The Commentariat -- September 22, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held benchmark interest rates near zero but indicated that rate hikes could be coming sooner than expected, and it significantly cut its economic outlook for this year. Along with those largely expected moves, officials on the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee indicated they will start pulling back on some of the stimulus the central bank has been providing during the financial crisis. There was no specific indication, though, as to when that might happen."

Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the formation of a partnership between the United States and European Union to further the global Covid-19 vaccination effort. 'The United States is leading the world on vaccination donations. As we're doing that, we need other high-income countries to deliver on their own ambitious vaccine donations and pledges,' Biden said at a virtual meeting with leaders of the United Nations, World Health Organization and countries including the United Kingdom and Canada.... He also made official his administration's plan to purchase another 500 million vaccine doses to distribute to some of the world's poorest nations. News of the additional supply trickled out earlier this week, and will bring the United States' total commitment to 1.1 billion doses."

Heather Caygle & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "President Joe Biden ... will hold a series of meetings with key Democrats Wednesday, including [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as party leaders try to salvage their two-part domestic agenda -- a massive social safety net expansion and bipartisan infrastructure bill -- amid a fresh round of hostage-taking from centrist and progressive members.... Biden's attempt at a kumbaya moment could hardly come at a more critical time, with the narrowly divided House nearing an uncertain vote Monday on the Senate's infrastructure deal."

Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to meet in person next month when they spoke by phone Wednesday, French and U.S. officials said, as the two leaders seek to make peace after a secret arms deal led to an unprecedented diplomatic rupture between Washington and its oldest ally. A White House statement suggested regret over the way the episode unfolded. 'The two leaders agreed that the situation would [have] benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners,' the statement said. 'President Biden conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.'... The statement also said the ambassador to France would return to Washington next week. Macron had recalled Ambassador Philippe Etienne to Paris in the days after the announcement."

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Two former GOP treasury secretaries held private discussions this month with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hoping to resolve an impasse over the debt limit that now threatens the global economy, according to four people aware of the conversations. The previously unreported talks involving the GOP economic grandees -- Henry Paulson, who served as treasury secretary under President Bush [II]; and Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary under President Trump -- did not resolve the matter and the U.S. is now racing toward a massive fiscal cliff with no clear resolution at hand.... The backchanneling by Mnuchin and Paulson -- who had previously worked together at Goldman Sachs -- reflects the widespread alarm among economists and U.S. business interests about the consequences of an unprecedented default on the federal debt.

Elliot Spagat, et al., of the AP: “Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two U.S. officials said, undercutting the Biden administration's public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion. Haitians have been freed on a 'very, very large scale' in recent days, according to one U.S. official who put the figure in the thousands. The official ... has direct knowledge of operations.... The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said. They are processed by the Border Patrol at those locations."

Texas. Abbott's "Steel Wall." Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has sent a fleet of state-owned vehicles to line up for miles as a barricade along the border with Mexico, insisting the state was taking 'unprecedented steps,' as thousands of migrants still seek to cross into the United States." MB: The article does not make clear who -- if anyone -- is in the cars and what-all these people might be doing to dissuade immigrants from climbing over the parked vehicles. However, in a tweet embedded in the story, Abbott says, "Texas Dept of Public Safety troopers & Texas National Guard are stanching the flow of illegal migrants trying to cross into the Del Rio region." The Hill's story is here.

Marie: BTW, I heard two law experts, one on MSNBC -- Neal Katyal -- and one on CNN -- Jennifer Rodgers -- say that Donald Trump's lawsuit against Mary Trump and the New York Times lacked merit, & Donald stands little chance of prevailing. Rodgers said she was surprised to see such a sloppily drafted complaint, and she doesn't understand why Donald Trump would want to expose himself in depositions, especially in a suit he is so likely to lose. Related story linked below.

Ukraine. Ivan Nechepurenko & Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times: "A top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was shot at on Wednesday while being driven in his car outside Kyiv, in what the authorities said was an assassination attempt. The adviser, Serhiy Shefir, was not injured in the attack, but the driver of the car was wounded and hospitalized, Irina Venediktova, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said in a statement that included a picture of the driver's side of Mr. Shefir's black Audi riddled with bullets."

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Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden defended the messy end to the of war in Afghanistan and made a case that the world can come together to confront global threats like climate change and the coronavirus in a Tuesday speech at the United Nations geared at easing allies' increasing qualms with American leadership. In his first address to the body as president, Biden also affirmed U.S. support for it and an alphabet soup of international partnerships and pledged support for poorer countries often disproportionately affected by climate change.... His measured address was notable mostly for its contrast to the boastful tone and sour reception that marked addresses by ... Donald Trump. Biden drew applause when he closed with a note that his speech was the first by a U.S. president in '20 years with the United States not at war.... Biden met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison later Tuesday, less than a week after the surprise announcement that Australia would purchase U.S.-made nuclear submarines, a major military challenge to China in its Pacific neighborhood." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story, by David Sanger, is here. The transcript of the speech, which appears to be as delivered, is here, via the White House. ~~~

~~~ Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "President Biden announced plans Tuesday to double the funding the United States provides each year to help developing nations cope with the ravages of climate change and build greener economies. Speaking at the United Nations, Biden framed the move as part of a broader return to multilateralism, saying the world must work together to combat daunting challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic, trade disputes and a rapidly warming planet. Biden said he intends to work with Congress to boost the U.S. annual contribution to the problem to $11.4 billion, an amount he said is necessary 'to support the countries and people that will be hit the hardest and that have the fewest resources to help them adapt.'"

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday both decried images of horse-mounted Border Patrol agents aggressively confronting Haitian immigrants in Texas and pledged a swift but thorough investigation into the matter.... Harris, in comments to CBS News, said she supports the investigation launched by Mayorkas into what she characterized as a 'horrible' episode and said she plans to talk to him directly about it later Tuesday.... 'I am going to let the investigation run its course, but the pictures that I observed troubled me profoundly,' Mayorkas said [during an appearance on CNN]." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress on Tuesday that the Biden administration is aiming to relocate the thousands of migrants camped along the U.S. border in Del Rio, Texas by the month's end. 'Our goal is to do so within the next 10 days or nine days,' Mayorkas said in response to questioning from Sen. James Lankford (R-Ok.). Mayorkas told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee that officials 'expect to see dramatic results within the next 48 to 96' hours, at which point they'll have a better grasp of the remaining task. Mayorkas said that the administration is continuing to ramp up 'the frequency and number' of repatriation flights for the migrants, the bulk of whom hail from Haiti." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Eileen Sullivan & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "Images of Border Patrol agents on horses, pushing back Haitian migrants crossing the Rio Grande to try to reach U.S. soil, have prompted outrage among Democrats and called into question President Biden's decision to swiftly deport thousands who had been arriving en masse at a small Texas border town.... 'I urge President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to immediately put a stop to these expulsions,' Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said on Tuesday. 'We cannot continue these hateful and xenophobic Trump policies that disregard our refugee laws.'... Asked if Mr. Biden had seen the images, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said: 'He believes that the footage and photos are horrific. They don't represent who we are as a country. And he was pleased to see the announcement of the investigation.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No, Jen, this is who we are, and those CPB officers with whips/reins do legally represent the U.S. government. Admittedly, the Border Patrol has the least stringent employment standards among the agencies that employ law enforcement officers. Oh, and "A culture of racism within the Border Patrol has persisted throughout its history." And sexist. But these agents, however racist & ill-prepared to serve, still represent the United States.

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "U.S. military officials have insisted since the last American troops withdrew from Afghanistan last month that they would be able to detect and attack Islamic State or Qaeda threats in the country from afar. But an errant drone strike that killed 10 civilians, including seven children, in Kabul on Aug. 29 calls into question the reliability of the intelligence that will be used to conduct the operations.... New details about the drone strike, which the Pentagon initially said was necessary to prevent an attack on American troops, show the limitations of such counterterrorism missions even when U.S. forces are on the ground." The American strike crew was tracking -- and hit -- the wrong white Toyota Corolla. "Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered a review of the Central Command's inquiry into the drone strike to determine, among other issues, who should be held accountable and 'the degree to which strike authorities, procedures and processes need to be altered in the future.'"

Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The House on Tuesday approved legislation to keep the government funded through early December, lift the limit on federal borrowing through the end of 2022 and provide emergency money for Afghan refugees and natural disaster recovery, setting up a fiscal showdown as Republicans warn they will block the measure in the Senate. The bill is urgently needed to avert a government shutdown when funding lapses next week, and a first-ever debt default when the Treasury Department reaches the limit of its borrowing authority within weeks. But it has become ensnared in partisan politics, with Republicans refusing to allow a debt ceiling increase at a time when Democrats control Congress and the White House.... Even with crucial funding for their states on the line, no [House] Republicans voted for the legislation.... And the prospects for passage in the 50-50 Senate appeared dim, as Republicans vowed they would neither vote for the legislation nor allow it to advance in the chamber, where 60 votes are needed to move forward." An NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Earlier, That Same Day. Democrats Behaving Badly, Republicans Behaving Worse. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Th U.S. government is careening toward an urgent financial crisis starting in 10 days, as a political standoff on Capitol Hill threatens to shutter the government during a pandemic, delay hurricane aid to millions of Americans and thrust Washington to the precipice of defaulting on its debt. The high-stakes feud stems from a fight to raise the U.S. government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling. Democrats have tied the increase to a bill that funds federal operations into December, setting off a war with Republicans, who refuse to raise the cap out of opposition to President Biden's broader agenda -- even if it means grinding the country to a halt.... With the clock ticking, the House is set to take the first steps Tuesday to adopt a measure that could stave off the political and economic crisis. But the bill already has run into early political head winds, even among Democrats.... [Despite making changes to accommodate disagreements,] their proposal still has no chance in the Senate, where Republicans largely have pledged to vote against combining the debt ceiling with government spending into one bill. The stalemate threatens to leave Congress with little time to resolve a set of disputes...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Benjamin Siegel of ABC News: "House Democrats on Tuesday removed $1 billion in funding for Israel's Iron Dome air defense system from their stopgap government funding bill, after progressives threatened to tank the measure over the military support for Israel. While Democratic leaders committed to approving the funding by year's end in another must-pass bill, the holdup was the latest episode in an ongoing intraparty debate over support for Israel. Republicans quickly took to social media to accuse Democrats of undermining Israel's security. They also planned a procedural vote to highlight Democrats' divisions -- which was rejected -- even as they had planned to vote against the initial measure when it included Iron Dome funding." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, according to House Republicans, Democrats are terrible to nix Iron Dome funding that Republicans had already decided to nix. ~~~

~~~ Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The United States could plunge into an immediate recession if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling and the country defaults on its payment obligations this fall, according to one analysis released Tuesday. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, found that a prolonged impasse over the debt ceiling would cost the U.S. economy up to 6 million jobs, wipe out as much as $15 trillion in household wealth, and send the unemployment rate surging to roughly 9 percent from around 5 percent.... Moody's 'best estimate' is that [the date the U.S. will default on its debt] is Oct. 20, although Treasury has not given a more precise day.... Failure to raise the debt limit would have catastrophic impacts on global financial markets.... Even resolving the matter before the debt ceiling is breached could hurt U.S. taxpayers and the American economy in the long term. The budget battles over the debt ceiling of 2011 and 2013 under the Obama administration ... [cost] the U.S. economy as much as $180 billion and 1.2 million jobs by 2015, according to Zandi and [Moody report co-author Bernard] Yaros."~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "... this new version of the GOP is at once so radical and so lacking in responsible leadership that it is plunging headlong and unified toward forcing default on the full faith and credit of the United States. Congressional Republicans are inviting economic calamity.... Though crazies threatened default [in the past], grown-ups in the GOP -- Bob Dole, [John] Boehner, an earlier incarnation of Mitch McConnell -- pulled them back from the abyss. Until now. The crazies are in charge.... The hypocrisy is stunning. McConnell has voted to increase or suspend the debt limit 32 times, including thrice under Trump, who added $7.8 trillion to the debt, The Post's Jeff Stein reported. About 97 percent of the current debt existed before Joe Biden's presidency."

Trump, et al., Were Lying and They Knew It. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Two weeks after the 2020 election, a team of lawyers closely allied with Donald J. Trump held a widely watched news conference at the Republican Party's headquarters in Washington. At the event, they laid out a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that a voting machine company had worked with an election software firm, the financier George Soros and Venezuela to steal the presidential contest from Mr. Trump. But there was a problem for the Trump team, according to court documents released on Monday evening. By the time the news conference occurred on Nov. 19, Mr. Trump's campaign had already prepared an internal memo on many of the outlandish claims about the company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the separate software company, Smartmatic. The memo had determined that those allegations were untrue. The court papers, which were initially filed late last week as a motion in a defamation lawsuit brought against the campaign and others by a former Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, contain evidence that officials in the Trump campaign were aware early on that many of the claims against the companies were baseless.... The memo ... rebutted a series of allegations that [Trump attorney Sidney] Powell and others were making in public." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Hill has a summary report here. ~~~

~~~ Blueprint for a Coup. Philip Bump of the Washington Post lays out how Trump, by memo and/or a mob, planned to grant himself a second term. You can read Trump attorney John Eastman's full election-theft memo here, which also is linked within the Gangel-Herb story linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "Crucially, the memo was the culmination of months of work aimed at the Jan. 6 certification date, pulling together Trump's win-at-any-cost strategy with the then-President's willing accomplices in Congress. In the end, it represented the last known attempt Team Trump made at peacefully stealing a second term. After Pence rejected that effort, Trump's mob went after him and Congress.... [John] "Eastman was one of several speakers to address the D.C. rally Trump had beckoned -- the rally that turned into a mob.... 'We know there was fraud,' he said, falsely. 'We know that dead people voted.' Then, he aimed his fire squarely, and publicly, at Pence. 'All we are demanding of Vice President Pence is this afternoon at 1 o'clock, he let the legislatures of the states look into this so we get to the bottom of it and the American people know whether we have control of the direction of our government or not!'... 'All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people!' Trump would later the crowd that day. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

I knocked on Mary Trump's door. She opened it. I think they call that journalism. -- Susanne Craig of the New York Times, in a tweet Wednesday ~~~

~~~ Katerina Ang of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump has sued his niece, Mary L. Trump, and the New York Times over the publication of a 2018 article detailing allegations that he 'participated in dubious tax schemes ... including instances of outright fraud' that allowed him to receive over $413 million from his father, Fred Trump Sr., while significantly reducing taxes. The suit, filed in a Dutchess County, N.Y., court on Tuesday, alleges that Mary Trump, the New York Times and at least three of its reporters 'engaged in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records' about the former president;s finances. According to the lawsuit, Donald Trump suffered at least $100 million in damages as a result of the alleged actions.... The New York Times and the three reporters named in the suit -- David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner -- won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for their 18-month investigation that culminated in the article. Their work 'debunked [Trump's] claims o self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges,' according to the Pulitzer Prize board." An AP story is here.

#epicfail. Drew Harwell, et al., of the Washington Post: "Epik long has been the favorite Internet company of the far-right, providing domain services to QAnon theorists, Proud Boys and other instigators of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol -- allowing them to broadcast hateful messages from behind a veil of anonymity. But that veil abruptly vanished last week when a huge breach by the hacker group Anonymous dumped into public view more than 150 gigabytes of previously private data -- including user names, passwords and other identifying information of Epik's customers. Extremism researchers and political opponents have treated the leak as a Rosetta Stone to the far-right, helping them to decode who has been doing what with whom over several years. Initial revelations have spilled out steadily across Twitter since news of the hack broke last week, often under the hashtag #epikfail, but those studying the material say they will need months and perhaps years to dig through all of it." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, described by some as the face of 'woke' capitalism, has revealed a new flavor in support of Democratic Rep. Cori Bush's 'People's Response Act,' which calls for a health-centered approach to policing. The 'Change Is Brewing' flavor -- comprising cold brew coffee ice cream with marshmallows and fudge brownies -- aims to help 'transform the nation's approach to public safety,' the company said in support of the legislation. 'It's time to divest from systems that criminalize Black communities & invest in a vision of public safety that allows everyone to breathe free,' Ben & Jerry's said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Unsaid here is that many of the people Bush aims to help -- and at one point, even Bush herself -- could not afford to buy a pint of any flavor of Ben & Jerry's.

Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: "Human remains found in a national park in Wyoming were confirmed on Tuesday to be those of Gabrielle Petito, according to the F.B.I., which also said that the manner of death had been determined to be homicide.... The specific cause of death was still pending final autopsy results, the agency said. Michael Schneider, a special agent in charge with the F.B.I. in Denver, said in the statement that anyone with information about Brian Laundrie, Ms. Petito's fiancé, who had gone on a cross-country road trip with her this summer and had been named as a person of interest in the case, should contact the agency." ~~~>

     ~~~ Marie: I did hesitate to link this story, as I am in complete agreement with PD Pepe & citizen625, who wrote in yesterday's Comments thread about the extraordinary coverage that abductions or murders of young white women receive, and with Rockygirl who noted that "pretty, young, blond, and preferably wealthy white women" get the news coverage -- because as citizen writes, their misfortunes amount to news "clickbait." In fairness to the media, this is a prejudice so built-in to the American psyche that when I was a very young child, I thought Disney's Cinderella story was "more important" than "Snow White" because Cinderella was pictured as blonde & Snow White as brunette. (True, Cinderella wasn't rich, but presumably the Handsome Prince fixed that.) As a cute little red-haired girl, I wished I were blonde. When I was a little older, I began to rethink that, based on news coverage that suggested -- falsely -- that blonde women were more apt to be abducted & murdered.

Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "The family of Harry Dunn, a teen motorcyclist who died in an accident that became a high-level diplomatic dispute, reached a settlement in its U.S. civil suit against Anne Sacoolas, an American alleged to have been driving on the wrong side of the road in the East Midlands of England when she hit Dunn -- and who subsequently claimed diplomatic immunity. A criminal case in Britain is still pending, a family spokesman said. Last year, Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, launched a U.S. federal lawsuit claiming wrongful death and seeking financial damages from Sacoolas."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "The White House on Wednesday will host a virtual summit on ending the coronavirus pandemic, as President Biden seeks to take a more visible role amid criticism that his administration has done too little on the global stage. The summit, which coincides with this week's United Nations General Assembly meetings, will be broken into four sessions, according to administration officials who previewed the event with reporters on Tuesday. Biden will chair the first session on the need to vaccinate the world...."

Stephanie Nolen & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "As President Biden convenes heads of state for a Covid-19 summit on Wednesday, pressure is growing on American drug companies -- particularly Moderna, the upstart biotech firm that developed its coronavirus vaccine with billions of dollars in taxpayer money -- to share their formulas with manufacturers in nations that desperately need more shots. Last year's successful race to develop vaccines in extraordinarily short order put companies like Moderna and Pfizer in a highly favorable spotlight. But now, with less than 10 percent of those in many poor nations fully vaccinated and a dearth of doses contributing to millions of deaths, health officials in the United States and abroad are pressing the companies to do more to address the global shortage. The Biden administration has privately urged both Pfizer and Moderna to enter into joint ventures where they would license their technology to contract manufacturers with the aim of providing vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, according to a senior administration official. Those talks led to an agreement with Pfizer, expected to be announced on Wednesday, to sell the United States an additional 500 million doses of its vaccine at a not-for-profit price -- rather than license its technology -- to donate overseas."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here: "More people have died of covid-19 in the United States than are estimated to have died of influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Over 675,000 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the United States since Feb. 29, 2020, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that's roughly how many died of influenza in the United States between 1918 and 1919 -- along with more than 49 million people killed globally during the 'deadliest pandemic of the 20th century.'" (The coronavirus has killed nearly 4.7 million people globally.)" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm loath to demonstrate my poor mastery of arithmetic, but it sure looks as if the U.S. accounts for about ten times more deaths per capita worldwide from Covid-19 than it did from the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. That is, 675K/4.7MM (Covid) v. 675K/49MM (flu). Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Florida. Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has introduced the state's new surgeon general, who opposes vaccine and mask mandates amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Joseph Ladapo, who got his doctorate from Harvard Medical School and was a researcher at UCLA, began his role as Florida's top public health official Tuesday. 'Like Governor DeSantis, Dr. Ladapo is not against vaccines or masks -- he is against vaccine mandates and forced-masking,' Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for the government, told The Hill in a statement.... Pushaw said the only people criticizing DeSantis's new surgeon general are 'media activists' and that the doctor’s résumé 'speaks for itself.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Uh, Maybe Not. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "The man whom Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed as his next surgeon general has a long history of questioning the science behind mask wearing and vaccinations as ways to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.... Newsweek reports that newly minted Florida surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo appeared in a hydroxychloroquine-promoting video last year that was organized by a fringe group of medical professionals whose work was subsequently promoted by then-President Donald Trump.... Also making an appearance with Ladapo in the video was Dr. Stella Immanuel, who gained notoriety last year for her theories about demons coming to Earth and impregnating human women, as well as about physicians using 'alien DNA' to treat their patients."

Australia. Stranded in the Outback. Michael Miller of the Washington Post: "Welcome to covid-era Australia, where state border closures designed to keep the coronavirus from spreading have turned retired office workers into roadside nomads. When the pandemic began, many Australians found that the leaders of the country's six states and two territories, rather than the federal government, suddenly controlled the most vital things in people's lives, including who could go to work and where they could travel.... States and territories have shut their borders with New South Wales, where a delta variant outbreak that began in June has grown to average more than 1,000 cases a day recently. The closures have upended domestic travel and stranded scores of Australians internally, even as a vaccination ramp-up means some states -- and international airports --; will soon open up. People in Sydney could find it easier to fly to Singapore or Los Angeles than to Adelaide."

Beyond the Beltway

Alabama Works on a Rewrite of Its Racist Constitution. Tariro Mzezewa of the New York Times: "The last time Alabama politicians rewrote their State Constitution, back in 1901, their aspirations were explicitly racist: 'to establish white supremacy in this state.'... One hundred twenty years later, the Jim Crow-era laws that disenfranchised Black voters and enforced segregation across Alabama are gone, but the offensive language written into the State Constitution remains. Now, as communities across the South reconsider racist symbols and statues, activists in Alabama who have labored for 20 years to convince voters that rewriting their Constitution is important -- and long overdue -- see an opportunity to get it done.... This month, a committee of lawmakers and lay people began the process of redrafting; their work will go before the voters next year to be ratified before the new Constitution can take effect." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Arizona. Jeremy Duda of the Arizona Mirror: "Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Chucri announced that he will resign his seat after a recording surfaced in which he criticized his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors for not supporting the Senate's review of the 2020 election, speculating that two of them were worried about what such a review would show about their own narrow victories in November in a newly released recording.... 'I think it [Biden's win] was done through dead people voting. I think it was multifaceted. I think there's a lot of cleanup here,' he ... [said] in a Jan. 22 phone call, which Gateway Pundit posted on Tuesday."

Texas. Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week signed a new abortion bill into law, further restricting access to the procedure in the state. Senate Bill 4 -- which the Texas Legislature approved during the special session that ended on Sept. 2 -- bans the use of abortion-inducing drugs in the state seven weeks into a pregnancy, according to The Dallas Morning News. The bill also allows people who 'intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly' breach the law to be criminally charged, according to The Dallas Morning News. The penalty for such an action would be a state jail felony, which comes with fines of up to $10,000 and between 180 days and two years in prison." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Crazy Lawsuits May Bring Down Cruel Texas Anti-Abortion Law(s). Ruth Graham, et al., of the New York Times: "When the United States' most restrictive abortion law went into effect in Texas on Sept. 1, it worked exactly as intended: It effectively stopped all abortions in the second-most populous state. But its very ingenuity -- that ordinary citizens, and not state officials, enforce it -- has begun to unleash lawsuits that are out of the control of the anti-abortion movement that fought for the law. On Monday, a man in Arkansas and another in Illinois, both disbarred lawyers with no apparent association with anti-abortion activists, filed separate suits against a San Antonio doctor who publicly wrote about performing an abortion.... Legal experts said the lawsuits filed in state court might be the most likely way to definitively resolve the constitutionality of the Texas law, which has withstood legal tests. Two more sweeping challenges filed in federal court, brought by abortion providers and the Justice Department, raise difficult procedural questions.... From the anti-abortion movement's perspective, neither of the two men who filed suits this week is an ideal plaintiff." MB: No kidding.

Way Beyond

Brazil. Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, told the United Nations general assembly he had come to showcase 'a new Brazil, with its credibility restored before the world'. But in a 12-minute address, in which the far-right populist preached unproven Covid remedies, denounced coronavirus containment measures and peddled a succession of distortions and outright lies about Brazilian politics and the environment, Bolsonaro did little to repair his country's mangled international reputation." ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Taylor & Annabelle Timsit of the Washington Post: "While [Jair Bolsonario] devoted only a small part of his address to the pandemic, his presence at the assembly spoke volumes on it: As he has not been fully immunized, Bolsonaro appears to have broken U.N. rules that asked for all those who entered the General Assembly Hall to be fully vaccinated under an 'honor system.'... Anyone who enters the General Assembly Hall at U.N. headquarters tacitly attests that they are vaccinated under rules put in place to prevent the assembly from turning into a superspreader event.... Bolsonaro ... says he does not need to get vaccinated because he recovered from a mild case of covid-19 last year.... Later, Bloomberg News reported that a member of Bolsonaro's delegation, who hadn't been in contact with the president, tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in New York and was placed in isolation."

U.K. Don't know why anyone cares about this, but it seems to be newsy on both sides of the pond: ~~~

~~~ Heather Stewart of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson has admitted for the first time that he has six children, claiming in an interview on US television that he 'changes a lot of nappies'. The prime minister has previously tended to avoid questions about his notoriously complex family life. He has been divorced twice, and conceived a daughter during an extramarital relationship. But when an NBC interviewer put to him that he has six children, he replied: 'Yes.'" ~~~

     ~~~ MEANWHILE. William Booth, et al., of the Washington Post: "As host of the upcoming global summit on climate change in November, billed as a final 'moment of truth,' [U.K. Prime Minister Boris] Johnson and his diplomats have just six weeks to help secure ambitious, concrete commitments to slash emissions of greenhouse gases -- or manage failure.... On Monday, Johnson chaired a closed-door roundtable discussion at the United Nations, alongside U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, where he urged the assembled world leaders to increase their financial commitments and emissions targets.... Then on Tuesday, the prime minister headed to the White House -- by Amtrak, an emissions-conserving choice.... For its part, Britain has announced ambitious climate targets for 2030 and 2035 to help achieve net zero by 2050.... But ... a recent report by the Climate Action Tracker ... noted that there is a 'large gap' between Britain's targets and levels of action."

News Lede

New York Times: "Willie Garson, the actor best known for his role as Carrie Bradshaw's best male friend Stanford Blatch in 'Sex and the City,' has died. He was 57."

The Commentariat -- September 21, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Biden defended the messy end to the of war in Afghanistan and made a case that the world can come together to confront global threats like climate change and the coronavirus in a Tuesday speech at the United Nations geared at easing allies' increasing qualms with American leadership. In his first address to the body as president, Biden also affirmed U.S. support for it and an alphabet soup of international partnerships and pledged support for poorer countries often disproportionately affected by climate change.... His measured address was notable mostly for its contrast to the boastful tone and sour reception that marked addresses by ... Donald Trump. Biden drew applause when he closed with a note that his speech was the first by a U.S. president in '20 years with the United States not at war.'... Biden met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison later Tuesday, less than a week after the surprise announcement that Australia would purchase U.S.-made nuclear submarines, a major military challenge to China in its Pacific neighborhood."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Vice President Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday both decried images of horse-mounted Border Patrol agents aggressively confronting Haitian immigrants in Texas and pledged a swift but thorough investigation into the matter.... Harris, in comments to CBS News, said she supports the investigation launched by Mayorkas into what she characterized as a 'horrible' episode and said she plans to talk to him directly about it later Tuesday.... 'I am going to let the investigation run its course, but the pictures that I observed troubled me profoundly,' Mayorkas said [during an appearance on CNN]."

Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress on Tuesday that the Biden administration is aiming to relocate the thousands of migrants camped along the U.S. border in Del Rio, Texas by the month's end. 'Our goal is to do so within the next 10 days or nine days,' Mayorkas said in response to questioning from Sen. James Lankford (R-Ok.). Mayorkas told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee that officials 'expect to see dramatic results within the next 48 to 96' hours, at which point they'll have a better grasp of the remaining task. Mayorkas said that the administration is continuing to ramp up 'the frequency and number' of repatriation flights for the migrants, the bulk of whom hail from Haiti."

Democrats Behaving Badly, Republicans Behaving Worse. Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government is careening toward an urgent financial crisis starting in 10 days, as a political standoff on Capitol Hill threatens to shutter the government during a pandemic, delay hurricane aid to millions of Americans and thrust Washington to the precipice of defaulting on its debt. The high-stakes feud stems from a fight to raise the U.S. government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling. Democrats have tied the increase to a bill that funds federal operations into December, setting off a war with Republicans, who refuse to raise the cap out of opposition to President Biden's broader agenda -- even if it means grinding the country to a halt.... With the clock ticking, the House is set to take the first steps Tuesday to adopt a measure that could stave off the political and economic crisis. But the bill already has run into early political head winds, even among Democrats.... [Despite making changes,] their proposal still has no chance in the Senate, where Republicans largely have pledged to vote against combining the debt ceiling with government spending into one bill. The stalemate threatens to leave Congress with little time to resolve a set of disputes...."

Trump, et al., Were Lying and They Knew It. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Two weeks after the 2020 election, a team of lawyers closely allied with Donald J. Trump held a widely watched news conference at the Republican Party's headquarters in Washington. At the event, they laid out a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that a voting machine company had worked with an election software firm, the financier George Soros and Venezuela to steal the presidential contest from Mr. Trump. But there was a problem for the Trump team, according to court documents released on Monday evening. By the time the news conference occurred on Nov. 19, Mr. Trump's campaign had already prepared an internal memo on many of the outlandish claims about the company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the separate software company, Smartmatic. The memo had determined that those allegations were untrue. The court papers, which were initially filed late last week as a motion in a defamation lawsuit brought against the campaign and others by a former Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, contain evidence that officials in the Trump campaign were aware early on that many of the claims against the companies were baseless.... The memo ... rebutted a series of allegations that [Trump attorney Sidney] Powell and others were making in public." ~~~

~~~ Blueprint for a Coup. Philip Bump of the Washington Post lays out how Trump, by memo and/or a mob, planned to grant himself a second term. You can read Trump attorney John Eastman's full election-theft memo here, which also is linked within the Gangel-Herb story linked below. ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "Crucially, the memo was the culmination of months of work aimed at the Jan. 6 certification date, pulling together Trump's win-at-any-cost strategy with the then-President's willing accomplices in Congress. In the end, it represented the last known attempt Team Trump made at peacefully stealing a second term. After Pence rejected that effort, Trump's mob went after him and Congress.... [John] "Eastman was one of several speakers to address the D.C. rally Trump had beckoned -- the rally that turned into a mob.... 'We know there was fraud,' he said, falsely. 'We know that dead people voted.' Then, he aimed his fire squarely, and publicly, at Pence. 'All we are demanding of Vice President Pence is this afternoon at 1 o'clock, he let the legislatures of the states look into this so we get to the bottom of it and the American people know whether we have control of the direction of our government or not!'... 'All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people!' Trump would later the crowd that day."

#epicfail. Drew Harwell, et al., of the Washington Post: "Epik long has been the favorite Internet company of the far-right, providing domain services to QAnon theorists, Proud Boys and other instigators of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol -- allowing them to broadcast hateful messages from behind a veil of anonymity. But that veil abruptly vanished last week when a huge breach by the hacker group Anonymous dumped into public view more than 150 gigabytes of previously private data -- including user names, passwords and other identifying information of Epik's customers. Extremism researchers and political opponents have treated the leak as a Rosetta Stone to the far-right, helping them to decode who has been doing what with whom over several years. Initial revelations have spilled out steadily across Twitter since news of the hack broke last week, often under the hashtag #epikfail, but those studying the material say they will need months and perhaps years to dig through all of it."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here: "More people have died of covid-19 in the United States than are estimated to have died of influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Over 675,000 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the United States since Feb. 29, 2020, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that's roughly how many died of influenza in the United States between 1918 and 1919 -- along with more than 49 million people killed globally during the 'deadliest pandemic of the 20th century.'" (The coronavirus has killed nearly 4.7 million people globally.)" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm loath to demonstrate my poor mastery of arithmetic, but it sure looks as if the U.S. accounts for about ten times more deaths per capita worldwide from Covid-19 than it did from the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. That is, 675K/4.7MM (Covid) v. 675K/49MM (flu). Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Alabama Works on a Rewrite of Its Racist Constitution. Tariro Mzezewa of the New York Times: "The last time Alabama politicians rewrote their State Constitution, back in 1901, their aspirations were explicitly racist: 'to establish white supremacy in this state.'... One hundred twenty years later, the Jim Crow-era laws that disenfranchised Black voters and enforced segregation across Alabama are gone, but the offensive language written into the State Constitution remains. Now, as communities across the South reconsider racist symbols and statues, activists in Alabama who have labored for 20 years to convince voters that rewriting their Constitution is important -- and long overdue -- see an opportunity to get it done.... This month, a committee of lawmakers and lay people began the process of redrafting; their work will go before the voters next year to be ratified before the new Constitution can take effect."

Texas. Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week signed a new abortion bill into law, further restricting access to the procedure in the state. Senate Bill 4 -- which the Texas Legislature approved during the special session that ended on Sept. 2 -- bans the use of abortion-inducing drugs in the state seven weeks into a pregnancy, according to The Dallas Morning News. The bill also allows people who 'intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly' breach the law to be criminally charged, according to The Dallas Morning News. The penalty for such an action would be a state jail felony, which comes with fines of up to $10,000 and between 180 days and two years in prison."

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Seung Min Kim & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration plans to set the refugee admissions cap for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 to 125,000, meeting a target that President Biden set as a candidate during the 2020 campaign after facing backlash from immigrant advocates saying he wasn't accepting enough refugees from around the world. The figure was confirmed in a State Department report submitted to Congress that outlined the administration's refugee plans for fiscal 2022. In April, Biden announced that his administration would keep refugee admission levels for the current fiscal year at 15,000 -- a record-low level set by his predecessor, Donald Trump -- but abruptly backtracked after protests from Democratic lawmakers and advocates."

Photo by Paul Ratje. Getty Image.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. -- Emma Lazarus ~~~

~~~ Ellen Green of Vice: "Border Patrol officers on horseback swinging whips in the faces of Haitians. Families with toddlers scrambling across the Rio Grande back into Mexico to avoid being deported. Haitian parents crying as they faced the prospect of being deported home to a social and political crisis that seems to see no end. Those were among the scenes in the town of Del Rio, Texas, over the weekend as the U.S. government took a hard-line stance against thousands of newly-arrived Haitian migrants seeking protection. The situation is becoming a public relations and humanitarian challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, as images of Border Patrol agents on horseback screaming at and chasing desperate Haitians reverberated across the internet. 'This is why your country's shit, because you use your women for this,' one officer on horseback shouted at a group of Haitian women who were crossing the Rio Grande with bags of food, showed one report by Al Jazeera." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "White House press secretary Jen Psaki expressed dismay on Monday at images that appeared to show Border Patrol agents using whips on migrants seeking asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border. Psaki said that administration officials were aware of the situation and that 'it's horrible to watch.' She also said people were 'understandably' outraged at the possibility that law enforcement used whips or similar objects against those gathered near Del Rio, Texas, many of them from Haiti." ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: The migrants in the photo(s) probably had previously arrived in the U.S. with their families, and had gone back to Mexico to get food & bring it back to those stranded under the Del Rio bridge in the U.S. "During a news briefing later Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Border Patrol head Raul Ortiz, who used to patrol the border on horseback, addressed concerns about the incident and what the agents were holding. 'Just to add, as Chief Ortiz explained to me, that to ensure control of the horse, long reins are used,' Mayorkas added, 'but we are going to investigate the facts to ensure that the situation is as we understand it to be, and if it's anything different, we will response accordingly.'" ~~~

~~~ Nick Miroff & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled Monday to the makeshift camp in Del Rio, Tex., where nearly 15,000 border-crossers have arrived, and he was quickly pulled into an escalating controversy over the treatment of the mostly Haitian migrants by U.S. agents.... Mayorkas told reporters in Del Rio that DHS would look into the incident. By Monday evening, as criticism mounted, the department released a statement announcing more formal inquiries, which it said Mayorkas had directed after watching the videos. 'The Department of Homeland Security does not tolerate the abuse of migrants in our custody and we take these allegations very seriously,' the DHS statement read. 'The footage is extremely troubling and the facts learned from the full investigation, which will be conducted swiftly, will define the appropriate disciplinary actions to be taken.' The statement said Mayorkas has directed DHS's internal oversight office to send personnel to the camp and oversee agents' conduct 'full-time.'... Several Democratic lawmakers condemned the agents' actions shown in the footage."

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "House and Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled a measure that would fund the government through December while staving off a potential default on U.S. debts into next year, setting up a last-minute scramble ahead of key fiscal deadlines on Capitol Hill. The plan could face immediate political headwinds since Republicans previously have pledged to vote against an increase in the country's borrowing limit, even if it is attached to a measure preventing a shutdown -- part of a broader GOP effort to scuttle President Biden's economic agenda. As they presented their plan, Democrats on Monday once again sounded dire warnings about consequences of failure, which they said could destabilize global markets, shutter critical federal services during a pandemic and hold back assistance to millions of Americans in the aftermath of storms that battered the Gulf Coast and parts of the Eastern Seaboard. They urged Republicans to join them in adopting the measure, arguing that the debt ceiling helps cover prior spending...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Paul Krugman of the New York Times, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, explains to canny politician Joe Manchin why coal is not the future of West Virginia: "So Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia will be responsible for putting together the Democratic climate plan.... The best-case scenario is that Manchin will intervene in ways that help coal miners and highlight his independence without doing too much damage to Biden's objectives. The worst-case scenario is that he will cripple the climate initiative and effectively doom the planet -- because the president's climate push is almost certainly our last chance to avoid disaster.... It's actually startling how small a role coal plays in modern West Virginia's economy.... The collapse of coal mainly happened during the Reagan years.... Much of the decline was caused by automation.... Coal mining is a cultural tradition, and it's a part of Appalachia's history. But if Joe Manchin wants to actually serve the people of West Virginia, as opposed to pandering to their nostalgia, he'll support Biden's progressive agenda -- including his climate agenda."

Alice Ollstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court on Monday set Dec. 1 arguments on Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy -- a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade. Mississippi's ban has been blocked by lower courts because it directly violates Roe's protections for pre-viability abortions."

Michael Balsamo, et al., of the AP: "A federal law enforcement officer was arrested carrying a gun at Saturday's rally at the U.S. Capitol.... The 27-year-old New Jersey man is an officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He was arrested by Capitol Police for illegally possessing a gun on the grounds of the Capitol after people in the crowd reported seeing him with a handgun and notified nearby officers. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington said prosecutors were 'not moving forward with charges' but did not provide additional information about the decision. Two law enforcement officials said the officer was not at the rally in any official capacity." Marie: The article suggests we should be surprised that a law enforcement officer would side with people who beat up law enforcement officers. But the "New Jersey man" is a Border Patrol officer, and many of those guys are not only pro-Trump, they are pretty lawless (see guy with whip, pictured above).

Jamie Gangel & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "A conservative lawyer working with ... Donald Trump's legal team tried to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could overturn the election results on January 6 when Congress counted the Electoral College votes by throwing out electors from seven states, according to the new book "Peril" from Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. The scheme put forward by controversial lawyer John Eastman was outlined in a two-page memo obtained by the authors for 'Peril,' and which was subsequently obtained by CNN. The memo, which has not previously been made public, provides new detail showing how Trump and his team tried to persuade Pence to subvert the Constitution and throw out the election results on January 6." ~~~

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Gaping holes in the Electoral Count Act -- the 1887 law that governs how Congress counts electoral college votes -- were central to the chances that [Trump & cohort's] scheme [to upend the 2020 presidential election results] might succeed.... [On Jan. 2, Sen. Mike] Lee [R-Utah] received a White House memo outlining how Vice President Pence could scuttle the [electoral] process, according to a new Post piece about the [Woodward/Costa] book. Because Republicans in several swing states had voted to send sham electors for Trump to Congress, it argued, Pence could simply set aside the actual electors from those states for President Biden. Both sets would be invalid, and Pence could count the remaining electors, designating Trump winner of a majority of them. The memo ... also suggested Pence could use objections by GOP lawmakers to Biden's electors to delay the process. The book reports that Pence explored this idea before rejecting it.... In a great new draft paper, election law scholar Richard L. Hasen warns that we face 'serious risk' of 'election subversion' or an 'actual stolen election.'" Hasen recommends changing the law to make election subversion much harder. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Republicans have been craven for as long as I can remember. But it took a sly man (Mitch McConnell) and a crazy one (Donald Trump) to push them over the edge to become, as a party, solidly anti-democratic. But that is where they are now -- "they" being the majority of the GOP electorate who believe Trump won in 2020 and almost every GOP official -- elected, appointed or volunteer. Democracy works only if 95 percent (or so) of the people agree about its rules, but Trump & McConnell have ensured that most Republicans do not agree to most democratic laws & norms. They have written the script for another coup, and Republicans throughout the land are ensuring that the play is a hit.

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: In early January, both Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) & Mike Lee (R-Utah) personally investigated fraud claims Trump & his team made. Both Senators were unimpressed, according to a book by Bob Woodward & Robert Costa. "Graham and Lee, both of whom ultimately voted to certify the results, took the claims of election fraud seriously enough to get briefed on the details, involve their senior staff and call state officials throughout the country. But privately, Graham gave the arguments a withering assessment, according to the book, saying they were suitable for 'third grade.' The episode illustrates how strenuously the president's legal team sought to nullify the results of the election; how flimsy even their more serious claims were; and what little stock the president's own allies placed in his objections, even as they stood steadfastly with their standard-bearer." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "Allen Weisselberg -- the former Trump Organization CFO who has been charged by Manhattan prosecutors for an alleged tax evasion scheme -- is expecting that more indictments will be filed in the case, his lawyer said in court Monday.... Weisselberg faces 15 state counts, including grand larceny, which were unveiled by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance in July.... The former president's namesake business was also charged in the indictment, but Donald Trump himself has not been charged." (Also linked yesterday afternoon. The story has since been updated to reflect investigators' rummaging around in basements.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jose Pagliary of the Daily Beast, republished in Yahoo! News: "Prosecutors have discovered a tranche of evidence in the basement of a co-conspirator in the Trump Organization tax fraud case, a defense lawyer for indicted chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg revealed in court on Monday, with the attorney also signaling that more shoes are yet to drop in New York's ongoing investigation."

L'Affaire Russe." Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare: "The indictment [of Michael Sussmann] is ... far removed from the grave FBI misconduct [prosecutor John] Durham was supposed to reveal [when then-AG Bill Barr appointed him to look into Trump's allegations that the FBI had unfairly target the 2016 Trump campaign].... In fact, it doesn't describe FBI malfeasance against Trump at all, but portrays the FBI as the victim of agitprop brought to it by outside political operatives.... The misconduct it portrays is an alleged lie by Sussmann that is, at best, wholly peripheral to the substance of the allegations Durham was supposedly peddling.... [The indictment] depends in its entirety on the testimony of a single witness [James Baker] who is on the record, under oath, saying something rather different from what the indictment alleges.... The evidence that Sussmann lied at all is weak.... [In Congressional testimony, Durham's single witness said he couldn't remember what Sussmann had said about who his client was. This testimony, of course, undercuts his testimony in the Durham case. Also,] Durham actually struggles in the text of the indictment itself to explain why Sussman's lie mattered.... I believe that the indictment of Michael Sussmann is an effort by Durham to change the subject. ~~~

~~~ Marie: I should point out, I guess that James Baker is not like some made man in a TV drama who changes his testimony to help the prosecution's case as part of a plea deal or aspiration to get some kind of leniency. Baker was general counsel to the FBI.

They're All Crooks. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Two veteran Republican campaign operatives -- including one who got a pardon from then-President Donald Trump one month before he left office -- are charged in a new federal indictment with funneling $25,000 from a Russian national into the Trump campaign in 2016. Jesse Benton, 43, and Doug Wead, 75, made brief appearances Monday at a video hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, pleading not guilty to six felony charges including facilitating a campaign contribution by a foreign national, acting as a straw donor and causing the filing of false campaign finance reports. The grand jury indictment alleges that Benton and Wead worked together to accept $100,000 from an unidentified Russian national in order to get the foreigner a meeting with then-candidate Trump at a fundraiser in Philadelphia on Sept. 22, 2016.... The indictment suggests that Benton and Wead hoped to make money from the scheme and did -- taking $100,000 from the Russian, but paying only $25,000 to Trump Victory...." Benton, who is an in-law & was an advisor to Rand Paul also led Mitch McConnell's 2014 campaign. Trump pardoned him for previous campaign finance crimes re: Ron Paul. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Anyhow, it turns out Trump pardoned a guy who (allegedly) stiffed him to the tune of $75K. So that's nice.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions starting in November on foreigners who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, reopening the country to thousands of people, including those who have been separated from family in the United States during the pandemic. The foreign travelers will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding and a negative test for the coronavirus within three days before coming to the United States, Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator, said Monday." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Missouri. AP: "A Missouri official is asking the state Supreme Court to suspend the law licenses of a St. Louis couple who gained national attention last year when they waved guns at racial injustice protesters outside their home. Missouri Chief Disciplinary Counsel Alan Pratzel, in a court filing reported by KCUR-FM, cited Mark and Patricia McCloskey's guilty pleas to misdemeanors stemming from the June 2020 encounter. Pratzel's office is responsible for investigating ethical complaints against Missouri lawyers. Mark McCloskey, who is among several Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in 2022, pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was ordered to pay a $750 fine. Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. Missouri gov. Mike Parson pardoned them on July 30. Pratzel's motion said that while a pardon erases a person's conviction, 'the person's guilt remains.'"

New York. Dana Rubenstein of the New York Times: "In a report released Monday by the Stevens Institute of Technology and Princeton University's Electoral Innovation Lab, researchers said that missteps by the New York City Board of Elections had inadvertently allowed the lab to determine the votes of 378 New Yorkers in the mayoral primary. Those voters include the mayor's son and a former New York City deputy mayor, Robert K. Steel. Because that information is supposed to be secret, in accordance with state law, the report's findings suggest a breach of one of America's most prized guarantees, the secret ballot, and represent another blemish for the city Board of Elections.... In June, the board accidentally released an incorrect vote tally for the most important mayoral primary in a generation, and then had to retract that tally and tabulate the vote all over again." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So then. The New York Times compounded the problem by publishing all of Dante de Blasio's votes in the primary and the order in which he ranked them. It's akin to -- or worse than -- publishing paparazzis' nude photos of celebrities, then claiming, "But hey, it's newsworthy!"

If this is a free-for-all, and it's $10,000, I want my $10,000. And yes, I do aim to collect. -- Oscar Stilley, who is suing Dr. Alan Braid for performing an abortion in violation of Texas's anti-abortion law ~~~

~~~ Texas. Out-of-State Opportunists Sue Texas Abortion Doctor. David Goodman of the New York Times: "A man in Arkansas and another in Illinois on Monday filed what appeared to be the first legal actions under a strict new abortion law in Texas that is enforced by ordinary citizens, regardless of where they live. The Arkansas man, Oscar Stilley, who was described in the complaint as a 'disbarred and disgraced' lawyer, said in an interview that he had filed the lawsuit against a Texas doctor, who publicly wrote about performing an abortion, to test the provisions of the law.... Mr. Stilley said he was not trying to halt abortions by Dr. Alan Braid, a San Antonio physician who wrote in The Washington Post on Saturday that he had violated the Texas law..... Dr. Braid was also sued on Monday by an Illinois man, Felipe N. Gomez.... Both suits were filed in state court in San Antonio and both men are representing themselves." An AP story is here.

Way Beyond

Canada. Affan Chowdhry of CNN: "Several Canadian news outlets are projecting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal party will form the next government. It is unclear, based on their projections, whether it be a majority or minority government." This is a breaking story @ 11:10 pm ET. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times has been updating Canadian election developments and has many more details.

France. Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "President Emmanuel Macron of France has gambled big. He has directed his foreign minister to use language not typically associated with diplomacy, let alone diplomacy between allies, in describing American actions: 'lies,' 'duplicity,' 'brutality' and 'contempt.' He has recalled the French ambassador to the United States, a first.... For Mr. Macron, the submarine debacle demonstrates that the NATO alliance is debilitated to the point of dysfunction through lack of trust.... Without transparency -- and in the submarine deal there was none -- alliance, in the French view, becomes an empty word.... The road back for France and the United States will be long."

The Commentariat -- September 20, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "House and Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled a measure that would fund the government through December while staving off a potential default on U.S. debts into next year, setting up a last-minute scramble ahead of key fiscal deadlines on Capitol Hill. The plan could face immediate political headwinds since Republicans previously have pledged to vote against an increase in the country's borrowing limit, even if it is attached to a measure preventing a shutdown -- part of a broader GOP effort to scuttle President Biden's economic agenda. As they presented their plan, Democrats on Monday once again sounded dire warnings about consequences of failure, which they said could destabilize global markets, shutter critical federal services during a pandemic and hold back assistance to millions of Americans in the aftermath of storms that battered the Gulf Coast and parts of the Eastern Seaboard. They urged Republicans to join them in adopting the measure, arguing that the debt ceiling helps cover prior spending...."

Marie: The United States is a country that blows up children by drone and lashes asylum-seekers with whips. Please, don't say, "We're better than this." No. We. Are. Not.

Getty Image.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. -- Emma Lazarus ~~~

~~~ Ellen Green of Vice: "Border Patrol officers on horseback swinging whips in the faces of Haitians. Families with toddlers scrambling across the Rio Grande back into Mexico to avoid being deported. Haitian parents crying as they faced the prospect of being deported home to a social and political crisis that seems to see no end. Those were among the scenes in the town of Del Rio, Texas, over the weekend as the U.S. government took a hard-line stance against thousands of newly-arrived Haitian migrants seeking protection. The situation is becoming a public relations and humanitarian challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, as images of Border Patrol agents on horseback screaming at and chasing desperate Haitians reverberated across the internet. 'This is why your country's shit, because you use your women for this,' one officer on horseback shouted at a group of Haitian women who were crossing the Rio Grande with bags of food, showed one report by Al Jazeera." ~~~

~~~ Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "White House press secretary Jen Psaki expressed dismay on Monday at images that appeared to show Border Patrol agents using whips on migrants seeking asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border. Psaki said that administration officials were aware of the situation and that 'it's horrible to watch.' She also said people were 'understandably' outraged at the possibility that law enforcement used whips or similar objects against those gathered near Del Rio, Texas, many of them from Haiti."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions starting in November on foreigners who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, reopening the country to thousands of people, including those who have been separated from family in the United States during the pandemic. The foreign travelers will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding and a negative test for the coronavirus within three days before coming to the United States, Jeff Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator, said Monday." An AP story is here.

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: In early January, both Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) & Mike Lee (R-Utah) personally investigated fraud claims Trump & his team made. Both Senators were unimpressed, according to a book by Bob Woodward & Robert Costa. "Graham and Lee, both of whom ultimately voted to certify the results, took the claims of election fraud seriously enough to get briefed on the details, involve their senior staff and call state officials throughout the country. But privately, Graham gave the arguments a withering assessment, according to the book, saying they were suitable for 'third grade.' The episode illustrates how strenuously the president's legal team sought to nullify the results of the election; how flimsy even their more serious claims were; and what little stock the president's own allies placed in his objections, even as they stood steadfastly with their standard-bearer."

Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "Allen Weisselberg -- the former Trump Organization CFO who has been charged by Manhattan prosecutors for an alleged tax evasion scheme -- is expecting that more indictments will be filed in the case, his lawyer said in court Monday.... Weisselberg faces 15 state counts, including grand larceny, which were unveiled by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance in July.... The former president's namesake business was also charged in the indictment, but Donald Trump himself has not been charged."

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Tyler Pager, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden is pressing to set up a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron in coming days, U.S. officials said Sunday, hoping to end a frantic stretch of public snubs and behind-the-scenes exchanges between the two allies.The two leaders have not spoken since French leaders erupted last week at Biden's announcement that the United States was forming a new defense alliance with Australia and the United Kingdom focused on the Indo-Pacific. As part of the deal, the United States will share nuclear submarine technology with Australia, prompting the Australians to drop a $66 billion submarine contract with France. U.S. officials acknowledged Sunday that they have been surprised by the strength of France's reaction, which included abruptly recalling its ambassador from Washington last week. They privately attributed the spat largely to internal French politics as Macron seeks reelection...." Politico's story is here.

Widlore Merancourt & Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: Many of the deportees from the Mexico-U.S. boarder whom the Biden administration is sending to Haiti have not been in Haiti for years, some since the earthquate of 2010. Many speak "Spanish or Portuguese better than Haitian Creole. Several families told The Washington Post that they were never told they were being deported back to Haiti. They began landing Sunday in a ... failed state suffering a humanitarian emergency that critics say is too dangerous and unstable for the thousands being deported. Recognition of the conditions led the Biden administration as recently as May to grant temporary protected status to tens of thousands of undocumented Haitians in the United States.... Since then, conditions in Haiti have deteriorated sharply.... In comments to CNN on Sunday, however, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the deportations, saying ... that an analysis of the situation on the ground had determined that 'country conditions' allowed for the repatriations. A DHS official told The Post on Friday that the deportations would start with up to three flights per day."

Rule by Prima Donna

** Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Joe Manchin, the powerful West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate energy panel and earned half a million dollars last year from coal production, is preparing to remake President Biden's climate legislation in a way that tosses a lifeline to the fossil fuel industry -- despite urgent calls from scientists that countries need to quickly pivot away from coal, gas and oil to avoid a climate catastrophe.... Mr. Manchin is ... closely associated with the fossil fuel industry.... West Virginia is second in coal and seventh in natural gas production among the 50 states. In the current election cycle, Mr. Manchin has received more campaign donations from the oil, coal and gas industries than any other senator, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.... He profits personally from polluting industries: He owns stock valued at between $1 million and $5 million in Enersystems Inc., a coal brokerage firm which he founded in 1988.... Mr. Manchin does support some climate measures proposed by Mr. Biden, but is working to ensure they protect and extend the use of coal and natural gas."

Washington Post Editors: "A group of Democrats has released the Freedom to Vote Act, a substantially pared-down version of the major voting legislation that Republicans successfully filibustered over the summer. Stripped of controversial provisions such as nationwide public campaign financing, the act would ensure access to the ballot box, promote impartial vote-counting and limit partisan gerrymandering. This bill is an outstretched hand to Republicans -- indeed, to anyone who claims to care about democracy. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) immediately trashed it. Not a single Senate Republican appears interested in seriously engaging with Democrats in their effort to write compromise federal voting legislation.... There is no creditable argument against [the' provisions [of this bill], at least not for anyone committed to majority rule.... Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has promised a procedural vote on the compromise bill 'very soon,' even as early as next week. If, as expected, Republicans unite against it, Democrats must stop negotiating with themselves on an issue as fundamental as voting. They should reform the Senate filibuster rule, which has shifted from an extraordinary procedure to a routine blocking maneuver, and try again."

Laura Barron-Lopez of Politico: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-ish-Az.) "is opposed to the current prescription drug pricing proposals in both the House and Senate bills, two sources familiar with her thinking said. They added that, at this point, she also doesn't support a pared-back alternative being pitched by House Democratic centrists that would limit the drugs subject to Medicare negotiation."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The Senate parliamentarian dealt a major setback on Sunday to Democrats' plan to use their $3.5 trillion social policy bill to create a path to citizenship for an estimated 8 million undocumented immigrants. Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, who serves as the chamber's arbiter of its own rules, wrote that the 'policy changes of this proposal far outweigh the budgetary impact scored to it and it is not appropriate for inclusion in reconciliation.'... Democrats had been seeking to grant legal status to undocumented people brought to the United States as children, known as Dreamers; immigrants who were granted Temporary Protected Status for humanitarian reasons; close to one million farmworkers; and millions more whom are deemed 'essential workers.'" The AP's story is here. MB: Of course we all know there's an easy fix here, but it requires getting Joe & Kyrsten on board.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

** Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be safe and highly effective in young children aged 5 to 11 years, the companies announced early Monday morning. The news should help ease months of anxiety among parents and teachers about when children, and their close contacts, might be shielded from the coronavirus. The need is urgent: Children now account for more than one in five new cases, and the highly contagious Delta variant has sent more children into hospitals and intensive care units in the past few weeks than at any other time in the pandemic. Pfizer and BioNTech plan to apply to the Food and Drug Administration by the end of the month for authorization to use the vaccine in these children. If the regulatory review goes as smoothly as it did for older children and adults, millions of elementary school students could be inoculated before Halloween." The AP's story is here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "The average U.S. daily death toll from Covid-19 over the last seven days surpassed 2,000 this weekend, the first time since March 1 that deaths have been so high, according to a New York Times database." (Also linked yesterday.)

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "... dozens [of people] flocked to the opening on Friday morning of 'In America: Remember,' an art installation of hundreds of thousands of flags planted along the [National Mall in Washington, D.C.,] that honor the more than 670,000 people in the United States who have died from the coronavirus. The secretary of the interior, Deb Haaland, and the mayor, Muriel E. Bowser, were in attendance as visitors walked among the rows of white flags covering 20 acres of federal park land bordering the White House, the Washington Monument, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the World War II Memorial.... The artist behind the installation, Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, planted 267,000 flags in Washington last fall to recognize what was then the death toll of the coronavirus in the United States. Almost a year later, that figure has more than doubled. In the last week alone, more than 13,000 Americans have died -- more than four times the number of people who died during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."

Unequal Coverage Under the Law. Christopher Rowland of the Washington Post: "In 2020, as the pandemic took hold, U.S. health insurance companies declared they would cover 100 percent of the costs for covid treatment, waiving co-pays and expensive deductibles for hospital stays that frequently range into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But this year, most insurers have reinstated co-pays and deductibles for covid patients, in many cases even before vaccines became widely available. The companies imposed the costs as industry profits remained strong or grew in 2020, with insurers paying out less to cover elective procedures that hospitals suspended during the crisis. Now the financial burden of covid is falling unevenly on patients across the country, varying widely by health-care plan and geography.... The lack of uniformity in covid insurance practices across the country this year is striking."

Mississippi. James Downie of the Washington Post: "When naming the poster child for irresponsible leadership on covid-19..., Tate Reeves [R] of Mississippi, [hasn't] gotten nearly enough attention. Until, that is, a disastrous appearance Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union.'" You'll have to read on for the Q&A. MB: I don't know why Reeves agreed to go on Jake Tapper's show, as he could not have thought his evasions would hold up to Tapper's questions. Perhaps Tate thinks refusing to answer any questions is a "win" that makes him look as if he's standing up for the freedumbs of Mississippians.

Beyond the Beltway

South Carolina. Marie: There was yet another killing I missed in the Carolina gothic saga, which may or may not be related the Murdaugh family: ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "In June, a few weeks after the death of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced that it was opening a new inquiry into the death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old man who was found on a road about 10 miles from the Murdaugh home [in 2015]. His death has never been fully explained, and no arrests were made.... The police have not accused the Murdaugh family of wrongdoing in the case, and they have not said what -- during their Murdaugh investigation -- led them to open an investigation into Mr. Smith's death." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It seems to me, besides looking at all the slaughter that is happening right around Alex, the authorities might want to look at the cases he prosecuted. According to the Island Packet, "The 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office says it plans to bar Alex Murdaugh, whose family ran the agency for nearly a century, from prosecuting cases on its behalf. The office, which prosecutes cases for five counties, said it is drafting a letter to formally notify Murdaugh that he is no longer authorized to volunteer for the Solicitor's Office, according to spokesperson Jeff Kidd." A volunteer prosecutor? Oh, sign me up. There are a few reprobates in South Carolina I hereby volunteer to prosecute for something, starting with Lindsey Graham.

News Ledes

CNBC: "U.S. stocks began the week deeply in the red as investors continued to flock to the sidelines in September amid several emerging risks for the market. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 760 points, or 2.3%, set for its biggest one day drop since October 28, 2020. At its session low, the 30-stock stock was down 971 points. The S&P 500 fell 2.3% with every sector declining at least 1%, also on pace for its worst daily performance in nearly 11 months. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.8%. There were a number of reasons for the sell-off: Investors fear a contagion sweeping financial markets from the troubled China property market.... Investors are worried the central bank will signal it's ready to start pulling away monetary stimulus amid surging inflation and improvement in the job market. Covid cases because of the delta variant remain at January levels as colder weather approaches in North America.... Investors are also concerned about brinkmanship in DC as the deadline to raise the debt ceiling approaches." The New York Times story is here.

Washington Post: "Authorities said Sunday that they may have found Gabby Petito's body near the Wyoming site where they were searching for the 22-year-old woman whose disappearance on a cross-country van trip with her fiance attracted national attention. Many questions remain in the case of the young couple who once documented a seemingly idyllic 'van life' on social media. Petito's fiance is still missing after refusing to speak with authorities upon returning home alone, officials said. The body recovered Sunday resembles Petito's description, but a cause of death has yet to be determined, FBI agent Charles Jones said at a Sunday evening news conference. Jones said that Petito's family had been notified, but that authorities could not fully confirm that the body is hers until a forensic analysis is completed.... Petito disappeared shortly after she contacted her family from Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in August, authorities said. Then, her 23-year-old fiance, Brian Laundrie returned to their home in Florida on Sept. 1 without her, and later, on Sept. 11, Petito's family filed a missing-person report with police in Suffolk County, N.Y., where the couple is from. Then Laundrie vanished, too. Over the weekend, the police and the FBI announced that they were looking for him in a nature preserve [near North Port, Fla.]..."