The Commentariat -- January 4, 2021

Afternoon Update:

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Several health experts in recent days have suggested delaying the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine in order to inoculate more people, to at least some extent, sooner rather than later. The advice comes amid concerns about the highly transmissive U.K. variant which has been reported in more than 30 countries, including the United States."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump's relentless effort to overturn the result of the election that he lost has become the most serious stress test of American democracy in generations, led not by outside revolutionaries intent on bringing down the system but by the very leader charged with defending it. In the 220 years since a defeated John Adams turned over the White House to his rival, firmly establishing the peaceful transfer of power as a bedrock principle, no sitting president who lost an election has tried to hang onto power by rejecting the Electoral College and subverting the will of the voters -- until now. It is a scenario at once utterly unthinkable and yet feared since the beginning of Mr. Trump's tenure. The president has gone well beyond simply venting his grievances or creating a face-saving narrative to explain away a loss, as advisers privately suggested he was doing in the days after the Nov. 3 vote, but instead has pressed the boundaries of tradition, propriety and the law to find any way he can to cling to office beyond his term that expires in two weeks. That he is almost certain to fail does not mitigate the damage he is doing to democracy by undermining public faith in the electoral system." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When Peter Both-Sides-Do-It Baker is as alarmed as this, you can be assured the situation is alarming.

In a Twitter thread, NBC News' Geoff Bennett writes that Trump had tried to telephone Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger 18 times during the past two months. People in Raffensperger's office recorded the call, and he told them not to release it unless Trump mischaracterized the call. MB: Trump did mischaracterize Raffensperger's responses in a tweet, which Ryan Nobles of CNN reported in a story linked below. None of these previous efforts has been previously reported, so I this implies an answer to a question I asked below: has Trump called other state officials around the country trying to overturn the results in their states? I'd guess yes, yes and yes. ~~~

~~~ Allan Smith & Alex Moe of NBC News: "A pair of House Democrats are asking FBI Director Christopher Wray to open a criminal probe into ... Donald Trump after a leaked phone call showed him pleading with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn his state's election. 'As members of Congress and former prosecutors, we believe Donald Trump engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes,' Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter to Wray on Monday. 'We ask you to open an immediate criminal investigation into the president.'" ~~~

~~~ Worse Than Watergate: ~~~

~~~ Coincidence??? Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The U.S. attorney in Atlanta departed his post Monday ... after previously indicating that he would not leave until Inauguration Day. The reason for U.S. Attorney Byung 'BJay' Pak's change of plans are not clear. In an internal email announcing his departure obtained by TPM, Pak cited only 'unforeseen circumstances' as the reason he was leaving Monday rather than Jan. 20." MB: Seems likely the "unforeseen circumstances" were Trump's call to Raffensperger & having to decided whether or not to prosecute Trump.

Trump to Flee U.S.? Peter Swindon of the Dundee, Scotland, Sunday Post: "... Donald Trump could be planning a trip to Scotland to avoid attending his successor Joe Biden's inauguration, according to aviation sources. Prestwick airport has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft, that is occasionally used by Trump, on January 19 -- the day before his Democratic rival takes charge at the White House. Speculation surrounding Trump's plans has been fuelled by the activity of US Army aircraft, which were based at Prestwick airport for a week and said to be carrying out 3D reconnaissance of the president's Turnberry resort." MB: The new AG should be checking our extradition treaties with Scotland. I don't think Trump is going to play golf. The average high temp in Ayrshire in January is 43 degrees & the average low is 34.

The Radical Right. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "... the true radicals are the enablers of President Trump's ongoing attempted coup: the media bloviators on Fox News, One America and Newsmax who parrot his lies about election fraud; and the members of Congress who plan to object on Wednesday to what should be a pro forma step of approving the electoral college results.... But instead of being called what they are, these media and political figures get a mild label: conservative.... In applying this innocuous-sounding description, the reality-based media does the public a terrible disservice. Instead of calling out the truth, it normalizes; it softens the dangerous edges.... I'd call them members of the radical right."

Kate Conger of the New York Times: "More than 225 Google engineers and other workers have formed a union, the group revealed on Monday, capping years of growing activism at one of the world's largest companies and presenting a rare beachhead for labor organizers in staunchly anti-union Silicon Valley. The union's creation is highly unusual for the tech industry, which has long resisted efforts to organize its largely white-collar work force. It follows increasing demands by employees at Google for policy overhauls on pay, harassment and ethics, and is likely to escalate tensions with top leadership." The Hill's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

** Lordy, There's a Tape.* Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "President Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to 'find' enough votes to overturn his defeat in an extraordinary one-hour phone call Saturday that election experts said raised legal questions. The Washington Post obtained a recording of the conversation in which Trump alternately berated Raffensperger, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the secretary of state refused to pursue his false claims, at one point warning that Raffensperger was taking 'a big risk.' Throughout the call, Raffensperger and his office's general counsel rejected his assertions, explaining that Trump is relying on debunked conspiracy theories and that President-elect Joe Biden's 11,779-vote victory in Georgia was fair and accurate. Trump dismissed their arguments.... At [one] point, Trump said: 'So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.' The rambling, at times incoherent conversation, offered a remarkable glimpse of how consumed and desperate the president remains about his loss, unwilling or unable to let the matter go and still believing he can reverse the results in enough battleground states to remain in office. 'There's no way I lost Georgia,' Trump said, a phrase he repeated again and again on the call." *Thanks to Shakezula for the headline. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mother Jones has a summary report here. The Guardian's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Shear & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times now have a non-derivative story up. My favorite criticism of the phone call: "David Shafer, the chairman of the Republican Party in Georgia, tweeted that the decision to release the audio was 'lawlessness.'" MB: That's right: the POTUS* is exposed for trying to intimidate an official into overturning the results of a presidential election, & the "lawless" one is the person who provided the evidence. There is something really wrong with these people. ~~~

     ~~~ Full audio, via the Washington Post, is here. Includes transcript. Update: The New York Times, subscriber-firewalled like the WashPo, now has audio of the full conversation & a transcript here. Update Update: CNN now has audio & a transcript of the full call here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is astounding. One of the most powerful people in the world is threatening a relatively insignificant state official that if he doesn't manufacture votes to throw an important election, he and his attorney will suffer dire consequences. This smoking gun is a fitting end to Trump's thoroughly corrupt presidency*. Another perfect call, one that will go down in history. ~~~

     ~~~ Leading up to the WashPo Report. Ryan Nobles of CNN: "Just days before the crucial Georgia runoffs that will determine control of the US Senate, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger delivered a strong message to Donald Trump as the President persists in attacking the Peach State's electoral process and the Republican leaders in charge of administering the system. 'Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out,' Raffensperger tweeted. Raffensperger's comment was in response to a tweet Sunday morning by the President, in which Trump said he spoke to Raffensperger on the phone in an attempt to convince Raffensperger to look into unfounded conspiracy theories about the vote in November. According to Trump, Raffensperger refused to do so. 'I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the 'ballots under table' scam, ballot destruction, out of state 'voters,' dead voters, and more. He has no clue!' Trump wrote." MB: Sure enough, the truth did come out. It could not look worse for Trump. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that it was unlikely his office would open an investigation into his weekend phone call with ... Donald Trump, but suggested a criminal probe could still be launched by an Atlanta-area district attorney. Because Trump personally spoke with the secretary on Saturday and recently had a conversation with the secretary of state office's chief investigator, Raffensperger told ABC's 'Good Morning America' in an interview Monday morning that 'there may be a conflict of interest' that would inhibit any potential investigation." ~~~

~~~ Allie Bice, et al., of Politico: "Legal experts say the combination of Trump's request to 'find' a specific number of votes -- just enough to put him ahead of Biden -- and his veiled reference to criminal liability for Raffensperger and his aides could violate federal and state statutes aimed at guarding against the solicitation of election fraud. The potential violations of state law are particularly notable, given that they would fall outside the reach of a potential pardon by Trump or his successor.... 'I've charged extortion in mob cases with similar language,' said Daniel Goldman, a former prosecutor who helped lead the House Intelligence Committee's impeachment inquiry in 2019.... Georgia state law includes two provisions that criminalize 'solicitation of election fraud' and 'conspiracy to commit election fraud.' Trump’s detractors also pointed to a federal statute that criminalizes 'the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent.' Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor, said: '... "Soliciting or requesting" is the key language. The president asked, in no uncertain terms, the secretary of state to invent votes, to create votes that were not there. Not only did he ask for that in terms of just overturning the specific margin that Joe Biden won by, but then said we needed one additional vote to secure victory in Georgia.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The call by President Trump on Saturday to Georgia's secretary of state raised the prospect that Mr. Trump may have violated laws that prohibit interference in federal or state elections, but lawyers said on Sunday that it would be difficult to pursue such a charge.... At the federal level, anyone who 'knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a state of a fair and impartially conducted election process' is breaking the law." ~~~

~~~ David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "However difficult it might be to prosecute Trump for this as a private citizen, more pointedly this sort of transgression is exactly what impeachment was designed to cover.... Of course the Republican Senate would not vote to remove him, and of course Trump is leaving in just two weeks. But there must be some sort of official accountability for this behavior. If neither the Congress nor the criminal courts register any significant objection to it beyond a strongly worded letter, it will happen again and again until a would-be dictator succeeds in destroying what remains of American democracy." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Atkins may be wrong about Senate Republicans. Most senators look in the mirror & see a president. Yet as long as Trump threatens to run again in 2024, he is an impediment to the senators' ambitions. One of the penalties of impeachment is "disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States," rendering Trump an awfully attractive candidate for Senate conviction. ~~~

~~~ Steve M.: "Trump tries to intimidate Raffensperger just the way you'd expect from a prize pupil of Roy Cohn. But he's also just another old white crackpot who consumes massive amounts of right-wing 'news,' and who believes every absurd story that confirms his prior assumptions.... He seems genuinely convinced that he won a massive victory in the state -- 'I think I probably did win [Georgia] by half a million,' he says at one point, which would be a ten-point blowout and a margin more than twice the size of his 2016 margin in the state.... I'm not sure he's guilty of the crimes some people say he committed...[.] At least on some level, I don't think he's lying. He believes crazy things." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Steve is essentially saying what some of the lawyers cited in the Bice & Lipton articles are arguing. What they're all saying, more or less, is that the POTUS* is not guilty by reason of insanity. That's the quality of person the Trumpenlumpen chose for a president*. ~~~

~~~ Dan Balz of the Washington Post is indignant: "There are but 16 days left in President Trump's term, but there is no doubt that he will use all of his remaining time in office to inflict as much damage as he can on democracy -- with members of a now-divided Republican Party acting as enablers.... [In his call to Raffensperger,] The president was not arguing facts or offering evidence.... He was trolling with rumor, innuendo (and the muscle that comes with calling from the White House), attempting one more time to bully and intimidate Raffensperger.... The president ... continues to gather support from members of a party he has remade in his own image.... The Republicans who will object [to the court of Electoral College votes] are acting on the basis either of fear of the president or sheer political opportunism, or both." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Here's my question. Obviously, flipping the Georgia election results wouldn't cut it for Trump. For a win, he has to change the results in several states that went for Biden. So has he sought out & bullied GOP election officials in other states & we just haven't heard about it?

** Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The time to question election results has passed, and there is no role for the military in changing them, all of the living former defense secretaries said in an extraordinary rebuke to President Trump and other Republicans who are backing unfounded claims of widespread fraud at the ballot box. The former Pentagon chiefs issued their warning Sunday evening in an opinion piece that they co-authored and published in The Washington Post. Its authors include Trump's two former defense secretaries, Jim Mattis and Mark T. Esper, as well as each surviving, Senate-confirmed Pentagon chief dating back to former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush. The article was published as some Republicans plan to take the controversial step of contesting the electoral college vote certification on Wednesday, even after the president's repeated attempts to challenge election results in court have failed. It also comes as concerns persist that Trump might seek to use the military to keep him in office despite his electoral loss.... [The] genesis [of the essay was] a conversation between Eric Edelman, a former U.S. ambassador and defense official in Republican administrations, and Cheney about how the military might be used in coming days, Edelman said in an interview." An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry & Donald Rumsfeld in a Washington Post op-ed: "As former secretaries of defense, we hold a common view of the solemn obligations of the U.S. armed forces and the Defense Department.... American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy. With one singular and tragic exception that cost the lives of more Americans than all of our other wars combined, the United States has had an unbroken record of such transitions since 1789, including in times of partisan strife, war, epidemics and economic depression. This year should be no exception. Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived.... Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory."

Summer Concepcion of TPM: "Living in complete denial that President Trump's one-term presidency is coming to a close, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro took to Fox News on Saturday night to falsely proclaim that President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20 can be delayed. The loyal Trump foot soldier pushed the President's voter fraud delusions while appearing on Fox News on Saturday night as he piled onto the Trumpworld's meltdown over baseless assertions of Democrats 'stealing' the election.... When Fox News anchor Jeanine Pirro cited the Constitution -- which clearly states that the term of the outgoing president ends on Jan. 20 -- while mentioning that Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20 can't be change, Navarro continued being in denial of reality. 'Well it can be changed, actually. We can go past that date, we can go past that date if we need to,' Navarro said. Pirro, who has a law degree, did not challenge Navarro's unsubstantiated claims as she raised her brows and quipped: 'Oh, okay.'" MB: Navarro, who has a Ph.D. in econ, thinks a doctorate in one field makes him an expert on everything from Covid to the Constitution. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kyle Cheney & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "The rules of Congress' Jan. 6 session governing he counting of Electoral College votes will remain identical to those used for decades, under a resolution adopted Sunday by the House and Senate. The rules ... were passed on voice votes in both chambers, in keeping with recent history in which they've been uncontroversial afterthoughts in the process of finalizing the results of presidential elections. As dozens of Republicans in the House and Senate threaten to challenge President-elect Joe Biden's victory..., the rules have taken on new prominence, but none of those Republicans sought to block the adoption of the rules, even though some had supported an effort to block them in court.... [Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) forced] a vote on whether to allow Speaker Nancy Pelosi to seat the House members in the states Trump is challenging. The move forced Republicans on the record validating the results of the House elections that occurred on the same ballots that resulted in Biden's win in November. The result was a 371-2 vote in favor of seating all of the members."

Orion Rummler of Axios rounds up some statements from Republicans who are slamming Ted Cruz & his gang from their stunt to challenge the Electoral College votes. They include Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) & Bill Cassidy (La.) ~~~

~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a possible contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, broke with his rivals Sunday night by announcing he will not object to the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6. Cotton warned that an effort spearheaded by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), two other 2024 White House hopefuls, to challenge the electoral votes of several swing states that went for President-elect Joe Biden could 'establish unwise precedents.' While Cotton said he is concerned about how the 2020 presidential election was carried out, such as changes to election law allowing mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day to be counted, he argued it is up to the states and the courts -- not Congress -- to handle election laws." ~~~

~~~ Chuck Todd Takes on Stupidest Senator. An Even Match-up. David Cohen of Politico: "In a contentious interview, NBC host Chuck Todd and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson on Sunday accused each other of hypocrisy, double standards and working to undermine faith in democracy. On 'Meet the Press,' Todd attacked Johnson for joining a GOP effort to challenge the certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory on Jan. 6; Johnson responded by saying the press had spent four years trying to destroy ... Donald Trump. At one point, a frustrated Todd asked Johnson, 'How about the moon landing? Are you going to hold hearings on that?'... 'You're the arsonist here,' Todd said to Johnson in discussing battles over election fraud. 'President Trump is the arsonist here. You started this fire and now you're saying whoa, look at this, oh my god, all these people believe what we told them because you didn't have the guts to tell the truth that this election was fair.' Johnson responded by accusing the mainstream media of working to overthrow Trump throughout his administration. 'This fire was started back in, you know, January of 2017,' he said. Both told each other they've 'had enough' of those arguments, but then rapidly circled back to them."

Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Monday is expected to give Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, according to someone familiar with the plans.... Nunes has long supported some of Trump's more outlandish conspiracy theories, including claiming that the intelligence community improperly 'unmasked' the identities of several officials working on Trump's presidential transition. Trump -- who is using his final days in the White House in part to reward friends and allies with pardons and other decorations -- is also expected to give Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), another confidant, the same award next week, although those plans have not yet been finalized."; Axios has an item here.

Heather Caygle & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "Nancy Pelosi was elected speaker of the House for the 117th Congress, clinching the gavel for the fourth and potentially final time. Pelosi won 216 votes to secure the speakership with five Democrats breaking ranks to support someone else or vote present. All Republicans voted for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Pelosi remains the only woman to ever lead the House." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) NPR's story is here.

The New York Times' live updates of the federal government's transition Sunday are here: "Lawmakers of the 117th Congress will take the oath of office on Sunday, officially convening for the first time as the capital prepares for a new president, feuds over the mendacious claims of victory by the departing one and continues to battle a deadly pandemic. In the House, Democrats are poised to re-elect Nancy Pelosi of California as speaker, handing her control of an exceedingly narrow majority for what may be her final term." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Transition Proceeds Apace

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s inaugural committee released new details on Sunday about his trip to the White House after his swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol that further underscore the downsized and largely virtual nature of his Inauguration Day plans. After taking the oath of office, Mr. Biden will conduct a traditional review of military troops meant to highlight the peaceful transfer of power, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said in a statement. The committee also said Mr. Biden would receive an official escort, with representatives from every branch of the military, for one city block before arriving at the White House. The statement left many details unclear, including the nature of the rest of Mr. Biden's trip of about 1.5 miles to the White House from the Capitol. By long tradition, a huge presidential motorcade rolls slowly down Pennsylvania Avenue past thousands of cheering spectators, with the newly inaugurated president walking some of the route." The Hill's story is here.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

Jemima McEvoy of Forbes: "As the U.S. hit its latest grim milestone early Sunday morning in the coronavirus pandemic -- 350,000 Americans dead -- President Trump claimed the country's high numbers of cases and deaths have been 'exaggerated,' maligning the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's statistics.... 'The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of @CDCgov's ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low. "When in doubt, call it Covid." Fake News!,' [Trump tweeted Sunday morning]." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Devan Cole of CNN: "US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on Sunday said he has 'no reason to doubt' the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Covid-19 death toll, contradicting ... Donald Trump's claim that the agency has 'exaggerated' its numbers.... 'And I think people need to be very aware that it's not just about the deaths...," he added. "It's about the hospitalizations, the capacity. These cases are having an impact in an array of ways...,' [Adams said on CNN Sunday]." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Appearing on ABC's 'This Week,' [Dr. Anthony] Fauci was asked by ... host Martha Raddatz about a tweet by the president calling the coronavirus case and death toll 'fake news' and blaming it on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention methodology. 'Well, the deaths are real deaths. I mean, all you need to do is to go out into the trenches, go to the hospitals, see what the health care workers are dealing with. They are under very stressed situations in many areas of the country. The hospital beds are stretched,' Fauci responded." MB: Of course, Trump has not been "in the trenches." He doesn't give a rat's ass about the loss of life, the devastating illness, the strain on medical workers and on the rest of us whose lives have been put on hold, or worse. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

African Countries. How Many Africans have Succumbed to Covid-19? We'll Never Know. Ruth Maclean of the New York Times: "As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world in 2020, it became increasingly evident that in the vast majority of countries on the African continent, most deaths are never formally registered.... Covid-19 is often said to have largely bypassed Africa.... But like other diseases, its true toll here will probably never be known.... In 2017, only 10 percent of deaths were registered in Nigeria, by far Africa's biggest country by population -- down from 13.5 percent a decade before. In other African countries, like Niger, the percentage is even lower." MB: Well, see, Trump was right about African countries like Namibia. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

South Africa. Jason Burke of the Guardian: "Across the continent Covid has hit South Africa the hardest with more than a million confirmed cases and 29,000 deaths according to official figures. As elsewhere in Africa, the pandemic has wreaked massive economic damage.... South Africa's 500 or so private game reserves are often in more remote and impoverished parts of the country. They spend considerable amounts each month to feed and care for the animals. Many have been forced to close permanently, lay off staff and sell, or even shoot, animals.... Many fear that if the crisis continues for many more months, hundreds of thousands of hectares across South Africa that have been converted to more lucrative game reserves in recent decades will revert to cattle or cereal farming -- with a massive loss of habitat for endangered animals and other species." --s

Israel. Racist AND Stupid. Oliver Holmes & Hazem Balousha of the Guardian: "Israel is celebrating an impressive, record-setting vaccination drive, having given initial jabs of coronavirus shots to more than a 10th of the population. But Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza can only watch and wait. As the world ramps up what is already on track to become a highly unequal vaccination push -- with people in richer nations first to be inoculated -- the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories provides a stark example of the divide. Israel transports batches of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine deep inside the West Bank. But they are only distributed to Jewish settlers, and not the roughly 2.7 million Palestinians living around them who may have to wait for weeks or months.... Benjamin Netanyahu has told Israelis that the country could be the first to emerge from the pandemic. As well as a highly advanced healthcare system, part of the reason for the speed could be economics. A health ministry official said the country had paid $62 a dose, compared with the $19.50 the US is paying." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ben Quinn of the Guardian: "Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US to face charges of espionage and of hacking government computers, a British judge has decided. Lawyer for US authorities are to appeal against the ruling, which was delivered at the central criminal court by the district judge, Vanessa Baraitser. Delivering her ruling the judge said said the WikiLeaks founder was likely to be held in conditions of isolation in a so-called supermax prison in the US and procedures described by US authorities would not prevent him from potentially finding a way to take his own life. 'I find that the mental condition of Mr Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America,' she said." MB: IOW, the U.S. federal prison system is too harsh & too careless to humanely incarcerate prisoners.

The Commentariat -- January 3, 2021

Afternoon Update:

Heather Caygle & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "Nancy Pelosi was elected speaker of the House for the 117th Congress, clinching the gavel for the fourth and potentially final time. Pelosi won 216 votes to secure the speakership with five Democrats breaking ranks to support someone else or vote present. All Republicans voted for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Pelosi remains the only woman to ever lead the House."

** Lordy, There's a Tape.* Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "President Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to 'find' enough votes to overturn his defeat in an extraordinary one-hour phone call Saturday that election experts said raised legal questions. The Washington Post obtained a recording of the conversation in which Trump alternately berated Raffensperger, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the secretary of state refused to pursue his false claims, at one point warning that Raffensperger was taking 'a big risk.' Throughout the call, Raffensperger and his office's general counsel rejected his assertions, explaining that Trump is relying on debunked conspiracy theories and that President-elect Joe Biden's 11,779-vote victory in Georgia was fair and accurate. Trump dismissed their arguments.... At [one] point, Trump said: 'So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.' The rambling, at times incoherent conversation, offered a remarkable glimpse of how consumed and desperate the president remains about his loss, unwilling or unable to let the matter go and still believing he can reverse the results in enough battleground states to remain in office. 'There's no way I lost Georgia,' Trump said, a phrase he repeated again and again on the call." *Thanks to Shakezula for the headline. ~~~

     ~~~ Mother Jones has a summary report here. The Guardian's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is astounding. One of the most powerful people in the world is threatening a relatively insignificant state official that if he doesn't manufacture votes to throw an important election, he and his attorney will suffer dire consequences. This smoking gun is a fitting end to Trump's thoroughly corrupt presidency*. Another perfect call, one that will go down in history. ~~~

     ~~~ Leading up to the WashPo Report. Ryan Nobles of CNN: "Just days before the crucial Georgia runoffs that will determine control of the US Senate, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger delivered a strong message to Donald Trump as the President persists in attacking the Peach State's electoral process and the Republican leaders in charge of administering the system. 'Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out,' Raffensperger tweeted. Raffensperger's comment was in response to a tweet Sunday morning by the President, in which Trump said he spoke to Raffensperger on the phone in an attempt to convince Raffensperger to look into unfounded conspiracy theories about the vote in November. According to Trump, Raffensperger refused to do so. 'I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the 'ballots under table' scam, ballot destruction, out of state 'voters,' dead voters, and more. He has no clue!' Trump wrote." MB: Sure enough, the truth did come out.

The New York Times' live updates of the federal government's transition Sunday are here: "Lawmakers of the 117th Congress will take the oath of office on Sunday, officially convening for the first time as the capital prepares for a new president, feuds over the mendacious claims of victory by the departing one and continues to battle a deadly pandemic.In the House, Democrats are poised to re-elect Nancy Pelosi of California as speaker, handing her control of an exceedingly narrow majority for what may be her final term."

Jemima McEvoy of Forbes: "As the U.S. hit its latest grim milestone early Sunday morning in the coronavirus pandemic -- 350,000 Americans dead -- PresidentTrump claimed the country's high numbers of cases and deaths have been 'exaggerated,' maligning the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's statistics.... 'The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of @CDCgov's ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low. "When in doubt, call it Covid." Fake News!,' [Trump tweeted Sunday morning]." ~~~

~~~ Devan Cole of CNN: "US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on Sunday said he has 'no reason to doubt' the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Covid-19 death toll, contradicting ... Donald Trump's claim that the agency has 'exaggerated' its numbers.... 'And I think people need to be very aware that it's not just about the deaths...," he added. "It's about the hospitalizations, the capacity. These cases are having an impact in an array of ways...,' [Adams said on CNN Sunday]." ~~~

~~~ Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Appearing on ABC's 'This Week,' [Dr. Anthony] Fauci was asked by ... host Martha Raddatz about a tweet by the president calling the coronavirus case and death toll 'fake news' and blaming it on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention methodology. 'Well, the deaths are real deaths. I mean, all you need to do is to go out into the trenches, go to the hospitals, see what the health care workers are dealing with. They are under very stressed situations in many areas of the country. The hospital beds are stretched,' Fauci responded." MB: Of course, Trump has not been "in the trenches." He doesn't give a rat's ass about the loss of life, the devastating illness, the strain on medical workers and on the rest of us whose lives have been put on hold, or worse.

How Many Africans have Succumbed to Covid-19? We'll Never Know. Ruth Maclean of the New York Times: "As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world in 2020, it became increasingly evident that in the vast majority of countries on the African continent, most deaths are never formally registered.... Covid-19 is often said to have largely bypassed Africa.... But like other diseases, its true toll here will probably never be known.... In 2017, only 10 percent of deaths were registered in Nigeria, by far Africa's biggest country by population -- down from 13.5 percent a decade before. In other African countries, like Niger, the percentage is even lower." MB: Well, see, Trump was right about African countries like Namibia.

Summer Concepcion of TPM: "Living in complete denial that President Trump's one-term presidency is coming to a close, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro took to Fox News on Saturday night to falsely proclaim that President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20 can be delayed. The loyal Trump foot soldier pushed the President's voter fraud delusions while appearing on Fox News on Saturday night as he piled onto the Trumpworld's meltdown over baseless assertions of Democrats 'stealing' the election.... When Fox News anchor Jeanine Pirro cited the Constitution -- which clearly states that the term of the outgoing president ends on Jan. 20 -- while mentioning that Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20 can't be change, Navarro continued being in denial of reality. 'Well it can be changed, actually. We can go past that date, we can go past that date if we need to,' Navarro said. Pirro, who has a law degree, did not challenge Navarro's unsubstantiated claims as she raised her brows and quipped: 'Oh, okay.'" MB: Navarro, who has a Ph.D. in econ, thinks a doctorate in one field makes him an expert on everything from Covid to the Constitution.

Israel. Racist AND Stupid. Oliver Holmes & Hazem Balousha of the Guardian: "Israel is celebrating an impressive, record-setting vaccination drive, having given initial jabs of coronavirus shots to more than a 10th of the population. But Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza can only watch and wait. As the world ramps up what is already on track to become a highly unequal vaccination push -- with people in richer nations first to be inoculated -- the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories provides a stark example of the divide. Israel transports batches of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine deep inside the West Bank. But they are only distributed to Jewish settlers, and not the roughly 2.7 million Palestinians living around them who may have to wait for weeks or months.... Benjamin Netanyahu has told Israelis that the country could be the first to emerge from the pandemic. As well as a highly advanced healthcare system, part of the reason for the speed could be economics. A health ministry official said the country had paid $62 a dose, compared with the $19.50 the US is paying."

~~~~~~~~~~

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: A new Congress convenes for the first time today. "The House meets at noon, and after the vote for speaker, members of the 117th Congress will be sworn in. Across the Capitol, Vice President Pence will administer the oath to the senators reelected on Nov. 3 and the newest members -- four Republicans and two Democrats. Two runoff elections in Georgia on Tuesday will decide the final contests of 2020."

Will Sommer & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "Many of Donald Trump's most dogmatic supporters see a mass protest in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 ... as their last chance to disrupt President-elect Joe Biden's win.... 'Be there, will be wild!' Trump tweeted on Dec. 19.... 'I'm thinking it will be literal war on that day,' one popular comment posted last Wednesday read. 'Where we'll storm offices and physically remove and even kill all the D.C. traitors and reclaim the country.'... Two people familiar with the matter say that in recent days, Trump has told advisers and close associates that he wants to keep fighting in court past Jan. 6 if members of Congress, as expected, end up certifying the electoral college results." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Dirty Dozen. Alayna Treene of Axios: "A growing number of Republican senators -- led by Ted Cruz -- announced [Saturday] they also will object to certifying state Electoral College votes on Wednesday and called for resurrecting an Electoral Commission to conduct an emergency audit of the results.... Republicans involved include Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), as well as Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)." Plus Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) who began this stunt among senators. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Colby Itkowitz & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Nearly a dozen Republican senators and senators-elect led by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Saturday they will reject electors from certain states won by President-elect Joe Biden, citing unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and calling for an emergency 10-day audit of the results, an unprecedented attempt to thwart the democratic process. The senators contend they are not trying to reverse the election results, but rather give voice to those who don't believe it was conducted fairly, despite no investigation nor court finding any evidence of wrongdoing." ~~~

     ~~~ Mikey Likes It. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence signaled support on Saturday for a futile Republican bid to overturn the election in Congress next week, after 11 Republican senators and senators-elect said that they would vote to reject President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory when the House and Senate meet to formally certify it. The announcement by the senators -- and Mr. Pence's move to endorse it -- reflected a groundswell among Republicans to defy the unambiguous results of the election and indulge President Trump's attempts to remain in power with false claims of voting fraud. Every state in the country has certified the election results after verifying their accuracy, many following postelection audits or hand counts. Judges across the country, and a Supreme Court with a conservative majority, have rejected nearly 60 attempts by Mr. Trump and his allies to challenge the results. And neither Mr. Pence nor any of the senators who said they would vote to invalidate the election has made a specific allegation of fraud, instead offering vague suggestions that some wrongdoing might have occurred and asserting that many of their supporters believe that it has."~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Anyone surprised that mike has joined the suck-up senators has not been listening to mike. Akhilleus, invoking Sherlock Holmes, writes appropriate commentary on mike's character in today's thread. ~~~

     ~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Saturday offered blistering criticism of a plan by at least 12 Republican senators to challenge the results of the election next week, warning that they 'imperil' public trust. 'The egregious ploy to reject electors may enhance the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic. The congressional power to reject electors is reserved for the most extreme and unusual circumstances. These are far from it,' Romney said in a statement." MB: Frankly, Mitt did a better job of belittling the Dirty Dozen than these guys did: ~~~

     ~~~Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Senate Democrats criticized their GOP colleagues after a group of 11 Republicans announced they would oppose the Electoral College results when Congress meets on Wednesday."

John Kruzel of the Hill: "A federal appeals court on Saturday dismissed a lawsuit by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and other Republicans that sought to expand Vice President Pence's legal authority to effectively overturn President-elect Joe Biden's electoral win. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a lower court judge's decision from Friday that the GOP plaintiffs lacked a legal right to sue."

Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: When Vice Presidents Richard Nixon & Al Gore presided over a joint session of Congress to announce their own defeats. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "As distribution of Covid-19 vaccines begins to open up to wider segments of the United States population, there have been scenes of chaos across the country. The initial vaccine deliveries were mostly for frontline medical workers and nursing home staff members and residents. But there was less of a clear consensus on how to distribute the second round of doses, and public health and elected officials had warned the process would become messier. Those warnings appear to have been borne out, leaving the U.S. inoculation campaign behind schedule and raising fears about how quickly the country will be able to tame the epidemic."

AP: "The COVID-19 death toll in the United States has surpassed 350,000 as experts anticipate another surge in coronavirus cases and deaths stemming from holiday gatherings over Christmas and New Year's. Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows the U.S. passed the threshold early Sunday morning. More than 20 million people in the country have been infected."

Ben Tobin of the Louisville Courier Journal: "United States Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Louisville home has been vandalized following his blocking of $2,000 stimulus checks to most Americans. As of Saturday morning, messages like 'where's my money' and other expletives were written with spray paint across the front door and bricks of the Kentucky Republican's Highlands residence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Kayla Galloway of ABC-7 Los Angeles: "A home in San Francisco belonging to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was vandalized early Friday morning with an apparent reference to lawmakers' failed efforts to provide Americans with $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks. The graffiti was found on the garage door of Pelosi's home overnight with the phrases '$2K', 'Cancel rent!' and 'We want everything.' As of early Friday afternoon, the garage door was covered with black garbage bags. The vandals also left fake blood and what appears to be a pig head outside the House Speaker's San Francisco home." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "Three weeks after the [Russian hacking] intrusion came to light, American officials are still trying to understand whether what the Russians pulled off was simply an espionage operation inside the systems of the American bureaucracy or something more sinister, inserting 'backdoor' access into government agencies, major corporations, the electric grid and laboratories developing and transporting new generations of nuclear weapons. At a minimum it has set off alarms about the vulnerability of government and private sector networks in the United States to attack and raised questions about how and why the nation's cyberdefenses failed so spectacularly.... The breach was not detected by any of the government agencies that share responsibility for cyberdefense -- the military's Cyber Command and the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security -- but by a private cybersecurity company, FireEye." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Diane Francis of The Atlantic Council: "The US Senate began 2021 by delivering a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin by passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes sanctions designed to kill off the Kremlin's strategically important Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. The geopolitical significance of this legislation cannot be overstated. It means almost certain doom for Putin's most important energy project and prevents Russia from tightening its control over EU natural gas supplies.... In fall 2020, a proposed round of additional Nord Stream 2 sanctions received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and was included in the NDAA for consideration in December. In mid-December, both the House and Senate gave final approval, but President Trump then vetoed it. This required the House and Senate to override the veto by a two-thirds majority, which was finally accomplished on January 1, 2021." --s

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Thursday steered clear of the controversy concerning President Trump's reelection loss and his continued demands for Supreme Court intervention, instead using his annual report to thank the judiciary for its performance during the pandemic..... 'This year, more than ever,' he wrote, 'I am privileged and honored to thank all of the judges, court staff, and other judicial branch personnel throughout the Nation for their outstanding service.'"

Andrew Latham in Informed Comment: "People are beginning to understand that the little changes COVID-19 has already ushered in or accelerated -- telemedicine, remote work, social distancing, the death of the handshake, online shopping, the virtual disappearance of cash and so on -- have begun to change their way of life.... Three previous plagues could yield some clues about the way COVID-19 might bend the arc of history As I teach in my course 'Plagues, Pandemics and Politics,' pandemics tend to shape human affairs in three ways. First, they can profoundly alter a society's fundamental worldview. Second, they can upend core economic structures. And, finally, they can sway power struggles among nations." --s (First published in the Conversation, Oct. 1, 2020.)

Way Beyond the Beltway

Iran. AFP: "The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami, has vowed to respond to any 'action the enemy takes' during a visit to a strategic Gulf island amid tensions with the US. Salami was speaking on Saturday, on the eve of the first anniversary of the US killing of top Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani in a Baghdad drone strike. In the Iraqi capital, a mock funeral procession was held, with mourners visiting the site of the attack. Salami inspected troops stationed on Abu Musa island, accompanied by the Revolutionary Guard Corps navy commander, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri."

U.K. Jamie Howard of the Guardian: "The government is under pressure to explain why a series of air strikes in Yemen, many involving civilian casualties, have not been recorded in its confidential log of alleged breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL). The existence of the database, which has been kept by the Ministry of Defence since 2015, emerged only when the government became embroiled in a legal challenge over its decision to grant UK arms manufacturers export licences to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen.... By last July more than 500 possible breaches had been recorded in the database. But human rights groups allege that the true number of breaches in a conflict in which Saudi-led forces have conducted more than 20,000 air strikes must be much higher." --s

The Commentariat -- January 2, 2021

Afternoon Update:

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "Three weeks after the [Russian hacking] intrusion came to light, American officials are still trying to understand whether what the Russians pulled off was simply an espionage operation inside the systems of the American bureaucracy or something more sinister, inserting 'backdoor' access into government agencies, major corporations, the electric grid and laboratories developing and transporting new generations of nuclear weapons. At a minimum it has set off alarms about the vulnerability of government and private sector networks in the United States to attack and raised questions about how and why the nation's cyberdefenses failed so spectacularly.... The breach was not detected by any of the government agencies that share responsibility for cyberdefense -- the military's Cyber Command and the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security -- but by a private cybersecurity company, FireEye."

Will Sommer & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "Many of Donald Trump's most dogmatic supporters see a mass protest in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 ... as their last chance to disrupt President-elect Joe Biden's win.... 'Be there, will be wild!' Trump tweeted on Dec. 19.... 'I'm thinking it will be literal war on that day,' one popular comment posted last Wednesday read. 'Where we'll storm offices and physically remove and even kill all the D.C. traitors and reclaim the country.'... Two people familiar with the matter say that in recent days, Trump has told advisers and close associates that he wants to keep fighting in court past Jan. 6 if members of Congress, as expected, end up certifying the electoral college results."

Alayna Treene of Axios: "A growing number of Republican senators -- led by Ted Cruz — announced [Saturday] they also will object to certifying state Electoral College votes on Wednesday and called for resurrecting an Electoral Commission to conduct an emergency audit of the results.... Republicans involved include Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), as well as Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)."

Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: When Vice Presidents Richard Nixon & Al Gore presided over a joint session of Congress to announce their own defeats.

Ben Tobin of the Louisville Courier Journal: ... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Louisville home has been vandalized following his blocking of $2,000 stimulus checks to most Americans. As of Saturday morning, messages like 'where's my money' and other expletives were written with spray paint across the front door and bricks of the Kentucky Republican's Highlands residence." ~~~

~~~ Kayla Galloway of ABC-7 Los Angeles: "A home in San Francisco belonging to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was vandalized early Friday morning with an apparent reference to lawmakers' failed efforts to provide Americans with $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks. The graffiti was found on the garage door of Pelosi's home overnight with the phrases '$2K', 'Cancel rent!' and 'We want everything.' As of early Friday afternoon, the garage door was covered with black garbage bags. The vandals also left fake blood and what appears to be a pig head outside the House Speaker's San Francisco home."

~~~~~~~~~~

Joanna Walters of the Guardian: "... in dueling New Year's Eve declarations, [Donald] Trump boasted of accomplishments in office, calling them 'historic victories' despite his resounding loss in November's election and a pandemic that has never been under control and is entering its darkest phase with record deaths in parallel with chaotic early vaccine distribution. [Joe] Biden praised healthcare workers on the front lines and looked ahead to his prospects of delivering what he has promised will be a transformative first 100 days in office in terms of dealing with the coronavirus, the battered economy, global re-engagement by the US and taking action on the climate crisis."

The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "President Trump took to Twitter Friday evening to make the unfounded assertion that Georgia's two Senate races are 'illegal and invalid,' an argument that could complicate his efforts to convince his supporters to turn out for Republican candidates in the two runoff races that will determine which party controls the Senate.... Mr. Trump made his assertion about the Senate races in a Twitter thread in which he also made the baseless claim that 'massive corruption' took place in the general election, 'which gives us far more votes than is necessary to win all of the Swing States.'"' The Hill's story is here.

Betsy Klein, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump is spending his final days in office attacking leadership within his own party, this time the second-highest ranking Republican in the Senate.... Trump, back at the White House after his Mar-a-Lago holiday with no public events on his schedule, attacked Sen. John Thune, a South Dakotan who is the No. 2 Senate Republican, in an afternoon tweet on New Year's Day. 'I hope to see the great Governor of South Dakota @KristiNoem, run against RINO @SenJohnThune, in the upcoming 2022 Primary. She would do a fantastic job in the U.S. Senate, but if not Kristi, others are already lining up. South Dakota wants strong leadership, NOW!' he wrote in a tweet. Trump has railed against Republican leadership broadly multiple times this week, but this time is naming names.... 'Yeah, well, finally an attack tweet. What took him so long?' a calm and soft-spoken Thune told reporters as he was leaving the Capitol after the vote to override Trump's veto of the defense bill. 'It's fine, that's the way he communicates.'"

** Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Senate on Friday voted overwhelmingly to override President Trump's veto of the annual military policy bill as most Republicans joined Democrats to rebuke Mr. Trump in the final days of his presidency. The 81-to-13 vote was the first time lawmakers have overridden one of Mr. Trump's vetoes. It reflected the sweeping popularity of a measure that authorized a pay raise for the nation's military. The margin surpassed the two-thirds majority needed to force enactment of the bill over Mr. Trump's objections, and only seven Republicans voted to sustain the veto. The House passed the legislation on Monday in a similarly lopsided 322-to-87 vote that also mustered the two-thirds majority required. The vote ended a devastating legislative week for Mr. Trump, effectively denying him two of the last demands of his presidency. Senate Republican leaders on Wednesday had declared that there was 'no realistic path' for a vote on increasing stimulus checks to $2,000 from the current $600, a measure Mr. Trump had pressed lawmakers to take up." Politico's story is here.

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Multiple Senate Republicans unloaded on an effort led by Sen. Josh Hawley to challenge Joe Biden's election victory as the party hurtles toward its most consequential confrontation with Donald Trump of his entire presidency.... 'I think it's awful. I am going to support my oath to the Constitution. That's the loyalty test here,' said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called Hawley's move 'disappointing and destructive. And borrowing from Ben Sasse it's ambition pointing a gun at the head of democracy.' Sasse (R-Neb.) said this week that 'adults don't point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government.' 'I'm going to vote to certify the election,' said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) of Hawley's effort. 'I don't think it's a good idea and I don't understand his reasoning.'"

Catie Edmondson & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit led by President Trump's allies in Congress that aimed to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of the election, dealing a blow to lawmakers' last-ditch effort to challenge President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory. Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle [-- a Trump appointee --] of the Eastern District of Texas ruled that Republican lawmakers, led by Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas, lacked the proper standing to sue Mr. Pence in the matter.... Mr. Gohmert said in an interview with Newsmax that his lawyers would appeal.... [MB: And now for some euphamistic understatement:] The president was unhappy when he learned that the Justice Department was representing Mr. Pence in a suit that his supporters had filed, and he reached out to the vice president on Friday morning to discuss it, three people briefed on the discussion said.... Mr. Trump was more vocal to advisers than to Mr. Pence about his frustrations over the Justice Department's involvement." An NPR story is here. ~~~

~~~ Earlier. Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Vice President Mike Pence has the unilateral power to decide the outcome of the 2020 election, according to the latest filing in a lawsuit brought by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and other Republicans mounting a last-ditch bid to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 'Under the Constitution, he has the authority to conduct that proceeding as he sees fit,' Gohmert argues. 'He may count elector votes certified by a state's executive, or he can prefer a competing slate of duly qualified electors. He may ignore all electors from a certain state. That is the power bestowed upon him by the Constitution.'" The Washington Post's story is here; the WashPo story has been updated to report the dismissal of the case. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yeah, that's definitely the plan, Louie. Which makes it hard to understand why Al Gore didn't pick himself to be the next president in 2000 (especially since he won the popular vote), and why Joe Biden didn't pick Hillary Clinton in 2016 (who also won the popular vote). I guess Al & Joe are just not the Constitutional scholars you are, Louie. ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Haham of Law & Crime: "Election law experts rapidly responded [to] the Gohmert reply by calling its core aim 'breathtaking' and 'preposterous.'"

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

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

Christina Maxouris & Jason Hanna of CNN: "The US surpassed 20 million total recorded Covid-19 cases on Friday, hours after the country ushered in 2021 and left behind its deadliest month of the pandemic. The nation also has set a Covid-19 hospitalization record for four straight days. The high counts are a grim reminder that even with 2020 behind us, the pandemic continues to ravage parts of the country. And some leaders warn the worst is still ahead.... More than 125,370 coronavirus patients were in US hospitals Thursday, Covid Tracking Project data shows."

Jeremy Herb & Rachel Janfaza of CNN: "Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on Friday warned the process of distributing vaccines is 'falling behind' in a statement blasting the plan for getting Americans vaccinated, as the critical vaccination roll out process lags. 'That comprehensive vaccination plans have not been developed at the federal level and sent to the states as models is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable,' Romney ... said in a statement Friday. Romney said the plan to rely on hospitals and pharmacies that are already overburdened was 'unrealistic.' Romney's statement comes as the federal government's Operation Warp Speed had promised that 20 million doses would be administered before January 1. Yet data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from earlier this week shows that just over 12.4 million doses have been distributed, and only 2.79 million have actually been administered."

South Dakota. Danielle Ferguson of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader: "A federal judge says a state court can't use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to delay a Codington County trial and in the same breath criticized South Dakota's response to the pandemic, saying it has done 'little, if anything,' to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann ordered that unless the Codington County state court resolves Matthew Kurtenbach's May 2019 case by January 15, 2021, Kurtenbach will win a federal petition he filed claiming wrongful imprisonment and a violation of his right to a speedy trial.... Kornmann harshly criticized the state and Gov. Kristi Noem's response to the pandemic and said some state courts could have done more to keep cases moving while protecting parties.... 'South Dakota cannot "take advantage" of its own failures to follow scientific facts and safeguards in entering blanket denials of the rights of speedy trials.'... ~~~

~~~ "An excerpt from the filing: 'The Governor has steadfastly refused to impose a statewide mask mandate. She has often questioned publicly the scientific fact that mask wearing prevents the virus from spreading. she appeared at a dedication ceremony for a large 3M Company in Aberdeen manufacturing plant expansion -- to allow 3M to produce even more N95 respirators needed by front-line healthcare workers -- as the only public official not wearing a mask. Her example significantly encourages south Dakotans to not wear masks. South Dakota is now a very dangerous place in which to live due to the spread of COVID-19. Even a casual observer must note the failure of most residents of South Dakota to wear masks and maintain social distancing.'" MB: Kornmann is a Clinton appointee.

Virginia. Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "Virginia state Sen. Ben Chafin (R) has died from complications due to COVID-19, his office announced Friday. He was 60. Gov. \Ralph Northam (D) and the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus confirmed the passing of Chafin, who represented the state's 38th district for the past six years.... Northam has reportedly ordered the Virginia state flag to be flown at half-staff until sunset on the day of Chafin's interment."

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The Pentagon has abruptly sent the aircraft carrier Nimitz home from the Middle East and Africa over the objections of top military advisers, marking a reversal of a weekslong muscle-flexing strategy aimed at deterring Iran from attacking American troops and diplomats in the Persian Gulf. Officials said on Friday that the acting defense secretary, Christopher C. Miller, had ordered the redeployment of the ship in part as a 'de-escalatory' signal to Tehran to avoid stumbling into a crisis in President Trump's waning days in office. American intelligence reports indicate that Iran and its proxies may be preparing a strike as early as this weekend to avenge the death of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Senior Pentagon officials said that Mr. Miller assessed that dispatching the Nimitz now, before the first anniversary this Sunday of General Suleimani's death in an American drone strike in Iraq, could remove what Iranian hard-liners see as a provocation that justifies their threats against American military targets." MB: The Nimitz is one old aircraft carrier: it was launched in 1972.

Michael Balsamo of the AP: "A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the only woman on federal death row to be executed before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The ruling, handed down Friday by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, concluded that a lower court judge erred when he vacated Lisa Montgomery's execution date in an order last week.... Meaghan VerGow, an attorney for Montgomery, said her legal team would ask for the full appeals court to review the case and said Montgomery should not be executed on Jan. 12."