The Commentariat -- June 14, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday that the Justice Department would beef up its policies for obtaining lawmakers' records and vowed 'strict accountability' for officials who let politics affect their work, issuing a lengthy statement amid a metastasizing controversy over department efforts during the Trump administration to obtain the data of congressmen, journalists and even the White House counsel. Garland said in the statement that he had directed his deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco, to 'evaluate and strengthen the department's existing policies and procedures for obtaining records of the Legislative branch,' and he noted that she was 'already working on surfacing potentially problematic matters deserving high-level review.'" ~~~
~~~ Michael Balsamo of the AP: "The Justice Department's top national security official is resigning from his position after revelations that the department under ... Donald Trump secretly seized records from Democrats and members of the media. John Demers, a Trump appointee, will leave by the end of next week, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press on Monday. Demers, who was sworn in a few weeks after the subpoena for the Democrat' records, is one of the few Trump appointees who has remained in the Biden administration. He had planned for weeks to leave ... by the end of June, a second person familiar with the matter said.... Demers' resignation comes amid questions about what he knew about the Justice Department's efforts to secretly seize the phone data from House Democrats and reporters as part of the aggressive investigations into leaks." ~~~
~~~ Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Mr. Demers and his top counterintelligence deputies in the division would typically be briefed and updated on ... efforts ... to secretly gather records from the press and lawmakers.... Mark J. Lesko, the acting top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, will replace Mr. Demers on an interim basis...."
Just a reminder to anybody Joe Manchin who wants to play fair with Mitch & the Gang is a fool Joe Manchin: ~~~
~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled Monday that Republicans, if they win back control of the upper chamber, wouldn't advance a Supreme Court nominee if a vacancy occurred in 2024, the year of the next presidential election.... [After axing all consideration of President Obama's nominee Merrick Garland throughout 2016 & early 2017,] Republicans subsequently confirmed Amy Coney Barrett, then-President Trump's third Supreme Court nominee, in 2020.... The move, which sparked howls from Democrats, set a new record for how closely before a presidential election a Senate has confirmed a Supreme Court nominee." P.S. Wake up, Justice Breyer.
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The New York Times is live-updating developments at the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium: "New United States presidents traditionally get an early, brief NATO summit meeting, as President Biden is on Monday in a session lasting less than three hours. Few involved with NATO can forget the last time a new American president paid an inaugural visit. It was May 2017, and Donald J. Trump took the opportunity to deride the new $1.2 billion headquarters building as too expensive, and refused, despite the assurances of his aides, to support NATO's central tenet of collective defense, the famous Article 5 of the founding treaty. Mr. Biden, by contrast, is a longstanding fan of NATO and of the trans-Atlantic alliance it defends, so simply showing up with a smile and warm compliments for allies will go a long way to making his first NATO summit as president smooth and even unmemorable. He drove that point home upon arriving at the summit on Monday morning in a brief greeting with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary-general -- saying that the alliance was 'critically important for U.S. interests' and pointing to Article 5 as a 'sacred obligation." ~~~
~~~ Kate Sullivan & Kevin Liptak of CNN: "President Joe Biden has arrived at his first in-person North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit Monday, vowing to reaffirm the United States' commitment to a military alliance his predecessor viewed with disdain. 'I want to make it clear: NATO is critically important for US interests in and of itself. If there weren't one, we'd have to invent one,' he said shortly after arriving during a meeting with NATO's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. 'I just want all of Europe to know the United States is there.'" An AP report is here.
David Sanger & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden and fellow Western leaders issued a confrontational declaration about Russian and Chinese government behavior on Sunday, castigating Beijing over its internal repression, vowing to investigate the pandemic's origins, and excoriating Moscow for using nerve agents and cyberweapons.... But they disagreed about crucial issues, from timelines for halting the burning of coal to committing tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to challenge Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, China's overseas investment and lending push. Still, as they left Cornwall, where they had met at a resort overlooking rocky outcroppings in England's far west, almost all the participants welcomed a new tone as they began to repair the breaches from four years of dealing with Mr. Biden's predecessor....
~~~ Here's the full 2021 G7 communique, published by the European Council, in English. (It's quite long.) A summary press release, in English, is here. ~~~
~~~ Karla Adam, et al., of the Washington Post: "As Group of Seven leaders wrapped their three-day summit [in Cornwall, England,] on Sunday, President Biden said democratic governments face a defining challenge: to show they can meet tests such as global health crises and climate change better than autocracies such as China and Russia. 'I think we're in a contest, not with China per se, but a contest with autocrats, autocratic governments around the world, as to whether or not democracies can compete with them in a rapidly changing 21st century,' Biden told reporters during the first news conference of his first foreign trip as president. He singled out China and Russia for reprobation after working here to enlist U.S. allies in what he has repeatedly cast as the existential battle of the 21st century.... In the summit-concluding communique issued Sunday, the leaders said they would work together to challenge China's 'non-market policies,' and they called on Beijing to respect human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, pushed for greater transparency on the origins of the coronavirus and raised concerns about tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. The language fell short of an explicit condemnation of China's human rights practices." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Jordyn Phelps of ABC News: "President Joe Biden declared that 'America is back at the table' Sunday as he concluded his first Group of Seven summit on his first overseas trip as president and prepared to head for Brussels for another round of talks with top allies at a NATO summit. 'America's back in the business of leading the world alongside nations who share our most deeply held values,' Biden said during a press conference at the conclusion of the G-7 summit. 'I think we've made some progress in re-establishing American credibility among our closest friends,' Biden continued, in an indirect reference to his predecessor...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
To Windsor, to Windsor, to Visit the Queen. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "President Biden and first lady Jill Biden met Queen Elizabeth II for tea at Windsor Castle on Sunday, concluding the U.K. leg of their first overseas presidential trip.... The monarch greeted the Bidens in the castle's quadrangle. Assembled soldiers gave a royal salute, which was followed by the American national anthem. There was then an inspection of the Honour Guard, though the queen didn't walk with President Biden, as she did in 2019 with ... Donald Trump, who was accused of breaking protocol by walking in front of her. Instead, the queen, 95, stayed with Jill Biden on the dais, which shielded them from the sun. This is the queen's first prominent weekend since the funeral of her husband, Prince Philip, and she was seen managing her duties as she always has." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The story has been updated: "After the meeting with Elizabeth, Biden, 78, told reporters that the 95-year-old monarch reminded him of his mother. 'I don't think she'd be insulted, but she reminded me of my mother, the look of her and just the generosity,' he said. He also said that she had asked him, while they sipped tea, about China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin. 'She's extremely gracious. That's not surprising, but we had a great talk,' he told reporters on the tarmac at London's Heathrow Airport before departing for Brussels for a NATO summit.... It's highly unusual to get a glimpse into conversations between the British monarch and world leaders." The AP report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I don't know why so many news stories describe Trump as having "broken protocol" by walking in front of Elizabeth. Any idiot knows you don't try to outpace your hostess at a reception, and you certainly don't race to outrun an elderly lady, much less a head of state. Trump didn't "break protocol"; he behaved like the bumptious, rude rube he is.
AP: "Churchgoers in a seaside resort in England say they have been left 'gobsmacked' when U.S. President Joe Biden and the first lady Jill Biden dropped in for a Sunday service.... On Sunday morning, ahead of the summit's conclusion, they were seen attending mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in St. Ives.... [Parishoner] Gayle Wood, 63, said Biden appeared to make a 'very generous donation' to the church before leaving." (Also linked yesterday.)
Paul McLeary of Politico: "When President Joe Biden meets his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, the two leaders will be looking to repair a long alliance as pressure from China and Russia looms over Europe. And they'll be doing it despite a history of insults, political threats, economic sanctions, obstruction and canceled fighter jet contracts.... The problems are significant, but the Biden administration is looking for an ally that will continue to help with the Syrian refugee crisis while playing a more positive role in regional tensions.... To this point in his presidency, Biden has given Erdogan the diplomatic cold shoulder, only making his first phone call in April, which was merely to inform the Turkish leader of his decision to recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide, the first time a U.S. president has done so. The decision sparked outrage in Ankara, and Erdogan said the decision caused a 'deep wound' in the U.S./Turkey relationship." ~~~
~~~ Losing Trump Makes Erdogan a Better NATO Ally. Carlotta Gall of the New York Times: "For the last four years, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has brazenly crushed his opponents at home and cozied up to Moscow, while showering his allies with sweetheart government contracts and deploying troops regionally wherever he saw fit. And for the most part..., Donald J. Trump's administration turned a blind eye. But as Mr. Erdogan arrives in Brussels for a critical NATO meeting on Monday, he is facing a decidedly more skeptical Biden administration, as are other strongmen leaders once enabled by Mr. Trump.... Thanks to both the coronavirus pandemic and his mismanagement of the economy, [Erdogan] is now facing severe domestic strains, with soaring inflation and unemployment, and a dangerously weakened lira that could set off a debt crisis. So he has dialed back his approach, already softening his positions on several issues in the hope of receiving badly needed investment from the West -- something Russia cannot provide."
Systemic Racism, Military Edition. Kat Stafford, et al., of the AP: "In interviews with The Associated Press, current and former enlistees and officers in nearly every branch of the armed services described a deep-rooted culture of racism and discrimination that stubbornly festers, despite repeated efforts to eradicate it. The AP found that the military's judicial system has no explicit category for hate crimes, making it difficult to quantify crimes motivated by prejudice. The Defense Department also has no way to track the number of troops ousted for extremist views, despite its repeated pledges to root them out. More than 20 people linked to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol were found to have military ties. The AP also found that the Uniform Code of Military Justice does not adequately address discriminatory incidents and that rank-and-file people of color commonly face courts-martial panels made up of all-white service members, which some experts argue can lead to harsher outcomes."
Joe Davidson of the Washington Post: "House Democrats are pushing legislation designed to overturn the lasting legacies of institutional racism that were embedded in a key New Deal law.... But the law is now seen in a broader context -- one that does not diminish its accomplishments, but addresses its exclusions. To secure the votes needed to pass the bill, [President Franklin] Roosevelt agreed to certain exemptions for farmworkers, domestic workers and others that led to generational financial injury for Black and Brown people.... Democrats hope to correct those situations with three bills facing Republican opposition. Each was previously sponsored or co-sponsored by Vice President Harris when she was a senator.... President Biden backs all three bills.... The law's exclusions were not racist in name, but in design, implementation and impact. The maids, caretakers and nannies 'were largely women, largely women of color,' [Rep. Pramila] Jayapal [D-Wash.] said in an interview Wednesday."
~~~ Marie: Of course Republicans oppose correcting the legacy of systemic racism. First, they favor racism. It's a vote-getter for them. Second, they pretend systemic racism doesn't exist.
Michael Schmidt & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Apple told Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel to ... Donald J. Trump, last month that the Justice Department had subpoenaed information about an account that belonged to him in February 2018, and that the government barred the company from telling him at the time, according to two people briefed on the matter. Mr. McGahn's wife received a similar notice from Apple.... It is not clear ... [that] Mr. McGahn was [the FBI's] specific focus.... Gag orders for subpoenas may be renewed for up to a year at a time, suggesting that prosecutors went to court several times to prevent Apple from notifying the McGahns earlier." In January 2018 -- just prior to the DOJ's issuing the McGahn subpoenas to Apple -- the NYT reported that Trump had tried to get McGahn to order the firing of Robert Mueller, then demanding that McGahn deny Trump had ordered Mueller's firing. Trump then blew up at McGahn & called him "a liar and a leaker." Schmidt & Savage say it's unlikely there a connection because a leak from McGahn to the press about the attempted Mueller firing would not be illegal. MB: Sorry, I think the time is not coincidental. Thanks to RAS for the link. An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Just as there was a certain cachet to making Nixon's "enemies list," I suspect that among some of Washington's elite, a secret Trumpy subpoena will become a point of pride.
Lying About Lying. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The White House press secretary turned Fox News contributor Kayleigh McEnany has claimed she 'never lied' while speaking for Donald Trump.... The press has questioned the veracity of McEnany's claims. So have political factchecking sites. For instance, Politifact gave McEnany a 'pants on fire' rating last September after she told reporters: 'The president never downplayed the virus.'... When she was press secretary, even Fox News cut away from her remarks when she advanced Trump's lie that his defeat by Biden was the result of electoral fraud."
Bob Brigham of the Raw story: "Despite violent rhetoric from her family inciting the January 6th insurrection, Lara Trump suggested vigilante violence against people perceived to be from south of the southern border during a Saturday night appearance with Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro.... '... I don't know what you tell the people that live at the southern border,' she said. 'I guess they better arm up and get guns and be ready -- and maybe they're going to have to start taking matters into their own hands.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Stupidest U.S. Senator Is Also Delusional. Katherine Huggins of Mediaite: "Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) reiterated his belief Sunday that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a 'non-violent' gathering.... He referenced an eyewitness account, saying the vast majority were 'in a jovial mood,' and while 'they were serious, they weren't violent.... They weren't rioting. It doesn't look like an armed insurrection when you have people that breach the Capitol, and I don't condone it, but they're staying within the roped lines in the Rotunda. That's not what armed insurrection would look like.'"
** Fred Hiatt of the Washington Post: "Like termites, destructive but largely unseen, anti-democracy forces around the country are gnawing at the foundations of America's free and fair elections. State by state, the termites are trying to change the rules to allow Donald Trump or someone like him to succeed in 2024 where Trump tried and failed in 2020: to steal an election that he lost. In April, a report by three nonprofit organizations documented how Republicans in dozens of state legislatures were pursuing a strategy 'to politicize, criminalize, and interfere in election administration.' Now, less than two months later, this 'Democracy in Crisis' report has an update, and it is alarming. The number of bills raising red flags has grown from 148 in 36 states to 216 in 41 states -- and 24 of them have become law.... Anti-democrats are working to improve their odds next time around. They are trying to replace the honest officials with peddlers of Trump's lie.... They are subjecting election officials to criminal penalties for actions they may take in the course of performing their duties. Potentially most dangerous, legislatures are giving themselves the right to interfere in vote-counting and election disputes while tying the hands of secretaries of state to rule impartially or even in some cases to seek legal advice.&"
Gilded Age II, Ctd. Andrew Sorkin, et al., of the New York Times (June 11): "Six of the 10 largest executive pay packages of all time were awarded last year. This and other findings come from a new survey of the 200 highest paid C.E.O.s at public companies conducted for The Times by Equilar, a consulting firm. 'Even in a gilded age for executive pay, 2020 was a blowout year,' writes The Times's Peter Eavis. The spike is due in large part to linking C.E.O.s' pay to stock prices. This 'pay-for-performance' structure is intended to align managers' incentives with those of the company's owners, the shareholders. But it also raises questions about how much credit executives deserve for rising stock prices, and whether the performance conditions attached to stock awards are suitably tough.... C.E.O.s in the survey received 274 times the pay of the median employee at their companies, up from 245 times in the previous year.... Eight C.E.O.s received pay packages last year worth more than $100 million."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here.
Carl Zimmer of the New York Times: "Novavax, a small American company buoyed by lavish support from the U.S. government, announced on Monday the results of a clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine in the United States and Mexico, finding that its two-shot inoculation provides potent protection against the coronavirus. In the 29,960-person trial, the vaccine demonstrated an overall efficacy of 90.4 percent, on par with the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, and higher than the one-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. The Novavax vaccine showed an efficacy of 100 percent at preventing moderate or severe disease. Despite these impressive results, the vaccine's future in the United States is uncertain and it might be needed more in other countries. Novavax says it may not seek emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration until the end of September." A Politico story is here.
Beyond the Beltway
New York City. Emma Fitzsimmons of the New York Times: "This is the first time that New Yorkers can vote early in a mayoral election. Voters were sparse on Saturday and Sunday, and lines at polling stations were much shorter than during the presidential election last year. Early voting will last from June 12 to June 20. The primary election is on June 22. But it is also the first time the city will be using ranked-choice voting -- a factor that has added a significant measure of unpredictability into the mayor's race. Interviews with dozens of voters across the city over the weekend, from the Grand Concourse in the Bronx to Flushing in Queens, revealed that the Democratic primary for mayor was still very much up for grabs, and that most voters were taking advantage of being able to rank up to five candidates out of the field of 13."
Way Beyond
China. Zachary Cohen of CNN: "The US government has spent the past week assessing a report of a leak at a Chinese nuclear power plant, after a French company that part owns and helps operate it warned of an 'imminent radiological threat,' according to US officials and documents reviewed by CNN. The warning included an accusation that the Chinese safety authority was raising the acceptable limits for radiation detection outside the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province in order to avoid having to shut it down, according to a letter from the French company to the US Department of Energy obtained by CNN. Despite the alarming notification from Framatome, the French company, the Biden administration believes the facility is not yet at a 'crisis level,' one of the sources said."
Israel. Ilan Ben Zion of the AP: "For the first time in 12 years, Israelis on Monday woke up to a new government and a new prime minister, after Naftali Bennett secured the backing of parliament and ousted longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu. The two were slated to hold a handover meeting later in the day, but without the formal ceremony that traditionally accompanies a change in government.... David Bitan, a Likud lawmaker, told Kan public radio that Netanyahu was not holding the formal ceremony with Bennett because he feels 'cheated' by the formation of the Bennett-Lapid government and 'doesn't want to give even the slightest legitimacy to this matter.'... The new government was sworn in late on Sunday and set to work Monday morning, with ministers announcing appointments of new ministry directors." ~~~
~~~ Steve Hendrix & Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "For the first time in 12 years, Israeli lawmakers voted Sunday to install a government led by someone other than Benjamin Netanyahu, breaking a two-year electoral deadlock, marking a likely shift toward the political center and ending -- for now -- the reign of the country's longest-serving prime minister, and one of its most consequential." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Exit, Stage Right. David Halbfinger of the New York Times: Benjamin Netanyahu, "Israel's longest-serving leader..., [inspired] such admiration that supporters likened him to the biblical King David. His political agility got him out of so many tight spots that even his detractors called him a magician. He presided over an extraordinary economic turnaround, kept the perennially embattled country out of major wars and kept casualty tolls to historic lows. He feuded with Democratic American presidents, then capitalized on a symbiosis with the Trump administration to cement historic gains, including the opening of a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.... He struck watershed accords with four Arab countries that had long shunned Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.... Mr. Netanyahu ... was ousted as prime minister on Sunday.... He compartmentalized the Palestinian conflict, snubbing the endless peace talks that had stymied his predecessors, unilaterally expanding the Jewish presence in the occupied West Bank and treating Palestinians largely as a security threat to be contained." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Myanmar. Shibani Mahtani of the Washington Post: "Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's deposed civilian leader, appeared in court on Monday for the start of a weeks-long trial that is almost certain to find her guilty of politically motivated charges. The 75-year-old is now facing a predicament worse than her 15 years under house arrest, persecuted by a military junta that is determined to keep her isolated as anger and protests rage across the country." The AP's report is here.
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