The Commentariat -- February 13, 2021
Morning/Afternoon Updates:
Weird. Mitch McConnell voted not-guilty, but he is now (at 4:10 pm ET) making an impassioned speech outlining the evidence of Trump's guilt. Update: Former Sen. Claire McCaskill explained that this was Mitch trying to get his donor base back.
The Senate voted 57-guilty to 43-not guilty. MB: The only "surprise" I noticed was Richard Burr of N.C., who voted "guilty." The seven Republican senatorss who voted to convict were Burr, Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski, Romney, Sasse & Toomey. All 50 Democratic senators voted to convict.
Moving On. From the Guardian's live updates @ 12:43 pm ET: "Senate minority whip John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota, told the Washington Post that he believes the chamber has reached an agreement to admit Jaime Herrera Beutler's statement into the official record and then move on without calling witnesses, allowing for a swift end to the trial." @ 12:52 pm ET: "Senator Patrick Leahy, who is presiding over the trial, resumed the proceedings by recognizing Bruce Castor, one of Donald Trump's lawyers. Castor said he believed that congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler's testimony, if she were called as a witness, would be consistent with her statement from last month. Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin then read Beutler's statement aloud, and it was added to the official trial record." @ 12:55 pm ET: "With Jaime Herrera Beutler's statement added to the official record, the Senate has now agreed that no witnesses will be called in the impeachment trial. The trial has now moved on to closing arguments from the impeachment managers and Donald Trump's defense lawyers. The trial is expected to conclude with a final vote on acquittal later today." The House managers are delivering their closing arguments.
The New York Times' live analysis is here, and the reporters' comments are much more timely as to what's going on than are its "live updates." The morning got off to a wild start. The Times page includes video of the proceedings, but you can pause the video or turn off the sound if it's intrusive.
The New York Times' live updates of the impeachment trial Saturday are here: "Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, informed colleagues Saturday morning that it was a 'close call,' but he would vote to acquit ... Donald J. Trump on the charge of 'incitement of insurrection' for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to three people familiar with the matter. His decision, revealed in an email to colleagues hours before a vote on the verdict, put to rest weeks of uncertainty and public silence about how Mr. McConnell would judge the former president, and confirmed that it was all but certain that the Senate would acquit Mr. Trump." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Saturday's proceedings are here: "Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Saturday said Democrats would like to subpoena as a witness Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), who tweeted late Friday details of a conversation House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had with Trump while the Jan. 6 attack was ongoing.... Responding angrily, Trump attorney Michael van der Veen said if Democrats were to call one witness, he would call 100." MB: The vote to call witnesses was 55-45 in favor. ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates of Saturday's proceedings are here: "Four Senate Republicans have voted along with the Democrats, giving them more than enough votes to call witnesses: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse. Lindsay Graham changed his vote from no to yes after it was clear the motion would pass." MB: So no way to know when this trial will end. At this point (11 am ET), the Senate still needs to hold a vote on a resolution that lays out the rules for calling witnesses. So we still don't know for sure, for sure that there will be witnesses. We do know that the defense won't be calling 100 witnesses, because 100 is not going to be the resolution's threshold.
Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "In an interview about her newly announced criminal investigation into election interference in Georgia, [Fani] Willis, the [new] district attorney of Fulton County, made it clear that the scope of her inquiry would encompass the pressure campaign on state officials by ... Donald J. Trump as well as the activities of his allies.... She and her office have indicated that the investigation will include Senator Lindsey Graham's phone call to [state attorney general Brad] Raffensperger in November about mail-in ballots; the abrupt removal last month of Byung J. Pak, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, who earned Mr. Trump's enmity for not advancing his debunked assertions about election fraud; and the false claims that Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, made before state legislative committees."
~~~~~~~~~~
Closing arguments in Trump's second impeachment trial are scheduled to begin at 10 am ET today. Unless the Senate votes to call witnesses, the Senate also will vote today. A New York Times what-to-watch-for story is here. ~~~
~~~ Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "Senators are poised to vote on whether Donald Trump will be held accountable for inciting the horrific attack at the Capitol after a speedy trial that laid bare the violence and danger to their own lives and the fragility of the nation's tradition of a peaceful transfer of presidential power. Barely a month since the deadly riot, closing arguments are set for the historic impeachment trial as senators arrive for a rare Saturday session, all under the watch of armed National Guard troops still guarding the iconic building."
** Trump Wouldn't Call Off Rioters Even After McCarthy Asked Him: CNN Website Banner Headline at 7:45 pm ET Friday. Jamie Gangel, et al.: "In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the Capitol was under attack..., Donald Trump said..., 'Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.'... McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump's supporters and begged Trump to call them off.... A furious McCarthy told the President the rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and asked Trump, 'Who the f[uc]k do you think you are talking to?' according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with the call. The newly revealed details of the call, described to CNN by multiple Republicans briefed on it, provide critical insight into the President's state of mind as rioters were overrunning the Capitol.... The Republican members of Congress said the exchange showed Trump had no intention of calling off the rioters even as lawmakers were pleading with him to intervene. Several said it amounted to a dereliction of his presidential duty.... Speaking to the President from inside the besieged Capitol, McCarthy pressed Trump to call off his supporters.... ~~~
~~~ "Trump's comment about the would-be insurrectionists caring more about the election results than McCarthy did was first mentioned by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican from Washington state, in a town hall earlier this week, and was confirmed to CNN by Herrera Beutler and other Republicans briefed on the conversation. 'You have to look at what he did during the insurrection to confirm where his mind was at,' Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans who voted last month to impeach Trump, told CNN. 'That line right there demonstrates to me that either he didn't care, which is impeachable, because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry.... We should never stand for that, for any reason, under any party flag,' she added, voicing her extreme frustration: 'I'm trying really hard not to say the F-word.'" ~~~
~~~ Update. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans to support Donald Trump's impeachment for inciting the Capitol insurrection, pleaded with those close to the former president -- and former vice president Mike Pence -- to come forward and reveal what they know about Trump's conduct. 'To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former Vice President: if you have something to add here, now would be the time,' Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) wrote in a statement released late Friday, on the eve of what is expected to be the Senate's final vote in Trump's impeachment trial.... Herrera Beutler has been telling the McCarthy story since last month, including to her local paper, but it largely went unnoticed and wasn't mentioned in the House's impeachment case against Trump that concluded Thursday.... Late Friday, a Democratic senator cited the [Kevin] McCarthy and [Tommy] Tuberville revelations as a reason to potentially 'suspend' the impeachment trial and seek testimony from both Republican lawmakers. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said House managers could also ask the 'Secret Service to produce for review comms back to White House re VP Pence safety during siege. What did Trump know, and when did he know it?' No other Democratic senators have explicitly called for these steps so far." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here is Herrera Beutler's full statement, which she posted on her Twitter account. It verifies most of CNN's reporting and refutes none of it.
Alana Wise of NPR: "The Senate has voted unanimously to award Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman with a Congressional Gold Medal, the institution's highest civilian honor, for his actions to protect the Congress during the deadly Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. Goodman was greeted in the Senate chamber on Friday with a standing ovation for his actions, which have been praised on both sides of the aisle as heroic and likely life saving. Prior to this week's Senate impeachment hearings, Goodman was already being praised as a hero for steering a mob of pro-Trump extremists away from the Senate chamber on the day of the insurrection. This week, House impeachment managers unveiled previously unseen footage that showed Goodman also redirecting Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican critic of former President Trump, away from an approaching swarm of rioters." The Washington Post's story is here.
Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: During the Q&A session that followed the defense's presentation, [Sen. Mitt] Romney [R-Utah] asked both sides whether Trump had known that Pence was in danger when he criticized his vice president in a tweet at 2:24 p.m. while Pence was being evacuated from the Senate. 'The answer is no,' [Michael] van der Veen responded. [MB: 'At no point was the President* informed that the Vice President was in any danger,' van der Veen added.] Later, [Sen. Bill] Cassidy [R-La.] asked about Trump's tweet and the conversation Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama had had with Trump minutes beforehand, in which, Tuberville said this week, he had told Trump the vice president was being evacuated. Cassidy said Trump's tweet 'suggested President Trump did not care that Vice President Pence was in danger,' asking whether it showed Trump was tolerant of intimidation of Pence. Van der Veen responded that the answer was no, but said that he disputed the facts underlying the question, even though Tuberville's description of the call was recounted on the record to reporters this week. Asked if he was satisfied with the response, Cassidy said, 'Not really..., adding that the call 'obviously wasn't hearsay' [MB: as van der Veen had claimed] because Tuberville had confirmed it." ~~~
~~~ Here's Cassidy's question, van der Veen's weird response, & Jamie Raskin's very apt retort. Well-worth hearing as a good encapsulation of Friday in Trump Impeachment 2.0:
~~~ Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Trump never called Pence to check on his well-being after the attack began. Later in the day, Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, called Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to say that Pence and his team were safe and that once the Capitol was secure, they planned to forge ahead with certifying the election results. Meadows did not object. On the day of the attack -- and even during the insurrection -- Trump kept insisting that Pence had the power to overturn the will of the people and certify the election in favor of himself and Trump. But in fact, in the weeks leading up to the electoral certification, Pence and Short repeatedly explained to Trump and Meadows -- 'at least a dozen times, probably two dozen times,' one official said -- that not only did Pence lack the authority to overturn the election results but he planned to fulfill his duties to the Constitution. Trump's treatment of Pence was widely viewed within the president's orbit as one of the more detestable acts of his presidency, and some aides who have defended Trump through other controversial episodes said they could not stomach how he turned on the vice president -- or how he worked to turn the Republican Party on him, as well."
Fear of Facts. Marie: Bernie goes there. The bloody insurrection would never have happened, of course, if Trump acknowledged the clear-cut answer to the question Sen. Sanders asked. The answer to the critical question is simple, straightforward, and everyone in the room (except, I'll admit, maybe the stupidest senators, Ron Johnson & Mr. Potato Head) knew what it was. But Trump's lawyer Michael van der Veen would not answer. Earlier this week, Trump's attorney Bruce Castor did volunteer the truth that van der Veen dared not say: that voters were "smart enough to pick a new administration if they don't like the old one, and they just did." I suppose van der Veen's indignant response was what he learned in ambulance-chasing seminars: "If you have neither the facts nor the law on your side, pound the table."
Trump Sock Puppets for the Defense. Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "After initially stumbling in its first round of arguments on Tuesday, the latest team [of Trump lawyers] -- either the seventh or eighth to defend Mr. Trump since he became president, depending on your math -- followed the playbook Mr. Trump has long wanted his lawyers to adhere to. They channeled his grievances and aggressively spun, making what-about arguments that tried to cast his own behavior as not so bad when compared with the other side. Democrats found their performance infuriatingly misleading, but it potentially provided the vast majority of Republicans in the Senate opposed to convicting Mr. Trump with talking points they can use to justify their votes....
"By the end of the day Friday, [Michael] van der Veen, a personal injury lawyer from Philadelphia, had emerged as Mr. Trump's primary defender, handling questions from senators, making a series of false and outlandish claims, calling the impeachment a version of 'constitutional cancel culture' and declaring that Friday's proceedings had been his 'most miserable' experience in Washington. Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and the lead House impeachment manager, responded, 'I guess we're sorry, but man, you should have been here on Jan. 6.'...
"In another reminder of his ad hoc approach, Mr. Trump asked associates on Thursday night whether it was too late to add or remove lawyers from the team, as [David] Schoen briefly told the team he was quitting over a debate about how to use the video clips the defense showed on Friday. Mr. Trump called Mr. Schoen and he agreed to rejoin the team, two people briefed on the events said."
Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's lawyers delivered a relatively brief defense of the former president's conduct in his second impeachment trial Friday, accusing House Democrats of staging a politically motivated proceeding in a rebuttal that echoed Trump's misleading claims about the 2020 presidential election. The centerpiece of the Trump attorneys' case was a video that edited together one Democratic official after another using the word 'fight.' While meant to argue that Democrats, too, used potentially violent rhetoric, many of the comments were taken out of context, and none led to incidents of violence. Trump's lawyers used just two 2½ hours of the 16 hours allotted to them for their defense, their brevity underscoring that at least 34 GOP senators are expected to vote to acquit the ex-president and allow him to escape the prospect of being barred from public office." ~~~
~~~ Marie: It's worth noting that a good part of their two-and-a-half hours was taken up with running & re-running the "fight" video, which they set to music. This, even as they alleged -- without evidence, as one says -- that "House managers manipulated evidence and selectively edited footage."
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's lawyers opened and closed their impeachment defense in a span of three hours on Friday, drawing praise from Republicans. Senators then submitted questions to each side. They are expected to vote to convict or acquit Mr. Trump on Saturday. Here are takeaways from the fourth day of Mr. Trump's trial. The Trump defense sounded a lot like Trump himself.... Trump's defense went on the offensive and brought its own videos.... Mr. Trump's defense team delivered a rapid-fire video montage of Democrats saying the word 'fight' in their political speeches, challenging a key House argument that Mr. Trump incited the attack on Jan. 6 by telling his supporters to 'fight' in a speech just before urging them to march to the Capitol."
Daniel Dale, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's lawyers ... made multiple false and misleading claims to bolster their case.... [Defense attorney Michael] Van der Veen claimed that 'the first two messages the President sent via Twitter once the incursion of the Capitol began' urged people to 'stay peaceful' and called for 'no violence.'... This is not true.... Trump's lawyer Bruce Castor claimed that the rioters who stormed the Capitol didn't attend the ex-President's incendiary speech that day, and that this proved the insurrection was a pre-planned attack that wasn't incited by Trump.... It's false that none of the accused Capitol rioters attended Trump's speech beforehand. And ... only a handful of the 200-plus criminal cases indicate that rioters had showed up that day intending to breach the Capitol." And more. ~~~
~~~ Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "As they mounted their defense of the former president on Friday, Donald J. Trump's lawyers made a number of inaccurate or misleading claims about the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, Mr. Trump's remarks, the impeachment process and 2020 election. Many claims were echoes of right-wing talking points popularized on social media or ones that were spread by Mr. Trump himself. Here's a fact check." A number of the lawyers' statements Qiu fact-checks are just flat-out lies. MB: Here's one for which I didn't know the underlying facts:
One of the first people arrested was the leader of antifa. -- Michael van der Veen
This is misleading. Mr. van der Veen was most likely referring to John E. Sullivan, a Utah man who was charged on Jan. 14 with violent entry and disorderly conduct. Mr. Sullivan, an activist..., had previously referred to antifa -- a loosely affiliated group of antifascist activists that has no leader -- on social media, but he has repeatedly denied being a member of the movement. The F.B.I. has said there is no evidence that supporters of the antifa movement had participated in the Capitol siege. -- Linda Qiu
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Whatever you think about Trump's culpability for the Capitol riot, the Trump team's presentation early on was overwhelmingly focused on things that didn't involve him. It was almost 100 percent whataboutism.... To rebut the argument from impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) that Trump had laid a predicate for what became the Jan. 6 riot by predicting a stolen election, Trump's legal team played videos that showed Democrats ... not doing that.... We knew based upon briefs filed by that Trump team that it would lean on the free speech argument, but we didn't know just how absolute it would assert that right is -- especially given that there are well-established limits on such rights in public discourse, including defamation and incitement." MB: If you have a WashPo subscription, definitely read the part about cavalry/calvary. It's a hilarious argument, boiling down to, "No, no, no, she really meant she was bringing the hillsite of the crucifixion, not soldiers on horseback." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Marie: Looks as if Trump's attorneys were pretty wedded to the Christian nature of the Trumpy argument, after all. In his introductory remarks, Trump attorney Michael van der Veen asserted Trump had not committed "incitement to resurrection."
It Was Just a Field Trip to an Historic Site. Or Something. Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Donald Trump's lead impeachment attorney on Friday denied that the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 amounted to an insurrection, a novel claim that contradicts the Justice Department and the broadly accepted version of events. 'Clearly, there was no insurrection,' Bruce Castor told senators as the former president's legal team mounted their first and only day of arguments in the Senate's impeachment trial. Federal indictments against those who participated in the violence at the Capitol referred to the events as an 'insurrection,' and Republican congressional leaders have echoed that characterization." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Defense That Wasn't. Dana Milbank: "The defense ran out of steam after consuming just 2 hours and 40 minutes of their allotted 16 hours. Yet, even in that brief period, they misstated legal precedents. They invented facts. They rewrote history. Trump lawyer Bruce Castor, panned for his rambling opening argument Wednesday, closed the argument Friday by confusing Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.... Presenting the prosecution case, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead impeachment manager, cited Voltaire and Thomas Paine. By contrast, Trump's lawyers repeatedly played videos, set to ominous music, of Democrats (particularly non-White or non-Christian ones) using violent rhetoric.... They neglected to point out that several of the clips were of Democrats calling for a 'fight' against things such as covid-19, not the election results."
Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: “CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Friday afternoon tore into the Trump impeachment lawyers' defense, calling their presentation outright 'stupid' and likening it to a 'Sean Hannity mixtape.'... 'We have months and months and months of the "Big Lie" of the election lie, and today was basically a legal demonstration of whataboutism,' he added. 'What about the time that this congressman said this, the time that this losing candidate said that? Times that there was no violence that followed what they said.'"
"Trump's Taste for Blood." Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "... once Trump got into politics, he realized, with growing intoxication, that the more incendiary he was, the more his fans would cheer.... He was thrilled that he could unleash his mob on the Capitol and its guardians, with rioters smearing blood and feces and yelling Trump's words and going after his targets -- Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence.... Trump not caring about the fate of his vice president was the inevitable sick end of the pairing of the Sociopath and the Sycophant.... Most Republicans, who continue to tremble before Trump even though he devoured and destroyed their party, turning its traditional values upside down, are plumbing new cowardly depths. They are mini-Trumps, making decisions solely on self-interest." ~~~
~~~ Marie: As justice reporter Elie Mystal put it on MSNBC Friday night, "The trouble is -- Cruz, Graham, Rubio -- they're all co-conspirators. They did everything Trump did except try to kill Mike Pence."
Nikki Haley Bets Against the Hawley/Cruz Horse. Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued stunning remarks breaking with former President Trump, telling Politico in an interview published Friday that she believes he 'let us down.... He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again.' Haley's remarks are her strongest yet against the former president in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and come as Trump's legal team is set to present its defense of Trump on Friday in his second Senate impeachment trial." The interview, which is long & rambling, is by Tim Alberta & is published in Politico Magazine. As Alberta points out near the top, "Haley had navigated the Trump era with a singular shrewdness, messaging and maneuvering in ways that kept her in solid standing both with the GOP donor class as well as with the president and his base." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Melanie Is at the Spa Griping about Dr. Jill. Kate Bennett of CNN: "While ... Donald Trump watches his second impeachment trial unfold, Melania Trump spends most of her time post-White House relaxing at the spa and staying out of the fray.... Yet there have been moments of bitterness and regret, say several people with knowledge of Trump's conversations of late, most notably since Joe Biden's inauguration and with respect to the activities of her successor, Jill Biden." Although Melania Trump refused to sit for interviews with popular magazines, she is apparently upset that Jill Biden is getting so much press attention, uh, because she's will to sit for interviews. Also, too, Melania is upset Jill is getting attention for the work she is doing, even though Melania spent the first five months of Donald's presidency in New York. "... the former first lady is not blaming herself in hindsight, she's blaming others -- former staff members, magazine editors, and corporations and foundations...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Maybe Donald & Lindsey Can be Cellmates. Sweet! Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "An Atlanta-area prosecutor plans to scrutinize a post-Election Day phone call between Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as part of a criminal investigation into whether ... Donald Trump or his allies broke Georgia laws while trying to reverse his defeat in the state, according to a person familiar with the probe. The individual ... said the inquiry by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will include an examination of the call Graham ... made to Raffensperger 10 days after the Nov. 3 election.During their conversation, Graham asked the Georgia secretary of state whether he had the power to toss out all mail ballots in certain counties, Raffensperger told The Washington Post in an interview days later. He said Graham appeared to be asking him to improperly find a way to set aside legally cast ballots." ~~~
~~~ So the WashPo story makes this Politico headline an invitation to a joke: "Graham to meet with Trump to talk future of GOP." Maybe their future is on a Georgia chain gang.
Blake Montgomery & Allison Quinn of the Daily Beast: "The Lincoln Project was plunged into even deeper turmoil Thursday, with the anti-Trump group tapping an outsider to investigate its handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a co-founder, and former employees demanding to be released from non-disclosure agreements. On Friday, several more key advisers left the group in the wake of the previous day's scandalous reports.... More than 20 men have accused [Lincoln Project co-founder [John] Weaver of sending unsolicited sexual messages, with some saying he tried to barter his connections for sex; one was underage when Weaver began communicating.... Weaver resigned, but the accusations did not end there. Last weekend, co-founder Jennifer Horn stepped down.... [More accusations back & forth.] On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that leaders of the Lincoln Project learned about allegations against Weaver in the summer...." More accusations; more recriminations; more recriminations. On Friday Kurt Bardella & Tom Nichols resigned. ~~~
~~~ AND Then. Lachlan Markay of Axios: "Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt is resigning from the group's board amid a series of scandals that has rocked the high-dollar anti-Trump super PAC.... Schmidt, a veteran Republican operative, is the latest and most high-profile departure from the group...." A New York Times story is here.
MEANWHILE ~~~
Matt Spetelnick, et al., of Reuters: "President Joe Biden's aides have launched a formal review of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, reviving the Obama-era goal of closing the controversial facility with the aim of doing so before he leaves office, the White House said on Friday. Aides involved in internal discussions are considering an executive action to be signed by Biden in coming weeks or months, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, signaling a new effort to remove what human rights advocates have called a stain on America's global image." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Alexandra Jaffe of the AP: "White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay after he reportedly issued a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that Ducklo's conduct was 'completely unacceptable.' Psaki said while she had not spoken about the incident with President Joe Biden, Ducklo and aides 'at the highest levels' of the White House's communications team had apologized for the incident.... Psaki said in a statement earlier Friday that Ducklo had been suspended without pay with the approval of White House chief of staff Ron Klain. She said Ducklo 'is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out' by Biden, and that Ducklo had sent the reporter in question 'a personal note professing his profound regret.'... On Friday, Vanity Fair published a report citing two unnamed sources that Ducklo had threatened the Politico reporter to try to suppress the story, telling her 'I will destroy you.'" MB: Assuming the Vanity Fair story is true, I would have fired Ducklo. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Laura Meckler of the Washington Post: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that schools can safely open as long as a range of precautions are in place, offering a road map for a return to classrooms that in parts of the country have been shuttered for nearly a year. The much-anticipated guidelines land in the middle of an emotional debate underway in many communities and nationally. Some parents are desperate for schools to reopen, and many experts worry about the impact of remote schooling on children. But many teachers and parents are frightened by the prospect of youths going back. The CDC cited a growing body of evidence that in-person schools can operate safely." The article is free to nonsubscribers.
Josh Boak & Kevin Freking of the AP: "President Joe Biden met with a bipartisan group of governors and mayors at the White House on Friday as part of his push to give financial relief from the coronavirus pandemic to state and local governments -- a clear source of division with Republican lawmakers who view the spending as wasteful. As part of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus package, Biden wants to send $350 billion to state and local governments and tribal governments. While Republicans in Congress have largely objected to this initiative, Biden's push has some GOP support among governors and mayors. 'You folks are all on the front lines and dealing with the crisis since day one,' Biden said at the start of the Oval Office meeting. 'They've been working on their own in many cases.'"
Louisiana. AP: "Crowds have been warned to stay away from New Orleans in the days leading up to Mardi Gras to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Police chief Shaun Ferguson held a news conference Friday with state police and the New Orleans sheriff to drive home the danger of large gatherings, saying a bar closure order that took effect Friday would be enforced through 'Fat Tuesday,' the end of the annual pre-Lenten festivities. All parades in the city have also been canceled. Last year's Mardi Gras celebrations, which normally sees thousands of tourists in the city, are now believed to have contributed to an early surge of infections in Louisiana."
New York State. Jesse McKinley & Luis Ferré-Sadurníof the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his top aides were facing new allegations on Friday that they covered up the scope of the death toll in the state's nursing homes from the coronavirus, after admissions that they withheld data in an effort to forestall potential investigations into state misconduct. The latest revelations came in the wake of private remarks by the governor's top aide, Melissa DeRosa, and a cascading series of reports and court orders that have nearly doubled the state's official toll of nursing home deaths in the last two weeks. The disclosures have left Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, scrambling to contain the political fallout, as lawmakers of both parties call for censure, including stripping the governor of his emergency powers during the pandemic, federal and state investigations and resignations of Ms. DeRosa and other top officials. In a conversation first reported on by the New York Post, Ms. DeRosa told a group of top lawmakers on Wednesday during a call to address the nursing home situation that 'basically, we froze,' after being asked last summer for information by the Trump administration's Department of Justice." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond the Beltway
Italy. Frances D'Emilio of the AP: "Mario Draghi, the man credited with largely saving the euro currency, on Saturday formally took the helm as Italy's premier, after crafting a government that balances economic experts and other technocrats with career politicians from across the spectrum to guide the pandemic-devastated nation toward recovery. Ending weeks of political crisis, Draghi and his Cabinet ministers took their oaths of office in a ceremony at the Quirinal presidential palace in front of President Sergio Mattarella. It was Mattarella who tasked Draghi, a former chief of the European Central Bank as well as of Italy's central bank, with trying to form a government up to managing the COVID-19 health, economic and social crises."
U.K. Brexit Chaos. Peter Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: Proponents of Brexit sold it as a way for the U.K. to take back control of its commerce. Instead, it has created economic chaos. "The trade deal Britain struck late last year with the European Union stopped tariffs from being imposed on goods exchanged across the English Channel, but did not prevent the revival of customs procedures, health and safety checks, value-added taxes on imports, and other time-consuming, commerce-limiting hindrances. Businesses across Britain are now contending with paralyzing confusion and unfamiliar bureaucratic hurdles. Paperwork snafus, customs horrors and other expensive disruptions are intensifying the strains on an economy that was already reeling from the pandemic. On Friday, the Office of National Statistics announced that Britain's economy contracted by nearly 10 percent last year, the worst plunge in centuries." The report details numerous instances of goods stuck at the border. Perishable goods spoil and have to be dumped; half of carriers now cart goods one way & come back empty. "Manufacturers are contending with grave disruptions to their supplies of finished products, components and basic materials."
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