The Commentariat -- February 10, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in Fulton County have initiated a criminal investigation into ... Donald J. Trump's attempts to overturn Georgia's election results, including a phone call he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to 'find' enough votes to help him reverse his loss. On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump's call, according to a state official.... The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters." A CNBC story is here.

Anna Massoglia of Open Secrets: "Newly identified payments in recent Federal Election Commission filings show people involved in organizing the protests on Jan. 6 received even larger sums from Trump's 2020 campaign than previously known. OpenSecrets unearthed more than $3.5 million in direct payments from Trump's 2020 campaign, along with its joint fundraising committees, to people and firms involved in the Washington, D.C. demonstration before a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Recent FEC filings show at least three individuals listed on permit records for the Washington, D.C. demonstration were on the Trump campaign's payroll through Nov. 30, 2020. The Trump campaign paid Event Strategies Inc., a firm named in a permit for the rally that also employed two individuals involved in the demonstration, as recently as Dec. 15, just three weeks before the attacks on the U.S. Capitol. That's according to the most recent FEC filings covering spending through the end of 2020.... But the American public may never know the full extent of the Trump campaign's payments to organizers involved in the protests. That's because the campaign used an opaque payment scheme that concealed details of hundreds of millions of dollars in spending by routing payments through shell companies where the ultimate payee is hidden."

Haley Messenger of NBC News: "Twitter will uphold its ban on ... Donald Trump, even if he were to run for office again, according to the company's chief financial officer. 'When you're removed from the platform, you're removed from the platform,' Twitter CFO Ned Segal told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday morning. 'Our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence,' Segal said. 'He was removed when he was president and there'd be no difference for anybody who's a public official once they've been removed from the service.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "One of the Proud Boys arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol told a court Wednesday that he was duped by ... Donald Trump's 'deception' and 'acted out of the delusional belief' that he was responding patriotically to the commander in chief. Dominic Pezzola, who was indicted last month and charged with conspiracy, urged a federal court to grant his release pending trial, emphasizing that his involvement in the Proud Boys was recent and minimal and that he has no other criminal history. But the most notable part of Pezzola's 15-page motion for leniency was his thorough repudiation of Trump. '[D]efendant acted out of the delusional belief that he was a "patriot" protecting his country ... He was responding to the entreaties of the-then commander in chief, President Trump,' Pezzola's lawyer argued in the filing. 'The President maintained that the election had been stolen and it was the duty of loyal citizens to "stop the steal." Admittedly there was no rational basis for the claim, but it is apparent defendant was one of millions of Americans who were misled by the President's deception.'"

Michigan. Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey apologized Tuesday for calling the US Capitol riot a hoax and espousing several conspiracy theories implicating political leadership in a video recorded and posted to YouTube.... In a statement Tuesday, Shirkey acknowledged the video tape was legitimate and apologized for his comments. 'I said some things in a videoed conversation that are not fitting for the role I am privileged to serve,' he said. 'I own that. I have many flaws. Being passionate coupled with an occasional lapse in restraint of tongue are at least two of them.... 'I regret the words I chose, and I apologize for my insensitive comments.'... 'That wasn't Trump people,' Shirkey said of the January 6 riots in a video taken in a restaurant. 'That's been a hoax from day one, that was all pre-arranged,' Shirkey said, asserting that rioters 'went in on separate buses, that was all arranged by somebody that was funding everyone.... Why wasn't there more security? It was ridiculous, it was all staged,' he continued, before pointing to conspiracy theories that Republican leadership -- including Senate Minority Mitch McConnell -- were somehow involved, and questioning how and why some casualties occurred or were recorded."

Apparently Reality Chex commentators who periodically complain about right-wing bias on NPR just have not been making compelling criticisms. You all should have asked about dinosaurs. ~~~

~~~ "Newsy Things Considered." Mary Kelly of NPR: "An 8-year-old from Minneapolis recently pointed out a big problem with NPR's oldest news show, All Things Considered. Leo Shidla wrote to his local NPR station: 'My name is Leo and I am 8 years old. I listen to All Things Considered in the car with mom. I listen a lot. I never hear much about nature or dinosaurs or things like that. Maybe you should call your show Newsy things Considered, since I don't get to hear about all the things. Or please talk more about dinosaurs and cool things....' Leo has a point. All Things Considered is about to turn 50 years old. NPR's archivists found the word 'dinosaur' appearing in stories 294 times in the show's history. By comparison, 'senator' has appeared 20,447 times. To remedy the situation, All Things Considered invited Leo to ask some questions about dinosaurs to Ashley Poust, a research associate at the San Diego Natural History Museum."

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The Washington Post's live updates of the second day of the second Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump are here: "House managers are scheduled Wednesday to begin laying out their case that Donald Trump incited the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, as the historic second impeachment trial of the former president enters its second day in the Senate. The trial could wrap up as early as the weekend." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates of Wednesday's impeachment trial are here. The Guardian's live updates of the second day of the trial are here. The Senate will convene at noon ET for the trial.

"Lie After Lie." Larry Buchanan, et al., of the New York Times: "In hundreds of public statements from Nov. 4, 2020, to Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump repeatedly used phrases like 'we won the election' and 'won it by a landslide,' and he said that the election was 'rigged' and 'stolen' by the Democrats. Such assertions have been proven false by the courts and elections officials across the country. Mr. Trump's language later signaled to his supporters that they needed to 'fight' because 'you'll never take back our country with weakness.'... Autocratic movements throughout history have been distinguished by leaders repeating lies and suggestions that whip up anger among supporters, [Yale professor] Dr. [Timothy] Snyder said. 'That is exactly what Trump did.'... Dozens of constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum have said the First Amendment claim is 'legally frivolous' and should not stop the Senate from convicting Mr. Trump.... The Times reviewed hundreds of hours of footage from Jan. 6 of protesters, including the rioters that stormed the Capitol, and found evidence of how they mimicked -- and amplified -- Mr. Trump's words." Includes a 38-minute video of Trump's lies about the election results.

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Most Senate Republicans Disavow Constitution, Rule of Law. Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Senate is constitutionally permitted to try Donald Trump on the House's charge that he incited the Jan. 6 insurrection, senators voted Tuesday, sidelining the former president's primary defense in the impeachment case against him. The 56-44 vote permits the impeachment trial to move ahead Wednesday, when the House will present its opening arguments in its uphill effort to win Trump's conviction -- which requires a two-thirds vote of the evenly divided Senate. Six Republicans voted with Democrats to support the ability to try a former president, a case that has won support from legal scholars of all ideologies but that Trump's team said was unconstitutional.... House Democrats opened their case Tuesday to convict Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection with a montage of harrowing scenes of violence wrought by the former president's supporters during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.... The shocking footage -- which included the shooting death of rioter Ashli Babbitt and the assault of numerous police officers -- forced senators to relive the moments when many of them fled the violence, fearing for their own safety." Update: The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

Barbara Sprunt of NPR: "The Republicans who voted for the trial's constitutionality were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Cassidy's vote is notable because he was the only senator to switch sides from an early procedural vote on the trial's constitutionality." Cassidy explains his vote:

Alayna Treene & Glen Johnson of Axios: "The made-through-TV impeachment presentation delivered by House managers presented a gripping narrative for the public but the rambling, legalistic rebuttal Donald Trump's attorneys presented won Tuesday with the pivotal Senate jurors.... The House managers are playing the outside game; they know it's a long shot their prosecution will alter the final result, so they're trying to shift public opinion. Trump's defense is playing an inside game -- they're doing just enough to sustain the votes needed to acquit the former president.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: Lead prosecutor Rep. Jamie "Raskin [D-Md.], who lost his son, Tommy, to suicide the week before the [January 6] rampage, brought the urgency of the matter home with chilling personal detail. Speaking through tears, Mr. Raskin narrated the events of Jan. 6 through his own eyes and those of his daughter and son-in-law, who had accompanied him to the Capitol that day ... and became trapped in an office off the House floor as the rioters flooded the building. He recalled the 'most haunting sound I ever heard' as members of the pro-Trump mob pounded 'like a battering ram' on the doors to the House chamber. 'All around me, people were calling their wives and their husbands, their loved ones to say goodbye,' Mr. Raskin recalled. 'Members of Congress, in the House anyway, were removing their congressional pins so they couldn't be identified by the mob as they tried to escape.' He recounted having apologized to his daughter afterward, saying her next trip to the Capitol would be better, and her reply that she never wanted to return to the building. 'Of all the terrible, brutal things I saw and heard on the day and since then, that one hit me the hardest,' he said. 'Senators, this cannot be our future. This cannot be the future of America. We cannot have presidents inciting and mobilizing mob violence against our government and our institutions because they refuse to accept the will of the people.'"

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "'Winning' the impeachment trial means removing any reasonable doubt in the minds of Americans that... Donald Trump incited a riot, that he let it continue in desperate attempt to keep power and that Republicans simply do not care. The House impeachment managers did a masterful job on all points in their opening arguments on Tuesday.... Let's not forget that the only reason the impeachment, which the House voted on before Trump left office, was not sent to trial immediately was because then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his fellow Republicans stalled. They break the hypocrisy meter by turning around and claiming that the Senate, therefore, cannot try Trump now.... It was obvious why Republican Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rick Scott (Fla.), and Rand Paul (Ky.) cravenly averted their gaze [from the video presentation]: The scenes were so disturbing as to render their defense of the former president a moral abomination. The voices of rioters parroting Trump's incendiary words dismantle the notion that rioters were not motivated by Trump.

"... Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), took the Senate through an air-tight argument citing constitutional language, history, precedent and the views of renowned conservative legal scholars to demonstrate why the defense's argument is preposterous. Add in the bumbling, nearly incoherent presentation from the former president's lawyer, Bruce Castor, and the screeching, partisan harangue from his colleague David Schoen (who seemed to threaten violence if Trump is convicted when he said, 'This trial will tear this country apart, perhaps like we have only seen once before in our history'), and it is easy to see there is no real constitutional objection to trying the case."

~~~ Marie: The most infurating argument Castor made, IMO, was this one: "... the section [of the Constitution] I read..., the judgment, in cases of impeachment..., [is] 'shall not extend further than removal from office.' What is so hard about that? Which of those words are unclear?: 'Shall not extend further than removal from office?' President Trump no longer is in office. The object of the Constitution has been achieved. He was removed by the voters," Castor emphasized, as he read from notes. In fact, that is only half of what the Constitution says about "judgment" for impeachment. Section 3.7 of the Constitution reads, "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States...." Emphasis added. Castor's central argument -- the one his reading of notes suggests he prepared for -- was a flat-out lie.

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times outlines five takeaways from the trial's first day. They sound about right.

Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "The Senate's top Republican will not whip his caucus to vote against the conviction of ... Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection. That's according to Bloomberg, which reported late on Tuesday night that [Mitch] McConnell is signaling to Senate Republicans that he will not be holding them to uniform opposition of the incitement of insurrection charge against Trump. That would free GOP Senators to vote to convict...."

Eli Merritt in a New York Times op-ed: "If the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 were sitting today as jurors in the Senate impeachment trial of ... Donald Trump, one thing seems certain.... Acting with vigor and dispatch, they would cast two near unanimous votes: first, to convict the president of an impeachable offense, and second, to disqualify him from holding future federal office. They would vote in this way, unmoved by partisan passions or the defense's claim that the Senate lacks jurisdiction, because they believed as a matter of civic principle that ethical leadership is the glue that holds a constitutional republic together. It was a principle they lived by and one they infused into every aspect of the Constitution they debated that summer in Philadelphia nearly 234 years ago.... They wrote the language of the impeachment powers with a demagogue like Mr. Trump in mind."

Gabby Orr & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "Cocooned at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump watched as his defense attorneys responded to an emotional presentation by House impeachment managers with a series of dry, technical and at times meandering arguments about due process and the constitutionality of the proceedings. As they droned on, he grew increasingly frustrated with the sharp contrast between their muted response and the prosecution's opening salvo.... 'President Trump was not happy with the performance of his legal team in action,' said one of the people familiar with his thinking. It didn't help that his lead attorney..., Bruce Castor..., referred to Trump as the 'former president,' conceding that he had in fact lost the 2020 election when he was removed by 'smart' voters last November. Trump, according to those familiar with his thinking, saw his legal team's performance as a missed opportunity and also was annoyed by the public criticism of his attorneys." ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump ... was furious [with Bruce Castor's performance], people familiar with his reaction said. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the angriest, Mr. Trump 'was an eight,' one person familiar with his reaction said. And while he was heartened that his other lawyer, [David] Schoen, gave a more spirited performance, Mr. Trump ended the day frustrated and irate, the people familiar with his reaction said." ~~~

     ~~~ Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "Trump was almost screaming as Castor struggled to get at the heart of his defense team's argument, which is supposed to be over the constitutionality of holding a trial for a president no longer in office. Given that the legal team was assembled a little over a week ago, it went as expected, one of the sources told CNN. Still, Trump's allies were flabbergasted when the attorneys switched speaking slots at the last minute."

~~~ AP: "Senate Republicans had sharp criticism for ... Donald Trump's lawyers after the opening of his second impeachment trial. Many said they didn't understand Trump's lawyers' arguments as they sought to persuade the Senate to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds.... Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Trump's staunchest allies, said he didn't think the lawyers did 'the most effective job,' while praising Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Democrats' lead prosecutor, as 'impressive.' Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Castor 'just rambled on and on and on.' Both still voted to dismiss the trial, along with 42 other Republican senators." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A pundit appearing on MSNBC (I was only half-listening, so I don't know who it was) compared Trump's lawyers to mob lawyers who don't put in much of an effort at trial because they know they've already bought the jurors.

The New York Times is liveblogging the first day of Trump's second impeachment trial here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Guardian's liveblog, which also covers other topics, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Rosalind Helderman & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump was 'horrified' when violence broke out at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, as a joint session of Congress convened to confirm that he lost the election, according to his defense attorneys.... But that revisionist history conflicts with the timeline of events on the day of the Capitol riot, as well as accounts of multiple people in contact with the president that day, who have said Trump was initially pleased to see a halt in the counting of the electoral college votes. Some former White House officials have acknowledged that he only belatedly and reluctantly issued calls for peace, after first ignoring public and private entreaties to do so." The report relies on anonymous White House sources, but also cites Sens. Lindsey Graham, Ben Sasse & Mike Lee contradicting assertions Trump was concerned about the violence. "By 1:49 p.m. -- nearly an hour after the Capitol Police chief had urgently requested backup from D.C. police -- Trump remained focused on his recently concluded speech. He tweeted a video of his own remarks, adding the caption, 'Our country has had enough, we will not take it anymore, and that's what this is all about.'... At 2:24 p.m., [13 minutes after his supporters breached the building,] Trump tweeted: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution ... USA demands the truth.'... While Trump's defense attorneys claim he and the White House 'took immediate steps to coordinate with authorities,' the president played no known role in organizing reinforcements that day." (Also linked yesterday.)

Hayley Miller of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump falsely claimed more than 100 times that Democrats had 'rigged' or 'stolen' the 2020 election ahead of January's deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, a HuffPost analysis found.... He made claims of voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities more than 250 times, specifically making baseless claims that voting machines tossed or changed votes at least 45 times.... Trump falsely declared victory at least 40 times, often claiming he won in a "landslide." He peddled these nuggets of disinformation during press conferences and rallies watched by millions of people, or on Twitter to his more than 88 million followers." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Ambulance-Chaser -- The Crazy Eddie of Philly. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Last year, Philadelphia lawyer Michael T. van der Veen filed a lawsuit against ... Donald Trump accusing him of making 'repeated claims' that mail voting is ripe with fraud 'despite having no evidence in support of these claims.' This week, van der Veen is adopting a different posture as part of the team of attorneys defending Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in his Senate impeachment trial. How a longtime personal-injury lawyer found himself at the center of that trial, which opened Tuesday, may say more about his client than his own legal career. Trump struggled to find lawyers to take on his case, parting ways with several who were unwilling to claim that the 2020 election was stolen, as the president is said to have wanted them to do.... In Philadelphia, van der Veen is best-known for his law firm's ubiquitous ads on local news radio station KYW-AM, which are reminiscent of East Coast electronics chain Crazy Eddie's high-octane TV pitches from the 1980s." ~~~

He [Michael van der Veen] also defended a college student who was prosecuted for trying to hack into an IRS database to obtain Trump's tax records. That student saying Mr. van der Veen described Trump to him as a quote, 'f---ing crook,' but he didn't just say 'F', apparently, he said it for real. And now, that man represents Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. -- Rachel Maddow, Tuesday evening

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A big difference between the second and first impeachment trials of Donald J. Trump is the sound of (relative) silence. The former president is muzzled on social media, and his allies were putting up a scattered defense of him on Tuesday. Even those willing to step forward have, for the most part, abandoned his false claim that the election was stolen, and were defending him on narrow legal or constitutional grounds.... His biggest booster Tuesday morning was ... Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.... 'The Capitol attack was planned and organized, NOT incited in the moment by President Trump, and NO Republican Member was involved," Ms. Greene, who described Jan. 6 as '1776 Day' before the riot, wrote on Twitter. 'We were ALL victims that day. And once again, Trump is the victim of the never ending hate fueled witch hunt.'" ~~~

~~~ Yeah, Well, There's This Guy. Steve Neavling of the Detroit Metro Times: "Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey suggested the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a 'hoax' perpetuated by opponents of ... Donald Trump. The state Senate's top Republican made the bizarre and unfounded claim in a video-recorded meeting at a diner last week with leaders of the Hillsdale County Republican Party, who were discussing censuring him for not taking a bold enough stand against Democrats. 'That wasn't Trump's people. That's been a hoax from day one. That was all prearranged,' Shirkey, a Clarklake Republican, said of the riot. 'It was arranged by somebody who was funding it. ... It was all staged.' There's no evidence that anyone but Trump supporters were behind the riot."

Antonia Farzan of the Washington Post: As Trump's impeachment trial got underway, Palm Beach's town council members debated whether or not Trump could legally take up permanent residence at Mar-a-Lardo. The argument seemed to go in his favor as the town attorney John 'Skip' Randolph submitted a memo opining that Trump's final agreement with the town "did not incorporate a direct prohibition on former President Trump residing at the Club." The council did not make a final decision.

Simon Shuster of Time: "'Let these investigations go forward,' Rudy Giuliani told the presidential headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine, his voice turning impatient. 'Get someone to investigate this.' On the other end of the line, hunched over a speakerphone, two Ukrainian officials listened in disbelief as Giuliani demanded probes that could help his client... Donald Trump, win another term in office. The 40-minute call, a transcript of which was obtained by Time, provides the clearest picture yet of Giuliani's attempts to pressure the Ukrainians on Trump's behalf.... [Giuliani] toggled between veiled threats -- 'Be careful,' he warned repeatedly -- and promises to help improve Ukraine's relations with Trump.... For a year and half, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his aides said little about their interactions with Giuliani, not wanting to anger an emissary of the U.S. President. But now..., the Ukrainians have begun to speak up about the circumstances that led to [Trump's] first [impeachment]. They are also taking steps that could imperil Giuliani and his Ukrainian allies."

Kristen Holmes of CNN: "Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has told those close to him he wants to stay in his role under the new president, two sources tell CNN, despite his troubled tenure at the helm of the US Postal Service and his background as a supporter and donor to ... Donald Trump. President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to remove DeJoy, however, amid months of complaints over mail delivery delays -- including prescription drugs.... The President does not have the power to remove the Postmaster General. Only the Postal Service Board of Governors -- which is comprised of members nominated by the President and confirmed in the Senate -- has the power to do so, and DeJoy continues to have the support of the Trump-appointed board. But Biden has the power to nominate members of the board and to send them to the Senate -- now led by Democrats -- for confirmation. Some lawmakers want Biden to go beyond filling empty seats, and take drastic action by firing the entire board." (Also linked yesterday.)

Meanwhile, Back at the White House

Jim Tankersley, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden on Tuesday pressed business leaders to back his $1.9 trillion economic aid package, but received no public declarations of support for a $15 minimum wage that is part of the legislation and that the president has said is vital to providing relief for struggling Americans. Mr. Biden hosted a group including the top executives of Walmart, Gap Inc. and JPMorgan Chase in the Oval Office as part of his push to rally support for his American Rescue Plan, which the House Education and Labor Committee began debating on Tuesday. But some of the attendees, including Doug McMillon of Walmart and the chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, have said they oppose Mr. Biden's proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour from $7.25. The president acknowledged some disagreements, telling reporters before the meeting that 'we're approaching this issue to see if we can find some common ground.'"

Natasha Bertrand and Daniel Lippman of Politico: President Biden & his national security staff now have access to Donald Trump's secret phone calls with Vladimir Putin. "'It is a national security priority to find out what Trump said to Putin' over his four years in office, said one former national security official who is close to the new president. 'Some things, like what happened in some face-to-face meetings where no American translator or note-taker was present, may never be fully known. But I would be very surprised if the new national security team were not trying to access' the call records."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here: "A team of World Health Organization scientists said on Tuesday in China that the coronavirus had probably first spread to humans through an animal and was 'extremely unlikely' to have been the result of a lab accident. The findings, delivered after 12 days of field work by the team visiting Wuhan, China, were the first step in a painstaking process to trace the pandemic's origins, a question that is critical to helping prevent a recurrence." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "The pilot carrying NBA star Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and six other people didn't follow his training after flying into clouds and likely became disoriented, federal safety investigators said Tuesday. Pilot Ara Zobayan should have steadied the helicopter, climbed slowly and declared an emergency to get help from air traffic controllers, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said Tuesday. But the investigation into the crash found that he didn't take those steps. Once he was in the clouds, the investigators said Zobayan likely became disoriented as he lost visual references, thinking he was climbing when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside. Federal safety investigators were meeting Tuesday to determine the likely reason a helicopter carrying Bryant plunged into a Los Angeles County hillside last year." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Minnesota. Mohamed Ibrahim & Gretchen Ehlke of the AP: "A 67-year-old man whom authorities said was unhappy with the health care he'd received opened fire at a clinic Tuesday and injured five people, and bomb technicians were investigating a suspicious device left there and others at a motel where he was staying. All five victims were rushed to the hospital. Three remained in stable but critical condition on Tuesday evening, and a fourth had been discharged. The condition of the fifth victim was not immediately known. The attack happened Tuesday morning at an Allina clinic in Buffalo, a community of about 15,000 people roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis. Authorities said Gregory Paul Ulrich, of Buffalo, opened fire at the facility and was arrested before noon." ~~~

     ~~~ New Lede: "A 67-year-old man unhappy with the health care he'd received opened fire at a clinic Tuesday, killing one person and wounding four others, and bomb technicians were investigating a suspicious device left there and others at a motel where he was staying, authorities said."

News Lede

Huffington Post: "Larry Flynt, the founder of Hustler magazine who oversaw a massive porn empire, died Wednesday, according to several media reports. He was 78."

The Commentariat -- February 9, 2021

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times is liveblogging the first day of Trump's second impeachment trial here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Guardian's liveblog, which also covers other topics, is here.

Rosalind Helderman & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump was 'horrified' when violence broke out at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, as a joint session of Congress convened to confirm that he lost the election, according to his defense attorneys.... But that revisionist history conflicts with the timeline of events on the day of the Capitol riot, as well as accounts of multiple people in contact with the president that day, who have said Trump was initially pleased to see a halt in the counting of the electoral college votes. Some former White House officials have acknowledged that he only belatedly and reluctantly issued calls for peace, after first ignoring public and private entreaties to do so." The report relies on anonymous White House sources, but also cites Sens. Lindsey Graham, Ben Sasse & Mike Lee contradicting assertions Trump was concerned about the violence. "By 1:49 p.m. -- nearly an hour after the Capitol Police chief had urgently requested backup from D.C. police -- Trump remained focused on his recently concluded speech. He tweeted a video of his own remarks, adding the caption, 'Our country has had enough, we will not take it anymore, and that's what this is all about.'... At 2:24 p.m., [13 minutes after his supporters breached the building,] Trump tweeted: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution ... USA demands the truth.'... While Trump's defense attorneys claim he and the White House 'took immediate steps to coordinate with authorities,' the president played no known role in organizing reinforcements that day."

Hayley Miller of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump falsely claimed more than 100 times that Democrats had 'rigged' or 'stolen' the 2020 election ahead of January's deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, a HuffPost analysis found.... He made claims of voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities more than 250 times, specifically making baseless claims that voting machines tossed or changed votes at least 45 times....Trump falsely declared victory at least 40 times, often claiming he won in a 'landslide.' He peddled these nuggets of disinformation during press conferences and rallies watched by millions of people, or on Twitter to his more than 88 million followers."

Kristen Holmes of CNN: "Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has told those close to him he wants to stay in his role under the new president, two sources tell CNN, despite his troubled tenure at the helm of the US Postal Service and his background as a supporter and donor to ... Donald Trump. President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to remove DeJoy, however, amid months of complaints over mail delivery delays -- including prescription drugs.... The President does not have the power to remove the Postmaster General. Only the Postal Service Board of Governors -- which is comprised of members nominated by the President and confirmed in the Senate -- has the power to do so, and DeJoy continues to have the support of the Trump-appointed board. But Biden has the power to nominate members of the board and to send them to the Senate -- now led by Democrats -- for confirmation. Some lawmakers want Biden to go beyond filling empty seats, and take drastic action by firing the entire board."

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here: "A team of World Health Organization scientists said on Tuesday in China that the coronavirus had probably first spread to humans through an animal and was 'extremely unlikely' to have been the result of a lab accident. The findings, delivered after 12 days of field work by the team visiting Wuhan, China, were the first step in a painstaking process to trace the pandemic's origins, a question that is critical to helping prevent a recurrence"

Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "The pilot carrying NBA star Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and six other people didn't follow his training after flying into clouds and likely became disoriented, federal safety investigators said Tuesday. Pilot Ara Zobayan should have steadied the helicopter, climbed slowly and declared an emergency to get help from air traffic controllers, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said Tuesday. But the investigation into the crash found that he didn't take those steps. Once he was in the clouds, the investigators said Zobayan likely became disoriented as he lost visual references, thinking he was climbing when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside. Federal safety investigators were meeting Tuesday to determine the likely reason a helicopter carrying Bryant plunged into a Los Angeles County hillside last year." The AP's story is here.

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John Hudson of the Washington Post: "President Biden instructed the State Department on Monday to reengage with the United Nations Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from it nearly three years ago because of frustrations that the council repeatedly criticized Israel. In explaining the decision, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ... Donald Trump's withdrawal from the U.N. body in June 2018 'did nothing to encourage meaningful change, but instead created a vacuum of U.S. leadership, which countries with authoritarian agendas have used to their advantage.'"

Jim Tankersley & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The early weeks of the Biden administration have brought a surge of support, in the White House and across party lines in Congress, for what could be the most ambitious effort in a generation to reduce child poverty. The plans vary in duration, design and the amount they would add to the federal debt, but they share a new and central premise in the policy debate over how to help the poor: that sending monthly payments through tax credits to parents, even if they do not earn income from work, is the best way to help feed, clothe and house children from low-income families." ~~~

~~~ Jason DeParle of the New York Times: "Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour -- a proposal included in the package of relief measures being pushed by President Biden -- would add $54 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office concluded on Monday. Normally, a prediction of increased debt might harm the plan's political chances. But proponents of the wage hike seized on the forecast as evidence that the hotly contested proposal could survive a procedural challenge under the Senate's arcane rules. Democrats are trying to add the measure to a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package that is advancing through a process called budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority rather than the 60-vote margin to overcome a filibuster. But reconciliation is reserved for matters with a significant budgetary effect. Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said the forecast of an increased deficit showed that the measure passed the test." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, Robert Reich, an economist & former secretary of labor, appeared on one of the cable networks to question the CBO's findings; he opined the CBO must not have taken into account the increased taxes higher wage-earners would pay & would generate by their increased purchasing power.

Get Out! Evan Perez & Christina Carrega of CNN: "The Justice Department, as soon as Tuesday, is expected to ask US attorneys appointed by ... Donald Trump to submit their resignations, a turnover expected to spare two top prosecutors in Delaware and Connecticut overseeing two sensitive Trump-era investigations, a senior Justice Department official said. In a call Monday night, acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson asked Delaware US Attorney David Weiss to remain in office, where he is overseeing the tax probe of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son. John Durham, appointed as special counsel by former Attorney General William Barr to reinvestigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, will also continue his work, but he is expected to resign as US attorney in Connecticut, the Justice official said. The resignation request is expected to apply to 56 Senate-confirmed US attorneys appointed by Trump."

Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Monday confirmed Denis McDonough as President Biden's Veterans Affairs secretary, choosing a non-veteran but a manager with years of government service to lead the sprawling health and benefits agency. McDonough, 51, was chief of staff during Barack Obama's second term and held senior roles on the National Security Council and on Capitol Hill before that. He told senators at his confirmation hearing that although he is not a veteran, his long career as a behind-the-scenes troubleshooter and policymaker would serve him well at the Department of Veterans Affairs, a massive bureaucracy beset by multiple challenges.... McDonough was confirmed on an 87-to-7 vote."

Natasha Korecki of Politico: "Impeachment? What impeachment? The Biden team has shut down question after question about where Biden stands on this week's trial, even with its massive historical, constitutional and political ramifications. On Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki wouldn't even say whether the president would receive daily updates on the trial's progress." ~~~

Mike DeBonis & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "The House managers prosecuting the case against Trump responded [to a brief by Trump's lawyers], vowing to prove their case in the coming days.... 'The evidence of President Trump's conduct is overwhelming,' the managers wrote. 'He has no valid excuse or defense for his actions.... President Trump violated his Oath of Office and betrayed the American people.'... In their brief filing Monday, the managers blasted [the Trump lawyers'] free-speech argument as 'utterly baseless,' responding that Trump's false claims and incendiary rhetoric were entitled to no such protection. 'When President Trump demanded that the armed, angry crowd at his Save America Rally "fight like hell" or "you're not going to have a country anymore," he wasn't urging them to form political action committees about "election security in general,"' they said, quoting the Trump defense's words. In sum, the managers wrote: 'The House did not impeach President Trump because he expressed an unpopular political opinion. It impeached him because he willfully incited violent insurrection against the government.'"

New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's lawyers on Monday denounced the impeachment case against him as partisan 'political theater,' arguing on the eve of the Senate's trial that he bore no responsibility for the deadly assault on the Capitol and that trying a former president at all was unconstitutional. In a 78-page brief submitted to the Senate, the lawyers asserted that Mr. Trump's speech just before the attack 'did not direct anyone to commit unlawful actions,' and that he deserved no blame for the conduct of a 'small group of criminals' who rioted at the Capitol on Jan 6. after he had urged them to 'fight like hell' against his election loss. They also insisted that the Senate 'lacks jurisdiction' to try him at all because he was now a private citizen, calling such an effort 'patently ridiculous.'" The item is part of the Times' impeachment live blog Monday. Politico's story is here and also includes a link to the brief Trump's lawyers submitted to the Senate. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Trump's Brief Is Bull. Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "Similar to the House Impeachment Managers' pre-trial filing, the [Trump lawyers'] brief relied heavily on a highly-regarded 2001 academic article on late impeachments by Michigan State University law professor Brian Kalt. Unfortunately for Trump's attorneys, Kalt -- who is widely viewed as the leading expert in constitutional law dealing with the presidency, presidential pardons, impeachment, succession, and the 25th Amendment -- immediately responded to the memo by saying it repeatedly distorted and misrepresented his work.... [Kalt's] 133-page article ... is an exhaustive analysis of the history and law relevant to the issue which ultimately concludes that there is a 'solid basis' for post-presidential impeachments.... [After citing some specific examples,] Kalt went on to say that there are 'multiple examples of such flat-out misrepresentations' in the Trump memo, highlighting 'the worst' such instance as the contention that his work espoused the theory that 'when a president is no longer in office, the objective of an impeachment ceases,' a notion expressly rejected as 'deeply flawed' in the article.... In an email to Law&Crime, Kalt said the misrepresentation of his work tainted the credibility of Trump's attorneys before the trial has even begun."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate leadership announced on Monday that they have reached a deal on the framework for former President Trump''s impeachment trial, which will start on Tuesday. 'For the information of the Senate, the Republican leader and I, in consultation with both the House managers and Former President Trump's lawyers, have agreed to a bipartisan resolution to govern the structure and timing of the impending trial,' Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said from the Senate floor.... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) confirmed on the Senate floor that they have reached a deal, noting that it 'preserves due process and the rights of both sides.'... Under the deal, the Senate will debate and vote on Tuesday on whether the trial is constitutional. The effort to declare the trial unconstitutional will fall short after Rand Paul (R-Ky.) forced a vote on the issue late last month. Forty-four GOP senators supported his effort. Opening arguments will start on Wednesday. Under the deal, the House impeachment managers and Trump's team will have 16 hours over two days each to present their case to the Senate.... The deal also leaves the door open to calling witnesses." The Washington Post's story, which gives more of an idea of what to expect, is here. ~~~

~~~ Ali Zaslav, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's lawyer David Schoen is withdrawing his request to not hold the impeachment trial on the Jewish Sabbath, according to a person familiar with trial planning, which had altered the likely schedule for the proceedings. In a letter written to Sens. Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, Schoen wrote, 'Based on adjustments that have been made on the President's defense team, I am writing today to withdraw my request so that the proceedings can go forward as originally contemplated before I made my request. I will not participate during the Sabbath; but the role I would have played will be fully covered to the satisfaction of the defense team.'... This will likely lead to a change in the trial schedule laid out in the resolution that was slated to be passed Tuesday. Text for the resolution, which set the parameters for the trial's length and schedule, included language to pause the trial on Friday evening and resume on Sunday afternoon." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Couldn't find a print story on this, but Rachel Maddow reported last night that Trump has added an ambulance-chaser -- a/k/a personal injury lawyer -- to his impeachment defense team. For you kidz thinking of becoming lawyers, the defense in the Second Impeachment Trial of Donald J. Trump will probably provide a living classroom example of how not to lawyer. They've already written one brief in which they misspelled "United States" in the heading, another in which they extensively misrepresent a prominent legal scholar's writing in order to put forth a spurious Constitutional argument, and have changed the schedule of trial -- twice -- for personal reasons. It can only get worse. Take notes.

Jim Acosta & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... Donald Trump has been reaching out to aides and advisers to discuss his upcoming Senate impeachment trial, sources familiar with the conversations said, with one of those sources saying Trump thinks there won't be enough Republican senators who'll vote to convict him.... Since leaving office, Trump has been fixated on punishing GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach him in the House.... Ten Republicans, including [Liz] Cheney [Wyo.], voted to impeach Trump. One Trump adviser said the ex-President is seeking what he sees as 'accountability' for Republican House members who turned 'against the people.' The adviser acknowledged that was a twisted view of reality as Trump was the one who was actively attempting to overturn the will of the voters.... Former Trump aides recall the then-President having enjoyed the spectacle created by the riot at the Capitol. Trump was 'loving watching the Capitol mob,' one former senior White House official said." Emphasis added.

Karen Heller of the Washington Post profiles Bruce Castor, one of Trump's top impeachment attorneys and "a magnet for controversy." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "The office of Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, on Monday started an investigation into ... Donald J. Trump's attempts to overturn the state's election results, including a phone call he made to Mr. Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to 'find' enough votes to reverse his loss. Such inquiries are 'fact-finding and administrative in nature,' the secretary's office said, and are a routine step when complaints are received about electoral matters. Findings are typically brought before the Republican-controlled state board of elections, which decides whether to refer them for prosecution to the state attorney general or another agency. The move comes as Fani Willis, the Democratic district attorney of Fulton County, which encompasses much of Atlanta, is weighing whether to begin a criminal inquiry of her own.... The January call was one of several attempts Mr. Trump made to try to persuade top Republican officials in the state to uncover instances of voting fraud that might change the outcome, despite the insistence of voting officials that there was no widespread fraud to be found." Reuters' story is here.

Alanna Richer & Michael Balsamo of the AP: "A man who authorities say is a leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and helped to organize a ring of other extremists and led them in the attack last month at the U.S. Capitol has held a top-secret security clearance for decades and previously worked for the FBI, his attorney said Monday. Thomas Caldwell, who authorities believe holds a leadership role in the extremist group, worked as a section chief for the FBI from 2009 to 2010 after retiring from the Navy, his lawyer, Thomas Plofchan, wrote in a motion urging the judge to release him from jail while he awaits trial. The defense said Caldwell, who has denied being part of the Oath Keepers, has held a top-secret security clearance since 1979, which required multiple special background investigations, according to Plofchan. Caldwell also ran a consulting firm that did classified work for the U.S. government, the lawyer said." MB: If this is true, what kind of "background checks" is the FBI doing on its own employees & contractors?

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal magistrate judge in Seattle on Monday ordered the release of top Proud Boys organizer Ethan Nordean, rejecting prosecutors' call to detain him pending trial for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Nordean, who went by the alias Rufio Panman, was charged with destruction of government property, as well as a series of lower level charges for trespassing on Capitol Grounds. The government described him as a flight risk -- a passport with someone else's name was found on his bedside dresser -- and a danger to the community. But Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida agreed to release Nordean with a series of conditions, including limiting his travel to within the Seattle area, imposing a curfew and requiring him to follow local Covid masking rules.... Prosecutors say they intend to appeal the ruling and seek a stay of Tsuchida's order. Tsuchida agreed to stay the effect of his decision once they file their appeal."

** "The Republican Party Has It's Own Domestic Army." David Kirkpatrick & Mike McIntire of the New York Times: "Following signals from ... Donald J. Trump -- who had tweeted 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' after a ... show of force in Lansing -- Michigan's Republican Party last year welcomed the support of newly emboldened paramilitary groups and other vigilantes. Prominent party members formed bonds with militias or gave tacit approval to armed activists using intimidation in a series of rallies and confrontations around the state. That intrusion into the Statehouse now looks like a portent of the assault halfway across the country months later at the United States Capitol. As the Senate on Tuesday begins the impeachment trial of Mr. Trump on charges of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol rioting, what happened in Michigan helps explain how, under his influence, party leaders aligned themselves with a culture of militancy to pursue political goals.... The Republican alliance with paramilitary groups shows how difficult it may be for the national party to extricate itself from the shadow of the former president and his appeal to this aggressive segment of its base." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is the most unsettling story I've read in a long time. Charles Pierce's "laboratories of democracy," in at least one case (and I'd guess more) are actually "laboratories of sedition." The Civil War of the 19th century was confined largely to a section of the country; the civil war of the 21st century is bubbling up in every state. And it exists at every level of government, from the ex-president* on down to beat cops. The Republican party, here and there, is a domestic terrorist organization. The fact that the majority of GOP members of the House of Representatives & the vast majority of GOP U.S. senators won't acknowledge that is all the evidence you need. Pretending this is business as usual is a nonsustainable fantasy. I admit it; it's worse than I thought.

Manafort Is Granted Another Get-out-of-Jail Card. Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's attempt to prosecute ... Donald Trump's 2016 campaign chairman was dealt a final blow when New York's highest court said quietly last week it would not review lower court rulings on the case. The court's decision brings to an end the district attorney's quest to ensure that the campaign chairman, Paul J. Manafort, will face state charges for mortgage fraud and other state felonies, crimes similar to those for which he was convicted in federal court and then pardoned by Mr. Trump. When the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat, first brought charges against Mr. Manafort in March 2019, it was widely understood that he was doing so to make sure that Mr. Manafort would face prosecution even if Mr. Trump decided to pardon him.... In October, a New York appeals court found that Mr. Vance's efforts to try Mr. Manafort violated the state's double jeopardy law.... It is possible, though unlikely, that Mr. Manafort may still face federal charges. Last month, Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor from the special counsel's office, argued that the wording of Mr. Trump's pardons had been 'oddly' drafted. Rather than relieving those who had been pardoned from all potential liability for their actions, Mr. Weissmann argued, the language only narrowly covered their convictions.... That might leave the door open to new charges, including on crimes that Mr. Manafort admitted he was guilty of as part of a plea deal." A CNBC story is here.

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "David Correia, whose business ties to Rudolph W. Giuliani had drawn scrutiny, was sentenced Monday to a year in prison for defrauding investors of an insurance start-up that paid the former New York mayor hundreds of thousands of dollars for consulting work while he was ... Donald Trump's lawyer. Correia pleaded guilty in October to duping investors in Fraud Guarantee, the business he started with Giuliani's former associate Lev Parnas. The firm offered fraud protection and 'risk management tools' to other companies, but prosecutors say it was never operational and that, instead, Correia and Parnas used over $2 million in investment capital for personal expenses."

Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), a fixture of the Senate who chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced Monday that he will retire when his term ends in 2022. Shelby, 86, was first elected to the House in 1978 as a Democrat and won election to the Senate in 1986. He switched parties to become a Republican in 1994. Shelby has been a master of steering projects to his home state and also adept at cutting deals with Democrats. He becomes the fourth Senate Republican to announce his retirement in 2022, and the race to replace him will become another test for the direction of the GOP in the post-Trump era." The New York Times' story is here. The Week has an item here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News About Women Who Have Fucked Donald Trump
(Forgive My Indelicacy)

DOJ Drops "Melanie's Revenge" Suit. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department on Monday dropped a lawsuit that asserted that a former senior aide to Melania Trump violated a White House nondisclosure agreement by publishing a tell-all memoir about the former first lady. The department's Civil Division gave no reason for the decision to voluntarily dismiss the suit, brought in October, against Stephanie Winston Wolkoff.... The lawsuit filed under the Trump administration had also sought to seize the profits of Wolkoff's book."

Jim Mustian of the AP: In his new podcast, former Trump consigliere Michael Cohen interviews Stormy Daniels. Describing her sexual encounter with Trump, a memory she said she had repressed for years, Daniels called it "the worst 90 seconds of my life, for sure, because it just made me hate myself." At one point preceding the brief moment of torture, Daniels said she considered a way to escape; "I could definitely outrun him," she thought. Thanks to unwashed for the lead.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Every day the Washington Post posts on its online front page the number of Americans who have received at least one dose of the vaccination. You don't need a subscription, of course, to check it out.

Gregory Wallace & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will quarantine for 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive for Covid-19, department chief of staff Laura Schiller said in a statement. Schiller's statement says the agent has been in 'close contact' with Buttigieg as recently as Monday morning. Buttigieg tested negative Monday and has not shown any symptoms, the statement said."

Paulina Firozi & Dave Wiegel of the Washington Post: "Rep. Ron Wright (R-Tex.), who had received cancer treatment for years, died Sunday after being hospitalized with covid-19. He was 67.... Wright had announced on Jan. 21 that he tested positive for the coronavirus 'after coming in contact with an individual with the virus last week.' He is the first sitting member of Congress to die after battling covid-19." CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Ivan Pereira of ABC News: "A hacker allegedly took control over a Florida water treatment facility's computer and attempted to tamper with the water supply, investigators said. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a news conference that an 'awful intrusion' into the computer system at Oldsmar's water treatment plant took place Friday afternoon. The computer system, which had remote access capabilities, controls the chemicals and other operations, and a plant manager noticed that someone was raising the levels of sodium hydroxide [i.e., lye] from about 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million, Gualtieri said.... The plant manager who noticed the three to five-minute hack acted quickly to prevent serious damage to the water, Gualtieri said."

News Lede

New York Times: "Mary Wilson, a founding member of the Supremes, the trailblazing group from the 1960s that spun up 12 No. 1 singles on the musical charts and was key to Motown's legendary sound, died on Monday at her home in Henderson, Nev. She was 76."

The Commentariat -- February 8, 2021

Afternoon Update:

New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's lawyers on Monday denounced the impeachment case against him as partisan 'political theater,' arguing on the eve of the Senate's trial that he bore no responsibility for the deadly assault on the Capitol and that trying a former president at all was unconstitutional. In a 78-page brief submitted to the Senate, the lawyers asserted that Mr. Trump's speech just before the attack 'did not direct anyone to commit unlawful actions,' and that he deserved no blame for the conduct of a 'small group of criminals' who rioted at the Capitol on Jan 6. after he had urged them to 'fight like hell' against his election loss. They also insisted that the Senate 'lacks jurisdiction' to try him at all because he was now a private citizen, calling such an effort 'patently ridiculous.'" The item is part of the Times' impeachment live blog Monday. Politico's story is here and also includes a link to the brief by Trump's lawyers.

Karen Heller of the Washington Post profiles Bruce Castor, one of Trump's top impeachment attorneys and "a magnet for controversy."

Paulina Firozi & Dave Wiegel of the Washington Post: "Rep. Ron Wright (R-Tex.), who had received cancer treatment for years, died Sunday after being hospitalized with covid-19. He was 67.... Wright had announced on Jan. 21 that he tested positive for the coronavirus 'after coming in contact with an individual with the virus last week.' He is the first sitting member of Congress to die after battling covid-19." CNN's story is here.

Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), a fixture of the Senate who chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced Monday that he will retire when his term ends in 2022. Shelby, 86, was first elected to the House in 1978 as a Democrat and won election to the Senate in 1986. He switched parties to become a Republican in 1994. Shelby has been a master of steering projects to his home state and also adept at cutting deals with Democrats. He becomes the fourth Senate Republican to announce his retirement in 2022, and the race to replace him will become another test for the direction of the GOP in the post-Trump era." The New York Times' story is here. The Week has an item here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: Never thought I'd get to use this graphic again: ~~~

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "When the House impeachment managers prosecute ... Donald J. Trump this week for inciting the Capitol attack, they plan to mount a fast-paced and cinematic case aimed at rekindling the outrage lawmakers experienced themselves on Jan. 6, in arguments delivered from the scene of the invasion. Armed with lessons from the first impeachment trial of Mr. Trump, when even Democratic senators complained the arguments were repetitive and sometimes sanctimonious, the prosecutors managing his second are prepared to complete the proceeding in as little as a week, forgo distracting fights over witnesses and rely more heavily on video, according to a half-dozen people working on the case."

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "One of Washington's leading conservative constitutional lawyers publicly broke on Sunday with the main Republican argument against convicting ... Donald J. Trump in his impeachment trial, asserting that an ex-president can indeed be tried for high crimes and misdemeanors. In an opinion piece posted on The Wall Street Journal's website, the lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, who is closely allied with top Republicans in Congress, dismissed as illogical the claim that it is unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a former president. The piece came two days before the Senate was set to start the proceeding.... Since the [January 6] rampage, Republicans have made little effort to excuse Mr. Trump's conduct, but have coalesced behind the legal argument about constitutionality as their rationale for why he should not be tried, much less convicted. Their theory is that because the Constitution's penalty for an impeachment conviction is removal from office, it was never intended to apply to a former president, who is no longer in office. Many legal scholars disagree, and the Senate has previously held an impeachment trial of a former official -- though never a former president."

Trump Made Me Do It. Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "The nine House impeachment managers leading Trump's prosecution made clear in an 80-page brief filed last week that they will argue that his role in inspiring the crowd to action began long before the 70-minute speech he gave that day. They assert that the violence was virtually inevitable after Trump spent months falsely claiming that the election had been stolen from him.... Evidence to bolster the Democratic case has already emerged in federal criminal cases filed against more than 185 people so far in the aftermath of the insurrection.... Court documents show that more than two dozen people charged in the attack specifically cited Trump and his calls to gather that day in describing ... why they decided to take action by coming to Washington." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One argument I suppose the managers will find ill-advised is nonetheless true: Trump, with his trademark bullying & outright threats, made pawns of the very triers-of-fact, the Republican senators themselves. Even those who clearly despised him, like Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio & Ted Cruz, quickly learned to fawn over him to preserve their own sorry political careers. They do so not out of admiration by of fear. As for me, I'd tell Josh Hawley, et al., to their faces that Trump has made chumps of them (not that they weren't silly, self-serving blowhards before Trump showed up).

Quinn Scanlan of ABC News: "With his impeachment trial set to begin this week, a narrow majority of Americans say they support the Senate convicting ... Donald Trump and barring him from holding federal office again, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday.... [Fifty-six percent] of Americans say Trump should be convicted and barred from holding office again, and 43% say he should not be."

One Way Trump Plans to Profit off QAnon. Suzanne Kelleher of Forbes: "For some QAnon conspiracy theorists, [on] March 4, 2021..., Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 19th president of the United States.... At the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, the least expensive room option is the deluxe king.... At this time of year, it normally runs anywhere from $476 to $596 per night.... On March 3 and 4, the same room is selling for $1,331 per night. That's 180% above the base rate and more than double what you'd pay any other night in February or March, according to the hotel's website. The March 4 rate hike appears to be exclusive to the Trump International.... The day after the pro-Trump mob rioted at the U.S. Capitol, the managing director of Trump International Hotel tweeted, 'So proud of our @TrumpDC In Room Dining Team for record breaking numbers this week.'"

Alayna Treene of Axios: "Kevin McCarthy tried to get Liz Cheney to apologize for how she handled her vote to impeach former President Trump before last week's highly anticipated House GOP conference meeting -- a request she refused, two people with direct knowledge told Axios.... Cheney rolled the dice, refusing her leader's ask and counting on her supporters to keep her as conference chair, the party's No. 3 post in the House. Newly empowered, she's now embracing her role as the Republicans' Trump critic-in-chief." ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming waded deeper into Republicans' identity crisis on Sunday, warning her party on the eve of a Senate impeachment trial not to 'look past' ... Donald J. Trump's role in stoking a violent attack on the Capitol and a culture of conspiracy roosting among their ranks. In her first television interview since fending off an attempt by Mr. Trump's allies to oust her from House leadership over her vote to impeach him, Ms. Cheney said Republican voters had been 'lied to' by a president eager to steal an election with baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. She cautioned that the party risked being locked out of power if it did not show a majority of Americans that it could be trusted to lead truthfully.... She added that Mr. Trump 'does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward.'" ~~~

~~~ David of Crooks & Liars: "Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on Sunday said that she expects 'many, many criminal investigations' into ... Donald Trump's role in inciting a violent insurrection on January 6. During an interview on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked Cheney ... if she would also vote to convict the former president of insurrection if she were a U.S. senator. 'I would listen to the evidence,' Cheney said. 'The Senate trial is [a] snapshot. There's a massive criminal investigation underway.... People will want to know exactly what the president was doing,' she continued. 'They will want to know, for example, if the tweet he sent out calling Vice President Pence a coward while the attack was underway, whether that tweet, for example, was a premeditated effort to provoke violence. There are a lot of questions that have to be answered and there will be many, many criminal investigations looking at every aspect of this and everyone who was involved.'"

Jennifer Senior of the New York Times: "Marjorie Taylor Greene ... [is] the latest descendant in a lineage of Republican women who embrace a boffo radicalism, who delight in making trouble and in causing offense.... These women are playing simultaneously into male Republican stereotypes of power -- loving their guns, defending their country from the migrant hordes -- and stereotypes of femininity, to reassure the Republican faithful that they're still real women.... You can also ask whether unconscious gender bias plays a role in the coverage of Greene. Television loves a brassy hot mess.... Hillary Clinton's supporters were fond of the adage, the future is female.'... But we should brace ourselves. That future may be quite different from the one we were expecting. The future often is." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ PD Pepe wrote, "Is our culture still grappling with what women should BE as women? We have always accepted the male disparity, why be surprised at the female's?... I think we need to come to terms with our humanity not in sexual identities but as human beings and like one of the above females in Senior's list once said, 'You can't put lipstick on a pig' but you sure as hell can try." MB: I'm with Pepe. In general, right-wingers, male and female, despise feminism as a social reality. Because Democrats largely preceded them, thus forcing the issue, confederates are slowly coming to terms with the idea that women must have a seat at the table (though not at the head of it -- Palin & Harris are sidekicks, helpmates, as women "should be"). That means, of course, that a woman must be most feminine, in the traditional sense, yet forceful: a narrow, hazardous track to run. In the old days, that would have meant a PTA-type "lady" politician; in today's fake-populist GOP, it means a crude, gun-totin' mama. In the GOP, there's still room for both types of female politicians, but not for tough & effective female leaders like Clinton & Pelosi. ~~~

~~~ AND, according to Charles Darwin, the right is right. Women are not so much the fairer sex as the weaker one and intellectually inferior, Michael Sims writes in a New York Times op-ed. MB: Sims seems surprised that Darwin admired Harriet Martineau, "a prolific journalist and pioneer sociologist," who was a friend, and perhaps more, to Charles' brother Erasmus. It's not surprising at all. Most bigots of every category can justify their prejudices by rationalizing that women, people of color, of exotic religions or exotic places may have "exceptional" members even though "those people," on the whole, just don't measure up. From your standard, "traditional" bigotry to the strange, ridiculous turns of QAnon, bigotry will always find a path, albeit not necessarily direct routes to their destinations. ~~~

~~~ Steve Sack, editorial cartoonist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, applies Occam's Razor to QAnon. Thanks to RAS for the link:

PEN America responds to the New York Times' firing/forced resignation of reporter Don McNeil. Marie: PEN America is occasionally too lefist for me, but I do wholly agree with them here. I think the real problem McNeil encountered was that he didn't know his audience. An adult should be able to figure out that 16-year-olds aren't very good at appreciating the nuances of context. It appears that many NYT staff aren't either, or else they were misinformed about the context when they protested his retention at the paper. As McNeil has said, he "made an error in judgment," and Times management probably should have stood by him. I have long thought that the prohibition of the use of the word "nigger" in any context gives the word too much importance. In fact, I like the way Blacks use it among themselves; still, there is absolutely no circumstance under which I would join in & use it in a conversation among mostly-Black people where the word was being tossed around in a playful way. Food for thought, whether you agree or not.

Tim Weiner of the New York Times: "George P. Shultz, who presided with a steady hand over the beginning of the end of the Cold War as President Ronald Reagan's often embattled secretary of state, died on Saturday at his home in Stanford, Calif. He was 100. His death was announced by the Hoover Institution, where he was a distinguished fellow. He was also professor emeritus at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Mr. Shultz, who had served Republican presidents since Dwight D. Eisenhower, moved to California after leaving Washington in January 1989. He continued writing and speaking on issues ranging from nuclear weapons to climate change into his late 90s, expressing concern about America's direction."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here.

Amy Wang & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "In his first network television interview since taking office, President Biden acknowledged it will be 'very difficult' for the United States to reach herd immunity at the current rate coronavirus vaccines are being administered in the country and that his administration would utilize all 32 National Football League stadiums as mass vaccination centers to help in the effort. 'It is a national emergency,' Biden said on 'CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell,' referring to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its effect on schoolchildren and the workforce. Biden indicated that the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic was 'even more dire than we thought.' Since taking office, Biden has used the Defense Production Act to direct companies to ramp up manufacturing of vaccines and protective equipment. On Thursday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Biden all 32 stadiums would be made available as mass vaccination sites.... In portions of the wide-ranging interview, which aired Friday and Sunday before the Super Bowl, Biden discussed the pandemic, foreign policy and why he believed former president Donald Trump should not have continued access to intelligence briefings."

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "Senior Democrats on Monday will unveil legislation to provide $3,000 per child to tens of millions of American families, aiming to make a major dent in child poverty as part of President Biden's $1.9 trillion economic relief package. The 22-page bill to dramatically expand direct cash benefits to American families was obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its release. Under the proposal, the Internal Revenue Service would provide $3,600 over the course of the year per child under the age of 6, as well as $3,000 per child of ages 6 to 17. The size of the benefit would diminish for Americans earning more than $75,000 per year, as well as for couples jointly earning more than $150,000 per year. The payments would be sent monthly beginning in July, a delay intended to give the IRS time to prepare for the massive new initiative. The bill ... comes days after Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) surprised policymakers with a proposal to send even more in direct cash per child to American families, lending bipartisan support to the major push for child benefits."

Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus variant that shut down much of the United Kingdom is spreading rapidly across the United States, outcompeting other strains and doubling its prevalence among confirmed infections every week and a half, according to new research made public Sunday. The report, posted on the preprint server MedRxiv and not yet peer-reviewed or published in a journal, comes from a collaboration of many scientists and provides the first hard data to support a forecast issued last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed the variant becoming dominant in the United States by late March." A New York Times story is here. Mother Jones has a story here.

William Booth & Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "South Africa will suspend use of the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca after researchers found it provided 'minimal protection' against mild to moderate coronavirus infections caused by the new variant first detected in that country. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Sunday that the rollout will be paused while scientists assess the data and determine a way forward. Officials had been eager to begin vaccinating health-care workers with the shots after 1 million doses arrived last week."

Way Beyond the Beltway

An Israeli Man Walks Out of His Own Trial. Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told judges in a Jerusalem court on Monday that he is innocent of corruption charges before abruptly standing, saying 'thank you very much' and leaving with his motorcade. Netanyahu quit the courtroom some 20 minutes after the start of Monday morning's hearing, which continued on without him. The sessions kick-started the second phase of a precedent-setting legal procedure, which, for the first time, involves the indictment of an Israeli prime minister while still in office and campaigning for elections in the coming weeks -- the fourth in two years." MB: You can see here why Bibi & Donald got on so well. This is just what Trump would have done if forced to testify at his impeachment trial.