;)
The Commentariat -- December 11, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
"Trump Shutdown." Julie Davis & Michael Tackett of the New York Times: "President Trump on Tuesday vowed to block full funding for the government if Democrats refuse his demand for a border wall, saying he was 'proud to shut down the government for border security' -- an extraordinarily statement that came during a televised altercation with Democratic congressional leaders. 'If we don't have border security, we'll shut down the government -- this country needs border security,' Mr. Trump declared in the Oval Office, engaging in a testy back-and forth with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California. 'I will take the mantle. I will be the one the shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it,' Mr. Trump added, insisting on a public airing of hostilities even as the Democrats repeatedly asked him to keep their negotiating disputes private.... Ms. Pelosi ... appeared to trigger the president's temper when she raised the prospect of a 'Trump shutdown' over what she characterized as an ineffective and wasteful wall." ...
... Donnie argues with Chuck & Nancy. You can skip the first 5-1/2 minutes, which Big Fat Pinnochio lies his way through. Thanks to Jeanne for the lead:
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post has the transcript, annotated.
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Trump hinted on Tuesday that he may be willing to forego a Christmastime shutdown battle with Democrats over his demands for billions of dollars for his border wall, hours before a meeting with Democratic congressional leaders aimed at breaking a year-end spending impasse. In a series of morning tweets ahead of a scheduled meeting in the Oval Office with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, Mr. Trump falsely stated that substantial sections of the 'Great Wall' on the southwestern border that he has long championed have already been completed, and he suggested that his administration could continue construction whether Democrats fund it or not. That would be illegal, but it suggested that he was looking for a way to keep the government funded past Dec. 21, even if Democrats balk at wall funding.... The president does not have the legal authority to spend money appropriated for one purpose on another task, such as wall-building."
Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Reversing course, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on Tuesday that the Senate would vote on a substantial criminal justice bill before the end of the year, teeing up a bipartisan policy achievement that has eluded lawmakers for years. Advocates of the prison and sentencing law changes on Capitol Hill and in the White House have spent weeks lobbying Mr. McConnell, who controls the Senate calendar. They had the backing of President Trump, who endorsed the bill last month and urged Mr. McConnell in recent days to 'Go for it Mitch!' Mr. McConnell had repeatedly said that there was probably not enough time to consider the measure, and Republican leaders maintained as recently as a few days ago that the bill did not have the support of the majority of Republicans. Mr. McConnell made clear on Tuesday that the Senate was considering the legislation 'at the request of the president' and said that debate could begin later this week."
Charles Pierce: Clarence Thomas, in his dissenting opinion in the Medicaid cases (see related stories linked below) "went zooming off into the fever swamp to find a rationale...: ... these particular cases arose after several States alleged that Planned Parenthood affiliates had, among other things, engaged in 'the illegal sale of fetal organs' and 'fraudulent billing practices,' and thus removed Planned Parenthood as a state Medicaid provider.'... [Thus,] a veteran justice of the Supreme Court, as part of the reasoning for his dissent, has included a debunked smear emanating from the most notorious ratfcking operation in the professional conservative ratfcking apparatus."
Jason Silverstein of CBS News: "A former Baylor University frat president who was indicted for allegedly sexually assaulting a fellow student will not serve jail time or register as a sex offender under a plea deal accepted by a Texas court on Monday, CBS affiliate KWTX-TV reports. A judge in Waco, Texas, accepted the deal and sentenced Jacob Walter Anderson, 24, to three years of deferred probation. Anderson must also pay a $400 fine and seek counseling. His criminal record will be expunged if and when he completes probation. In a tearful statement to the court, Anderson's accuser said she was devastated by the decision to 'let my rapist go free.'... In a statement to CBS News, Assistant District Attorney Hilary LaBorde defended Anderson's sentence and said the public didn't know all the facts that led to it. 'Conflicting evidence and statements exist in this case making the original allegation difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt,' LaBorde said."
*****
** Paul Krugman: "... not a single prominent Republican in Washington has condemned the power grab in Wisconsin, the similar grab in Michigan, or even what looks like outright electoral fraud in North Carolina.... The G.O.P., as currently constituted, is willing to do whatever it takes to seize and hold power. And as long as that remains true, and Republicans remain politically competitive, we will be one election away from losing democracy in America."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday pushed back on reports that he's had difficulty finding candidates interested in serving as his next chief of staff.... 'Many, over ten, are vying for and wanting the White House Chief of Staff position,' Trump wrote. 'Why wouldn't someone want one of the truly great and meaningful jobs in Washington.' The president accused the 'fake news' of getting the story 'purposely wrong.'... Multiple news reports in the last 24 hours have portrayed Trump as scrambling to find his next chief of staff after the presumptive favorite for the position, Nick Ayers, said he would not be taking the job. Sources told The Hill there was no clear plan B after Ayers, currently Vice President Pence's top aide, dropped out." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I gather from Trump's tweet that he is limiting chief-of-staff job applicants to people over the age of ten. Good idea.
3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, January 10, 2012 ...
Obama did have unusually high chief of staff turnover during his first term.... But Trump is still burning through chiefs of staff faster than Obama. -- Dara Lind of Vox, December 8, 2018 ...
... Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Trump is now embarking on a hasty search for a new chief of staff with no obvious choice in mind.... [Nick Ayers] and Trump huddled several times over the last week in the residence of the White House..., but they ultimately could not agree to terms [under which Ayers would become chief of staff,] and Ayers declined the job. Multiple sources familiar with Trump's mood told CNN he's frustrated with the Ayers process. One source described his mood as 'super pissed.' A second added he feels humiliated..., because the President did not have a backup candidate prepared.... Trump predicted Ayers would budge on his demand to be chief of staff on an interim basis, with a set departure date of this spring, and was not prepared with a second option." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: You mean the fake author of The Art of the Deal can't outmaneuver a relatively unknown staffer half his age? ...
... Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair reports on how smoothly this all went down. Amusing. Here are some excerpts: "'It got back to Trump that Kelly was bad-mouthing him and Trump had decided he&'d had enough. His attitude was, "fuck him,"' [a source] told me.... After weeks of lobbying by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump had been convinced that Mike Pence's 36-year-old chief of staff, Nick Ayers, was the best candidate. On Friday afternoon, Trump met with Ayers, Pence, and Kelly and finalized the transition.... A press release announcing Ayers's hiring was reportedly drafted and ready to go for when Trump planned to announce Kelly's departure on Monday. But Trump's frustration with Kelly boiled over after Kelly pressed him to name his deputy Zachary Fuentes interim chief of staff. 'Trump didn't like how Kelly was trying to dictate the terms of his departure,' a Republican briefed on the discussions told me. Trump blew up the carefully orchestrated announcement and told reporters on Saturday as he walked to Marine One that Kelly would be leaving by the end of the year. 'John wanted to announce his own departure. This was a humiliation,' a former West Wing official said." And so on. ...
... Rahm Emanuel in the Atlantic: "Kelly's replacement won't really be the chief of staff, even if that's what it says on his door; Trump is unwilling to give anyone the authority needed to perform that job. But with Trump unlikely to choose the chief of staff he needs for this moment, what's important is that the next chief of staff be unusually good at protecting the rest of us from the president's penchant for self-destruction." ...
... "Whatever." Matt Yglesias of Vox: "No person's entire career can be summed up in a single quote. But ousted White House Chief of Staff John Kelly's defense to the charge that the Trump administration's child separation policy at the border was cruel deserves to be etched into his tombstone. 'The children,' he said, 'will be taken care of -- put into foster care or whatever.' That is roughly the degree of thoughtfulness and consideration that was put into the policy. And it properly reflects Kelly's true legacy as chief of staff.... The emphasis on times when Kelly could rein in Trump ignores the extent to which the two men were genuinely like-minded, and the many crucial moments where Kelly exacerbated Trump's worst instincts." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
Jim Acosta of CNN: "... Donald Trump has expressed concern that he could be impeached when Democrats take over the House, a source close to the President told CNN Monday. The source said Trump sees impeachment as a 'real possibility.' But Trump isn't certain it will happen, the source added."
Michelle Goldberg: "The 2020 presidential election was always going to be extraordinarily ugly, but one can only imagine what Trump will do if the alternative to the White House is the big house. 'It's dangerous,' said [Rep. Eric] Swalwell [D-Cal.], who worries that Trump could become even more erratic, making decisions to save himself that involve 'our troops or internal domestic security.'"
Greg Sargent: "The connecting thread in much of what we've learned as part of the latest round of revelations [from federal prosecutors] is that Trump likely has now defrauded the American electorate in not one, but two, ways. First, via these hush-money payments. And second, by concealing his ongoing negotiations with Russia over a real estate project that promised to be extremely lucrative -- during the very period in which GOP primary voters were choosing their presidential nominee. In both these cases, Trump has now justified this apparent deception by claiming that they were private transactions. In other words, Trump is explicitly saying that because these were private, keeping them concealed from voters was perfectly defensible.... He sees no problem with massively defrauding the voters by denying them information.... This isn't a defense. It's yet another admission of the degree to which he's placing his own interests before those of the country -- an admission, that is, of the depths of his own corruption."
Marshall Cohen of CNN: "At least 16 associates of Donald Trump had contacts with Russians during the 2016 campaign or transition, according to public statements, court filings, CNN reporting, and reporting from other news outlets." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
GOP Profiles in Courage. Adam Raymond of New York: "On Friday, the Department of Justice called Donald Trump a felon.... On Monday, Senate Republicans had their chance to weigh in.... 'The Democrats will do anything to hurt this president,' Utah Senator Orrin Hatch told CNN.... When reporter Manu Raju reminded Hatch that it is not the Democrats, but the Southern District of New York, making the allegations, Hatch said, 'I don't care, all I can say is he's doing a good job as president.'... South Dakota Senator John Thune's argument ... is that campaign finance violations are not a big deal.... Senator Chuck Grassley meanwhile questioned if the allegations against Trump can even be believed.... Louisiana Senator John Kennedy echoed that argument, impugning [Michael] Cohen and questioning the willingness of prosecutors to believe him." --s ...
... MEANWHILE. Forty-four Former U.S. Senators, in a Washington Post op-ed: "As former members of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, it is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and we feel an obligation to speak up about serious challenges to the rule of law, the Constitution, our governing institutions and our national security. We are on the eve of the conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation and the House's commencement of investigations of the president and his administration. The likely convergence of these two events will occur at a time when simmering regional conflicts and global power confrontations continue to threaten our security, economy and geopolitical stability.... At other critical moments in our history, when constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate that has stood in defense of our democracy. Today is once again such a time."
Rosalind Helderman & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights activist, is poised to plead guilty in a case involving accusations that she was working as an agent for the Kremlin in the United States, according to a new court filing. Attorneys for Butina and federal prosecutors jointly requested in court documents Monday that U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan set a time for Butina to withdraw her previous plea of not guilty. They said they could be available for her to enter her plea as early as Tuesday. 'The parties have resolved this matter,' Butina's lawyers and D.C.-based prosecutors wrote in their joint filing." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Anna Nemtsova of The Daily Beast: "Often dubbed 'Putin's chef' because of the enormous catering contracts on which he built his fortune, Yevgeny Prigozhin is the central figure in ... Mueller['s] indictment.... He is also the alleged money man behind the Federal News Agency, known by the Russian acronym FAN, which wages information war by other means, specifically by pretending to be a legitimate source of solid reporting.... FAN['s] unabashed aim is to propagate a semblance of news that supports the Putin government.... Earlier this year Facebook shut down the agency's accounts, which infuriated FAN's managers and inspired them to take the conflict to the enemy.... The Russian information soldiers moved to Washington, physically. On Friday, The Daily Beast spoke with FAN's general director, Yevgeny Zubarev, about that strategy." --s
Nancy LeTourneau of the Washington Monthly: In House testimony last week, Jim Comey "indicated that an investigation had been launched into the leaks that were coming from the FBI's New York field office during the 2016 presidential campaign. According to a report from Reuters in April 2018, the Inspector General planned to release the results of his investigation last May. But so far, we've seen nothing. On Monday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) announced that they are suing the FBI for documents related to that investigation.... While it is important to investigate all of the ways that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election and to what extent the Trump campaign conspired with them to do so, it is also clear that rogue agents in the FBI's New York field office played a significant role in electing Donald Trump due to their extreme anti-Clinton bias. We need to get to the bottom of that one too."
AP: "... Donald Trump says the military will build his promised border wall 'if Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country.' Trump tweets Tuesday that immigration and border patrol agents and the military have done a 'FANTASTIC' job securing the border with Mexico. But Trump says 'A Great Wall' would be a 'far easier & less expensive solution.' He claims Democrats don't want border security for 'strictly political reasons.'" Thanks to Ken. W. for the lead.
Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The U.S. this week will begin withdrawing many of the active duty troops sent to the border with Mexico by ... Donald Trump just before the midterm election in response to a caravan of Central American migrants, U.S. officials said Monday. About 2,200 of the active duty troops will be pulled out before the holidays, the officials said, shrinking an unusual domestic deployment that was viewed by critics as a political stunt and a waste of military resources. That will leave about 3,000 active duty troops in Texas, Arizona and California, mainly comprised of military police and helicopter transport crews who are assisting border patrol agents. There also will still be about 2,300 members of the National Guard who were sent to the border region as part of a separate deployment that started in April." Mrs. McC: So no wall, no soldiers to protect from the invading hordes.
The Trumpiefenokee Swamp
Trump's Cronies Rake in $$$ from Sanctioned Nations. Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "As President Trump's administration has increasingly turned to sanctions, travel restrictions and tariffs to punish foreign governments as well as people and companies from abroad, targets of those measures have turned for assistance to Washington's K Street corridor of law, lobbying and public relations firms. The work can carry reputational and legal risks, since clients often come with toxic baggage and the United States Treasury Department restricts transactions with entities under sanctions. As a result, it commands some of the biggest fees of any sector in the influence industry. And some of the biggest payments have been going to lobbyists, lawyers and consultants with connections to Mr. Trump or his administration." Like Rudy Giuliani & Alan Dershowitz. The pay-for-play culture "has been encouraged, they say, by the willingness projected by Mr. Trump and his team to make deals around sanctions and tariffs exemptions. Previous administrations had worked to wall off politics from those processes, which are supposed to be overseen primarily by career officials and governed by strict legal analyses." Mrs. McC: Trump has engineered quite a nifty scam here.
David Cay Johnston of DCReport: "The Trump Administration hid a study documenting financial abuse of students by some banks working hands-in-glove with colleges, the latest example of how instead of 'draining the swamp' Donald Trump is turning official Washington into a paradise for swamp monsters. The suppressed fee gouging report was made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB. Students attending colleges which have marketing agreements with banks and other financial institutions paid much higher overdraft and account fees than students at schools with no such deals, the study found.... We know of the study only because it was mentioned last August in a scathing resignation letter by Seth Frotman, a CFPB assistant director and student loan ombudsman.... The study was pried loose by Allied Progress through the Freedom of Information Act[.]" --s
Reuters: "The Trump administration is expected to propose weakening protections for U.S. wetlands on Tuesday, in a move sought by ranching and mining interests but one that will likely be held up in the courts amid opposition from environmentalists. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will make a water policy announcement at 11:25 Eastern Time (1625 GMT), the agency said without elaborating." --s
Brad Plumer & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Trump administration officials at high-stakes climate talks [in Poland] offered an unapologetic defense of fossil fuels on Monday, arguing that a rapid retreat from coal, oil and gas was unrealistic. While that stance brought scorn from environmentalists and countries that favor stronger action to fight global warming, there are signs that the administration is finding a receptive audience among other major fossil-fuel producers, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Australia.... The [U.S.] public endorsement of fossil fuels came two days after the Trump administration helped to block the United Nations climate conference from embracing the findings of a major scientific report on global warming. It amounted to what might be the most dramatic show of disdain for the Paris Agreement on reducing greenhouse emissions -- at a gathering meant to establish a set of rules for implementing the deal -- since President Trump announced that the country would abandon the pact. The United States -- along with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia -- refused to allow a collective statement that would 'welcome' the report...."
Alan Pyke of ThinkProgress: "After attracting more scandals in 18 months than his four predecessors managed in 16 years, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke quietly shut the door to further public scrutiny of his office over the Thanksgiving break. The secretary gave control of incoming Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to former Koch Industries adviser and longtime Zinke consigliere Dan Jorjani.... Zinke's move on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is best understood as a reshuffling of his resources, from attack to defense.... [Previously] Jorjani wrote to a colleague that Interior staffers' primary responsibility is to protect Zinke from negative press. He will now be the central gatekeeper of the agency's documents when journalists, watchdogs, and other citizens seek insight into the conduct of their government." --s
Richard Partington of the Guardian: "The storm clouds of the next global financial crisis are gathering despite the world financial system being unprepared for the next downturn, the deputy head of the International Monetary Fund has warned. David Lipton, the first deputy managing director of the IMF, said that 'crisis prevention is incomplete' more than a decade on from the last meltdown in the global banking system.... Lipton said individual nation states alone would lack the firepower to combat the next recession, while calling on governments to work together to tackle the issues that could spark another crash." --s
"Paul Ryan's Long Con." Ezra Klein of Vox: "Ryan's reputation was built on the back of his budgets: draconian documents that gutted social spending, privatized Medicare, and showed the Republican Party had embraced the kinds of hard fiscal choices that [George W.] Bush had sloughed off. And Ryan presented himself as the wonkish apostle of this new GOP.... For this, Ryan was feted in Washington society.... But to critics like the New York Times's Paul Krugman, Ryan was an obvious con man weaponizing the deficit to hamstring Obama's presidency, weaken the recovery, and snooker Beltway centrists eager to champion a reasonable-seeming Republican.... Now, as Ryan prepares to leave Congress, it is clear that his critics were correct and a credulous Washington press corps -- including me -- that took him at his word was wrong. In the trillions of long-term debt he racked up as speaker, in the anti-poverty proposals he promised but never passed, and in the many lies he told to sell unpopular policies, Ryan proved as much a practitioner of post-truth politics as Donald Trump."
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review lower court decisions that blocked efforts in two states to cut off public funding for Planned Parenthood, refusing for now to get involved in state battles over abortion rights. The cases did not touch on abortion itself, but three justices who said the court should have accepted the cases said that was the reason the court declined to get involved. 'What explains the court's refusal to do its job here? I suspect it has something to do with the fact that some respondents in these cases are named "Planned Parenthood,"' Justice Clarence Thomas wrote.... Thomas was joined in his opinion by fellow conservative justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch.... The court's action showed a split among the panel's conservatives, and might indicate a reluctance by the majority to take on controversial cases at a time when the Supreme Court is in the political spotlight.... It takes four justices to accept a case...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Irin Carmon of New York: No, Brett Kavanaugh is not a stealth liberal likely to uphold reproductive rights. "... the two cases the court declined to hear involve interpretations of Medicaid law, not the right to access an abortion or how states can regulate it.... While it is true that these cases aren't technically abortion cases in the jurisprudential sense, I'll give [Justice] Thomas this: They're freighted with abortion politics.... In the end, the decision by Kavanaugh -- particularly so soon after being the subject of sexual-assault allegations -- and [Chief Justice] Roberts not to wade into this particular muck may mean nothing more than the fact that one or both of them would prefer a different battle. But when it comes to this Supreme Court, even a less-bad day is a good one."
Sarah Smith of the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram: "For decades, women and children have faced rampant sexual abuse while worshiping at independent fundamental Baptist churches around the country. The network of churches and schools has often covered up the crimes and helped relocate the offenders, an eight-month Star-Telegram investigation has found. More than 200 people -- current or former church members, across generations -- shared their stories of rape, assault, humiliation and fear in churches where male leadership cannot be questioned.... The Star-Telegram discovered at least 412 allegations of sexual misconduct in 187 independent fundamental Baptist churches and their affiliated institutions, spanning 40 states and Canada."
Eun Kyung Kim of NBC News: "A group of journalists whose work has landed them in jail -- or cost them their lives — have been named Time's Person of the Year for 2018. 'Like all human gifts, courage comes to us at varying levels and at varying moments,' the magazine's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal wrote in an essay about the selection. 'This year we are recognizing four journalists and one news organization who have paid a terrible price to seize the challenge of this moment: Jamal Khashoggi, Maria Ressa, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and the Capital Gazette of Annapolis, Md.... They are representative of a broader fight by countless others around the world -- as of Dec. 10, at least 52 journalists have been murdered in 2018 -- who risk all to tell the story of our time.'... The magazine revealed its choice of 'The Guardians and the War on Truth' on Tuesday on TODAY, along with the four magazine covers featuring Khashoggi, Ressa, the Gazette staff and the wives of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.'... Editors named [Donald] Trump as this year's runner up, citing 'a crowning irony' to the president's influence. 'His ultimate impact may be determined as much by the resistance he engenders as by the goals he pursues,' the magazine said.... Following close behind as the third runner-up was Trump's nemesis and the frequent subject of his anger on Twitter: Robert Mueller, the special counsel heading the investigation into Russia's meddling into the 2016 presidential election."
Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Rosanell Eaton, a resolute African-American woman who was hailed by President Barack Obama as a beacon of civil rights for her role as a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against a restrictive North Carolina voting law that reached the Supreme Court in 2016, died on Saturday in Louisburg, N.C. She was 97.... Caught up as a witness to history in one of the nation's major controversies, Ms. Eaton, an obscure civil rights pioneer in her younger years, became a cause célèbre after Mr. Obama cited her courage in his response to a 2015 article in The New York Times Magazine about growing efforts to dismantle the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A year after the president's letter, the Supreme Court, in a 4-4 vote, let stand a federal appeals court judgment upholding the lawsuit spearheaded by Ms. Eaton and other plaintiffs. The ruling struck down a North Carolina statute whose provisions 'target African-Americans with almost surgical precision' in what the court called an effort to depress black turnout at the polls. In 2017, after regaining its conservative majority with the appointment of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal to revive the case, effectively overturning a far-reaching effort by Republicans to counter what they contended, without evidence, was widespread voter fraud in North Carolina." In 1942, she became "one of the state's first black voters since Reconstruction." Read on.
Election 2018. Florida. Gary Fineout of the AP: "Florida officials say thousands of mailed ballots were not counted because they were delivered too late to state election offices. The Department of State late last week informed a federal judge that 6,670 ballots were mailed ahead of the Nov. 6 election but were not counted because they were not received by Election Day. The tally prepared by state officials includes totals from 65 of Florida's 67 counties. The two counties yet to report their totals are Palm Beach, a Democratic stronghold in south Florida, and Polk in central Florida.... Under Florida law, ballots mailed inside the United States must reach election offices by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Overseas ballots are counted if they are received up to 10 days after the election. A group called VoteVets Action Fund along with two Democratic organizations filed a lawsuit a few days after the 2017 election that argued the ballots should count if they were mailed before Election Day. But U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said the restriction was reasonable and that Florida election officials have a right to establish deadlines.... The lawsuit, however, is still pending and Walker asked that state election officials report how many ballots were mailed before Election Day but ultimately were not counted."
Beyond the Beltway
Tom Perkins of the Guardian: "Republicans in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina suffered stinging losses in November, but the parties aren't transferring power quietly, or at all in some cases. On the way out the door, 'lame-duck' state legislatures are bringing in last-minute laws that will strip power from incoming Democrats, gut voter-approved ballot initiatives, or otherwise undermine the election results. But some legal experts say the most alarming legislation the Republicans have passed is unconstitutional and unlikely to survive outraged Democrats' legal challenges. Among other issues, they contend many of the Republican laws blur the constitutionally mandated separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government."
Not Even Raps on the Knuckles for These Twisted Sisters. Haroon Siddique of the Guardian & agencies: "Two nuns who worked for decades at a Catholic school in California embezzled a 'substantial' amount of money from tuition and other funds and used it to pay for gambling trips to Las Vegas, church officials said Monday. Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang are believed to have siphoned off cash from tuition fees and donations at St James school in Torrance, near Los Angeles for at least a decade. Neither has been charged with a crime.... The total taken from the school was still being calculated, Alarcon said, adding he could not confirm reports that it was up to $500,000 (£400,000).... The archdiocese has notified the police but [Monsignor Michael] Meyers said church officials did not plan to press charges and instead wanted to resolve the situation internally with the money repaid and the nuns disciplined by their order." ...
... Update. ABC News: The nuns spent some of the stolen money on travel. "At first the school said it 'does not wish to pursue criminal proceedings,' but now the Archdiocese tells ABC News the investigation has deepened and they are considering making this a criminal case." Sister Mary Margaret was the school's principal. Mrs. McC: Budding comedy screenwriters, take note.
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm not sure why Republicans are so worried about Sharia law. The Roman Catholic Church seems to think that its leaders should decide many cases that otherwise fall under secular laws, from sexual abuse of minors to grand theft to healthcare mandates.
Way Beyond
BBC: PM "Theresa May is meeting European leaders and EU officials on Tuesday for talks aimed at rescuing her Brexit deal. She is holding talks with Dutch PM Mark Rutte and Germany's Angela Merkel after postponing a Commons vote on the deal. The UK PM has said she needs 'further assurances' about the Northern Ireland border plan to get backing from MPs. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would not 'renegotiate' the deal but there was room for 'further clarifications'." ...
... Stephen Castle & Richard Pérez-Peña of the New York Times: "Facing the prospect of a humiliating defeat, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that she would seek to postpone a parliamentary vote on her proposal for Britain's departure from the European Union, throwing the process into disarray and highlighting her tenuous hold on power. Parliament had been scheduled to vote on Tuesday on the agreement that Mrs. May reached with the bloc for Britain's withdrawal, or Brexit -- a critical moment in her political career and in the battle over an issue that has gripped British politics for nearly three years. But weeks of bitter criticism and days of parliamentary debate had left no doubt that the plan would be soundly rejected by lawmakers, due in large part to objections over plans for dealing with the Irish border that pro-Brexit lawmakers say could potentially leave the United Kingdom tied to some of the bloc's rules indefinitely." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Macron Addresses Les Gilets Jaunes. Alissa Rubin of the New York Times: "Faced with violent protests and calls for his resignation, President Emmanuel Macron of France said Monday that he had heard the anger of the many whose economic suffering has burst into the open in recent weeks and that he would take immediate steps to relieve their hardship.... He announced tax cuts and income increases for the struggling middle class and working poor, vowing to raise the pay of workers earning the minimum wage. He promised to listen to the voices of the country, to its small-town mayors and its working people.... [BUT] Criticisms came quickly from many of Mr. Macron's political opponents, who said his proposals fell far short of people's needs."
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