New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”
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New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~
~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”
New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”
Click on photo to enlarge.
~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI."
Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”
New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”
Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”
Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."
In the FBI, this is what we called "a clue." -- Asha Rangappa, former FBI special agent, in a tweet ~~~
~~~ ** Edward Wong of the New York Times: "About 90 minutes after President Trump held a controversial telephone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in July, the White House budget office ordered the Pentagon to suspend all military aid that Congress had allocated to Ukraine, according to emails released by the Pentagon late Friday. A budget official, Michael Duffey, also told the Pentagon to keep quiet about the aid freeze because of the 'sensitive nature of the request,' according to a message dated July 25. An earlier email that Mr. Duffey sent to the Pentagon comptroller suggested that Mr. Trump began asking aides about $250 million in military aid set aside for Ukraine after noticing a June 19 article about it in the Washington Examiner. The emails add to public understanding of the events that prompted the Democratic-led House to call for Mr. Trump to be removed from office.... The emails were in a batch of 146 pages of documentsreleased by the Pentagon late Friday to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit news organization and watchdog group, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.... Senator Chuck Schumer ... has pressed for Mr. Duffey, a political appointee..., to testify in a Senate trial. On Twitter on Saturday, he pointed to the July 25 email as 'all the more reason' Mr. Duffey and others must appear." A CNN story is here. ~~~
~~~ Here's the Center for Public Integrity's liveblog on the docs, by Zachary Fryer-Biggs. It includes images of all of the sometimes-heavily-redacted e-mails. ~~~
~~~ Daniel Politi of Slate: "'Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration's plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process,' [Michael] Duffey wrote at 11:04 a.m., [an hour-and-a-half after the Trump-Zelensky call ended]....The question, of course, becomes who exactly gave Duffey the 'guidance' that he wrote about in the email.... 'Given the sensitive nature of the request, I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute direction,' [Duffey] wrote [in the same July 25 email].... The Center for Public Integrity points out that the heavily redacted emails show many government officials were worried that the White House was 'asking the officials involved to take an action that was not merely unwise but flatly illegal.' The law in question is known as the Impoundment Control Act and 'says that once Congress appropriates funds -- like the Ukraine assistance -- and the president signs the relevant spending bill, the executive branch must spend those funds,' explains CPI. For the funds to be withheld, Congress must be informed and must approve, which obviously did not happen in this case." ~~~
~~~ Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "The disclosure of Duff[e]y's July 25 emails, since they show he has significant information, seem to make [Mitch] McConnell's [refusal to allow Duffey to be called as a fact witness in the Senate trial] more difficult." ~~~
~~~ digby: "These documents make it even clearer that [Trump] saw Ukraine as a pawn in his and Rudy's scheme. When he saw the article about the military aid in the Examiner he realized he had more leverage than just a White House meeting and he immediately used it."
Trump Boasts of Putin Affirmation. Colby Itkowitz & Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Late Friday night, minutes before deplaning in Florida for the holidays, President Trump retweeted a link to an article in which Russian President Vladimir Putin defended him against impeachment. 'A total Witch Hunt!' the president tweeted at 10:30 p.m., as he shared a 36-hour-old Associated Press tweet that read: 'BREAKING: Russian President Vladimir Putin says U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment is far-fetched and predicts the U.S. Senate will reject it.'"
Dan Alexander of Forbes: "The Trump campaign is spending big money at the president's properties, according to a review of Federal Election Commission data. Yet the records show that Donald Trump still has not donated any of his own funds to the campaign. That means America's billionaire-in-chief has shifted $1.7 million from campaign donors into his private business." --s
Not the Onion. Bob Brigham of RawStory: "Donald Trump is considering a Florida trailer court as the location of his presidential library, according to The Palm Beach Post. 'Vanilla Ice ran it by Donald Jr.,' [James Arena, a real estate broker and resident of Briny Breezes] said.... '[Vanilla Ice] called me back and said, "Man, I think they're really into it."'... Arena suggested the president could change the town's name to 'Trump Town.'" --safari: Nothing says 'Trump brand' like a Florida trailer park community. Report here.
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "It seems like it was eons ago, but it was actually a fairly recent occurrence: Americans used to be obsessed with 'civility.'... It wasn't just that we all talked about civility all the time; there actually arose a massive Civility Industrial Complex ... dedicated to the restoration of 'civility' in public discourse.... Something fundamental shifted in the discussion after Donald Trump was elected in 2016.... Suddenly 'civility' ... became a defense for why Trump officials, who had crafted an entire government of cruelty, deserved polite service in restaurants nonetheless....Civility had come to mean being nice to terrible people in public because it hurts their feelings when we do not.... As Adam Serwersummarized it in this month's Atlantic: 'There are two definitions of civility. The first is not being an asshole. The second is "I can do what I want and you can shut up." The latter definition currently dominates American political discourse.'... Joe Biden caused a stir in June when he thought back fondly to a more civil era in politics.... The problem of course is that 'getting things done' by meeting unabashed racists halfway no longer feels like a win-win, so much as capitulation." --s
Stuart Thompson & Charlie Warzel of the New York Times in a long opinion piece: "Every minute of every day, everywhere on the planet, dozens of companies -- largely unregulated, little scrutinized -- are logging the movements of tens of millions of people with mobile phones and storing the information in gigantic data files.... In the cities that the data file covers, it tracks people from nearly every neighborhood and block.... If you lived in one of the cities the dataset covers and use apps that share your location -- anything from weather apps to local news apps to coupon savers -- you could be in there, too.... [The data] originated from a location data company, one of dozens quietly collecting precise movements using software slipped onto mobile phone apps.... Today, it's perfectly legal to collect and sell all this information. In the United States, as in most of the world, no federal law limits what has become a vast and lucrative trade in human tracking.... The companies that collect all this information on your movements justify their business on the basis of three claims: People consent to be tracked, the data is [are!] anonymous and the data is [are!] secure. None of those claims hold[d] up, based on the file we've obtained and our review of company practices." ~~~
~~~ Henry Ford Is Watching You. Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post: "Behind the wheel, it's nothing but you, the open road -- and your car quietly recording your every move. On a recent drive, a 2017 Chevrolet collected my precise location. It stored my phone's ID and the people I called. It judged my acceleration and braking style, beaming back reports to its maker General Motors over an always-on Internet connection.... The data it produces doesn't [don't!] belong to you.... There are no federal laws regulating what carmakers can collect or do with our driving data." Thanks to MAG for the link. Mrs. McC: I have a newish car. I guess this foils my Christmas-week plans for a few drive-by bank heists.
Annals of "Journalism." Ctd. Tom Boggioni of RawStory: "[T]he Poynter Institute nam[ed] NBC'sChuck Todd the 'media personality of the year' while calling his Meet the Press the 'gold standard[.]'" --s
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Congrats, Chuck. You edge out Hannity & Judge Jeanine.
Quack, Quack. Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times: "May 15,Dr. [Keith] Ablow's license [to practice psychotherapy] was suspended in Massachusetts after an investigation determined that his continued practice was a threat to the 'health, safety and welfare' of the public. He is appealing the ruling.... [In 2009,] Roger Ailes had hired him as a regular contributor on Fox News, where he would remain until 2017, speculating about the mental states of political figures and presiding over viewer segments like 'Normal or Nuts?'... This spring..., based on ... the testimonies of [five] female patients, as well as several former employees of Dr. Ablow's, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine ruled that Dr. Ablow practiced 'in violation of law, regulations, and/or good and accepted medical practice.' As a result of that suspension, he consented to cease practice in New York, where a renewed investigation by the conduct office is underway."
Beyond the Beltway
Iowa. Johnny Diaz of the New York Times: "An Iowa woman was charged with attempted murder after running over a 14-year-old girl because she thought the teenager was Mexican, the police said. The woman, Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, of Des Moines, told the police that she intentionally struck the girl with her vehicle on Dec. 9 because she believed that she was 'a Mexican,' Chief Michael G. Venema of the Clive Police Department said in a news release Friday. 'She went on to make a number of derogatory statements about Latinos to the investigators,' Chief Venema said. The episode took place in Clive, a city of about 17,000 residents about 10 miles west of Des Moines. The authorities said the girl was walking on the sidewalk on her way to Indian Hills Junior High School when 'a vehicle left the roadway and ran the girl over,' the news release said." Mrs. McC: A photo, which I'm guessing is a mugshot, accompanies the story. Franklin is smiling. She looks sort of unremarkable, not your stereotypical image of a deranged killer. But the fact that she was making "derogatory statements about Latinos" ten days after she tried to murder a child shows that the attack wasn't some momentary flash of insanity.
Wisconsin. AP: "One of ... Donald Trump's top re-election advisers [Justin Clark] told influential Republicans in swing state Wisconsin that the party has 'traditionally' relied on voter suppression to compete in battleground states but will be able to 'start playing offense' in 2020 due to relaxed Election Day rules, according to an audio recording of a private event obtained by The Associated Press.... Asked about the remarks by AP, Clark said he was referring to false accusations that the GOP engages in voter suppression.... Clark made the comments Nov. 21 in a meeting of the Republican National Lawyers Association's Wisconsin chapter. Attendees included the state Senate's top Republican, Scott Fitzgerald, along with the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party.... Republican officials publicly signaled plans to step up their Election Day monitoring after a judge in 2018 lifted a consent degree in place since 1982 that barred the Republican National Committee from voter verification and other 'ballot security' efforts. Critics have argued the tactics amount to voter intimidation." --s
Way Beyond
Australia. Josh Taylor of the Guardian: "The devastation from Australia's bushfire crisis became clearer on Sunday, as the South Australian premier said 72 homes had been destroyed and his New South Wales counterpart revealed there was 'not much left' of the town of Balmoral, south-west of Sydney. It is feared the figures for homes lost may get much worse as authorities continue to assess the damage from Saturday, and with dozens of fires still active.... The prime minister, Scott Morrison, returned to Australia from his holiday in Hawaii on Saturday night.... At a press conference on Sunday morning, Morrison apologised to people who were upset for him going on holiday during the bushfire crisis.... The prime minister acknowledging that climate change was having an impact on weather events, but indicated there would be no change to government policy[.]" --s
North Korea. Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "North Korea has expanded a factory linked to the production of long-range nuclear missiles, according to a new analysis of satellite photos provided to NBC News that bolsters a growing expectation the country soon will resume testing a capability that threatens the United States."
Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Senior Trump administration officials in recent days threatened a presidential veto that could have led to a government shutdown if House Democrats refused to drop language requiring prompt release of future military aid for Ukraine, according to five administration and congressional officials. The language was ultimately left out of mammoth year-end spending legislation that passed the House and Senate this week ahead of a Saturday shutdown deadline. The White House said President Trump signed the $1.4 trillion package Friday night. The Ukraine provision was one of several items the White House drew a hard line on during negotiations to finalize the spending legislation, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... It would have required the White House to swiftly release $250 million in defense money for Ukraine that was part of the spending package."
Clare Foran of CNN: "... Donald Trumphas accepted the invitation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to deliver the State of the Union address on February 4, 2020." Mrs. McC: Yesterday I wrote that a SOTU address in the midst of an impeachment trial would be unique. Wrong: Bill Clinton gave a SOTU speech during his impeachment trial, too. Clinton didn't mention impeachment; maybe we should start taking bets on how many times Trump will complain about it.
James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wants to see the documents being concealed by the White House even more than he wants to hear from the list of current and former aides who followed President Trump's order not to testify during the investigation that led to his impeachment. 'The few [text] messages we did get [from Kurt Volker & Gordon Sondland] were remarkably incriminating,' Schiff said in an interview on Thursday night. 'So you can only imagine, if this is what the small sample of documents that we have shows, just how damning many of the other documents the administration refuses to turn over may be.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
An Academic Question. Jonathan Turley, the House Republicans' impeachment witness, says, yeah, Trump is so impeached: Noah "Feldman has written in Bloomberg News that Trump is not actually impeached until the articles of impeachment are transferred to the Senate I disagree and believe that Feldman is conflating provisions concerning removal with those for impeachment. Frankly, I am mystified by the claim since I see no credible basis for maintaining this view under either the text or the history of the Constitution." ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post cites another Constitutional scholar, Marty Lederman, who explains why Trump is impeached: "... House Resolution 755 says, upon its adoption, 'That Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.' It also resolves that 'the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate.' The House didn't technically vote on the resolution by itself, but the rules for the impeachment as passed by the House declared that 'the adoption of the resolution [755], as amended, shall be divided between the two articles.' Thus, by approving the two articles, they effectively adopted House Resolution 755. And that resolution says that Trump 'is impeached,' not that he will be impeached after the second part of the resolution -- the transmission to the Senate -- is acted upon. Lederman also pointed out that the House's existing impeachment rules indicate such a vote is sufficient for a president to be impeached. Chapter 27, Section 8 says, 'The respondent in an impeachment proceeding is impeached by the adoption of the House of articles of impeachment.'"
White People Matter, Especially Old White Men. Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Anyone who pays attention to politics ... knows that Donald Trumpgot around 63 million votes in 2016. That number has taken on a totemic significance for him and his supporters; any attempts to restrain his power are seen as a sin against the 63 million.... As I watched impeachment unfold, it seemed like ... an assertion of whom Republicans think this country belongs to.... Again and again, histrionic Republican congressmen equated hatred of the president with hatred of themselves and hatred of the sacred 63 million.... All day, Republican speeches delivered by old white men alternated with Democratic speeches from women, people of color and young people.... We face the horror of Trump because the structure of American democracy gives disproportionate power to a declining demographic group passionately convinced of its right to rule."
Elizabeth Dias & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "... when Christianity Today called for President Trump's removal in a blistering editorial on Thursday, it met the full force and fury of the president and his most prominent allies in the Christian conservative world." Mrs. McC: In case you thought some of these so-called Christian leaders could act even the slightest bit Christ-like in the week before Christmas, you were wrong. In the Temptation story, the devil bids Jesus, "All this [-- the kingdoms of the world --] I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said faggedaboud it. Trump wrote Friday, "The fact is, no President has ever done what I have done for Evangelicals, or religion itself!" I'd certainly question that (see President Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists), but there's no doubt the evangelical pastors have bowed down to the devil. ~~~
~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "In an unwittingly self-revealing moment, Trump responded to the magazine's indictment of his profound moral failings with an argument that is thoroughly transactional and megalomaniacal: How dare you criticize me, after all the power I've granted to your movement? You're breaking our deal, and now you're dead to me.... Trump has granted evangelicals power in exchange for their unwavering support, but the bargain now includes a requirement that they pretend Trump's wretchedly corrupt subversion of the country's interests to his own simply isn't happening, or that it's absolutely fine.Trump has granted evangelicals power in exchange for their unwavering support, but the bargain now includes a requirement that they pretend Trump's wretchedly corrupt subversion of the country's interests to his own simply isn't happening, or that it's absolutely fine."
Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "Over the past dozen days or so, the president has spewed forth an advent calendar's worth of cruelty -- new barbs popping out almost daily..., underscoring the instinctual nastiness that is central to his brand and casting doubt on claims from his aides that Trump is merely a counterpuncher."
Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump has made a habit of injecting his own words into the comments of people he sees on television and then publishing them as direct quotes on Twitter.... In some instances, he simply omits a part of the quote he doesn't like.... Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian at New York University who studies authoritarianism and propaganda..., [said,] 'He's challenging them to correct him.... This is how a cult of personality works. The leader will say something that everyone knows is wrong, and no one will correct him.'... Sometimes he attributes something to a private conversation that may not have ever occurred.... The false quotes ... are particularly jarring given Mr. Trump's recent weekslong attack on Representative Adam B. Schiff ... over a statement in which he mocked Mr. Trump's July 25 conversation with [Ukraine President] Zelensky. In his remarks during a committee hearing, Mr. Schiff said he would be laying out the 'essence of what the president communicates,' and made it clear his reading was not an 'exact transcribed version of the call.' But Mr. Trump has repeatedly accused Mr. Schiff of inventing the conversation, going so far as to claim he committed 'treason' for how he presented it."
Colleen Long of the AP: "The Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog found no wrongdoing or misconduct by immigration officials in the deaths of two migrant children last December. The Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security released two brief statements Friday evening on the deaths of Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin, who died Dec. 8, and Felipe Gómez Alonzo, who died Dec. 24. Their deaths ushered in a growing border crisis that caught immigration officials unprepared to manage a crush of Central American families seeking asylum in the U.S. and raised questions on medical care and treatment."
Stephen Miller Planned to Spy on Generous Immigrants. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The White House sought this month to embed immigration enforcement agents within the U.S. refugee agency that cares for unaccompanied migrant children, part of a long-standing effort to use information from their parents and relatives to target them for deportation, according to six current and former administration officials. Though senior officials at the Department of Health and Human Services rejected the attempt, they agreed to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to collect fingerprints and other biometric information from adults seeking to claim migrant children at government shelters. If those adults are deemed ineligible to take custody of children, ICE could then use their information to target them for arrest and deportation.... The plan has not been announced publicly. It was developed by Stephen Miller...."
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Monica Crowley, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for public affairs, committed 'localized instances of plagiarism' in her 2000 Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University found in an investigation that ultimately concluded she did not commit research misconduct. As part of the university's review of Ms. Crowley's work, she was required to make extensive revisions to her dissertation, a 493-page study of how American policy toward China evolved under Presidents Harry S. Truman and Richard M. Nixon. The research misconduct investigation, which concluded this month, was started after plagiarism accusations were raised about her work in 2017 after her appointment by Donald J. Trump, then the president-elect, for a senior National Security Council job." A CNN story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The headline on Rappeport's story is "Columbia Inquiry Found Plagiarism in Monica Crowley's Dissertation." The headline of a Breitbart story on the same subject?: "Exclusive: Monica Crowley Vindicated by Columbia University after Fake Plagiarism Accusations."
Ben Collins of NBC News: "Facebook took down more than 600 accounts tied to the pro-Trump conspiracy website The Epoch Times for using identities created by artificial intelligence to push stories about a variety of topics including impeachment and elections. The network was called 'The BL' and was run by Vietnamese users posing as Americans, using fake photos generated by algorithms to simulate real identities. The Epoch Media group, which pushes a variety of pro-Trump conspiracy theories, spent $9.5 million on ads to spread content through the now-suspended pages and groups. 'What's new here is that this is purportedly a U.S.-based media company leveraging foreign actors posing as Americans to push political content. We've seen it a lot with state actors in the past,' Facebook's head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleiche, said in an interview. The network had over 55 million followers on Facebook...."
Presidential Race 2020. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "It was the last question of the Democratic debate on Thursday, and the candidates were thrown a curveball. They could give a 'gift' to someone else onstage. Or, in the 'spirit of the season,' they could ask for forgiveness.... The men chose to give.... The women chose to seek forgiveness: for being too forceful. Too passionate. Too much.... These responses, in the final minutes of a two-and-a-half-hour debate, threw into stark relief a dynamic that is not often so visible. Many women feel a sense of obligation, reinforced by daily double standards, to apologize for taking up space. Physical space. Political space. Rhetorical space.... Amanda Hunter ... [of] the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which supports women in politics, said in an interview on Friday that the exchange had highlighted not only political double standards, but also the pressure that ordinary women face to avoid being perceived as angry or unlikable." The Washington Post's story, by Annie Linskey, is here.
Kate Irby of the Fresno Bee: "Sacramento-based newspaper publisher McClatchy fought a defamation lawsuit filed by California congressman Devin Nunes in a Virginia court on Friday, arguing the Republican's case does not belong in the state. 'Put simply, this case is Virginia-less,' McClatchy attorney Ted Boutrous said in court. The lawsuit is one six of that Nunes filed this year againstnews media companies, Twitter, a political research firm that worked forHillary Clinton and Democratic activists.... Boutrous argued ... that Nunes had engaged in 'a pattern of harassing lawsuits he has brought in Virginia ... meant to chill speech about a public official.' Boutrous contended Nunes filed the McClatchy case there 'to add to the burden of defending the lawsuit.'" The judge will issue a written decision by early February.
Beyond the Beltway
Kentucky. Alfred Miller & Joe Sonka of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Former Gov. Matt Bevin on Thursday defended his controversial last-minute pardon of a man convicted of raping a 9-year-old, saying there was no physical evidence of her abuse.... Bevin also revealed publicly for the first time the victim's relationship to [her rapist] and said that the victim's sister was present during the alleged assaults. The sister has denied the assaults took place, Bevin said. 'Both their hymens were intact. This is perhaps more specific than people would want, but trust me. If you have been repeatedly sexually violated as a small child by an adult, there are going to be repercussions of that physically and medically,' Bevin said. Bevin's claim is flatly incorrect, Dr. George Nichols, who was Kentucky's chief medical examiner for 20 years..., told The Courier Journal.... 'He not only doesn't know the law, in my humble opinion, he clearly doesn't know medicine and anatomy.' Nichols added that he worked for six consecutive governors as chief medical examiner, 'and fortunately I didn't have to report to that a--hole.' According to Forensic Science International, a peer-reviewed journal, a survey of pediatric child abuse rape cases indicated that only 2.1% of subjects examined had visible lesions on the hymen." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Clare Foran of CNN: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has invited ... Donald Trump to deliver the State of the Union address on February 4, 2020." The story is breaking at 1:15 pm ET Friday. Mrs. McC: I don't suppose Pelosi tried to sell Trump on the idea that the SOTU would be a great place to announce his resignation. Anyway, a SOTU in the midst of an impeachment trial would be unique.
James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wants to see the documents being concealed by the White House even more than he wants to hear from the list of current and former aides who followed President Trump's order not to testify during the investigation that led to his impeachment. 'The few [text] messages we did get [from Kurt Volker & Gordon Sondland ]were remarkably incriminating,' Schiff said in an interview on Thursday night. 'So you can only imagine, if this is what the small sample of documents that we have shows, just how damning many of the other documents the administration refuses to turn over may be.'"
Kentucky. Miller & Joe Sonka of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Former Gov. Matt Bevin on Thursday defended his controversial last-minute pardon of a man convicted of raping a 9-year-old, saying there was no physical evidence of her abuse.... Bevin also revealed publicly for the first time the victim's relationship to [her rapist] and said that the victim's sister was present during the alleged assaults. The sister has denied the assaults took place, Bevin said. 'Both their hymens were intact. This is perhaps more specific than people would want, but trust me. If you have been repeatedly sexually violated as a small child by an adult, there are going to be repercussions of that physically and medically,' Bevin said. Bevin's claim is flatly incorrect, Dr. George Nichols, who was Kentucky's chief medical examiner for 20 years..., told The Courier Journal.... 'He not only doesn't know the law, in my humble opinion, he clearly doesn't know medicine and anatomy.' Nichols added that he worked for six consecutive governors as chief medical examiner, 'and fortunately I didn't have to report to that a--hole.' According to Forensic Science International, a peer-reviewed journal, a survey of pediatric child abuse rape cases indicated that only 2.1% of subjects examined had visible lesions on the hymen."
~~~~~~~~~~
Our founders, when they wrote the Constitution, they suspected that there could be a rogue president. I don't think they suspected that we could have a rogue president and a rogue leader in the Senate at the same time. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in remarks Thursday ~~~
~~~ Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The day after the House cast historic votes to impeach President Trump, Democrats grappled on Thursday with when to send the charges to the Republican-led Senate, hoping to gain leverage in a bicameral clash over the contours of an election-year trial. With some leading Democrats pushing to delay transmittal of the articles and others advocating that they be withheld altogether, it appeared increasingly likely that the limbo could persist until the new year.... [Mitch] McConnell ... on Thursday [made] a scathing speech [on the Senate floor] in which he denounced her and Democrats for impeaching Mr. Trump.... Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, called Mr. McConnell's speech a '30-minute partisan screed.'... 'Is the president's case so weak that none of the president's men can defend him under oath?' Mr. Schumer asked in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday morning.... Later, he met with [Speaker] Pelosi behind closed doors to plan strategy."
Sam Brodey of the Daily Beast: "... Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), said that he backs the idea of withholding the articles of impeachment until Senate Republicans offer them more favorable terms for the trial. In his office on Thursday, Schumer told reporters that he and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are on 'the same page' when it comes to the speaker's decision to sit on the articles of impeachment instead of immediately sending them to the GOP leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky."
Mike Lillis of the Hill: "House Democrats on Thursday are rallying behind SpeakerNancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after she said she'll delay the deliver of impeachment articles to the Senate in an effort to ensure a fair trial. President Trump has urged a speedy trial in the upper chamber, and Pelosi's allies argue that delaying the delivery of the articles will put pressure on Senate GOP leaders to call witnesses and seek more evidence surrounding the president's dealings with Ukraine -- steps Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he'll not take." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Wednesday night a teevee pundit -- can't recall who -- noted that when the House passed Articles of Impeachment against Bill Clinton, House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) almost immediately marched the articles right over to the Senate. ~~~
~~~ David Martasko & Emily Goodin of the Daily Mail: "Mitch McConnellthreatened on Thursday to cancelDonald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate if 'scared' Nancy Pelosi refuses to send him the formal articles of impeachment that Democrats passed Wednesday night.... McConnell ... said ...: 'It's beyond me how the Speaker and Democratic Leader in the Senate think withholding the articles of impeachment and not sending them over gives them leverage. Frankly, I'm not anxious to have the trial. If she thinks her case is so weak she doesn't want to send it over, throw me into that briar patch.'... McConnell and the president both blasted Pelosi for refusing to move to the next step, with Trump unleashing a storm of tweets and retweets and venting: 'PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT.' The president also charged Democrats with being 'ashamed' of the impeachment articles." ViaSteve M.
George Conway in a Washington Post op-ed: "If anything has cheapened or trivialized the process by which Trump was impeached, it was House Republicans' refusal to treat the proceedings with the seriousness the Constitution demands. Unable to defend the president's conduct on the merits, GOP members of the House resorted to deception, distortion and deflection: pretending that Trump didn't ask President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to investigate Trump's political rival; claiming that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 election; and throwing up all manner of silly assertions of procedural unfairness." ~~~
Anita Kumar of Politico: "Publicly..., Donald Trumphas deferred to a Senate Republican plan to hold an impeachment trial with as few surprises -- and witnesses -- as possible. But privately, Trump is still harboring a desire to create a flashy, testimony-filled trial, fueled by a belief that such an approach would vindicate him and embarrass Democrats, according to six people familiar with the situation, including three who have spoken with the president."
Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "'Lawyers close to ... Donald Trump are exploring whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to temporarily withhold articles of impeachment from the Senate could mean that the president hasn't actually been impeached,' Bloomberg reported Thursday. 'The White House legal theory, according to a person familiar with the legal review, is that if Trump has been officially impeached, the U.S. Senate should already have jurisdiction. Backers of the theory would argue that the clause of the U.S. Constitution that gives the Senate 'the sole Power to try all Impeachments' indicates that the impeachment isn't formalized until the House reported the charges to the upper chamber,' Bloomberg reported. Trump on Thursday claimed it was unconstitutional for Pelosi to hold the articles of impeachment, but he also claimed impeachment itself is unconstitutional -- despite being in the constitution." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This sounds batshit crazy to me, but Noah Feldman, a Constitutional expert who testified before the Judiciary Committee at the behest of Democrats, agrees with Trump's lawyers. In his Bloomberg column, Feldman writes, "Impeachment as contemplated by the Constitution does not consist merely of the vote by the House, but of the process of sending the articles to the Senate for trial. Impeachment as contemplated by the Constitution does not consist merely of the vote by the House, but of the process of sending the articles to the Senate for trial.... The House must actually send the articles and send managers to the Senate to prosecute the impeachment. And the Senate must actually hold a trial.... If the articles are not transmitted, Trump could legitimately say that he wasn't truly impeached at all."
Elizabeth Dias of the New York Times: "... Christianity Today, a prominent evangelical magazine, called for President Trump to be removed from office in a blistering editorial on Thursday.... The move was the most notable example of dissent among the religious conservative base that has supported Mr. Trump through controversy after controversy, and came at one of the most vulnerable moments of his presidency.... The editorial was a surprising move for a publication that has generally avoided jumping into bitter partisan battles. But it was unlikely to signal a significant change in Mr. Trump's core support; the magazine has long represented more centrist thought, and popular evangelical leaders with large followings continue to rally behind the president." Here's an AP story. ~~~
~~~ Mark Galli, Editor of Christianity Today: "... the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president's political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral. The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone -- with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders -- is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.... The impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath.... That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments." ~~~
~~~ Update. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday went after Christianity Today after it published an editorial calling or his removal from office, saying the flagship Evangelical magazine was 'far left' and claiming it has been 'doing poorly.' 'A far left magazine, or very "progressive," as some would call it, which has been doing poorly and hasn't been involved with the Billy Graham family for many years, Christianity Today, knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather ... have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President,' Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.... Trump added that 'no president' before him has done more for the Evangelical community and said he wouldn't be reading the publication again." Mrs. McC: Because I'm sure he's a regular subscriber who "religiously" reads Christianity Today. Anyhow, Merry Christmas to all!
All Politics Is Local. The best impeachment headline & lede come from the Queens Daily Eagle, "the only daily print newspaper covering Queens communities, Queens politics and the Queens legal justice system," according to the paper's Website. Headline: "Queens Man Impeached". Lede: "Former Jamaica Estates resident Donald Trump was impeached Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives."
Aaron Rupar of Vox: "Trump attacked a widow [Rep. Debbie Dingell] by denigrating her dead husband [long-time Rep. John Dingell]. The White House is portraying Trump as the real victim.... Trump's comments prompted bipartisan condemnation and calls for him to apologize. But on Thursday, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham and deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley went on TV and made clear that the president intends to do no such thing.... 'As we all know, the president is a counter-puncher. It was a very, very supportive and wild crowd,' [Grisham] said [on 'Morning America' Thursday]. 'He was just riffing on some of the things that had been happening the past few days.'... 'No matter what the president says people are going to parse it apart, try and tear it apart, and focus on the most negative aspects of it,' Gidley said [on Fox 'News'], as if there were any positive aspects to Trump's comments.... Referring to a similar attack Trump made against the late Sen. John McCain earlier this year, Pelosi said the president 'is clearly insecure when it comes to statespersons. Let us pray for the president,' she added. 'What the president misunderstands is that cruelty is not wit ... it's not funny at all. It's very sad.'... Trump, for his part, ignored repeated questions about whether he'll apologize to Dingell during a media availability at the White House on Thursday afternoon." ~~~
~~~ Juliegrace Brufke & Scott Wong of the Hill: "House Republicans are strongly rebuking PresidentTrump's attacks on the late Democratic Rep. John Dingell (Mich.) and his widow, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), with numerous GOP lawmakers saying they believe the rhetoric was inappropriate." Mrs. McC: The story goes on to cite some House Republicans who are shocked and dismayed and all about Trump's remarks -- these would be Republicans who made up one excuse after the other as to why their Dear Leader should be able to abuse his office and ignore the Congress to which they belong. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump has freely and frequently brought the power of his office down on a variety of journalists, lawmakers, Foreign Service officers and members of the military he has seen as standing in his way. But Ms. Dingell is now joining the ranks of a more select group that includes the McCains and a Gold Star military family, who have suffered profound loss only to see it mocked and used as political ammunition by the president.... 'If anything good comes out of this,' Ms. Dingell said, 'maybe people will take a deep breath and think about it.' But Mr. Trump is not prone to contemplation." Durng his cruel riff on the Dingells, Trump said, "So she calls me up." In fact, he called her. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Among the lies Trump told about his phone conversation with Debbie Dingell has to be this one: according to Trump, she told him "... '"It's the nicest thing that's ever happened; thank you so much,"' Mr. Trump said at the rally, mocking the congresswoman's voice while recounting their call." I don't believe a new widow would describe any honors her husband might receive postumously as "the nicest thing that's ever happened." John Dingell, who served nearly six decades in Congress, certainly received other honors and experienced other moments that his wife might have characterized as "the nicest." Maybe it was a private moment between them, maybe it was something about the grandchildren, maybe it was President Obama's awarding him the Medal of Freedom. I don't know. But I'd bet it wasn't a sympathy call from Donald Trump.
Our So-Called Representative Democracy. Philip Bump of the Washington Post does the impeachment math: "Even if he were deeply unpopular, if Trump maintained support from senators in 17 states, he could keep his job. Meaning, in the most extreme scenario, that he could be impeached but not removed from office if senators from the 17 least-populous states -- representing about 7 percent of the population -- decided to stand by him." (Also linked yesterday.)
** "Putin Told Me." Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Almost from the moment he took office, President Trump seized on a theory that troubled his senior aides: Ukraine, he told them on many occasions, had tried to stop him from winning the White House. After meeting privately in July 2017 with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Trump grew more insistent that Ukraine worked to defeat him, according to multiple former officials familiar with his assertions. The president's intense resistance to the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia systematically interfered in the 2016 campaign -- and the blame he cast instead on a rival country -- led many of his advisers to think that Putin himself helped spur the idea of Ukraine's culpability, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... One former senior White House official said Trump even stated so explicitly at one point, saying he knew Ukraine was the real culprit because 'Putin told me.'" Read on. ~~~
~~~ digby has republished most of the WashPo report. digby: "We still don't know the character of [Putin's] 'influence.' Putin may have something on Trump or Trump may be so psychologically damaged that he will believe anything from anyone who tells him he had the Greatest Electoral Victory The World Has Ever Known. But whatever drives this lunatic, it's clear that Putin fed Trump's deranged hallucinogenic fantasy that Ukrainians hacked the DNC and John Podesta because they were trying to help Hillary Clinton win the election! It's literally insane. I guess we can't expect the millions of people whose brains have been rotted by Fox News to know this.... But every Republican in the US Congress still backs this lunatic and they know exactly what he's doing. They just don't care."
Christopher Miller of BuzzFeed News: "Rudy Giuliani flew to Kyiv on a budget airline [WhizzAir] when he visited earlier this month -- but he left in style, on a private jet.... According to flight data, videos, and photographs analyzed by BuzzFeed News, and confirmed by a Giuliani associate who joined him, the former mayor of New York left on a flight from Kyiv to Vienna on the night of Dec. 6, aboard a Beechcraft Premier 1A light business aircraft with tail number T7-UTS.... Ukrainian media have reported that the company's owner is Alexander Rovt, a Ukrainian American.... Rovt has done business in the past with Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch with ties to organized crime and the Kremlin who is currently under house arrest in Vienna and is fighting extradition to the US, where he faces federal bribery charges.... [Rovt]' also connected to a $3.5 million mortgage loan to former Trump campaign chair and convicted financial fraudster Paul Manafort, through a real estate investment firm founded by a former Trump business partner." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
For what they did, they did a very good job.... They were perfect. They did everything I wanted, and they never got involved in asking questions. -- Rudy Giuliani, speaking of Lev & Igor, in an interview
Spoken like a seasoned mobster. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~
~~~ Michael Rothfeld, et al., of the New York Times on how Lev & Igorworked their way into Trumpworld & played a part in Trump's undoing.
Katie Benner & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "The federal prosecutor scrutinizing the Russia investigation has begun examining the role of the former C.I.A. directorJohn O. Brennan in how the intelligence community assessed Russia's 2016 election interference, according to three people briefed on the inquiry. John H. Durham, the United States attorney leading the investigation, has requested Mr. Brennan's emails, call logs and other documents from the C.I.A., according to a person briefed on his inquiry. He wants to learn what Mr. Brennan told other officials, including the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, about his and the C.I.A.'s views of a notorious dossier of assertions about Russia and Trump associates. Mr. Durham's pursuit of Mr. Brennan's records is certain to add to accusations that Mr. Trump is using the Justice Department to go after his perceived enemies. The president has long attacked Mr. Brennan as part of his narrative about a so-called deep state cabal of Obama administration officials who tried to sabotage his campaign, and Mr. Trump has held out Mr. Durham's investigation as a potential avenue for proving those claims."
Sarah Blaskey, et al. of the Miami Herald: "A Chinese woman was arrested Wednesday for trespassing at Mar-a-Lago..., Donald Trump's private South Florida club and newly declared legal residence, the second such instance this year. Jing Lu, 56, was spotted on club grounds and asked to leave by staff, said Michael Ogrodnick, a spokesman for the Palm Beach Police Department. 'She returned and began to take photos, at which time the Palm Beach Police Department responded and took her into custody,' Ogrodnick said in a statement." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Racist in Chief. Rachana Pradhan of Politico: "Donald Trumpintervened to cut the federal government's Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico as part of a larger government spending deal, according to four sources with knowledge of the discussions. The budget deal unveiled by lawmakers this week allocates up to $5.7 billion in Medicaid funds for the island over two years -- instead of $12 billion over four years that Republican and Democratic leaders on two key congressional committees had endorsed after months of negotiating a long-term financial path for Puerto Rico." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sarah Okeson of Salon: "Trump's National Forest Service is using a refuted scientific theory to justify building roads in our country's largest national forest, what some call 'America's Amazon.' Loggers want to raze trees more than 1,000 years old. The Forest Service says guidelines from the United Nations' climate authority would be followed. Two scientists whose research was cited in the U.N. study says the Forest Service is espousing junk science." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
James Laporta of Newsweek: "The Defense Department is seeking to stamp out leaks and limit media coverage of military operations at the U.S.-Mexico border by making what historically have been unclassified orders and daily briefings classified.... The policy shift to classify border documents came from Lieutenant General Laura J. Richardson of the U.S. Army in response to negative news coverage and leaks of border documents under U.S. Army North's previous commander, Lieutenant General Jeffrey S. Buchanan, who retired back in July, according to three Pentagon sources with direct knowledge of the matter." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Emily Cochrane & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "The House overwhelmingly approved a revised North American trade pact by a vote of 385 to 41 on Thursday, giving President Trump and the Democratic majority an improbable bipartisan victory less than 24 hours after Mr. Trump was impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. The implementing legislation for the revised United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement was the culmination of months of negotiations among the Trump administration, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a group of Democratic lawmakers, an unlikely collaboration in the middle of a highly fraught impeachment inquiry.... As a result of the changes Democrats secured -- and Republican eagerness to back a critical legislative priority for the president -- the pact drew a stunning range of support in the lower chamber. Just hours after a virtually party-line bid to remove Mr. Trump from office, Democrats and Republicans -- including opponents of the original NAFTA deal and others known for an aversion to trade pacts -- joined in giving their approval to their agreement, which was the chamber's final vote of the year."
Emily Cochrane: "Congress gave final approval on Thursday to $1.4 trillion in federal spending, staving off a lapse in government funding for the remainder of the fiscal year and delivering the legislation to President Trump in a year-end flurry of bipartisan compromise. The Senate on Thursday cleared two spending packages that comprised the dozen must-pass bills needed to prevent funding from running out on the eve of Dec. 20. While Mr. Trump has not formally announced his intent to sign the legislation, the administration has indicated he will do so in order to avoid what would be a catastrophic lapse in funding. Mr. Trump, having vowed never to sign a catchall spending package again, will instead sign two separate packages, stuffed with new funding allocations for a sweeping array of federal programs and many unrelated provisions, that will maintain funding through most of 2020." ~~~
~~~ Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Before adjourning for the year on Thursday, the GOP-controlled Senate approved a $1.4 trillion funding package embraced by President Trump that will push deficits to record levels -- with hardly a peep from many Republicans who have shut down the government over spending in the past.... The mammoth spending deal provides another stark indication of the Republican Party's near-total capitulation to Trump, who pays little mind to the goals of fiscal austerity that animated the GOP establishment and its tea party wing during years of dramatic fiscal standoffs with President Barack Obama.... And the deal comes just days after Congress passed another $738 billion spending agreement brokered with the Trump White House, creating a Space Force as the sixth branch of the military and guaranteeing 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers -- a policy that once would have been anathema to conservative activists and a likely cause of revolt." ~~~
~~~ Issam Ahmed of AFP: "The US Congress voted Thursday to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21 across the country, a move intended to stem the rising tide of youth vaping. Passed by the Senate as part of a wider budgetary bill, it will take effect next year and will mean that tobacco and e-cigarettes will join alcohol as substances that are prohibited to purchase for those under the age of 21. Nineteen of the country's 50 states and the capital Washington, DC had already set 21 as the minimum age."
Ugh! Marianne Levine of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday confirmed 12 more of ... Donald Trump's judicial nominees, just hours before leaving for Christmas recess. The final confirmations for 2019 come as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has turned his attention to approving district court nominees, after filling virtually every circuit court vacancy. The confirmations this week bring the total number of judicial confirmations for 2019 to 20 circuit judges and 67 district judges. Senate Republicans last week confirmed Trump's 50th circuit judge. The slew of confirmations in 2019 illustrates the effect of a rules change, when McConnell invoked the so-called nuclear option to cut down debate time for lower court nominees and speed up the confirmation process."
Presidential Race 2020
Katie Glueck & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., was repeatedly pushed onto the defensive in the sixth Democratic presidential debate on Thursday night, as several of his rivals challenged his political ascent by bluntly questioning his fund-raising practices and credentials for the presidency in a contentious and deeply substantive forum. Mr. Buttigieg has risen rapidly in the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire in recent months, after his persistent attacks on Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and her support for single-payer health care.... Ms. Warren struck back at Mr. Buttigieg for his courting of wealthy donors at private fund-raisers -- including a recent event at a so-called wine cave -- and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota expressed clear skepticism of Mr. Buttigieg's electoral track record and public accomplishments.... Late in the evening, [Sen. Bernie] Sanders delivered perhaps his most concerted attack of any debate, challenging [Joe] Biden over his support for the Iraq war and for his opposition to 'Medicare for all'-style health care. For much of the evening, however, Mr. Biden seemed to recede from the foreground as other candidates battled around him -- though when he did speak, he delivered his smoothest remarks from a debate stage to date this cycle.... When Ms. Warren was asked to address the reality that she, like Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders, would be the oldest president ever inaugurated, her reply drew loud applause: 'I'd also be the youngest woman ever inaugurated.'" ~~~
~~~ Here's the Guardian's report. Politico's story, by Ryan Lizza, is here. ~~~
~~~ John Verhovek & Kendall Karson of ABC News: "'Wine caves' and 'purity tests,' and the recurring differences between the leading candidates on healthcare and foreign policy generated some of the night's tensest exchanges -- serving as a preview of the fights that will drive the final push before Democratic voters head to the polls. Here are five key takeaways from the last Democratic primary debate of 2019[.] ~~~
~~~ Joan Greve of the Guardian: "Following the contentious exchange [between Elizabeth Warren & Pete Buttigieg over Buttigieg's wine-cave fundraiser], the hashtag #winecave quickly began trending on Twitter as users tried to catch up on what exactly a wine cave was." ~~~
~~~ New York Times reporters liveblogged the Democratic presidential debate. The Times liveblog is always better than the debates. ~~~
~~~ AND Sarah Sanders, for all her many, many faults, is a better person than Donald Trump. For instance, she knows to apologize after mocking someone's disability & getting whupped for it.
But the E-Mails! Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Hillary Clinton's email scandal may be a fading memory for most, but it remains a live, legal morass for at least 14 attorneys who piled into a federal judge's courtroom in Washington on Thursday for the latest round in the never-say-die saga. Clinton's nemeses at the conservative legal group Judicial Watch pleaded with U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth for a chance to depose Clinton personally and to conduct a second round of questioning of Clinton's former chief of staff Cheryl Mills. Lamberth didn't immediately rule on that request, but repeatedly expressed concern with a continuing drip, drip, drip of Clinton messages -- several years after her presidential campaign was rocked by the disclosure that she exclusively used a private email account and server during her tenure as secretary of State."
Prez Hamburgers Approves. Sandra Lamotte of CNN: "If America does not collectively adopt healthier eating habits, over half of the nation will be obese within 10 years. Even worse, one in four Americans will be 'severely obese' with a body mass index over 35, which means they will be more than 100 pounds overweight. That alarming prediction, published Wednesday in NEJM, was the result of a study analyzing 26 years of self-reported body mass index (BMI) data from over six million American adults." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Washington. David Gutman & Jim Brunner of the Seattle Times: "State Rep. Matt Sheaplanned and participated in domestic terrorism against the United States before and during the armed takeover at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, an investigation commissioned by the Washington state House found. The 108-page report found that beginning in November 2015, Shea, working with militia leader Ammon Bundy, helped in the planning and preparation' of the Malheur takeover, a six-week conflict in which dozens of armed protesters occupied the refuge in rural Eastern Oregon. The standoff ended after one protester was shot and killed and dozens were arrested.... Immediately after the report was released, Rep. J.T. Wilcox, the Republican minority leader of the House, said Shea 'has been suspended from any role in the House Republican Caucus.' 'He should resign,'" Wilcox wrote on Twitter. 'He cannot use House Republican staff, he cannot meet with the caucus, his office will be moved.' Shea' name and picture were removed from the House GOP website."
Wisconsin. White House-Bound? Elisha Fiedlstadt of NBC: "A Wisconsin deputy sheriff is accused of breaking into and burglarizing the homes of people whom she knew would be at funeral services after she scoured local obituaries. Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff Janelle Gericke allegedly carried out her scheme from February 2018 through June 2019, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday by the Wisconsin Department of Justice." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond
U.K. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian: "The wife of a US intelligence officer has been charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of the 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced. Anne Sacoolas was whisked out of the UK by the American embassy days after the accident in August, with the US claiming she was covered by diplomatic immunity[.]... The CPS said it had started extradition proceedings.... Under arrangements agreed in 1964, American staff members at the base [where Sacoolas' husband worked] 'pre-waived' their immunity against criminal prosecution in the UK, but this was not done for their families."
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