The Commentariat -- January 31, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Ten Republican senators announced plans Sunday to release an approximately $600 billion covid relief package that could serve as a bipartisan alternative to President Biden's $1.9 trillion plan, and requested a meeting with the president to discuss it. The senators, led by Susan Collins (R-Maine), said they would release additional details of the package on Monday. In a letter to Biden they said they were offering their proposal in recognition of the president's 'calls for unity.'... Their move comes as Democrats prepare to move forward on Monday to set up a partisan path forward for Biden's relief bill, which Republicans have dismissed as overly costly.... The GOP proposal is expected to jettison certain elements that have drawn Republican opposition, such as increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. It would also significantly narrow eligibility for a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks Biden wants to send to individual Americans. Biden's plan would cap eligibility for the checks at individuals making $75,000 a year and couples making $150,000. A $600 billion plan that is a fraction of the size of Biden's proposal is unlikely to draw much if any Democratic support." Politico's story is here.

Zachary Petrizzo of Mediaite: "The Lincoln Project's legal counsel sent a scorching letter to Rudy Giuliani after he falsely accused the group of helping plan the January 6th Capitol riot, demanding that Giuliani retract his statement and publicly apologize by February 3. Giuliani made the comments in an appearance on Steve Bannon's 'War Room' podcast, accusing 'antifa' and 'some right-wing groups that operate for the Lincoln Project or have been working with the Lincoln Project at various times' of being responsible for instigating the riot." MB: Wait, wait. Steve Bannon is running a show called the "War Room" & Rudy goes on it to blame the opposition for planning the "war"?

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

** Nicholas Florko of STAT News: "Top Trump officials actively lobbied Congress to deny state governments any extra funding for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout last fall -- despite frantic warnings from state officials that they didn't have the money they needed to ramp up a massive vaccination operation. The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators. Without the extra money, states spent last October and November rationing the small pot of federal dollars they had been given. And when vaccines began shipping in December, states seemed woefully underprepared."

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Remembering the Anti-President*

Illustration by Jason Seiler for Politico.~~~ Michael Kruse, in Politico Magazine, compares Trump to Benedict XIII, the last anti-pope of Avignon -- who also became power-hungry & refused to concede he had been voted out. ~~~

~~~ ** Lordy, I Hope We See Rudy. Trump's Top Impeachment Lawyers Out. Gloria Borger, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's five impeachment defense attorneys have left a little more than a week before his trial is set to begin, according to people familiar with the case, amid a disagreement over his legal strategy. It was a dramatic development in the second impeachment trial for Trump, who has struggled to find lawyers willing to take his case. And now, with legal briefs due next week and a trial set to begin only days later, Trump is clinging to his election fraud charade and suddenly finds himself without legal representation. Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were expected to be two of the lead attorneys, are no longer on the team. A source familiar with the changes said it was a mutual decision for both to leave the legal team. As the lead attorney, Bowers assembled the team. Josh Howard, a North Carolina attorney who was recently added to the team, has also left, according to another source familiar with the changes. Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris, from South Carolina, are no longer involved with the case, either.... A person familiar with the departures told CNN that Trump wanted the attorneys to argue there was mass election fraud and that the election was stolen from him rather than focus on the legality of convicting a president after he's left office. Trump was not receptive to the discussions about how they should proceed in that regard. The attorneys had not yet been paid any advance fees and a letter of intent was never signed." This is an update of a breaking story linked earlier. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Of course Trump didn't pay his lawyers. A New York Times story is here. A Washington Post story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "In the end..., Trump is who he is. He's a broken, dangerous and irredeemable man. Our greater contempt should fall on the cowards in the Republican Senate who will refuse to hold him accountable in spite of his own efforts at self-sabotage."

Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "As racial justice protests erupted nationwide last year..., Donald J. Trump, struggling to find a winning campaign theme, hit on a message that he stressed over and over: The real domestic threat to the United States emanated from the radical left, even though law enforcement authorities had long since concluded it came from the far right. It was a message that was quickly embraced and amplified by his attorney general and his top homeland security officials, who translated it into a shift in criminal justice and national security priorities even as Mr. Trump was beginning to openly stoke the outrage that months later would culminate in the storming of the Capitol by right-wing extremists.... The effect of his direction was ... substantial, according to interviews with current and former officials, diverting key portions of the federal law enforcement and domestic security agencies at a time when the threat from the far right was building ominously.... The pressure from Mr. Trump was unrelenting." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Why, it's almost as if Trump determined to keep intelligence agencies' eyes off the ball in order to give his violent backers free rein.

MTG Is No Anomaly; She's the Face of the GOP. Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: Marjorie Taylor "Greene's widely reported comments about the radical ideology of QAnon and other matters had not stopped a coterie of top Republicans from urging her to run for the seat representing a deeply conservative district in north Georgia, and then issuing fervent endorsements. Greene was 'exactly the kind of fighter needed in Washington to stand with me against the radical left,' declared Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Debbie Meadows, who ran an influential political action committee and whose husband, Mark Meadows, became Trump's chief of staff, gushed, 'We cannot wait to welcome her to Congress.'... While some Republicans have tried to portray Greene as a political anomaly, her ascent demonstrates the extent to which key party leaders embraced her ... despite her well-documented history of spreading false claims and violent rhetoric. Critical to Greene's success was the early intervention on her behalf by some of the party's most staunchly pro-Trump figures and Greene's ability to tap into the far-right online world where baseless claims thrive." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ What a Friend She Has in Donald. Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Saturday that she spoke with former President Trump as she faces growing bipartisan criticism over past social media posts in which she expressed support for violence against Democrats. 'I had a GREAT call with my all time favorite POTUS, President Trump! I'm so grateful for his support...,' Greene tweeted."

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "FBI agents around the country are working to unravel the various motives, relationships, goals and actions of the hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some inside the bureau have described the Capitol riot investigation as their biggest case since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and a top priority of the agents' work is to determine the extent to which that violence and chaos was preplanned and coordinated. Investigators caution there is an important legal distinction between gathering like-minded people for a political rally -- which is protected by the First Amendment -- and organizing an armed assault on the seat of American government. The task now is to distinguish which people belong in each category, and who played key roles in committing or coordinating the violence.... The FBI is also trying to determine how many people went to Washington seeking to engage in violence, even if they weren't part of any formal organization." The report cites social-media chatter that preceded the siege. For instance, "Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in." read one posting, according to the report. And, "Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A criminal complaint against two Montana brothers and a detention memo against a prominent member of the Proud Boys help explain how, the government believes, one segment of a mob overran a small, poorly defended line of Capitol Police officers. In these and other filings, prosecutors trace the actions of possible key instigators in the storming of the Capitol, including members of the Proud Boys...." The story outlines the known actions of Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, who has been indicted on a number of charges, & some of those he appears to have led, including two brothers from Montana, Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A related story in the Hill is here. ~~~

~~~ Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Federal authorities arrested two women in Pennsylvania on Friday on charges related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol building after the FBI said one of the women expressed an intent to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).... Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith were identified by law enforcement after the FBI said it received a tip on Jan. 12 with a video purportedly capturing the two women as they left the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 amid a large mob of people, according to a criminal complaint. 'We broke into the Capitol.... We got inside, we did our part,' Bancroft said in the video she sent to her children, according to the FBI. 'We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain, but we didn't find her.' The women -- who the FBI said initially lied to authorities -- face three federal charges...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An NBC News story is here. ~~~

Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Far-right radio show host Alex Jones and a prominent GOP donor reportedly played a larger role than previously known in the pro-Trump rally held near the White House before the Capitol riot. Jones was involved in pledging money and getting others to donate money for the Jan. 6 event, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The Infowars founder originally planned to give $50,000 in seed money to secure a 'top speaking slot of his choice,' according to a funding document reported by the newspaper. strong>Julie Jenkins Fancelli, the heiress to the Publix Super Markets Inc. chain, reached out to Jones and asked to donate for the Jan. 6 event, organizers told the Journal. Jones reportedly helped Fancelli donate $300,000 through a fundraising official who helped with former President Trump's campaign. Fancelli's donation represented a majority of the funding for the $500,000 rally at the Ellipse, where Trump spoke before chaos erupted later in the day at the Capitol. During the 2020 election cycle, Fancelli donated nearly $1 million to Trump's campaign and the Republican Party, the Journal noted.... A spokesperson for Publix noted to The Hill that Fancelli is not an employee of the supermarket chain and 'is neither involved in our business operations, nor does she represent the company in any way.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Stern of the Washington Post: "... as the Biden administration settles in, some close allies of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky are opening up about one of the longest-running dramas from the Trump era -- the blitz of meetings, messages and public statements in Ukraine by ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.... The new disclosures from Ukraine do not offer any bombshell revelations about Giuliani's dealings. But they help fill in some blanks on his frantic -- and unsuccessful -- quest to press Ukraine to make statements seen as potentially helpful to the Trump reelection bid. Giuliani's overall goal, according to the accounts, was to have Zelensky's government validate the Trump campaign's unsupported claims -- including that Joe Biden's son, Hunter, engaged in corrupt dealings in Ukraine and that then vice president Biden attempted to cover it up. Giuliani, saying he was acting on President Trump's behalf, also was promoting a false narrative that the Ukrainian government colluded to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections against Trump -- an unproven claim that sought to deflect attention from Russia's interference in the campaign.... The Zelensky team's decision to talk about Giuliani's tactics coincides with efforts for a reset in relations with President Biden, who dealt closely with Ukraine during his eight years as vice president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jill Filipovic of the Guardian: "In 2021 legislative sessions (which six states haven't even yet begun), [Republican] lawmakers in 28 states have pushed a whopping 106 bills that would restrict voting access.... Each one of these 106 bills aims to make voting harder, either by scaling back vote-by-mail, imposing stricter voter identification laws, limiting policies that successfully registered large numbers of voters, or allowing states to more easily and aggressively purge their voter rolls.... Republicans trying to restrict voting rights is not new..., but the context after the Capitol riot is different: Republicans now cannot deny the serious, deadly and democracy-threatening costs of exploiting lies about voting fraud to the advantage of Republican politicians.... It's not all bad news on the voting front, though. Appalled by conservative malfeasance, newly emboldened by the success of mail-in voting during Covid, and heartened by hard-won wins in Georgia, more Democrats are latching on to what leaders and organizers like Stacey Abrams have been doing for years: fighting for expanded voting rights. Legislators in 35 states have introduced a total of 406 bills that would make voting easier for more people."

Georgia. WSB-TV Atlanta: "A west Georgia police chief has resigned and an officer has resigned after body camera video shows them making racist comments ahead of a Black Lives Matter protest last year. According to the Assistant to Hamilton Mayor Julie Brown, Chief Gene Allmond and Patrolman John Brooks have both been removed from their positions with the Hamilton Police Department. Chief Allmond reportedly resigned, while Patrolman Brooks was terminated, WTVM in Columbus reported. The footage was obtained by WTVM-TV in Columbus after a city official there was made aware of the it.... WTVM said after viewing the video, it took city leaders about an hour and a half to take action, letting the chief and the officer know they would be fired if they did not resign." The article includes some of the mens' "conversation." We'll skip it here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

"It's a Mess." Tyler Pager, et al., of Politico: "After a week on the job, [President] Biden's team is still trying to locate upwards of 20 million vaccine doses that have been sent to states -- a mystery that has hampered plans to speed up the national vaccination effort.... Only a small percentage of ... unaccounted for doses -- roughly 2 million, two officials said -- is due to lags in data reporting, the Biden team believes. That would mean the rest of the crucial supply is boxed away in warehouses, sitting idle in freezers or floating elsewhere in the complex distribution pipeline that runs from the administration to individual states.... They're searching for new ways to boost production of a vaccine stockpile that they've discovered is mostly empty. And they're nervously eyeing a series of new Covid-19 strains that threaten to derail the response.... In the days since taking over, the Covid response team has confronted a situation that officials described as far worse than expected -- and that has prompted public assessments so dour they surprised some who had worked on the administration's former transition team. On Tuesday, Biden warned that the 'vaccine program is in worse shape than we anticipated or expected,' echoing complaints from his chief of staff, Ron Klain, that a 'plan didn't really exist.'"

Carla Johnson, et al., of the AP: "A racial gap has opened up in the nation's COVID-19 vaccination drive, with Black Americans in many places lagging behind whites in receiving shots, an Associated Press analysis shows. An early look at the 17 states and two cities that have released racial breakdowns through Jan. 25 found that Black people in all places are getting inoculated at levels below their share of the general population, in some cases significantly below. That is true even though they constitute an oversize percentage of the nation's health care workers, who were put at the front of the line for shots when the campaign began in mid-December. For example, in North Carolina, Black people make up 22% of the population and 26% of the health care workforce but only 11% of the vaccine recipients so far.... Experts say several factors could be driving the emerging disparity, including deep distrust of the medical establishment among Black Americans because of a history of discriminatory treatment; inadequate access to the vaccine in Black neighborhoods; and a digital divide that can make it difficult to get crucial information. Vaccination sign-ups are being done to a large degree online." ~~~

~~~ Yes, well, maybe the problem is that they didn't donate a wing to their local hospital. ~~~

~~~ Russ Bynum, et al., of the AP: "While millions of Americans wait for the COVID-19 vaccine, hospital board members, their trustees and donors around the country have gotten early access to the scarce drug or offers for vaccinations, raising complaints about favoritism tainting decisions about who gets inoculated and when.... [For instance,] the Seattle Times has reported that Overlake Medical Center & Clinics emailed about 110 donors who gave more than $10,000 to the hospital system, telling them that vaccine slots were available. The email gave the donors an access code to register for appointments 'by invite' only. At the same time, the public Overlake registration site was fully booked through March... Overlake shut down online access to the invite-only clinic after getting a call from [Gov. Jay] Inslee's [D] staff, and CEO J. Michael Marsh issued an apology."

California. Jordan Williams of the Hill: "A Los Angeles coronavirus vaccination site was temporarily forced to shut down after protesters blocked the entrance. David Ortiz, a firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department, told The Hill that the department temporarily closed the gates of Dodgers Stadium between 1:50 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. because there were protesters outside. About 50 anti-vaccine and far-right demonstrators gathered at the entrance on Saturday afternoon, The Los Angeles Times first reported.... One social media post shows protesters not wearing masks and carrying sings that said '99.6% Survival Rate' and 'I only like muzzles in the bedroom.'" The LAPD claims that no appointments were affected. MB: That's not possible unless the vaccination team had already planned a lunch break between 1:50 & 2:45 & had scheduled no appointments during that time. The First Amendment does not give me a right to block you from receiving medical care just because I believe that care is useless or harmful.

Florida. Speaking of Publix.... Sharon Zhang of Truthout (Jan. 28): "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing criticism after deciding this month that he would revoke COVID-19 vaccine access at health centers in Palm Beach County and instead, funnel the states' vaccine supply through Publix, a regional grocery chain. His decision comes just a few weeks after Publix donated $100,000 to his PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis. After the county runs out of its current supply, which health officials say will happen early next month, officials confirmed this week that the state would no longer distribute vaccines through Palm Beach's health department and will be giving them directly to Publix. DeSantis says that the county will be a 'test site' for the pilot program to funnel the state's vaccines through Publix.... Some of the county's residents live 40 miles away from a Publix. Florida's vaccine administration has thus far been rocky and, in some ways, discriminatory, some report, and many worry that the distribution of the vaccine through Publix will only cause further disparities.... According to data from the state, approximately 4.9 percent of the people who have been vaccinated so far are Black despite Black people making up 16.9 percent of the population. In Palm Beach, Black people make up 3 percent of the vaccinated population and 19.8 percent of the population overall." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: During the time I lived in Fort Myers, Florida, Publix closed down at least two stores that served minority communities and opened up at least four that served affluent areas of the city & county.

Beyond the Beltway

Alaska. Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News in ProPublica: "Acting Alaska Attorney General Ed Sniffen's abrupt resignation was announced Friday as the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica were preparing an article about allegations of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl three decades ago. Nikki Dougherty White, now 47, recently contacted the news organizations with a detailed account of how she and Sniffen began a sexual relationship in 1991 while she was a student at West Anchorage High School. At the time, he was a 27-year-old attorney with a local law firm and a coach of her school's mock trial competition team.... Under an Alaska law enacted in 1990, months before Sniffen and White traveled to New Orleans for the national mock trial competition, it was illegal for an adult to have sex with a 16- or 17-year-old whom he or she was teaching, counseling or coaching.... Public records show White and Sniffen lived at the same address in Anchorage after she turned 18.... Sniffen is the second Alaska attorney general to step down within the past six months amid a Daily News and ProPublica investigation into their interactions with women. Former Attorney General Kevin Clarkson quit in August, hours after the newsrooms revealed he had sent hundreds of unwanted text messages to a junior colleague."

Way Beyond

Russia. The New York Times is live-updating developments in protests across Russia Sunday: "Thousands of people took to the streets to show support for the jailed opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny for a second weekend, despite mass arrests and an imposing show of force by the police.

The Commentariat -- January 30, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "FBI agents around the country are working to unravel the variou motives, relationships, goals and actions of the hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some inside the bureau have described the Capitol riot investigation as their biggest case since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and a top priority of the agents' work is to determine the extent to which that violence and chaos was preplanned and coordinated. Investigators caution there is an important legal distinction between gathering like-minded people for a political rally -- which is protected by the First Amendment -- and organizing an armed assault on the seat of American government. The task now is to distinguish which people belong in each category, and who played key roles in committing or coordinating the violence.... The FBI is also trying to determine how many people went to Washington seeking to engage in violence, even if they weren't part of any formal organization." The report cites social-media chatter that preceded the siege. For instance, "Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in." read one posting, according to the report. And, "Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A criminal complaint against two Montana brothers and a detention memo against a prominent member of the Proud Boys help explain how, the government believes, one segment of a mob overran a small, poorly defended line of Capitol Police officers. In these and other filings, prosecutors trace the actions of possible key instigators in the storming of the Capitol, including members of the Proud Boys...." The story outlines the known actions of Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, who has been indicted on a number of charges, & some of those he appears to have led, including two brothers from Montana, Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes." ~~~

~~~ Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Federal authorities arrested two women in Pennsylvania on Friday on charges related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol building after the FBI said one of the women expressed an intent to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).... Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith were identified by law enforcement after the FBI said it received a tip on Jan. 12 with a video purportedly capturing the two women as they left the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 amid a large mob of people, according to a criminal complaint. 'We broke into the Capitol.... We got inside, we did our part,' Bancroft said in the video she sent to her children, according to the FBI. 'We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain, but we didn't find her.' The women -- who the FBI said initially lied to authorities -- face three federal charges...."

Lexi Lonas of the Hill: "Far-right radio show host Alex Jones and a prominent GOP donor reportedly played a larger role than previously known in the pro-Trump rally held near the White House before the Capitol riot. Jones was involved in pledging money and getting others to donate money for the Jan. 6 event, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The Infowars founder originally planned to give $50,000 in seed money to secure a 'top speaking slot of his choice,' according to a funding document reported by the newspaper. Julie Jenkins Fancelli, the heiress to the Publix Super Markets Inc. chain, reached out to Jones and asked to donate for the Jan. 6 event, organizers told the Journal. Jones reportedly helped Fancelli donate $300,000 through a fundraising official who helped with former President Trump's campaign. Fancelli's donation represented a majority of the funding for the $500,000 rally at the Ellipse, where Trump spoke before chaos erupted later in the day at the Capitol. During the 2020 election cycle, Fancelli donated nearly $1 million to Trump's campaign and the Republican Party, the Journal noted.... A spokesperson for Publix noted to The Hill that Fancelli is not an employee of the supermarket chain and 'is neither involved in our business operations, nor does she represent the company in any way.'"

~~~ Speaking of Publix.... Sharon Zhang of Truthout (Jan. 28): "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing criticism after deciding this month that he would revoke COVID-19 vaccine access at health centers in Palm Beach County and instead, funnel the states' vaccine supply through Publix, a regional grocery chain. His decision comes just a few weeks after Publix donated $100,000 to his PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis. After the county runs out of its current supply, which health officials say will happen early next month, officials confirmed this week that the state would no longer distribute vaccines through Palm Beach's health department and will be giving them directly to Publix. DeSantis says that the county will be a 'test site' for the pilot program to funnel the state's vaccines through Publix.... Some of the county's residents live 40 miles away from a Publix. Florida's vaccine administration has thus far been rocky and, in some ways, discriminatory, some report, and many worry that the distribution of the vaccine through Publix will only cause further disparities.... According to data from the state, approximately 4.9 percent of the people who have been vaccinated so far are Black despite Black people making up 16.9 percent of the population. In Palm Beach, Black people make up 3 percent of the vaccinated population and 19.8 percent of the population overall." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: During the time I lived in Fort Myers, Florida, Publix closed down at least two stores that served minority communities and opened up at least four that served affluent areas of the city & county.

David Stern of the Washington Post: "... as the Biden administration settles in, some close allies of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky are opening up about one of the longest-running dramas from the Trump era -- the blitz of meetings, messages and public statements in Ukraine by ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.... The new disclosures from Ukraine do not offer any bombshell revelations about Giuliani's dealings. But they help fill in some blanks on his frantic -- and unsuccessful -- quest to press Ukraine to make statements seen as potentially helpful to the Trump reelection bid. Giuliani's overall goal, according to the accounts, was to have Zelensky's government validate the Trump campaign's unsupported claims -- including that Joe Biden's son, Hunter, engaged in corrupt dealings in Ukraine and that then vice president Biden attempted to cover it up. Giuliani, saying he was acting on President Trump's behalf, also was promoting a false narrative that the Ukrainian government colluded to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections against Trump -- an unproven claim that sought to deflect attention from Russia's interference in the campaign.... The Zelensky team's decision to talk about Giuliani's tactics coincides with efforts for a reset in relations with President Biden, who dealt closely with Ukraine during his eight years as vice president."

MTG Is No Anomaly; She's the Face of the GOP. Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: Marjorie Taylor "Greene's widely reported comments about the radical ideology of QAnon and other matters had not stopped a coterie of top Republicans from urging her to run for the seat representing a deeply conservative district in north Georgia, and then issuing fervent endorsements. Greene was 'exactly the kind of fighter needed in Washington to stand with me against the radical left," declared Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Debbie Meadows, who ran an influential political action committee and whose husband, Mark Meadows, became Trump&'s chief of staff, gushed, 'We cannot wait to welcome her to Congress.'... While some Republicans have tried to portray Greene as a political anomaly, her ascent demonstrates the extent to which key party leaders embraced her ... despite her well-documented history of spreading false claims and violent rhetoric. Critical to Greene's success was the early intervention on her behalf by some of the party's most staunchly pro-Trump figures and Greene's ability to tap into the far-right online world where baseless claims thrive."

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

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Alan Rappeport & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden and his top economic aides brushed aside criticism from Republicans on Friday about the administration's $1.9 trillion stimulus package and vowed to forge ahead with the proposal, saying the bill was critical for a flagging economic recovery and overwhelmingly popular with voters. The comments came as Mr. Biden was briefed by aides on the need for more fiscal help and the state of the economy, and as new analysis from the Brookings Institution suggested the Biden proposal, if enacted, would vault the economy above its prepandemic path by the second half of this year. A team of top economic officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, met with Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office on Friday to underscore the challenges facing an economy that recorded decelerating growth at the end of last year. They were joined by Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council, and Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey of the Council of Economic Advisers.... On Friday afternoon, as he was departing the White House to visit Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Mr. Biden said..., 'I support passing Covid relief with support from Republicans if we get it, but the Covid relief has to pass.'..." ~~~

~~~ Kevin Freking of the AP: "The Democratic push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour has emerged as an early flashpoint in the fight for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, testing President Joe Biden's ability to bridge Washington's partisan divides as he pursues his first major legislative victory. Biden called for a $15 hourly minimum wage during his campaign and has followed through by hitching it to a measure that, among other things, calls for $1,400 stimulus checks and $130 billion to help schools reopen. Biden argues that anyone who holds a full-time job shouldn't live in poverty, echoing progressives in the Democratic Party...."

Biden Cleans up Another Trump Screw-up. Helena Evich of Politico: "Millions of low-income households with children are about to get more help buying groceries during the pandemic under a new policy released Friday by the Biden administration. Congress last spring launched Pandemic EBT, a program that aims to replace free and subsidized meals kids normally get at school. After schools broadly shut down last year, billions in aid was sent out to low-income families with school-aged children on debit-like EBT cards that can be used to buy food, but this school year the program has been bogged down in bureaucracy.... The vast majority of households eligible for assistance haven't seen any P-EBT payments several months into the school year, even though Congress re-upped the program in September -- a failing that has kept roughly $2 billion in aid from going out to families each month. The Agriculture Department, which oversees school meals and P-EBT, released guidance today that makes it easier for states to get aid to more families -- and at a higher payment rate than under the Trump administration." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A lot of emphasis rightly has been placed on President Biden's efforts to undo Trump's draconian policies, but it is also true that the Biden team has a lot of work to do in fixing programs Trump did not officially oppose but that his cruel and incompetent appointees could not or would not manage. EBT card access is one example.

Remembering Comrade Donova

David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years and proved so willing to parrot anti-western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow, a former KGB spy has told the Guardian. Yuri Shvets, posted to Washington by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, compares the former US president to 'the Cambridge five', the British spy ring that passed secrets to Moscow during the second world war and early cold war. Now 67, Shvets is a key source for American Kompromat, a new book by journalist Craig Unger." MB: Although there is a great deal of fit between what we know about Trump & what Shvets claims, I would rate Shvets' assertions as "possibly true." AND it seems likely that the CIA would have known something about Trump's contacts with Russian agents. If so, didn't the public have a right to know before the 2016 election? What about Mike Pompeo, who headed the CIA? How about members of Congress, like Pelosi & McConnell? I'll be interested to see if there's follow-up to the story. Thanks to unwashed for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: I'll bet Brian Williams got an A+ on the day they practiced deadpan in his news-anchor class: ~~~

Luke Broadwater & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Nearly 150 House Republicans supported ... Donald J. Trump's baseless claims that the election had been stolen from him. But [Rep. Paul] Gosar [R-Az.] and a handful of other Republican members of the House had deeper ties to extremist groups who pushed violent ideas and conspiracy theories and whose members were prominent among those who stormed the halls of Congress.... Their ranks include" Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Az.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), & Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). "It is not clear whether any elected officials played a role in directly facilitating the attack on the Capitol, other than helping to incite violence through false statements about the election being stolen from Mr. Trump.... In signaling either overt or tacit support, a small but vocal band of Republicans now serving in the House provided legitimacy and publicity to extremist groups and movements as they built toward their role in supporting Mr. Trump's efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election and the attack on Congress.... To some degree, the members of Congress have been reflecting signals sent by Mr. Trump. During a presidential debate in October, he made a nod toward the Proud Boys, telling them to 'stand back and stand by.' Two months earlier, Mr. Trump described followers of QAnon ... as 'people that love our country,' adding that 'they do supposedly like me.'" The story details some of the wacko forays these Congressmembers have made into the dark side. (Also linked yesterday.)

Eric Cantor, former Republican House Majority Leader (who lost re-election to a Tea Party nut), in a Washington Post op-ed, has had an epiphany: "Our elected officials work for us, and they fail us when they decline to tell us truths that we, the people, don't want to hear. Even worse, they fail us when they set up false expectations we desperately want to believe." In 2013, that failure led to a government shutdown. In 2021, it led to insurrection. "If the majority of Republican elected officials work together to confront the false narratives in our body politic -- that the election was stolen (it wasn't), that there is a QAnon-style conspiracy to uproot pedophiles at the heart of American government (there isn't), that a Democratic-controlled government means the end of America (it doesn't; it may produce worse policy, but the republic has survived 88 years of Democrats occupying the White House) -- all Republicans will be better off." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When Eric Cantor is the reasonable guy, Republicans have a lot to worry about.

** The Party of Violence. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "The supposed civil war within the Republican Party is over. The neo-Confederates have won.... Thanks to the cowardice of [Kevin] McCarthy and the perfidy of [Mitch] McConnell, the GOP now comprises two relatively harmonious factions: those who actively sabotage democracy, and those who tacitly condone the sabotage. Trump is gone; Trumpism reigns.... Republicans think they'll save their political hides by capitulating to Trump. But, inevitably, that also means capitulating to his violent supporters. And democracy can't function at the point of a gun."

Melanie Zanona of Politico: "House GOP leaders are facing mounting pressure to take action against freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), with key outside groups calling on party officials to condemn her and House Democrats pushing for Greene's removal from Congress or committees. Amid the firestorm, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will sit down for a conversation with Greene next week, his office said. But whether McCarthy decides to punish Greene will depend on how that meeting goes.... And so far, Greene has remained publicly defiant: 'I will never back down. I will never give up,' she said in a statement Friday. Greene has, however, started to scrub some of her old social media posts.... The Republican Jewish Coalition, as well as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, both put out statements Friday condemning Greene's rhetoric. RJC also said it is 'working closely with the House Republican leadership regarding next steps in this matter.... We opposed her as a candidate and we continue to oppose her now,' RJC said." ~~~

~~~ Colby Itkowitz & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Rep. Cori Bush, a freshman Democrat from Missouri, said Friday that she was moving her office at the U.S. Capitol complex away from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for safety reasons, after claiming Greene accosted her without a mask. Meanwhile, Greene -- a conspiracy theorist who has a history of making racist and anti-Semitic remarks -- called Bush a liar and accused her of leading a 'terrorist mob' because she supported Black Lives Matter. The allegations, which escalated throughout the day Friday, underscored the degree to which relations have deteriorated to the point of open hostility between congressional Republicans and Democrats after pro-Trumprioters overran the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a violent insurrection.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reportedly ordered the office move at Bush's request...." CNN's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Violent. Mark Follman of Mother Jones: "... previously unreported video footage obtained by Mother Jones reveals that [Marjorie] Greene continued using violent rhetoric just before the November elections. On October 27, one week before Election Day, Greene sat down for a live interview with pro-gun activist Chris Dorr broadcast on Facebook from a Pennsylvania gun shop. In the 22-minute video posted by the Pennsylvania Firearms Association, the two held forth about the Second Amendment and the necessity of backing Trump and other far-right Republicans in the election. Greene warned ominously about fending off 'socialists' like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, claiming they would confiscate Americans' guns. 'If this generation doesn't stand up and defend freedom, it&'s gone,' Greene said, addressing viewers. 'And once it's gone, freedom doesn't come back by itself. The only way you get your freedoms back is it's earned with the price of blood.'" ~~~

~~~ AND Crazy. Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "Marjorie Taylor Greene said in February 2019 that then-Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- who died in September 2020 -- didn't really make a public appearance, implying she was replaced by a body double.... Greene had a relatively short but horrific career as a right-wing commentator before successfully running for Congress.... In early 2019, conspiracy theorists -- including QAnon supporters -- claimed that Democrats were hiding Ginsburg or covering up that she was dead so they could hold on to her Supreme Court seat." ~~~

~~~ ** AND Crazier. Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Marjorie Taylor Greene had just finished questioning whether a plane really flew into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and flatly stating that President Barack Obama was secretly Muslim when she paused to offer an aside.... 'That's another one of those Clinton murders,' Ms. Greene said, referring to John F. Kennedy Jr.'s death in a 1999 plane crash, suggesting that he had been assassinated because he was a potential rival to Hillary Clinton for a New York Senate seat. Ms. Greene casually unfurled the cascade of dangerous and patently untrue conspiracy theories in a previously unreported 40-minute video that was originally posted to YouTube in 2018. It provides a window into the warped worldview amplified by the freshman Republican congresswoman from Georgia.... Republicans are now facing calls from Democrats to expel Ms. Greene from Congress, pressure from a prominent group of Jewish Republicans to discipline her, and private consternation from within their own ranks.... [Minority Leader Kevin] McCarthy's silence so far reflects, in part, the sway Mr. Trump still has over the Republican Party and its leaders. The former president has praised Ms. Greene effusively and refused to condemn QAnon, despite being asked to disavow it repeatedly while in office." Edmondson ticks off many other insane beliefs Greene espouses. MB: The woman belongs in a mental institution, not in the Congress.

~~~ Laura Barron-Lopez of Politico: "The anti-Trump Republican Accountability Project is kicking off a $1 million billboard campaign Thursday that targets 12 Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.... The nine other Republicans targeted in the campaign are: Reps. Devin Nunes (Calif.), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Louie Gohmert (Texas.), Madison Cawthorne (N.C.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Mo Brooks (Ala.) and Dan Bishop (N.C.).... The billboards call on the dozen congressional Republicans to resign for spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election. 'You lied about the election. The Capitol was attacked,' the billboards read.... All of the lawmakers on the list voted Jan. 6 -- hours after the Capitol insurrection -- to reject state electors Joe Biden won in November.... The effort is part of a larger $50 million campaign by a coalition of 'Never Trump' groups, which plan to support GOP lawmakers who vote to impeach or convict ... Donald Trump in the House and Senate and to target Republicans who've continued to side with Trump."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors investigating the violent riot at the Capitol this month announced their first conspiracy charges against the Proud Boys on Friday night, accusing two members of the far-right nationalist group of working together to obstruct and interfere with law enforcement officers protecting Congress during the final certification of the presidential election. In a brief news release, the Justice Department said that an indictment had been filed against two Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola, of Rochester, N.Y., and William Pepe, of Beacon, N.Y. But by late Friday night, the charging papers had not yet appeared in the Washington federal court database. Both Mr. Pezzola, a former boxer and Marine, and Mr. Pepe, an employee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, already had been facing lesser charges connected to the Capitol attack." CNN's story is here.

Dalton Bennett, et al., of the Washington Post: "The two pipe bombs that were discovered on Jan. 6 near the U.S. Capitol shortly before a mob stormed the building are believed to have been planted the night before, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation and video footage obtained by The Washington Post. The explosive devices, which were placed blocks from one another at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees, have been largely overshadowed by the violent insurrection at the Capitol. But finding the person suspected of planting both bombs remains a priority for federal authorities, who last week boosted the reward for tips leading to the person's arrest from $50,000 to $75,000.... On Friday morning, the FBI released additional information that confirmed The Post's reporting about the timing of the placement of the bombs and raised the reward offered to $100,000." Includes some new video. MB: When I watched the way the person walked, I thought I was probably looking at a woman. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ali Breland of Mother Jones: "In the days ahead of the January 6 Capitol riot..., users of TheDonald.win, a major online pro-Trump forum, were preparing for a fight, posting maps of the Capitol and swapping messages about being ready to die. In the wake of the carnage, law enforcement identified TheDonald.win as a key planning platform for the insurrectionists. And on Inauguration Day, the forum established a new domain, rebranding as Patriots.win. Alongside that transition, thousands of posts from lead up to the riot have disappeared from the site.... The posters' deleted content included maps of the Capitol, manifestos about their intentions upon arriving, discussion about flouting D.C.'s strict gun laws, and praise of extremist groups like the Proud Boys.... Bennett Gershman, a criminal and constitutional law professor at the Pace University School of Law says..., 'Destroying evidence after you've committed a crime might itself be a crime. We're talking about potentially tampering with evidence,' he says." MB: It's impossible to believe the FBI, & possibly other intelligence organizations, didn't know about these plans.

David Corn of Mother Jones: "Weeks before the murderous mob of insurrectionists stormed the United States Capitol on January 6..., a leader of the so-called Stop the Steal movement stood before a crowd of angry Donald Trump loyalists in California and called for the 'execution' of those who had supposedly plotted against Trump. Afterward, he posted video of his demand for blood on YouTube.... Alan Hostetter, a police-chief-turned-yoga-instructor ... last year became a prominent opponent of COVID shutdowns in the Golden State.... [Reading from a prepared text,] he said, 'President Trump and his ground troops here with the patriots -- we're going to fix this.... There must, absolutely must be a reckoning. There must be justice. President Trump must be inaugurated on January 20.... The enemies and traitors of America, both foreign and domestic, must be held accountable.... There must be long prison terms, while execution is the just punishment for the ringleaders of this coup.'... Weeks after urging the killing of Trump's rivals, Hostetter was part of the Trump Resistance infrastructure that organized events in Washington leading up to the ... raid on the Capitol.... Hostetter was part of the mob that attacked the Capitol."

AP: "Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died at the hands of the mob that besieged the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, will lie in honor next week in the building's Rotunda, congressional leaders said Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement saying: 'The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution. His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve.'"

Randi Kaye, et al., of CNN: "The use of Mar-a-Lago as ... Donald Trump's permanent home is under legal review by the town of Palm Beach and the arrangement may be discussed at the upcoming town council meeting, the town manager told CNN. When Trump turned the private residence into a social club, he had agreed with the town to limit his stays at Mar-a-Lago, and now some Palm Beach residents say he is violating that agreement.... [Under the agreement,] Trump ... could not spend more than seven consecutive days at Mar-a-Lago, or no more than three weeks total a year.... His signature is on the agreement.... The Trump Organization insisted in a statement to CNN in December, 'There is no document or agreement in place that prohibits President Trump from using Mar-A-Lago as his residence.'"

Ed Shanahan & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "A New York judge on Friday increased pressure on ... Donald J. Trump's family business and several associates, ordering them to give state investigators documents in a civil inquiry into whether the company misstated assets to get bank loans and tax benefits.... In December..., the judge, Arthur F. Engoron of State Supreme Court in Manhattan..., ordered ... the Trump Organization, to produce records that its lawyers had tried to shield, including some related to a Westchester County, N.Y., property that is among those being scrutinized by the New York State attorney general, Letitia James. On Friday, Justice Engoron went further, saying that even more documents, as well as communications with a law firm hired by the Trump Organization, had to be handed over to Ms. James's office. In doing so, he rejected the lawyers'claim that the documents at issue were covered by attorney-client privilege."

Where Reprobates Alight (Because They Can't Get Real Jobs). Alayna Treene & Stef Kight of Axios: "Chad Wolf, Ken Cuccinelli and Mark Morgan, three of former President Trump's biggest immigration policy defenders, will join the Heritage Foundation on Monday as fellows.... All three former Homeland Security officials consistently backed Trump and were key in implementing his strict immigration agenda. Now, they will continue to shape conservative policy ideas on national security and foreign policy from the outside."

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The former FBI lawyer who admitted to doctoring an email that other officials relied upon to justify secret surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser was sentenced Friday to 12 months of probation, with no time behind bars. Prosecutors had asked that Kevin Clinesmith, 38, spend several months in prison for his crime, while Clinesmith's attorneys said probation would be more appropriate. Clinesmith pleaded guilty last summer to altering an email that one of his colleagues used in preparing an application to surreptitiously monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page during the bureau's 2016 investigation of Russia's election interference. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ... said ... he believed Clinesmith's contention that he thought, genuinely but wrongly, the information he was inserting into the email was accurate. On top of his probation sentence, Boasberg ordered Clinesmith to perform 400 hours of community service." The AP's story is here.

Arizona. End Democracy Now! Liz Dye of Wonkette: "Arizona House Ways and Means Committee Chair Shawnna Bolick is saying the quiet part out loud. On Wednesday, she introduced a bill to allow Arizona legislators to award the state's Electoral College votes to their preferred candidate at any time up until a new president is sworn in on January 20, irrespective of the will of the voters.... 'The legislature retains its legislative authority regarding the office of presidential elector and by majority vote at any time before the presidential inauguration may revoke the secretary of state's issuance or certification of a presidential elector's certificate of election,' she wrote.... Aside from the whole overturning the election thing, Bolick made sure to specify that 'The legislature may take action pursuant to this subsection without regard to whether the legislature is in regular or special session or has held committee or other hearings on the matter.' Note that she doesn't say there has to be a quorum present when they have this little ... confab to override the vote. So, under this bill, Arizona's Republican legislators could huddle up in the basement and agree to award the state's electoral votes to the Republican candidate without even inviting Democrats to the party -- something they tried to do this year. Only this time, their slate of cosplay electors would magically become real. Hooray!" Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Bolick's bill isn't as crazy as it may seem, and some Republicans around the country have embraced it. In the matter of choosing Electors, Article II (Section 1.2) states, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors...." While state & federal law as well as the Supremes -- and "tradition" -- have effectively rejected the concept of legislatures overriding the popular vote within states, it seems to me any state legislature could give it a try, and the courts, state & federal, would be left to decide. Yet another reason to abandon the Electoral College in favor of popular election of the president & veep.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Erin Cunningham, et al., of the Washington Post: "As governments around the world grapple with the spread of a more virulent variant of the coronavirus -- first identified in South Africa -- top health officials in the United States said Friday the new coronavirus variants present a 'wake-up call' to move faster on vaccinating the population.... The emergence of new, mutant versions of the virus was expected, said Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they warned that more are likely to come. Those mutations also will challenge the ability of existing treatments and vaccines to curb the virus' spread." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Another Important Way Biden Has to Play Catch-up Because of Trump Incompetence. William Wan & Ben Guarino of the Washington Post: "The United States is doing so little of the genetic sequencing needed to detect new variants of the coronavirus -- like the ones first identified in Great Britain and South Africa -- that such mutations are probably proliferating quickly, undetected, experts said.... Now is when genetic sequencing -- a process that maps out the genetic code of the particular virus that infected someone so it can be compared with others -- would do the most good, while such variants are less prevalent in the U.S. population and action can be taken against them.... The problem echoes the country's catastrophic stumbles early in the pandemic, when a lack of testing allowed the virus to spread widely.... For months, scientists have been sounding alarms and trying to ramp up genetic sequencing of test samples, but the effort has been plagued by lack of funding, political will and federal coordination, health experts and state officials said.... Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that the government is increasing the level of sequencing nationwide.

Trains, Planes & "Any Conveyances." Michael Laris of the Washington Post: "Masks must be worn at train and subway stations, bus terminals and airports nationwide, as well as on planes, trains and other types of public transportation in the United States, according to a far-reaching federal public health order issued late Friday. The order, which will take effect Monday at 11:59 p.m., adds details to the mandate President Biden signed on his first full day in office. The order goes beyond the 'masking for interstate travel' previously announced by the White House.... People are ordered to wear masks 'while boarding, disembarking, and traveling on any conveyance into or within the United States,' as well as 'at any transportation hub that provides transportation within the United States,' the order said.... The CDC prepared a transportation mask requirement last year, but was blocked by the Trump White House." Reuters' story is here.

Remembering the Incompetent "King of Ventilators.' Yeganeh Torbati & Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration spent $200 million to send more than 8,700 ventilators to countries around the world last year, with no clear criteria for determining who should get them and no way to keep track of where many ended up, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The effort, driven by the Trump White House, was an unusual top-down initiative with little decision-making by experts at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which carried out the administration's orders.... Donald Trump last year boasted about U.S. success in manufacturing the machines and declared the U.S. 'the king of ventilators,' promising donations to foreign countries.... The GAO was unable to identify how the Trump White House made its decisions on ventilator allocations, and White House officials did not respond to the watchdog's questions, which came before President Biden took office last week. For instance, while Sri Lanka had just three new coronavirus cases per day when it received 200 ventilators, Bangladesh, which had 1,409 new cases, received just 100 of the machines, the report found." MB: Sounds like a Kushner-directed project to me.

New York. Jesse McKinley & Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "For most of the past year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has tried to brush away a persistent criticism that undermined his national image as the man who led New York through the pandemic: that his policies had allowed thousands of nursing home residents to die of the virus. But Mr. Cuomo was dealt a blow when the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, reported on Thursday morning that Mr. Cuomo's administration had undercounted coronavirus-related deaths of state nursing home residents by the thousands. Just hours later, Ms. James was proved correct, as Health Department officials made public new data that added more than 3,800 deaths to their tally, representing nursing home residents who had died in hospitals and had not previously been counted by the state as nursing home deaths. The state's acknowledgment increased the overall death toll related to those facilities by more than 40 percent.... The findings do not change the overall number of Covid-19 deaths in New York -- more than 42,000, the most of any state -- but the recalculation in the number of nursing home deaths illustrates how unprepared the nursing home industry was in the first and deadliest weeks of the pandemic." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- January 29, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Luke Broadwater & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Nearly 150 House Republicans supported ... Donald J. Trump's baseless claims that the election had been stolen from him. But [Rep. Paul] Gosar [R-Az.] and a handful of other Republican members of the House had deeper ties to extremist groups who pushed violent ideas and conspiracy theories and whose members were prominent among those who stormed the halls of Congress.... Their ranks include" Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Az.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), & Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). "It is not clear whether any elected officials played a role in directly facilitating the attack on the Capitol, other than helping to incite violence through false statements about the election being stolen from Mr. Trump.... In signaling either overt or tacit support, a small but vocal band of Republicans now serving in the House provided legitimacy and publicity to extremist groups and movements as they built toward their role in supporting Mr. Trump's efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election and the attack on Congress.... To some degree, the members of Congress have been reflecting signals sent by Mr. Trump. During a presidential debate in October, he made a nod toward the Proud Boys, telling them to 'stand back and stand by.' Two months earlier, Mr. Trump described followers of QAnon ... as 'people that love our country,' adding that 'they do supposedly like me.'" The story details some of the wacko forays these Congressmembers have made into the dark side.

David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years and proved so willing to parrot anti-western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow, a former KGB spy has told the Guardian. Yuri Shvets, posted to Washington by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, compares the former US president to 'the Cambridge five', the British spy ring that passed secrets to Moscow during the second world war and early cold war. Now 67, Shvets is a key source for American Kompromat, a new book by journalist Craig Unger." MB: Although there is a great deal of fit between what we know about Trump & what Shvets claims, I would rate Shvets' assertions as "possibly true." AND it seems likely that the CIA would have known something about Trump's contacts with Russian agents. If so, didn't the public have a right to know before the 2016 election? What about Mike Pompeo, who headed the CIA? How about members of Congress, like Pelosi & McConnell? I'll be interested to see if there's any follow-up to this story. Thanks to unwashed for the link.

Dalton Bennett, et al., of the Washington Post: "The two pipe bombs that were discovered on Jan. 6 near the U.S. Capitol shortly before a mob stormed the building are believed to have been planted the night before, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation and video footage obtained by The Washington Post. The explosive devices, which were placed blocks from one another at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees, have been largely overshadowed by the violent insurrection at the Capitol. But finding the person suspected of planting both bombs remains a priority for federal authorities, who last week boosted the reward for tips leading to the person's arrest from $50,000 to $75,000.... On Friday morning, the FBI released additional information that confirmed The Post's reporting about the timing of the placement of the bombs and raised the reward offered to $100,000." Includes some new video. MB: When I watched the way the person walked, I thought I was probably looking at a woman.

Jesse McKinley & Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "For most of the past year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has tried to brush away a persistent criticism that undermined his national image as the man who led New York through the pandemic: that his policies had allowed thousands of nursing home residents to die of the virus. But Mr. Cuomo was dealt a blow when the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, reported on Thursday morning that Mr. Cuomo's administration had undercounted coronavirus-related deaths of state nursing home residents by the thousands. Just hours later, Ms. James was proved correct, as Health Department officials made public new data that added more than 3,800 deaths to their tally, representing nursing home residents who had died in hospitals and had not previously been counted by the state as nursing home deaths. The state's acknowledgment increased the overall death toll related to those facilities by more than 40 percent.... The findings do not change the overall number of Covid-19 deaths in New York -- more than 42,000, the most of any state -- but the recalculation in the number of nursing home deaths illustrates how unprepared the nursing home industry was in the first and deadliest weeks of the pandemic." An AP story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sheryl Stolberg & Abby Goodnough of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday ordered the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces reopened to give people throttled by the pandemic economy a new chance to obtain coverage, and he took steps to restore coverage mandates that had been undermined by his predecessor, including protecting those with pre-existing medical conditions. Thursday's orders also took aim at Trump-era restrictions on Medicaid, especially on work requirements imposed by some states on poor people trying to obtain coverage. Separately, Mr. Biden moved toward overturning his predecessor's restrictions on the use of taxpayer dollars for clinics that counsel patients on abortion, both in the United States and overseas." ~~~

~~~ Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "On Thursday, a week into his presidency, Joe Biden signed an executive order rescinding ... the 'global gag rule,' which bars U.S. funding for organizations abroad that perform abortions or offer information about them[, a rule which Donald Trump had reinstated & expanded].... He also signed a memorandum requesting that the Department of Health and Human Services review a rule instated by Trump that cut off federal funding for domestic family planning programs involved with abortions, such as Planned Parenthood. Biden additionally ordered the restoration of funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which Trump had cut in a dispute over abortion provisions."; ~~~

~~~ President Biden signs executive orders "undoing the damage Trump has done" to the Affordable Care Act & Medicaid and women's access to healthcare: ~~~

Jim Tankersley & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Democrats are preparing to bypass Republican objections to speed President Biden's $1.9 trillion economic aid package through Congress, rather than pare it back significantly to attract Republican votes, even as administration officials and congressional moderates hold out hopes of passing a bill with significant bipartisan support. On a day when new data from the Commerce Department showed that the economic recovery decelerated at the end of last year, Democratic leaders in Congress and administration officials said publicly and privately on Thursday that they were committed to a large-scale relief bill and would move next week to start a process that would allow it to pass with only Democratic votes, if necessary. Behind closed doors, congressional committees are already writing legislative text to turn Mr. Biden's plans into law." Politico's story is here.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez & Ed O'Keefe of CBS News: "President Biden is delaying by at least a few days a series of executive actions on immigration that were anticipated as early as this week, including the reversal of Trump-era asylum policies and a plan to reunite migrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, two people familiar with the ongoing deliberations told CBS News. A specific reason for the delay was not clear."

Lara Seligman of Politico: "The Pentagon has suspended the processing of a number of ... Donald Trump's last-minute appointees to defense advisory boards as the new administration looks to weed out loyalists to the former president. The move effectively prevents a number of Trump allies, including his 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and deputy campaign manager David Bossie, from actually serving on panels tasked with providing advice to the defense secretary, at least for the time being.... The freeze announced on Wednesday pertains only to appointees who have not yet been sworn in or have completed all the required paperwork.... It was not immediately clear whether the Pentagon planned to take any action against those who have been onboarded, but the Biden team is looking into whether it can replace dozens of Trump’s last-minute appointments to boards and commissions across the U.S. government."

Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "A gesture meant to bolster President Biden's call for unity and inclusion instead inspired divisiveness, after news emerged that a White House American Sign Language interpreter was a Trump supporter who previously interpreted videos rife with misinformation. Heather Mewshaw, who appeared in the White House coronavirus briefing on Monday beside press secretary Jen Psaki, was identified by deaf and hard-of-hearing advocates and Time Magazine, fueling questions about the White House's vetting process and what could have happened if Mewshaw misinterpreted Biden officials or inserted her own bias.... The Time article tied Mewshaw to Hands of Liberty, a right-wing interpreters group formerly known as Right Side ASL, pointing to posts that suggested Mewshaw led the group.... Many questioned why the White House would legitimize her by giving Mewshaw the national platform.... People in the deaf community told The Washington Post and wrote on social media that they felt Mewshaw's role in the Biden White House signaled the administration didn't fully understand the significance of the interpreter role, equating the use of Mewshaw to Biden hiring Trump's former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany as his own spokeswoman."

Neal Boudette & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The days of the internal combustion engine are numbered. General Motors said Thursday that it would phase out petroleum-powered cars and trucks and sell only vehicles that have zero tailpipe emissions by 2035, a seismic shift by one of the world's largest automakers that makes billions of dollars today from gas-guzzling pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. The announcement is likely to put pressure on automakers around the world to make similar commitments. It could also embolden President Biden and other elected officials to push for even more aggressive policies to fight climate change."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Maxwell Tani & Lachlan Cartwright of the Daily Beast: "Less than six months before he became the New York Times' go-to reporter on the coronavirus pandemic, Donald McNeil Jr. was under intense scrutiny from the paper's top brass over accusations that he made wildly offensive and racist comments while leading a Times student trip [to Peru].... After the excursion ended, according to multiple parents of students on the trip who spoke with The Daily Beast along with documents shared with the Times and reviewed by the Beast, many participants relayed a series of troubling accusations to the paper: McNeil repeatedly made racist and sexist remarks throughout the trip including, according to two complaints, using the 'n-word.'... Multiple people familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that an internal investigation was conducted about the claims and that the top science reporter was reprimanded." MB: Sounds like somebody at the Times had a Kevin-McCarthy-style "conversation" with McNeil.

"The Enemy Is Within" -- Pelosi

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Two weeks after Representative Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, enraged Donald J. Trump by saying that he considered the former president responsible for the violent mob attack at the Capitol, the two men met on Thursday for what aides described as a 'good and cordial' meeting, and sought to present a united front. The meeting at Mr. Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Fla., came two weeks after Mr. McCarthy, in a speech on the House floor, said that the former president 'bears responsibility' for the events of Jan. 6.... On Thursday, aides released a photograph of Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Trump posing together in one of the ornate rooms at the former president's Mar-a-Lago club.... [A] statement bore the hallmarks of Mr. Trump's bombastic and often false assertions about himself, incorrectly claiming that his 'popularity has never been stronger than it is today.' 'His endorsement means more than perhaps any endorsement at any time,' the statement, issued by Mr. Trump's Save America political action committee, added, saying that Mr. Trump had agreed to work with Mr. McCarthy to try to take back the House majority in 2022."

Colby Itkowitz & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Open hostility broke out among Republicans and Democrats in Congress on Thursday amid growing fears of physical violence and looming domestic terrorism threats from supporters of ... Donald Trump, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leveling an extraordinary allegation that dangers lurk among the membership itself. 'The enemy is within the House of Representatives, a threat that members are concerned about, in addition to what is happening outside,' Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a Thursday morning news conference. But even as she and others sounded the alarm, Republicans continued to deepen their ties to the former president.... Hours after Pelosi's remarks, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) met with Trump in Florida. In a statement, the pair vowed to work together to take back the House.... ~~~

~~~ "On Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) publicly admonished Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a leader of the election challenges, after he signaled support for her position on an unrelated issue. 'I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there's common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out,' she said on Twitter. 'Happy to work w/ almost any other GOP that aren't trying to get me killed.'" MB: Yeah, I'd say "trying to get me killed" could inspire me to feel some "hostility." ~~~

~~~ Sarah Ferris & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday unloaded on House GOP leaders for elevating freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to a key panel, escalating pressure on Republicans to punish her for a long record of extremist comments. Pelosi said Greene should not be seated on the House Education Committee after peddling a false conspiracy theory that the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 was a hoax -- remarks that Democrats say are among Greene's most horrific in a broader trend of incendiary and at times threatening rhetoric. 'What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too generous of a word for what they might be doing?' Pelosi said Thursday.... 'It's absolutely appalling, and I think the focus has to be on the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the deaths of those children.'... Pelosi on Thursday signaled that she is putting the onus directly on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to act...." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan & Alayna Treene of Axios: "During previously unreported meetings last summer, House Republican leaders discussed — but then largely set aside -- fears that QAnon-supporting conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene would end up a flaming trainwreck for their party.... Greene has emerged not just as an embarrassment but a challenge for the GOP, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy now forced to weigh whether to maintain his policy of sanctioning members who make dangerous statements.... John Cowan, Greene's opponent in August's primary runoff for Georgia's 14th District seat, recalls separate conversations he had with McCarthy and [Steve] Scalise, the House GOP whip, in which both men acknowledged Greene was a serious problem for the party. Cowan detailed a phone conversation he had with McCarthy in July, during which he warned him about wild opposition research they had against Greene.... While both McCarthy and Scalise condemned Greene, and Scalise endorsed and raised money for and donated to Cowan, it wasn't enough to overcome the vocal support for Greene from Trump's then-chief of staff Mark Meadows. The backing of Meadows, his wife, Debbie, and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio was so strong that Cowan never had a real shot against Greene, [Cowan] said." ~~~

     ~~~ It Wasn't Climate Change; It Was a Jewish Space Laser! Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "In November 2018, California was hit with the worst wildfire in the state's history. At the time, future Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wrote a bizarre Facebook post that echoed QAnon conspiracy theorists and falsely claimed that the real and hidden culprit behind the disaster was a laser from space triggered by some nefarious group of people ... [financed by Jews!:] She also speculated that a vice chairman at 'Rothschild Inc, international investment banking firm' was somehow involved.... Greene's post, which hasn't previously been reported, is just the latest example to be unearthed of her embracing conspiracy theories about tragedies during her time as a right-wing commentator. In addition to being a QAnon supporter, Greene has pushed conspiracy theories about 9/11, the Parkland and Sandy Hook school shootings, the Las Vegas shooting, and the murder of Democratic staffer Seth Rich, among others. Greene also has a history of pushing anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic remarks." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you assume climate change is a hoax, if sparking from faulty PP&E transformers does not seem compelling, then you have to come up with other explanations for climate-related diasters. A Jewish laser beam from outer space seems good. What you do have to grant QAnon people, they have vivid imaginations & are rather clever at weaving their supremacist prejudices into their fantasies. ~~~

~~~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tells Chris Hayes what the House Repubican caucus is like. (Jan. 27) A civics lesson well-worth hearing:

~~~ Matthew Choi of Politico: "Rep. Matt Gaetz fired off a barrage of insults against his colleague Liz Cheney during a rally in her home state of Wyoming on Thursday -- a raw embodiment of the cleavage across the Republican Party following ... Donald Trump's exit from office. Gaetz's rally flouted Republican leadership's appeal to temper the intraparty conflict. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy urged members of his caucus Wednesday to lay off the attacks on each other.... Gaetz revealed his intention to campaign against Cheney after she and nine other House Republicans voted to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection on the Capitol." MB: Gaetz is campaigning against & deriding a conservative leader of his own party because she opposes violent insurrection.

Marie: Wednesday, I wondered when the powers-that-be would put the Republican party on the terrorist watch list. I wasn't the only person thinking along those lines: ~~~

~~~ Harold Meyerson of the American Prospect: in a post titled, "Put the Republican Party on the Domestic Terrorist Watch List." "... the Republicans' indulgence of the [Marjorie] Greenes in their ranks -- and there are many such -- is of a piece with their overwhelming refusal to hold Trump responsible for the insurrection at the Capitol, much less their own current colleagues, such as Arizona’s Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, who also encouraged the January 6 rioters. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution says that no government official can hold office 'who, having previously taken an oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.' That surely applies to Trump, but it increasingly appears that it should apply to most Republican members of Congress as well." ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "The Republican Party is stuck, probably irreversibly, in a doom loop of bizarro. If the Trump-incited Capitol insurrection didn't snap the party back to sanity -- and it didn't -- nothing will. What isn't clear yet is who, exactly, will end up facing doom. Will it be the G.O.P. as a significant political force? Or will it be America as we know it? Unfortunately, we don't know the answer. It depends a lot on how successful Republicans will be in suppressing votes.... The G.O.P.'s national leadership, after briefly flirting with sense, has surrendered to the fantasies of the fringe. Cowardice rules.... One of America's two major political parties has parted ways with facts, logic and democracy, and it's not coming back.... And the Republican response to electoral defeat isn't to change policies to win over voters; it is to try to rig the next election." ~~~

~~~ Marie: And knowing all this, the media will continue to treat the GOP as one of two legitimate, mainstream political parties. The media will both-siderize GOP & Democratic views, normalizing Krugman's "bizarro." The media will describe radical, violent revolutionaries as "conservatives," as if what they really stand for is small government, fiscal responsibility & moderate social progress. The media will continue to describe the most blatant GOP lies as "presented without evidence." You will have to read between the lines of news stories, knowing all along that, unlike you, most readers have no clue.

Caitlin Emma & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "The Capitol needs permanent fencing and backup forces continuously stationed nearby, the Capitol Police [acting] chief [Yogananda Pittman] said Thursday, immediately sparking objections from lawmakers concerned about creating a fortress that distances the public from the Legislative Branch.... Lawmakers from both parties immediately objected to the police chief's recommendations, noting that they have not received any threat assessments that would suggest permanent fencing would be necessary. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also said the city 'will not accept' permanent fencing or additional security forces 'being a long-term fixture in D.C.'"

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge has turned down a bid for release by the man photographed with his foot up on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the Capitol riot earlier this month. Two weeks ago, a federal magistrate in Arkansas ordered that Richard Barnett, 60, be placed on home detention to await trial on a felony charge of entering the Capitol with a dangerous weapon, as well as misdemeanor charges of unlawful entry to a restricted building, disorderly conduct and theft. However, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell blocked that order the same day. Following a memorable hearing on Thursday afternoon, she granted the government's appeal -- effectively ruling that Barnett will stay behind bars for months or longer."

Christina Carrega & David Shortell of CNN: "US Capitol Police on Wednesday afternoon arrested a West Virginia man who was armed with a handgun and 20 rounds of ammunition outside the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, which is near the US Capitol, a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police Department said. In court documents, authorities identify the man as 71-year-old Dennis Westover. According to a police affidavit, Westover had 'Stop the Steal paperwork' with him 'that had a list of Senators and Representatives' in both the US Congress and West Virginia state house, along with their contact information. In an interview with Capitol Police detectives, Westover said that 'he was concerned about the honesty and integrity of the election.'... Westover was 'animated' and 'shouting' at National Guardsmen on the inside of the perimeter surrounding Capitol Hill when police first approached him Wednesday, according to another police affidavit."

** Sean Naylor of Yahoo! News: "Former Defense Secretary James Mattis said Thursday the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol was 'fomented' by ... Donald Trump, and exemplified the 'internal threats' faced by the U.S. that should be viewed 'with every bit as much gravity as the external problems, and perhaps more so.' Speaking during an online event, Mattis walked through a list of national security threats such as North Korea, Russia, China and international terrorism, but then turned his attention to the U.S. 'There are also internal threats right now,' he said, citing 'the lack of unity on the consensual underpinnings of our democracy, and what we saw on Jan. 6, fomented by a sitting president.'... 'Globalism hasn't been altogether good in large parts of our country,' he said, adding that 'certain trade deals' had had 'second- and third-order effects inside our own country,' hurting some Americans economically and leaving them without hope for the future. 'People are much more inclined to listen to conspiracy theories and other things when they're losing hope,' Mattis said. Mattis was referring to the assault on the Capitol by hundreds of Trump supporters.... He made the comments in the webcast conversation with former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers, who said that the country faced a 'growing threat from white nationalists and other domestic extremists.'... Vickers, a former Special Forces officer, said that 'never in our worst nightmares did we imagine that we would witness an insurrection against our government incited by some of our top leaders.'"

** Voter Suppression, USA. Sam Levine of the Guardian: "After an election filled with misinformation and lies about fraud, Republicans have doubled down with a surge of bills to further restrict voting access in recent months, according to a new analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice. There are currently 106 pending bills across 28 states that would restrict access to voting, according to the data. That's a sharp increase from nearly a year ago, when there were 35 restrictive bills pending across 15 states.... The restrictions come on the heels of an election in which there was record turnout and Democrat and Republican election officials alike said there was no evidence of widespread wrongdoing or fraud. There were recounts, audits and lawsuits across many states to back up those assurances. Federal and state officials called the election 'the most secure in American history'.... Many of the restrictions have to do with placing new barriers around voting by mail, a process that a record number of Americans used in 2020 (46% of Americans cast a mail-in ballot in 2020, compared with just 19% four years ago)."

Pennsylvania. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "As a second impeachment trial for Donald J. Trump approaches next month, Republicans in states across the country are lining up behind the former president with unwavering support. Perhaps no state has demonstrated its fealty as tenaciously as Pennsylvania, where Republican officials have gone to extraordinary lengths to keep Trumpism at the center of their message as they bolster the president's false claims of a 'stolen' election. Eight of nine Republicans in Pennsylvania's congressional delegation voted to throw out their state's own electoral votes for President Biden on Jan 6, just hours after a mob had stormed the Capitol.... And one House member from the state, Scott Perry, was instrumental in promoting a plan in which Mr. Trump would fire the acting attorney general in an effort to stay in office. In the weeks since the Nov. 3 election, Republicans in Pennsylvania have made loyalty to the defeated ex-president the sole organizing principle of the party, the latest chapter in a rightward populist march repeated across other states."

Ohio. Dan Sewell of the AP: "Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a fiery Donald Trump supporter, won't run to succeed Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who announced this week he isn't going to seek a third term in 2022.... The eighth-term congressman's name surfaced soon after Portman's announcement as a potential strong contender in what's expected to be a crowded GOP field."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

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

Carl Zimmer, et al., of the New York Times: "Johnson & Johnson announced on Friday that its one-dose coronavirus vaccine provided strong protection against Covid-19, potentially offering the United States a third powerful tool in a desperate race against a worldwide rise in virus mutations. But the results came with a significant cautionary note: The vaccine's efficacy rate dropped from 72 percent in the United States to 57 percent in South Africa, where a highly contagious variant is driving most cases. Studies suggest that this variant also blunts the effectiveness of Covid vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax. The variant has spread to at least 31 countries, including the United States, where two cases were documented this week. Johnson & Johnson said that it planned to apply for emergency authorization of the vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as next week, putting it on track to receive clearance later in February." The AP's story is here.

Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "A coronavirus vaccine made by Maryland biotech company Novavax proved effective at stopping coronavirus infections in global hot spots where concerning variants are dominant, the company announced Thursday. But in one of those trial sites, South Africa, the vaccine's degree of protection was markedly lower against a worrisome mutant first detected there. The data, presented by company news release, provides the first highly anticipated evidence of how well a vaccine performs against variants that have drawn global alarm as they spread. In a United Kingdom trial, where the B.1.1.7 variant has become dominant, the vaccine was 89 percent effective, and about half the infections were with the variant. In a smaller and less definitive South African trial where nearly all the participants were infected with the variant, the vaccine was 49 percent effective, although the company underscored that when looking only at people not infected with HIV, the efficacy was 60 percent." Politico has a story here.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Daria Litvinova & Vladamir Isachenkov of the AP: "A Russian court on Thursday rejected an appeal by opposition leader Alexei Navalny for his release from jail, while authorities detained several of his allies and warned social media companies about promoting more protests after tens of thousands rallied across the country last weekend demanding his freedom. Appearing in court by video link from jail, Navalny denounced the criminal proceedings against him as part of a government campaign to intimidate the opposition."