The Commentariat -- May 13, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

~~~ ** Yasmeen Abutaleb & Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "Americans who are fully vaccinated can go without masks or physical distancing in most cases, even when they are indoors or in large groups, federal officials said Thursday, paving the way for a full reopening of society. The change represents a huge shift symbolically and practically for pandemic-weary Americans.... More than 117 million Americans are now fully vaccinated, or about 35 percent of the population.... The relaxation of restrictions does not apply to airplanes or health-care settings. Officials also noted that some occupational settings may still require masks. They urged those who are immune-compromised to speak with their doctors before giving up their masks.... Officials cautioned the guidelines could change again if the pandemic should worsen." The story is free to nonsubscribers.

** Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "Surrounded by rioters who had dragged him down the U.S. Capitol steps, beaten him and Tasered him, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone screamed in pain. 'I got one!' one of the rioters yelled triumphantly. As the crowd pushed in, grabbing at his head, Fanone screamed again and then pleaded for help. 'I got kids!' he yelled. The intense scene plays out in body-camera footage of the attack broadcast by CNN on Wednesday evening, casting new light on Fanone's struggle to escape a clash he later described as 'the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life.' Fanone suffered a mild heart attack and a concussion in the melee. The vivid violence in the clip stands in stark contrast to claims by some Republicans on Wednesday, who sought to downplay the severity of the deadly insurrection -- with one GOP lawmaker even describing the attack as a 'normal tourist visit.'"

William Watts of MarketWatch: "Colonial Pipeline paid Eastern European hackers nearly $5 million in an untraceable cryptocurrency last week in response to a ransomware attack, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the transaction."

Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "Mysterious episodes that caused brain injuries in spies, diplomats, soldiers and other U.S. personnel overseas starting five years ago now number more than 130 people, far more than previously known, according to current and former officials. The number of cases within the C.I.A., the State Department, the Defense Department and elsewhere spurred broad concern in the Biden administration. The initial publicly confirmed cases were concentrated in China and Cuba and numbered about 60, not including a group of injured C.I.A. officers whose total is not public. The new total adds cases from Europe and elsewhere in Asia and reflects efforts by the administration to more thoroughly review other incidents amid concern over a spate of them in recent months.... The Biden administration has not determined who or what is responsible for the episodes or whether they constitute attacks.... 'As of now, we have no definitive information about the cause of these incidents, and it is premature and irresponsible to speculate,' said Amanda J. Schoch, the spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence."

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Thursday moved to repeal a Trump-era regulation that it said weakened the government's ability to curb air pollution that threatens public health and is driving climate change. Critics said the regulation distorted the costs of reducing air pollution while diminishing the associated benefits. It is one of several Trump administration policies that have been reversed by Michael S. Regan since he became the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in March. Finalized at the end of the Trump administration, the so-called cost-benefit rule was designed to change how the E.P.A. calculated the economic costs and benefits of new clean-air and climate-change rules.... Experts said [the Trump rule] appeared designed to give industries a way to legally block the E.P.A. over future air pollution rules."

Daniella Diaz & Annie Grayer of CNN: "The vote to oust Liz Cheney took only 16 minutes. Here's what happened."

~~~~~~~~~~

Josh Boak of the AP: "The Biden administration swung aggressively into action after a primary gasoline pipeline fell prey to a cyberattack -- understanding that the situation posed a possible series of political and economic risks. The pipeline shutdown was an all-hands-on-deck situation for a young presidency that has also had to deal with a pandemic, a recession, an influx of unaccompanied children at the southern border, a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and high-stakes showdowns globally that carry the specter of war.... Hours before the Colonial Pipeline was restarted, President Joe Biden signaled Wednesday that there were reasons for optimism. 'We have been in very, very close contact with Colonial Pipeline,' Biden said. 'I think you're going to hear some good news in the next 24 hours and I think we'll be getting that under control.' The president followed up later Wednesday with an executive order to improve cybersecurity. Biden's team seized on the shutdown as an argument for approving the president's $2.3 trillion infrastructure package. Keeping up Biden's focus, the White House said the president would deliver remarks on the pipeline incident Thursday morning." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If the Former Guy hadn't lost his job, you can bet the whole episode would have been dismissed with a bombastic tweet blaming ... somebody ... and threatening ... somebody. ~~~

~~~ David Sanger & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "As the East Coast suffered from the effects of a ransomware attack on a major petroleum pipeline, President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that placed strict new standards on the cybersecurity of any software sold to the federal government. The move is part of a broad effort to strengthen the United States' defenses by encouraging private companies to practice better cybersecurity or risk being locked out of federal contracts. But the bigger effect may arise from what could, over time, become akin to a government rating of the security of software products, much the way automobiles get a safety rating or restaurants in New York get a health safety grade. The order comes amid a wave of new cyberattacks, more sophisticated and far-reaching than ever before. Over the past year, roughly 2,400 ransomware attacks have hit corporate, local and federal offices in extortion plots that lock up victims' data -- or publish it -- unless they pay a ransom. The most urgent fear is an attack on critical infrastructure, a point made clear this week to Americans, who were panic-buying gasoline." ~~~

~~~ Hordes of Hoarders. Clifford Krauss & David Sanger of the New York Times: "Anxious drivers circled from one filling station to another, gasoline prices rose and thousands of stations were out of fuel in the Southeast on Wednesday as a ransomware attack continued to cripple a vital fuel pipeline. There was a sign of relief late Wednesday when the operator of the pipeline, which transports gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Texas to New Jersey, said it had 'initiated the restart' of operations. But the company, Colonial Pipeline, said supplies would take several days to return to normal. Since the pipeline was shut down on Friday, the uncertainty about supplies has prompted a growing frenzy among motorists determined to fill up." The article also describes some of the ways the Biden administration is addressing (or not addressing) the shortage. MB: In keeping with unwashed's note at the end of yesterday's thread, I would add that if reporters were more thorough, they would have checked the trunks of vehicles in the gas lines to see if they were full of year-old-plus toilet paper.

Morgan Chalfant & Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden hosted the 'Big Four' congressional leaders for the first time at the White House on Wednesday in hopes of finding areas of common agreement amid high partisan tensions in Washington." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "To hear the participants tell it, President Biden's first-ever meeting with Republican and Democratic leaders from both houses of Congress was 90 minutes of productive conversation. It was cordial. There were no explosions of anger. But the agreeable tenor could barely mask the legislative reality: The two parties remain deeply divided over the president's proposal for $2.3 trillion in spending to upgrade the nation's crumbling infrastructure.... 'It was different than other meetings,' marveled Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader and a veteran of chaotic White House meetings with President Donald J. Trump. 'Everybody was pleasant.'" MB: So apparently even Kevin was able to behave himself. ~~~

~~~ But of course telling the truth remains beyond Kevin: "Asked afterward about the election, Mr. McCarthy ... [said,] 'I don't think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election.'... 'I think that is all over with.' That is not true. Mr. Trump continues on a near daily basis to insist, contrary to fact, that the election was corrupt and stolen from him. And only hours before the discussion at the White House on Wednesday, Mr. McCarthy himself led the charge to oust Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming from her position as the No. 3 Republican in House leadership because she refused to drop her public criticisms of the former president and her party for the election falsehoods."

Harper Neidig & Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Biden administration's top law enforcement officials on Wednesday pledged to dedicate their resources to combat domestic violent extremists amid questions over whether the agencies are equipped to monitor such threats in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee for a hearing on domestic extremism as Congress ramped up its scrutiny this week of the circumstances around the attack on the Capitol. Both Garland and Mayorkas testified that white supremacist groups pose the most serious domestic national security threat in the U.S., reinforcing what analysts have long concluded about far-right organizations.... Garland dismissed concern from Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) who asked whether the Justice Department was investigating with 'equal vigor' protests in Portland, Ore., and other cities that were often a focus of former President Trump. 'We don't care what the ideology is, violations of law are pursued and are prosecuted. I think it's fair to say that in my career as a judge, and in law enforcement, I have not seen a more dangerous threat to democracy than the invasion of the Capitol,' Garland said."

Mike Lillis & Scott Wong of the Hill: "In an extraordinary bow to former President Trump, House Republicans voted Wednesday to purge GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney from her leadership post, punishing the conservative Wyoming Republican for daring to refute Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen. The closed-door, secret-ballot vote to oust Cheney represented a remarkable shift from a similar challenge to her leadership status in February, when she won handily. And it marked the first time in recent memory that a congressional GOP leader was toppled by rank-and-file Republicans in the middle of their term through a formal vote." MB: According to CNN, there was a quick voice vote, & Minority "Leader" Kevin McCarthy announced Cheney was out. After the vote & out in the hall, Cheney told the press she would do everything she could to make sure Donald Trump never gets near the Oval Office again. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The Washington Post story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Karoun Demirjian & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Christopher C. Miller, the former senior Trump administration official who presided over the Pentagon's Capitol-riot response, told lawmakers Wednesday that he believed 'an organized conspiracy with assault elements in place' orchestrated the Jan. 6 insurrection. The assessment -- a departure from Miller's previous public statements about what led to the assault on Congress -- set off a political mudfight, as Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee accused the former acting defense secretary of 'incompetence,' and being 'AWOL' and 'disloyal to the country,' while Republicans accused their counterparts of harassing the hearing's witnesses to further what they characterized as a partisan investigation.... Miller offered defiance in the face of Democrats' questions, refusing to share fault for the failures that transpired -- and blaming officials on Capitol Hill for never sending the Pentagon a 'valid request.'... Miller's timeline differs from the Pentagon's official rundown of events. He conceded, under questioning from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), that he did not give approval to the final mobilization plans until 4:32 p.m. -- after speaking with Pence, and nearly three hours after [D.C. Mayor Muriel] Bowser first called him, requesting additional forces be sent to the Capitol to quell the swelling crowds.' An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Rebecca Kheel of the Hill: "Former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller clashed with Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) on Wednesday over former President Trump's culpability in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack after the ex-Pentagon chief appeared to walk back previous comments blaming Trump. At a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing, Lynch asked Miller whether the attack would have happened without Trump's speech at a rally that preceded the breach, noting comments Miller made to Vice in March blaming Trump. 'I think I'd like to modify my original assessment,' Miller said. 'Why am I not surprised,' Lynch interjected, laughing. Arguing that 'we are getting more information by the day, by the minute, about what happened,' Miller said it now 'seems clear that there was some sort of conspiracy where there were organized assault elements that intended to assault the Capitol that day.' Later in the exchange, when Lynch accused Miller of reversing his stance, Miller replied, 'that's ridiculous.' 'You're ridiculous,' Lynch shot back."(Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's clear from reports that Miller repeatedly contradicted himself. this is not, IMO, simply revisionist history (tho it's that, too); it's the hallmark of a cover-up. ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... a funny thing happened when Miller testified: He seemed to back away from his comments laying this at Trump's feet. Miller's opening statement was previewed Tuesday evening. In it, he stated that although he couldn't offer an official conclusion about Trump's culpability, 'I stand by my prior observation that I personally believe his comments encouraged the protestors that day.'... Miller, notably, did not include that particular statement in his oral opening remarks.... As [the hearing] progressed, that seemed less like a coincidence.... 'I would like to offer -- I've reassessed. It's not the unitary factor [-- that is, Trump's incitement --] at all. It seems clear there was an organized conspiracy with assault elements in place.' [Miller testified.] This set [Rep. Stephen] Lynch [D-Mass.] off. He accused Miller of walking back his written testimony that Trump had encouraged the protesters that day." ~~~

~~~ Jan Wolfe of Reuters: "... Donald Trump wanted National Guard troops in Washington to protect his supporters at a Jan. 6 rally that ended with them attacking the U.S. Capitol, leaving five dead, Trump's former Pentagon chief testified on Wednesday. Former Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller told a House of Representatives panel that he spoke with Trump on Jan. 3, three days before the now-former president's fiery speech that preceded the violence and led to his second impeachment. According to Miller's testimony, Trump asked during that meeting whether the District of Columbia's mayor had requested National Guard troops for Jan. 6, the day Congress was to ratify Joe Biden's presidential election victory. Trump told Miller to "fill" the request, the former defense secretary testified. Miller said Trump told him: 'Do whatever is necessary to protect demonstrators that were executing their constitutionally protected rights.'" MB: IOW, Trump was not concerned about protecting the Capitol & members of Congress & their staffs; his concern was for his backers. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I read a while back that Reuters would firewall its reports. I was able to read this report with no problem, but if you can't, the Raw Story has a brief report.

~~~ Adam Edelman & Garrett Haake of NBC News: "Multiple Republican members of Congress on Wednesday offered a false retelling of the devastating events that occurred during the Capitol riot, with one calling the entire event a 'bold faced lie' that more closely resembled a 'normal tourist visit' than a deadly attack. During a House Oversight Committee hearing on the Jan. 6 riot, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., said the House floor was not breached and that the supporters of ... Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol behaved 'in an orderly fashion.'... Meanwhile, other Republicans during the hearing Wednesday falsely painted the riot as an event that saw Trump supporters needlessly harassed by law enforcement authorities. 'It was Trump supporters who lost their lives that day, not Trump supporters who were taking the lives of others,' Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., said. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., claimed that law enforcement officials were 'harassing peaceful patriots.'"

Kim Bellware of the Washington Post: "Gary Wickersham of West Chester, Pa., ... was arrested Tuesday and faces a charge of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and one for unlawful entry into a restricted area.... Wickersham ... offered federal investigators a bizarre narrative of debunked conspiracy theories and contradictory statements surrounding the attack, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court this week. The 80-year-old told investigators in January that the insurrection was a 'staged' act and that many of the people he saw 'cursing, screaming, knocking cops away, breaking windows and doors, and entering the Capitol' were 'members of antifa.' According to the complaint, Wickersham also believed his 20 minutes inside the Capitol were authorized 'because he pays his taxes.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If Wickersham's claims about antifa sound crazy, he is not alone. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) at Wednesday's hearing of the House Oversight Committee said pretty much the same when he complained that the media were constantly referring to the insurrectionists as "Trump supporters" when there was no indication that was the case. Nobody took a poll, he said.

Misbehavin'. Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene aggressively confronted Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday and falsely accused her of supporting 'terrorists,' leading the New York congresswoman's office to call on leadership to ensure that Congress remains 'a safe, civil place for all Members and staff.' Two Washington Post reporters witnessed Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) exit the House chamber late Wednesday afternoon ahead of Greene (Ga.), who shouted 'Hey Alexandria' twice in an effort to get her attention. When Ocasio-Cortez did not stop walking, Greene picked up her pace and began shouting at her and asking why she supports antifa, a loosely knit group of far-left activists, and Black Lives Matter, falsely labeling them 'terrorist' groups. Greene also shouted that Ocasio-Cortez was failing to defend her 'radical socialist' beliefs by declining to publicly debate the freshman from Georgia."

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe told a female Environmental Protection Agency nominee on Wednesday that if she did not 'behave,' then 'I'm going to talk to your daddy.' The awkward exchange was during Radhika Fox's confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to be the assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Water. Fox currently serves in the role on an acting basis and is the Office of Water's principal deputy assistant administrator." MB: Fox is a person of color; Inhofe is not.

The Representatives of the People. Marshall Cohen & Jeremy Herb of CNN present an overview of what happened in Congress Wednesday. Devastating.

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Former Trump White House counsel Donald McGahn is expected to answer questions 'as soon as possible' in a closed session with House lawmakers about former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation, according to an agreement outlined in court filings Wednesday. McGahn will appear before the House Judiciary Committee, the court filing states, after House Democrats sued to enforce a subpoena for his testimony about whether ... Donald Trump obstructed justice in Mueller's Russia investigation. A transcript of the interview, which will be closed to the public and the media, will be 'promptly provided to all involved parties' for review before it is released publicly, according to the court filing. The agreement was negotiated by President Biden's Justice Department and House lawyers to end the long-running litigation over McGahn's testimony that the Trump administration had blocked." A CNN story is here.

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Inflation in April accelerated at its fastest pace in more than 12 years as the U.S. economic recovery kicked into gear and energy prices jumped higher, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The Consumer Price Index, which measures a basket of goods as well as energy and housing costs, rose 4.2% from a year earlier. A Dow Jones survey had expected a 3.6% increase. The month-to-month gain was 0.8%, against the expected 0.2%." (Also linked yesterday.)

Retired Top Brass Are Bat-shit Crazy. Bryan Bender of Politico: "A day after 124 retired generals and admirals released a letter spreading the lie that President Joe Biden stole the election, current and former military officers are speaking out, calling the missive a dangerous new sign of the military being dragged into the trenches of partisan warfare. The open letter on Monday from a group calling itself Flag Officers 4 America advanced the false conspiracy theory that the presidential vote was rigged in Biden's favor and warned that the nation is 'in deep peril' from 'a full-blown assault on our Constitutional rights.' 'Under a Democrat Congress and the Current Administration,' they wrote, 'our Country has taken a hard left turn toward Socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government which must be countered now by electing congressional and presidential candidates who will always act to defend our Constitutional Republic.' The broadside also raises questions about 'the mental and physical condition of the Commander in Chief' and sounds the alarm about a host of hot-button issues, such as the border wall. It goes on to accuse congressional leaders of 'using the U.S. military as political pawns with thousands of troops deployed around the U.S. Capitol Building.'... [The letter's] fiery, even angry, language and conspiracy-mongering struck multiple long-time observers as particularly out of bounds and dangerous." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ digby: "... their hysteria over America turning Marxist because Joe Biden wants to provide elder care and fix the falling infrastructure is a bit much. It's not like Biden incited his followers to storm the capitol and hang his own VP or anything. That really would be alarming."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Wednesday that the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine be used in children as young as 12, expanding access to adolescents in an important next phase to end the pandemic. The vote was 14 in favor with one recusal. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to sign off within hours, giving the green light for the two-dose vaccine to be used in 12- to 15-year-olds. The Food and Drug Administration cleared the vaccine for emergency use in that age group Monday, saying it was safe and effective at the same dose being given to those 16 and older." The article is free to nonsubscribers. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ohio "Vax-a-Million." Neil Vigdor & Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: "To the many propositions that governments have used to try to bolster slumping demand for the coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio raised the ante considerably on Wednesday, announcing that the state would give five people $1 million each in return for having been vaccinated as part of a weekly lottery program. The lottery, whose legality could raise questions, will be paid for by federal coronavirus relief funds, Mr. DeWine, a Republican, said during a statewide televised address. The first of five weekly drawings will be held on May 26, according to Mr. DeWine, who said that Ohio Lottery would conduct them." MB: IOW, if you pay federal taxes, no matter where you live, you're paying Ohio's lottery winners. Normally, lotteries are revenue enhancing; this one comes out of your pocket.

Beyond the Beltway

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Derek Chauvin abused his authority as a police officer when he pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck until he went limp and treated him with 'particular cruelty,' qualifying him for a longer prison sentence, a judge said. In a ruling made public Wednesday, Hennepin County District Judge Peter A. Cahill found state prosecutors had proved beyond a reasonable doubt four of five aggravating factors in Floyd's killing that they argued should result in a tougher prison sentence for the former Minneapolis police officer."

Way Beyond

Israel. Fares Akram & Joseph Krauss of the AP: "Israel killed a string of senior Hamas military figures Wednesday and pounded three multistory towers as it hammered the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and militants in the territory fired barrages of rockets. Dozens have died in the most severe outbreak of violence since a 2014 war, with no resolution in sight. The fighting has taken on many hallmarks of that devastating 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas, but with a startling new factor: a burst of fury from Israel's Palestinian citizens in support of those living in the territories as well as counterviolence by Jewish Israelis." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~~

     ~~~ Update. Fares Akram & Joseph Krauss of the AP: "Weary Palestinians somberly marked the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Thursday, as Hamas and Israel traded more rockets and airstrikes and Jewish-Arab violence raged across Israel. The violence has reached deeper into Israel than at any time since the 2000 Palestinian intifada, or uprising. Arab and Jewish mobs have rampaged through the streets, savagely beating people and torching cars, and flights have been canceled or diverted away from the country's main airport."

News Lede

Politico: "The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 473,000, a new pandemic low and the latest evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs as consumers ramp up spending and more businesses reopen. Thursday's report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 34,000 from a revised 507,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims == a rough measure of the pace of layoffs -- has fallen significantly from a peak of 900,000 in January. Instead of cutting jobs, many employers are struggling to attract enough applicants for open positions."

The Commentariat -- May 12, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Wednesday that the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine be used in children as young as 12, expanding access to adolescents in an important next phase to end the pandemic. The vote was 14 in favor with one recusal. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to sign off within hours, giving the green light for the two-dose vaccine to be used in 12- to 15-year-olds. The Food and Drug Administration cleared the vaccine for emergency use in that age group Monday, saying it was safe and effective at the same dose being given to those 16 and older." Free to nonsubscribers.

Morgan Chalfant & Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden hosted the 'Big Four' congressional leaders for the first time at the White House on Wednesday in hopes of finding areas of common agreement amid high partisan tensions in Washington."

Food Fight. Rebecca Kheel of the Hill: "Former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller clashed with Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) on Wednesday over former President Trump's culpability in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack after the ex-Pentagon chief appeared to walk back previous comments blaming Trump. At a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing, Lynch asked Miller whether the attack would have happened without Trump's speech at a rally that preceded the breach, noting comments Miller made to Vice in March blaming Trump. 'I think I'd like to modify my original assessment,' Miller said. 'Why am I not surprised,' Lynch interjected, laughing. Arguing that 'we are getting more information by the day, by the minute, about what happened,' Miller said it now 'seems clear that there was some sort of conspiracy where there were organized assault elements that intended to assault the Capitol that day.' Later in the exchange, when Lynch accused Miller of reversing his stance, Miller replied, 'that's ridiculous.' 'You're ridiculous,' Lynch shot back."

Retired Top Brass Are Bat-shit Crazy. Bryan Bender of Politico: "A day after 124 retired generals and admirals released a letter spreading the lie that President Joe Biden stole the election, current and former military officers are speaking out, calling the missive a dangerous new sign of the military being dragged into the trenches of partisan warfare. The open letter on Monday from a group calling itself Flag Officers 4 America advanced the false conspiracy theory that the presidential vote was rigged in Biden's favor and warned that the nation is 'in deep peril' from 'a full-blown assault on our Constitutional rights.' 'Under a Democrat Congress and the Current Administration,' they wrote, 'our Country has taken a hard left turn toward Socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government which must be countered now by electing congressional and presidential candidates who will always act to defend our Constitutional Republic.' The broadside also raises questions about 'the mental and physical condition of the Commander in Chief' and sounds the alarm about a host of hot-button issues, such as the border wall. It goes on to accuse congressional leaders of 'using the U.S. military as political pawns with thousands of troops deployed around the U.S. Capitol Building.'... [The letter's] fiery, even angry, language and conspiracy-mongering struck multiple long-time observers as particularly out of bounds and dangerous."

Israel. Fares Akram & Joseph Krauss of the AP: "Israel killed a string of senior Hamas military figures Wednesday and pounded three multistory towers as it hammered the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and militants in the territory fired barrages of rockets. Dozens have died in the most severe outbreak of violence since a 2014 war, with no resolution in sight. The fighting has taken on many hallmarks of that devastating 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas, but with a startling new factor: a burst of fury from Israel's Palestinian citizens in support of those living in the territories as well as counterviolence by Jewish Israelis."

Mike Lillis & Scott Wong of the Hill: "In an extraordinary bow to former President Trump, House Republicans voted Wednesday to purge GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney from her leadership post, punishing the conservative Wyoming Republican for daring to refute Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen. The closed-door, secret-ballot vote to oust Cheney represented a remarkable shift from a similar challenge to her leadership status in February, when she won handily. And it marked the first time in recent memory that a congressional GOP leader was toppled by rank-and-file Republicans in the middle of their term through a formal vote." MB: According to CNN, there was a quick voice vote, & Minority "Leader" Kevin McCarthy announced Cheney was out. After the vote & out in the hall, Cheney told the press she would do everything she could to make sure Donald Trump never gets near the Oval Office again. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The Washington Post story is here.

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Inflation in April accelerated at its fastest pace in more than 12 years as the U.S. economic recovery kicked into gear and energy prices jumped higher, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The Consumer Price Index, which measures a basket of goods as well as energy and housing costs, rose 4.2% from a year earlier. A Dow Jones survey had expected a 3.6% increase. The month-to-month gain was 0.8%, against the expected 0.2%."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Lisa Friedman & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Tuesday will announce its final approval of the nation's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, a major step toward President Biden's goal of expanding renewable energy production across the United States, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Vineyard Wind project calls for up to 84 turbines to be installed in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Together, they could generate about 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 400,000 homes. The $2.8 billion project is a joint venture of the energy firms Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners." (Also linked yesterday.)

Daniel Strauss of the Guardian: "Joe Biden has picked former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel to be his ambassador to Japan." MB: Oh, that's great. Rahm is so diplomatic. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Biden Justice Department and lawyers for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have reached an agreement about how to handle a congressional subpoena for testimony from former Trump White House counsel Donald McGahn. The House Judiciary Committee and the Biden administration announced the deal Tuesday in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The parties told the court they have 'an agreement in principle on an accommodation.'... Donald Trump is 'not a party to the agreement,' the filing states. No additional details were provided about the negotiated settlement."

     ~~~ Bad News for a Bad Guy. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Trump ... could try to take legal action to block any testimony from McGahn, but the filing from the House and the Justice Department -- now under the control of appointees of President Joe Biden -- seems to try to head off such a move by noting pointedly that Trump 'is not a party to this case.'"

Eric Tucker & Michael Balsamo of the AP: "Two senior Trump administration officials plan to defend their actions during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol when they appear before Congress, with former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller standing behind every decision he made that day. Miller will tell the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that he was concerned before the insurrection that sending troops to the building could fan fears of a military coup and cause a repeat of the deadly Kent State shootings, according to a copy of prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press.... Miller will be joined by former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who is also testifying for the first time about the Justice Department's role in the run-up to the riot."

Jeremy Herb & Annie Grayer of CNN: "Rep. Liz Cheney vowed Tuesday evening not to remain silent as ... Donald Trump continues to spread lies that the election was stolen from him, striking a defiant tone ahead of an expected vote to remove her from House Republican leadership on Wednesday. The Wyoming Republican struck a defiant tone on Tuesday evening ahead of the vote, which is all but assured to end in her removal as GOP conference chair after her continued criticisms of Trump. She declared that she would not join with other leaders who ignore Trump's lies, emboldening him and threatening democracy.... '... Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar,' Cheney said. 'I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former President's crusade to undermine our democracy.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Video of Cheney's House floor speech Tuesday night is here. The Hill has the transcript here. It was a pretty good speech, an excellent one if you happen to share all of Liz's views. ~~~

~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "On the precipice of what looks to be an almost certain ouster, rather than barreling through her Rolodex of lawmakers or rallying her extensive network of backers off Capitol Hill to try to cling to her job, [Rep. Liz] Cheney [R-Wyo.] has defiantly embraced her downfall, offering herself as a cautionary tale in what she is portraying as a battle for the soul of the G.O.P.... Her defiant exit illustrates Ms. Cheney's determination to continue her blunt condemnation of Mr. Trump and her party's role in spreading the false election claims that inspired the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol." ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated. New Lede: "In the hours before facing a vote that will almost certainly purge her from House Republican leadership, Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming remained unrepentant on Tuesday, framing her expulsion as a turning point for her party and declaring in an extraordinary speech that she would not sit quietly by as Republicans abandoned the rule of law." And this: "Ms. Cheney's remorseless last stand -- and the chilly reception it received from House Republicans, who cleared from the chamber as she began her remarks -- also highlighted how Republican leaders, even in their eagerness to rebuild their party after the riot and Mr. Trump's stormy departure from the White House, have tethered themselves to his election lies as a matter of survival." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Funny thing is, these Republican "leaders" "have tethered themselves" to a falling star: Michael Scherer, et al., of the Washington Post (May 8): "When staff from the National Republican Congressional Committee rose to explain the party's latest polling in core battleground districts, they left out a key finding about Trump's weakness, declining to divulge the information even when directly questioned about Trump's support by a member of Congress, according to two people familiar with what transpired. Trump's unfavorable ratings were 15 points higher than his favorable ones in the core districts, according to the full polling results, which were later obtained by The Washington Post. Nearly twice as many voters had a strongly unfavorable view of the former president as had a strongly favorable one. [Liz] Cheney was alarmed, she later told others, in part because Republican campaign officials had also left out bad Trump polling news at a March retreat for ranking committee chairs. Both instances, she concluded, demonstrated that party leadership was willing to hide information from their own members to avoid the truth about Trump and the possible damage he could do to Republican House members...." ~~~

     ~~~ AND. Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News: "Four months after ... Donald Trump was banished from most mainstream social media platforms, he returned to the web last Tuesday with 'From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,' essentially a blog for his musings. A week since the unveiling, social media data suggests things are not going well.... Trump's new blog has attracted a little over 212,000 engagements, defined as backlinks and social interactions -- including likes, shares and comments -- received across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Reddit.... Users can't comment or engage with the actual posts beyond sharing them to other platforms, an action few people do, according to the data.... Before the ban, a single Trump tweet was typically liked and retweeted hundreds of thousands of times.... rump's bans cost him the ability to communicate with millions of people: 88 million followers on Twitter, 32 million on Facebook, and 24 million on Instagram. Trump had just around 3 million YouTube subscribers, but his videos regularly racked up millions of views."

Marianne Levine & Zach Montellaro of Politico: "The typically staid Senate Rules Committee hosted a rare dramatic showdown on Tuesday: the majority leader versus the minority leader, sparring over Democrats' expansive election and ethics bill. In dueling remarks, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell each accused the other's party of trying to weaponize voting laws to expand its political power.... Tuesday's markup lasted hours as Republicans sought to offer more than 100 amendments. While Schumer has vowed to take the bill to the Senate floor, its ultimate fate remains uncertain at best. The Senate Rules Committee tied on whether to advance it out of committee, which means Schumer will need to discharge it.... [Joe] Manchin remains the only Senate Democrat to not publicly sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill. But even if he does eventually get on board, the elections measure is still short of the 10 GOP votes necessary to overcome a filibuster. Privately, Senate Democrats and senior aides have agonized over the bill, with no clear path for it to become law."

Zach Montague of the New York Times: "More than 100 Republicans, including some former elected officials, are preparing to release a letter this week threatening to form a third party if the Republican Party does not make certain changes, according to an organizer of the effort. The statement is expected to take aim at ... Donald J. Trump's stranglehold on Republicans, which signatories to the document have deemed unconscionable.... The list of people signing the statement includes former officials at both the state and national level who once were governors, members of Congress, ambassadors, cabinet secretaries, state legislators and Republican Party chairmen, [and organizer, Miles] Taylor said."

Bad News for a Bad Guy. Paula Reid, et al., of CNN: "Federal investigators scrutinizing Rep. Matt Gaetz are seeking the cooperation of a former Capitol Hill intern who was once a girlfriend of the Florida Republican, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Investigators could also soon gain the formal cooperation of a second key witness, former Florida county tax collector Joel Greenberg, who is approaching a deadline this week to strike a plea agreement with the government on more than two dozen charges he's facing. The pursuit of the cooperation comes as investigators are nearly finished collecting evidence, one source said. The probe, which is examining whether Gaetz broke federal sex trafficking, prostitution and public corruption laws and whether he had sex with a minor, has been ongoing for months." (Also linked yesterday.)

Bad News for a Bad Guy. Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "The National Rifle Association's attempt to evade a legal challenge from New York regulators was tossed out by a federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday, in a ruling that cast further doubt on whether the group's embattled chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, would remain at the helm after three decades in power. The ruling was a victory for Letitia James, the New York attorney general, whose office is seeking to remove Mr. LaPierre and shut down the gun rights group amid a long-running corruption investigation. Mr. LaPierre, the face of the American gun lobby, now battered by the N.R.A.'s internecine warfare and revelations of luxuriant personal spending, had sought to end-run Ms. James by relocating to Texas and filing for bankruptcy there. But the gambit instead proved a strategic blunder: The testimony over a 12-day trial only buttressed Ms. James's contentions of corruption, and led the judge, Harlin D. Hale, to declare, 'The N.R.A. is using this bankruptcy case to address a regulatory enforcement problem, not a financial one.'" CNN's story is here.

Bad News for a Bad Guy. The Littlest Grifter. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "The baby-faced Students for Trump founder was denounced as a 'cold-blooded fraudster' by a judge before he was sentenced for posing as a lawyer. John Lambert was sentenced to 13 months in prison for the scam targeting individuals with little experience seeking legal advice, for which he was paid at least $46,654 while delivering little of value to his victims, reported the New York Daily News. 'Mr. Lambert took his money and did nothing,' said District Court Judge Valerie Caproni about one victim, who expected help with a credit problem.... The 25-year-old Lambert posed as Eric Pope, of the Manhattan-based firm Pope & Dunn, and falsely claimed to be a graduate of the New York University School of Law with a finance degree from the University of Pennsylvania, with 15 years of experience in corporate and patent law."

Marie: Remember how the Big Grifter took the unusual step of extending Secret Service protection to his adult children for six months after he was forced out of Washington? And how the extraordinary detail is costing taxpayers $140,000 a month? Well, it turns out that $140K is totally worth it, because it includes a dating service! With "tall, dark and handsome" choices! ~~~

~~~ Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Two Trump family members got 'inappropriately -- and perhaps dangerously -- close' to agents protecting them while Donald Trump was president, according to a new book on the US Secret Service.... [The book's author, Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post,] won a Pulitzer prize in 2015, for her reporting on security failures at the Secret Service.... In her new book, she writes that Secret Service agents reported that Vanessa Trump, the wife of the president's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr, 'started dating one of the agents who had been assigned to her family'. Vanessa Trump filed for an uncontested divorce in March 2018.... Leonnig also writes that Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump's daughter with his second wife, Marla Maples, broke up with a boyfriend and 'began spending an unusual amount of time alone with a Secret Service agent on her detail'. Secret Service leaders, the book says, 'became concerned at how close Tiffany appeared to be getting to the tall, dark and handsome agent'.... The agent was subsequently reassigned."

Clifford Krauss, et al., of the New York Times: "Panicked drivers scrambled to fuel their vehicles across the Southeast on Tuesday, leaving thousands of stations without gasoline as a vital fuel pipeline remained largely shut down after a ransomware attack. The disruption to the Colonial Pipeline, which stretches 5,500 miles from Texas to New Jersey, also left airlines vulnerable, with several saying they would send jet fuel to the region by air to ensure that service would not be disrupted.... Southern stations were selling two to three times their normal amount of gasoline on Tuesday, according to the Oil Price Information Service.... Nearly 8 percent of Virginia stations were without gasoline, more a result of panic buying than of shortage, Gas Buddy, a service that tracks gas prices, reported.... The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose 2 cents on Tuesday, with higher prices reported in the Southeast, according to the AAA motor club."

Nick Anderson of the Washington Post: "At Johns Hopkins University, the number of domestic students in certain PhD programs who are Black or Hispanic can be counted on one hand.... Because of a $150 million gift from Mike Bloomberg announced Tuesday the private research university based in Baltimore plans to expand access to PhD programs in science, technology, engineering and math. The money will fund a recruiting and talent-development initiative targeting students in the STEM fields from historically Black colleges and other minority-serving institutions. The gift is the latest from Bloomberg to Hopkins, raising to $3.55 billion the record-shattering lifetime total the billionaire business executive and former New York mayor has given to his alma mater. No philanthropist, according to experts in these matters, has given more to any U.S. university. In 2018, Bloomberg gave Hopkins $1.8 billion for student financial aid." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I realize that Hopkins is a private university so has no obligation to favor local residents, and that a university of its calibre attracts an international pool of applicants. Still, one would think that an educational institution situated in a state where nearly half of the residents are non-White, Johns Hopkins could do a better job of finding minority grad students.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "The Washington Post has named longtime journalist Sally Buzbee of the Associated Press as its executive editor, marking the first time a woman has been appointed to lead the 143-year-old news organization. Buzbee, AP's executive editor and senior vice president, will take over leadership of The Post's nearly 1,000-person newsroom next month, said publisher Fred Ryan, who made the announcement to the newspaper's staff on Tuesday."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Prize for Tuesday's Best Sentence Uttered in a Capitol Hill Hearing: Sen. Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely, entirely and completely incorrect. -- Anthony Fauci ~~~

~~~ Nathaniel Weixel of the Hill: "Anthony Fauci on Tuesday clashed with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) over the role of the Wuhan, China, virology lab in the origins of COVID-19. During a Senate hearing on the pandemic response, Paul alleged that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had been sending funding to the Wuhan lab, which then 'juiced up' a virus that was originally found in bats to create a supervirus that can infect human cells. Paul pressed Fauci on the theory that the novel coronavirus was created in the Wuhan lab, and then somehow escaped, either because of an accident or because it was deliberately released. 'Sen. Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely, entirely and completely incorrect,' Fauci said. 'The NIH has not ever, and does not now, fund 'gain of function research' in the Wuhan Institute.' Paul continued to argue with Fauci.... The false link between Fauci, the NIH and the Wuhan lab has been circulating among right-wing media and politicians like Paul and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) for months." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A pundit speaking about the exchange on CNN -- I think she was a medical doctor -- said she had a hard time believing Li'l Randy has a medical degree.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Republicans Approve Another Voter Suppression Law. Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "Arizona Republicans passed a law on Tuesday that will sharply limit the distribution of mail ballots through a widely popular early voting list, the latest measure in a conservative push to restrict voting across the country. The legislation will remove voters from the state's Permanent Early Voting List, which automatically sends some people ballots for each election, if they do not cast a ballot at least once every two years. The vote-by-mail system is widely popular in Arizona, used by Republicans, Democrats and independents. The overwhelming majority of voters in the state cast their ballots by mail, with nearly 90 percent doing so last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, and nearly 75 percent of all voters are on the early voting list. Under the new law, the list will be called the Active Early Voting List. The State Senate voted along party lines to approve the bill, and Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, surprised many observers by signing the legislation just hours later." The CBS News story is here. MB: "Laboratories of democracy," my ass.

Arizona Carnival News. Sunday was the last day the Crazy Times Carnival was running outside the Veterans Coliseum where Cyber Ninjas were counting votes and training space lasers on ballots in search of nonexistent watermarks & bamboo splinters. The crazy times carnival inside the coliseum will continue for a few more days until they break for high school graduations. These are not late-nite jokes; this is an accurate account of what's been happening in Phoenix.

California. Carla Marinucci of Politico: "Republican gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner told CNN this week that she never voted for president in the November 2020 election and opted to golf instead because she 'couldn't get excited' about the dozen measures on the California ballot. For someone seeking support in the upcoming recall, it was a head-turning statement. Then came the head-scratcher: Los Angeles County records show she actually did cast a ballot last fall.... 'I didn't even vote,' Jenner told [CNN's Dana] Bash in a wide-ranging interview at her home in Malibu. 'Out here in California, it's like, why vote for a Republican president? It's just not going to work. I mean, it's overwhelming.' But Jenner didn't stop there. Asked further if she voted on downticket races, she said she did not...."

Georgia. Kate Brumback of the AP: "A man accused of killing eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, in shootings at three Atlanta-area massage businesses was indicted Tuesday on murder charges by two separate grand juries, and one prosecutor filed notice that she'll also seek hate crime charges and the death penalty. A Fulton County grand jury indicted Robert Aaron Long, 22, in the March 16 slayings of Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. A separate grand jury in Cherokee County indicted Long for a separate shooting there that resulted in the killings of Xiaojie 'Emily' Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Yaun, 33; and Paul Michels, 54. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also filed notice that she intends to seek a hate crime sentence enhancement and the death penalty against Long, who is white."

Georgia. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Family members of Andrew Brown Jr., the Black man fatally shot last month by North Carolina sheriff's deputies, on Tuesday were given a second opportunity to view body and dash camera footage of his killing. After viewing a redacted but more extensive chunk of the recordings, they and their legal team came to the same conclusion they had before: The footage, they said, did not show Mr. Brown threatening, or even making contact with, law enforcement officers as he tried to flee in his car as deputies attempted to detain him."

Michigan. GOP State Legislators Fight Facts, First Amendment. Beth LeBlanc & Craig Mauger of the Detroit News: "A Michigan lawmaker who's been at the center of efforts to question the 2020 election introduced a bill Tuesday that would require 'fact checkers' to register with the state. Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, wrote the legislation, which was co-sponsored by eight other Republican House members, about five months after Maddock floated the idea of licensing fact checkers on Twitter. The 'Fact Checker Registration Act' defines a fact checker as someone who publishes in print or online in Michigan, is paid by a fact-checking organization and is a member of the International Fact Check Network. The network is a reference to the Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network, a unit launched by the journalism group in 2015 to train and develop best practices in fact checking, Maddock said. The bill requires qualifying fact checkers to file proof of a $1 million fidelity bond with the Secretary of State's office.... The bond could be forfeited at the discretion of the judge for 'demonstrable harm' stemming from something a fact checker wrote, Maddock wrote." The bill has several GOP co-sponsors. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, a person cannot just "file a bond." According to the top of the Googles, "Surety bond premiums usually range from 1-15% of the total bond amount." So up to $150,000. A year, I guess. And, arguably, an accurate fact-check could "demonstrably harm" a legislator; for instance, s/he could lose an election because a fact-checker's published reports showed voters s/he was a big fat liar. So $1,000,000. Luckily, under the First Amendment, the bill is bull. "Laboratories of democracy," my ass. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's story, by Katie Shepherd, is here. Lede: "Michigan state Rep. Matt Maddock and his wife, Michigan Republican Party co-chair Meshawn Maddock, have repeatedly been called out by fact-checking journalists for promoting baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and falsely suggesting that covid-19 is comparable to the flu."

Way Beyond

Israel. Patrick Kingsley & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "The worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years intensified on Tuesday night, as Israeli airstrikes began targeting Hamas offices in Gaza City and militants in Gaza fired rockets at the metropolis of Tel Aviv, the southern city of Ashkelon and Israel's main airport. In Gaza, at least 35 Palestinians, including 10 children, had been killed by Tuesday night, and 203 others were wounded, according to health officials. In Israel, five people were killed in strikes on Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and Lod, and at least 100 were wounded, according to medical officials. Away from the military conflict, a wave of civil unrest spread across Arab neighborhoods as Palestinian citizens of Israel expressed fury at the killings in Gaza and longstanding complaints of discrimination inside Israel itself." The AP's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments here.

The Commentariat -- May 11, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Lisa Friedman & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Biden administration on Tuesday will announce its final approval of the nation's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, a major step toward President Biden's goal of expanding renewable energy production across the United States, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Vineyard Wind project calls for up to 84 turbines to be installed in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Together, they could generate about 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 400,000 homes. The $2.8 billion project is a joint venture of the energy firms Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners."

Paula Reid, et al., of CNN: "Federal investigators scrutinizing Rep. Matt Gaetz are seeking the cooperation of a former Capitol Hill intern who was once a girlfriend of the Florida Republican, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Investigators could also soon gain the formal cooperation of a second key witness, former Florida county tax collector Joel Greenberg, who is approaching a deadline this week to strike a plea agreement with the government on more than two dozen charges he's facing. The pursuit of the cooperation comes as investigators are nearly finished collecting evidence, one source said. The probe, which is examining whether Gaetz broke federal sex trafficking, prostitution and public corruption laws and whether he had sex with a minor, has been ongoing for months."

Daniel Strauss of the Guardian: "Joe Biden has picked former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel to be his ambassador to Japan." MB: Oh, that's great. Rahm is so diplomatic.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alana Wise of NPR: "Those collecting unemployment benefits under the American Rescue Plan must accept 'suitable' employment when offered, President Biden said Monday, responding to last week's underwhelming April jobs report. 'We're going to make it clear that anyone collecting unemployment, who was offered a suitable job, must take the job or lose their unemployment benefits,' Biden said before adding: 'We don't see much evidence of that.' The president's remarks come just days after the latest jobs report showed fewer jobs created than expected: 260,000 vs. about 1 million. Some employers say that they're finding it difficult to find workers, and Republican critics argue that's because of the checks Americans are receiving from the coronavirus stimulus package." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here. ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Has the Republican Party, which has championed the interests of big business and sought to keep wages low since the late 19th century, suddenly become populist?... But while Republicans have lately attacked selected businesses, their beef with big companies seems to be over noneconomic issues. It bothers them a lot that some of corporate America has taken a mild stand in favor of social equality and against voter suppression. What doesn't bother them is the fact that many corporations pay little or nothing in taxes and pay their workers poorly. On such matters the G.O.P. is the same as it ever was: It's for tax cuts that favor corporations and the wealthy, against anything that might improve the lives of ordinary workers.... The G.O.P. has always been determined to make the lives of the jobless miserable, regardless of economic conditions.... You should never make much of one month's numbers, especially in an economy still distorted by the pandemic. For example, that low reported number was 'seasonally adjusted.' The economy actually added more than a million jobs...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is why it makes me a little crazy when so-called journalists write about Republicans' "populist impulses" or whatever. We have not heard any populist impulses from the likes of Josh Hawley & the Former Guy. What we have heard is "populist pandering." If I'm telling you I'm fighting for your freeedumb while I filibuster tiny tax hikes for corporations & the rich, unemployment benefits & pro-union legislation, I'm a hypocrite, not a populist.

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The Biden administration announced Monday that health care providers cannot discriminate against transgender individuals, the latest step in President Biden's efforts to restore civil rights protections for L.G.B.T.Q. people that were eliminated by his predecessor. Under the new policy, the Department of Health and Human Services will once again prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity by health care organizations that receive federal funding. The move will reverse a policy adopted by H.H.S. under ... Donald J. Trump which said that anti-discrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 did not apply to transgender people." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ken Dilanian & Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News: "A Russian criminal group may be responsible for a ransomware attack that shut down a major U.S. fuel pipeline, two sources familiar with the matter said Sunday. The group, known as DarkSide, is relatively new, but it has a sophisticated approach to the business of extortion, the sources said. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday that the White House was working to help Colonial Pipeline, the Georgia-based company that operates the pipeline, to restart its 5,500-mile network." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. David Sanger & Pranshu Verma of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. confirmed on Monday that the hacking group DarkSide was responsible for the ransomware attack that closed a U.S. pipeline providing the East Coast with nearly half of its gasoline and jet fuel.... President Biden said on Monday that the government had mitigated any impact the hack on the petroleum pipeline might have had on the U.S. fuel supply. He added that his administration had efforts underway to 'disrupt and prosecute ransomware criminals.' Colonial Pipeline, the operator of the system..., [said] the company would restore service incrementally, with the goal of 'substantially' resuming service by the end of the week." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton told House lawmakers Monday that the agency must begin to think of itself as a 'protective agency' if it is to prevent future attacks on Congress like the one pro-Trump rioters carried out Jan. 6.... Bolton told lawmakers Monday that the force needs additional resources, including a stand-alone countersurveillance unit, to adequately address a growing number of threats to the U.S. Capitol and those who work there.... He also faulted outdated guidance and seemingly garbled orders for adding to the sense of chaos on Jan. 6 and the agency's flailing response as rioters forced their way into the building.... Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) read to Bolton from a Capitol Police timeline, which she said indicated that a group of about 200 members of the Proud Boys ... were allowed to roam the Capitol on the morning of Jan. 6 while officers were sent to monitor just 'three or four' counterdemonstrators." The Hill has a report here. A Politico story is here.

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "A few days before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, the House Republican leader had a conference call with GOP lawmakers. On the call, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois warned [Minority Leader Kevin] McCarthy that his and other party leaders' claims -- that the election had been stolen and that Republicans had the power to block Joe Biden's victory from being certified -- 'would lead to violence on January 6th.' The response? Crickets, Kinzinger said, and then McCarthy 'dismissively' blew off the warning. 'Ok, Adam,' the GOP leader replied, 'operator next question.' The rest -- a Capitol ransacked, certification halted, five dead -- is history.... [At a National Press Club virtural meeting Monday, Kinzinger said,] 'Liz [Cheney] is being chased out for one thing[:]... Her consistency. She said the same exact thing that Kevin McCarthy said on January 6th, which is Donald Trump is responsible' for the insurrection.... 'the person that should have their leadership challenged is Kevin McCarthy.' [Kinzinger] has been relentless in calling out McCarthy's cowardice."

A Room of His Own. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "Last week, The Fact Checker revealed that the 'room' that [Kevin] McCarthy [said he] rented from prominent pollster Frank Luntz for at least two months was in a 7,000-square-foot space -- a combination of four penthouse apartments. It turns out that the bylaws of the condo building, Clara Barton at Penn Quarter, specifically prohibit condo owners from renting anything less than the entire space -- and for not less than six months.... Besides the 'room' he rented, McCarthy would have had access to a 24/7 concierge, a rooftop pool, a fitness center, a media room, a business center and a party room with a bar and pool table.... The Campaign for Accountability, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, has asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate the McCarthy-Luntz arrangement." Renting out a portion of his $4.3 million condo complex to McCarthy also required Luntz to acquire a business license, which apparently he did not. McCarthy's spokesperson claimed the room he rented was about "400 square feet." MB: That's a very big room. And I didn't know that being a pollster was such a high-paying gig; Luntz claims he lives in L.A., and usually doesn't occupy his D.C. condo.

AP: "The head of the Vatican's doctrine office is warning U.S. bishops to deliberate carefully and minimize divisions before proceeding with a possible plan to rebuke Roman Catholic politicians such as President Joe Biden for receiving Communion even though they support abortion rights. The strong words of caution came in a letter from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed to Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB will convene for a national meeting June 16, with plans to vote on drafting a document on the Communion issue[.]... Ladaria, in his letter, said any new policy 'requires that dialogue occurs in two stages: first among the bishops themselves, and then between bishops and Catholic pro-choice politicians within their jurisdictions.'"

Luisa Beck & Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: "German priests across more than 100 churches have been blessing gay relationships in recent days in a coordinated -- and sometimes live-streamed -- defiance of a Vatican order signed by Pope Francis. For gay Catholics who have long felt marginalized by Catholic teaching, the events are a celebratory moment, marked by sermons on inclusivity and rainbow church decorations. But the events also amount to an open rebellion -- and a test for a pontiff whose tenure has been marked by divisions over hot-button issues, especially the church's stance on homosexuality....The German ceremonies are taking place two months after Francis signed off on a declaration barring priests from blessing same-sex unions.... It marked a jarring message from a pontiff who has generally sought to welcome gays, and who famously said,'Who am I to judge?'" (Also linked yesterday.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Lauren Neergaard & Candice Choi of the AP: "... regulators [at the Food and Drug Administration] on Monday expanded use of Pfizer's [Covid-19] shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall. Shots could begin as soon as a federal vaccine advisory committee issues recommendations for using the two-dose vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds, expected Wednesday." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here.

Eric Levenson of CNN: "About 58% of American adults have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine -- but the rates differ depending on where you look. At the top of the list is Vermont, where 74.5% of adults have had at least one vaccine dose. Every state in the Northeast has given at least one dose to over 60% of its adult residents, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the bottom is Mississippi, where 41.5% of adults have received at least one vaccine dose. Similarly, every state on its border has vaccinated less than half of its adult residents. The contrast between states and regions largely fits along partisan political lines: States that voted Democratic in the most recent presidential election have higher vaccination rates than those that voted Republican. In fact, the 19 states with the highest percentage of vaccinated adults all voted for President Joe Biden. Among the 16 states with the lowest vaccination rates, only Georgia went for Biden, according to the CDC." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hey, Republicans (I'm talking to you, TucKKKer), this is a correlation that is not a coincidence.

** More Fuzzy Math. David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines last month for mask wearing, it announced that 'less than 10 percent' of Covid-19 transmission was occurring outdoors.... But the number is almost certainly misleading.... In truth, the share of transmission that has occurred outdoors seems to be below 1 percent and may be below 0.1 percent, multiple epidemiologists told me.... [The CDC's number] is an example of how the C.D.C. is struggling to communicate effectively, and leaving many people confused about what's truly risky.... They continue to treat outdoor transmission as a major risk.... There is not a single documented Covid infection anywhere in the world from casual outdoor interactions, such as walking past someone on a street or eating at a nearby table."

Kentucky. AP: "Kentuckians aged 18 and up who get their first or second dose [of a Covid-19 vaccine] at a participating Kroger or Walmart can now receive a coupon for a Kentucky lottery ticket. Some 225,000 coupons are available for the Kentucky Cash Ball through May 21, which has a top prize of $225,000. Customers have until June 1 to redeem their coupons. Around 1.86 million Kentucky residents have been vaccinated."

Romania. Vlad the Impaler Offers Covid Shots. Jack Guy & Cristiana Moisescu of CNN: "A Romanian castle said to be the home of Dracula is offering free Covid-19 jabs to visitors as part of a vaccination drive. Bran Castle, in Transylvania, announced its Pfizer BionTech Vaccine Marathon in a Facebook post published Friday. Completed in 1388, the castle sits outside the city of Brasov. It resembles the castle inhabited by Count Dracula, the main character in Irish author Bram Stoker's novel 'Dracula,' published in 1897. Dracula is thought to have been inspired by the bloodthirsty 15th-century ruler Vlad III Dracula, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler, who ordered the brutal torture and killing of tens of thousands of people during his reign."

Beyond the Beltway

Kentucky. Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "Two Louisville police officers whose shots struck and killed Breonna Taylor never should have fired their weapons, a department investigator found -- a conclusion that the force's upper brass partly rejected. Although the officers had a right to protect themselves when Taylor's boyfriend fired at them, the 'circumstances made it unsafe to take a single shot' in response, Sgt. Andrew Meyer wrote in a Dec. 4 memo summarizing his investigation.... The newly released records, first reported by the Courier-Journal, show that then-Chief Yvette Gentry partly rejected the investigator's finding that both officers violated the department's use of deadly force policy during the incident on March 13, 2020. Although Gentry agreed that now-fired Detective Myles Cosgrove breached the rule, she absolved Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly."

New York City Mayoral Race. The New York Times endorses Kathryn Garcia as the Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City's Democratic primary.

Texas. The Man and the Tiger -- An Unusual Entry on the Police Blotter. CNN: So the Houston police were chasing a murder suspect who had a tiger in his car. They caught the guy, but the tiger got away. MB: Uh, you might want to keep small pets & children inside.

Virginia Gubernatorial Race. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Glenn Youngkin, a wealthy first-time candidate who walked a line between his party's Trump-centric base and appeals to business interests, won the Republican nomination for governor of Virginia on Monday. He heads into a general election in one of only two states choosing their governors in 2021, in the latest running of an off-year race often viewed as a referendum on the party holding the White House.... The results were tabulated by Republican officials two days after roughly 30,000 voters cast ranked-choice ballots at 39 locations around the state.... In the sixth round of counting, Mr. Youngkin passed the required 50 percent threshold.... Mr. Youngkin ... will face the winner of the Democratic primary next month. In that race, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe has held a significant lead in fund-raising as well as in recent polls over four rivals." Politico's story is here.

Way Beyond

Marie: I guess it's Big Cat Day:

Hong Kong. James Griffiths of CNN: "A leopard remains on the loose near one of China's biggest cities after three of the big cats escaped a zoo over the busy May Day holiday. Residents living near the Hangzhou Safari Park, which did not inform the public for a week that the leopards had escaped, spotted the wild cats last week and alerted authorities, according to an announcement from the Fuyang District government. Surveillance footage posted online showed one of the leopards walking near the upscale Jinyuan Villa area east of the park on Friday. Search teams were dispatched, and two of the leopards were recovered, the local government said in a statement. It was not until the search was already underway, and seven days since the animals were reportedly first spotted, that the park officially notified the public. According to state-backed The Paper, park staff had initially denied reports any leopards had escaped.... The person in charge of the park was taken into police custody."

Israel. Steve Hendrix & Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "The militant group Hamas fired seven rockets at Jerusalem and dozens more at southern Israel on Monday evening after violent clashes near the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem between Israeli police and Arab protesters left more than 300 Palestinians injured. Israel retaliated for the rocket attacks with airstrikes against the Gaza Strip, killing 20 people, including nine children, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. The Israeli military said three Hamas operatives were among the dead." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Fares Akram & Karin Laub of the AP: "Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early Tuesday, hitting the high-rise home of a Hamas field commander and two border tunnels dug by militants, as Hamas and other armed groups fired dozens of rockets toward Israel. It was an escalation sparked by weeks of tensions in contested Jerusalem. Since sundown Monday when the cross-border fighting erupted, 24 Palestinians - including nine children - were killed in Gaza, most by airstrikes, Gaza health officials said. The Israeli military said 15 of the dead were militants. During the same period, Gaza militants fired more than 200 rockets toward Israel, injuring six Israeli civilians in a direct hit on an apartment building. This was preceded by hours of clashes Monday between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, mainly in Jerusalem but also across the West Bank. More than 700 Palestinians were hurt, including nearly 500 who were treated at hospitals."

News Lede

Guardian: "At least 11 people have died and many more have been wounded in a school shooting in the Russian city of Kazan, Russia's state RIA Novosti news agency has reported. Students were seen jumping from the third floor of the four-storey School No 175, where more than 1,000 pupils are enrolled."