a prerequisite for that position."

Marianne Levine of Politico: "Neera Tanden saw both of her Senate committee votes postponed Wednesday morning, the latest sign that her nomination to become director of the White House budget office is on the brink of collapse. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Budget committees sent out notices Wednesday saying that their slated votes on Tanden's nomination to become director of the Office of Management and Budget would be delayed." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Wednesday that she hasn't made a decision on Neera Tanden's nomination, leaving President Biden's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stuck in limbo.... Murkowski's decision on Tanden is viewed as crucial in the White House's uphill bid to salvage her nomination. Because Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has said he will oppose her, the White House needs to hold together the rest of the Democratic caucus and pick up at least one GOP senator. Murkowski is viewed as the final up-for-grabs GOP vote, after Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Mitt Romney (Utah) and Rob Portman (Ohio) all came out in opposition to her nomination." ~~~

     ~~~ It's Personal. Jacob Jarvis of Newsweek: "... Neera Tanden previously sent a tweet taking issue with the salary of former CEO of pharmaceutical company Mylan, Heather Bresch, who is the daughter of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV)." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. MB: Mylan became infamous when it acquired EpiPen, an emergency allergy device, and raised the price from $50 to $608 for a two-pack. Bresch was COO at the time of the purchase, and when she appeared before a House committee in 2016, she took responsibility for & defended the price hike.

One More Way Trump Cost Us. Bill Chappell of NPR: "The cost of repairing damages from the attack on the U.S. Capitol and related security expenses have already topped $30 million and will keep rising, Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton told lawmakers on Wednesday.... Blanton said that congressional appropriations committees have already approved a transfer request of $30 million to pay for expenses and extend a temporary perimeter fencing contract through March 31."

Awk-Ward! Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "When members of a party's congressional leadership hold news conferences, there is a premium on working from the same playbook. That is decidedly not what happened Wednesday with House Republicans.... House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was asked whether ... Donald Trump should speak this weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). McCarthy didn't miss a beat, responding, 'Yes, he should.' But then the question was posed to the No. 3-ranking Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).... 'That's up to CPAC,' Cheney said... But then she went on: 'I've been clear on my views about President Trump and the extent to which, following Jan. 6, I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.'"

Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "A close ally of Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took part in the January 6 mob at the Capitol and said he was among those who eventually made their way into the building.... In tweets after the Capitol insurrection, Greene falsely suggested that those who had broken into the Capitol were not Republicans and instead falsely implied so-called 'Antifa' dressed as Trump supporters were to blame. In fact, Anthony Aguero, a conservative livestreamer, activist and associate of Greene, said on video following the January 6 assault on the Capitol that he had been among those who entered and attacked those who falsely claimed it was done by 'Antifa.' 'We were all there. It was not Antifa and it was not BLM. It was Trump supporters that did that yesterday. I'm the first to admit it, being one myself,' said Aguero in a video posted on January 7. 'I walked amongst all those people,' he added, later defending entering the Capitol. Greene and Aguero have worked closely together over the years on causes such as immigration and the border wall and have attended pro-Trump rallies together. In many since-deleted videos saved by CNN's KFile, Greene repeatedly calls Aguero 'amazing' and a 'friend.' On social media, Aguero has called Greene 'one of my closest friends.'"

You Might Be a Moron if ... (1) you call someone else a moron while you are in the act of committing several felonies; (2) you leave her an electronic trail documenting your crimes. ~~~

~~~ Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Standing on the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, Richard Michetti allegedly took a break from the rioting to argue with his ex-girlfriend over text message. After sending photos and videos of the mob and boasting how he had avoided tear gas, Michetti parroted ... Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud. 'If you can't see the election was stolen you're a moron,' Michetti wrote in a text to the woman, according to court documents. The next day, the woman he had insulted promptly told the FBI that her ex was at the Capitol, handing over to law enforcement the string of incriminating texts, photos and videos he sent to her. Michetti, who lives in Ridley Park, Pa., has now been charged with knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and obstruction of Congress. If convicted, Michetti, who was arraigned on Tuesday in federal court in Philadelphia, faces up to 20 years in prison, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.&"

Kara Scannell of CNN: "The Manhattan district attorney's office has subpoenaed financial records related to Steve Bannon's crowd-funding border-wall effort, signaling that its criminal investigation into ... Donald Trump's chief strategist is advancing, according to people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors sent the subpoenas after Trump pardoned Bannon in late January for federal conspiracy crimes tied to the southern border-wall project, making Bannon among the Trump world figures -- including the former president -- subjects of criminal investigations by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance.... The state grand jury investigation revives the possibility that Bannon, the conservative and outspoken political strategist, could face state criminal charges after shedding the federal case last month."

Scott Wong of the Hill: "Two key House Democrats will roll out legislation Thursday that would revoke a lifetime pension and other taxpayer-funded perks from former presidents who are convicted of felonies during or after office. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who leads the Democrats' campaign arm, and Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have authored the Restoring and Enforcing Accountability of Presidents (REAP) Act. It would reform the Former Presidents Act of 1958 by stripping past presidents convicted of a felony of their $219,200 annual pension, office space and a budget to pay for staff. The legislation does not impact lifetime Secret Service protection for convicted presidents. It will formally be introduced on Thursday, when Maloney and Jayapal will begin gathering co-sponsors."

Jeff Pegues & Melissa Quinn of CBS News: "Donald Trump Jr. ... was deposed by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine this month as part of the district's lawsuit over the misuse of funds by the former president's inaugural committee. A court filing from Racine with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia indicates Trump Jr. answered questions at a deposition on February 11, during which he was asked about a contract signed by the Trump Organization for a block of hotel rooms at the Loews Madison Hotel in Washington during the week of the 2017 inauguration."

The Spoils of "Public Service." Jeff Stein & Yeganeh Torbati of the Washington Post (Feb. 23): "Steven Mnuchin, who was treasury secretary in the Trump administration, is planning to start an investment fund that is expected to raise money from sovereign [i.e., state-owned] wealth funds in the Persian Gulf region and other investors, two people familiar with the project said.... The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia control some of the region's largest investment funds, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.... Mnuchin frequently traveled to the Middle East throughout the Trump administration.... 'The fact that there were policies that were favorable to countries that now might benefit him in a business matter is troubling, and does raise questions about whether even the prospect of future business interests might have impacted decision-making, even if there were no specific plans in place,' said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington...."

Florida Senate Race 2022. Marc Caputo of Politico: "Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy is seriously considering a bid to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio's 2022 reelection, announcing Wednesday that she's launching a statewide listening tour and has hired a top Democratic operative to manage the effort. Murphy, 42, has been elected three times to one of Florida's most competitive congressional districts in Orlando, and first won the seat by knocking out 12-term incumbent GOP Rep. John Mica when few thought she could. It was a giant-killer act that Democrats hope she can repeat if she takes on Rubio, widely seen as a hard-to-beat incumbent."

Georgia Senate Race 2022. Reis Thebault & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Former Georgia senator David Perdue will not run for Senate in 2022, he said Tuesday, backing out of the race a week after he filed the paperwork to explore a bid. Perdue made his decision days after he traveled to Florida to meet with ... Donald Trump and grew concerned [Trump] was not focused on helping Republicans win in 2022.... The two men get along well, but Perdue was reportedly disturbed by Trump's lack of focus on helping Republicans in 2022 and by his desire to exact revenge on party members he deemed insufficiently loyal, a person ... said. Perdue feared Trump would create a difficult climate, the person said." A CNN report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

"Alien Reptiles." Steve Cavendish, et al., of the New York Times lay out what is known about the Nashville Christmas bomber's motivations. "The F.B.I. and other federal and local law enforcement agencies investigating the bombing have not made any findings public, although officials said they expect a report by early March. Whatever else might have been on [Anthony] Warner's mind in the period leading up to his death, he had been fixated for years on the notion that alien reptiles who inhabited underground tunnels controlled the earth, a fantasy spread by a notorious British serial conspiracy theorist." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Rebecca Robbins & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hoping to make it easier for Americans to find Covid-19 vaccines, is backing the test of a centralized online portal where the public can search for nearby vaccination locations with doses on hand. The website, called VaccineFinder, is run by Boston Children's Hospital with the help of several collaborators.... It expanded on Wednesday to include the availability of coronavirus vaccines at more than 20,000 locations, concentrated in several states.If the program goes well, the website's developers plan to expand it nationwide.... The project is not a panacea. It will not enable people to book appointments...."

Matthew Conlen, et al., of the New York Times: "Throughout the pandemic, there has been perhaps nowhere more dangerous than a nursing home.... But for the first time since the American outbreak began roughly a year ago -- at a nursing care center in Kirkland, Wash. -- the threat inside nursing homes may have finally reached a turning point. Since the arrival of vaccines, which were prioritized to long-term care facilities starting in late December, new cases and deaths in nursing homes, a large subset of long-term care facilities, have fallen steeply, outpacing national declines, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data. The turnaround is an encouraging sign for vaccine effectiveness...."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine appears safe and effective, particularly against severe disease, though questions remain about how well it works in older people, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The vaccine is 66 percent effective against overall Covid-19 illness but less effective against B.1.351, the strain first found in South Africa. The agency laid out data in briefing documents posted ahead of a Feb. 25 meeting of an independent advisory panel of vaccine experts that will discuss whether the vaccine should be authorized for people 18 and older." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Hannah Knowles & Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: "A former aide to New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo [D] made detailed allegations Wednesday that the politician sexually harassed her, describing an unwanted kiss in Cuomo's office and a pattern of behavior that she says left her 'nauseous' going to work. Lindsey Boylan, who eventually resigned from the Democratic governor's team, described deep discomfort with Cuomo starting in 2016, when she says her boss told her the governor had a 'crush' on her. Boylan said in an online post that Cuomo 'would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs,' and she shared images of text messages and emails that she said supported her story, an expansion on public allegations that Cuomo denied last year.... Boylan, in her post Wednesday, said Cuomo's treatment of her was part of a deep-rooted, workplace-wide problem, leading some New York lawmakers to call for an investigation. The Democratic leader of the state Senate said the ex-aide's claims were 'deeply disturbing.'... A spokeswoman for the governor, Caitlin Girouard, reiterated Wednesday that Boylan's 'claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false.'" The New York Times' story is here. A Daily Beast story is here.

South Dakota. Rachel Treisman of NPR: "South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg [R] is facing calls to leave office after newly released video evidence has raised questions about his conduct in the car crash that killed a pedestrian last year. It's the latest fallout from the Sept. 12 incident in which Ravnsborg, while driving home from an evening Republican fundraiser, fatally struck 55-year-old Joe Boever along the side of U.S. Highway 14.... In his initial 911 call, as well as in a subsequent two-page public statement, Ravnsborg said he believed his car had hit a deer or some other large animal and did not know he had killed a man until he returned to the accident scene the following day and discovered Boever's body. Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday called for Ravnsborg -- who faces three misdemeanor charges -- to resign. Later that day, a bipartisan group of South Dakota House lawmakers filed a resolution to impeach him.... At one point, investigators said that a pair of broken glasses was found inside the attorney general's car and that the glasses could have gotten there only by Boever's face entering through the windshield." Ravnsborg also denied seeing the bright flashlight Boever was carrying. Includes video of a portion of interrogation. The Washington Post's story is here.

Texas. Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Texas's deregulated electricity market has raised costs to consumers by $28 billion since 2004, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis published Wednesday. The analysis found that consumers purchasing power from the deregulated electricity market have paid significantly more than state residents whose sources were traditional electric utilities. The report comes after widespread power outages in Texas that left millions of residents without power for days amid freezing temperatures. That was followed by many households receiving sky-high electricity bills, with warnings from experts that consumers are likely to be hit with covering the costs for grid upgrades." ~~~

~~~ Abbott: Those People I Appointed Really Suck. But Thanks for the Cash. Dillon Collier of KSAT San Antonio: "Since a deadly winter storm hit Texas earlier this month Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly heaped criticism on ERCOT, the operator of the state's electric grid, claiming the entity was woefully unprepared for the dangerous weather that has killed a still-untold number of people. But an analysis of state campaign finance records by the KSAT 12 Defenders shows three current members of ERCOT's board have contributed thousands to Abbott's campaigns, with some of the funds dating back to his days as Texas Attorney General. Lori Cobos and DeAnn Walker, two Abbott appointees who sit on ERCOT's board..., are listed among the governor's lengthy list of political donors.... Walker, the chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and a former senior policy advisor to Abbott.... Board member Mark Carpenter ... has contributed $10,000 to Texans for Greg Abbott ... since October 2018. He was not appointed by Abbott...."

News Ledes

AP: "The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week but remained high by historical standards. Applications for benefits declined 111,000 from the previous week to a seasonally adjusted 730,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It is the lowest figure since late November. Still, before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession of 2008-2009."

New York Times: "Fanne Foxe, the stripper known as 'the Argentine Firecracker,' who leapt from the limousine of Representative Wilbur D. Mills and plunged into Washington's Tidal Basin after a night of drinking exposing one of the biggest political sex scandals of the 1970s, died on Feb. 10. She was 84."