The Conversation -- March 18, 2025
~~~ See Akhilleus's comment, down the page, in today's thread.
Alan Feuer & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has asked a federal judge to dissolve the orders he put in place this weekend barring it from deporting people suspected of belonging to a Venezuelan street gang from the country under a rarely invoked wartime statute called the Alien Enemies Act. The Justice Department also doubled down on its efforts to avoid giving the judge, James E. Boasberg, the detailed information he had requested about the deportations. It complied — but only in part — with his instructions to provide specific data about when two flights, with the people accused of being gang members, took off from the United States for El Salvador. Taken together, the twin moves — made in separate sets of court papers filed on Monday and Tuesday — marked a continuation of the Trump’s administration’s aggressive attempts to push back against Judge Boasberg, the chief judge of the Federal District Court in Washington, who temporarily halted one of ... [Donald] Trump’s signature deportation policies.
“The Justice Department has now effectively opened up two fronts in the battle: one challenging the underlying orders that paused, for now, the deportation flights altogether and another seeking to avoid disclosing any information about two flights this weekend that could indicate they took place after the judge’s orders stopping them were imposed.... Judge Boasberg on Tuesday ordered the Justice Department to send him a sealed declaration by Wednesday at noon detailing the times the planes took off, left U.S. airspace and landed.” ~~~
~~~ Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: “Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare public statement Tuesday pushing back after ... [Donald] Trump called to impeach a federal judge that ruled against his administration in a high-profile deportation case. 'For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,' Roberts said. The chief justice’s statement came hours after Trump called for impeaching U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an appointee of former President Obama who blocked the administration’s plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport Venezuelan migrants. 'This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!' Trump wrote.” Update: The Washington Post's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Well, gosh, some might say that Trump himself is a VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINAL. And I'm sure I don't want him in our country.
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Josh Gerstein of Politico: “A federal judge sharply questioned the Trump administration Monday about its decision to rush three planes carrying Venezuelan nationals out of U.S. airspace under ... Donald Trump’s unprecedented invocation of wartime deportation powers against a criminal gang. James Boasberg, the chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, was clearly galled by the government’s actions and legal arguments in the case, particularly its assertion that an order he issued Saturday to turn around any planes carrying such deportees had no force once they were outside U.S. territorial waters.... Boasberg implied that the government had intentionally hurried the planes off the ground on Saturday afternoon because the government knew he had scheduled a hearing at 5 p.m. Saturday. 'Any plane that you put into the air in or around that time, you knew that I was having a hearing at 5,' the judge said with evident frustration....
“Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli claimed Monday that the government was free to ignore [Boasberg's] oral order [to turn the planes around because] 'An injunction is not ordered until it’s in the written filing.'... Boasberg also rejected the Justice Department’s claim that he lacked any authority over the flights once they cleared U.S. airspace.... The power of federal courts does not 'lapse at the water’s edge' or 'the airspace’s edge.'... DOJ further frustrated Boasberg by refusing to provide almost any details about the deportation operation, repeatedly invoking national security to defend the secrecy.” ~~~
~~~ Justin Jouvenal, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s battle with the federal court system escalated sharply on Monday, with government lawyers calling for the removal of a judge who blocked the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members and refusing to answer some questions in court. The administration for weeks has questioned the authority of courts to constrain the president, harshly attacking judges who issue nationwide injunctions and finding ways to circumvent certain adverse rulings. Some legal experts describe the pushback as a breakdown in the fragile balance of powers between the branches of government, which includes lower courts making initial rulings about executive initiatives that can be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.... The showdown reached a climax at a testy hearing Monday evening at which James E. Boasberg, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court in D.C., demanded the government explain why it had appeared to flout his Saturday evening order requiring planes deporting migrants to turn around mid-flight.” This is an update of a story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Bear in mind that the public doesn't know the names of people Trump deported, we don't know their ages (some may be juveniles), and we have no way to know whether or not they may be "terrorists" or "criminals," as the administration asserts, or just ordinary people yearning to be free. Moreover, these people -- who, as far as we know, have committed no crimes in the U.S. and have been convicted of no crimes -- have been dumped in prisons in a country (El Salvador) known for harsh jail conditions. The people being imprisoned now are being locked up for the color of their skin (as far as we know). But if Trump gets away with this, there is nothing stopping his thugs from picking us up while we're looking over the artichokes at Wegman's. They can pack us off to Guantanamo, no matter what we look like. They can just do it, and no one will know. ~~~
~~~ Kyle Cheney, et al., of Politico: “This latest collision between Trump and the judicial branch — in which the White House and its allies are openly assailing the judge weighing the validity of Trump’s orders — is a more intense version of the clashes that have stymied his administration since Inauguration Day. Judges have sought to slow or stop some of Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and workforce, saying they have run afoul of Congress’ spending authority and laws governing hiring and firing of federal workers.... The administration’s legal tangles underscore its make-decisions-first, figure-out-a-legal-defense-later approach to policy making.... But it was the fight over Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act — the 1798 law granting the president power to deport nationals of a wartime enemy nation — that seemed to push the conflict closest to a crisis.... When [Judge James] Boasberg refused [the government's plea] to cancel a Monday afternoon hearing, DOJ asked a federal appellate court to remove him from the case altogether, an extraordinary step to circumvent judicial scrutiny.” ~~~
Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: “A New York Times review of the flight data showed that none of the planes in question landed in El Salvador before the judge’s order, and that one of them did not even leave American soil until after the judge’s written order was posted online.” Includes a timeline. ~~~
~~~ Digby, on the White House's defying a court order: “... their game is to find the legal line, step over it, and dare anyone to push back. Lather, rinse. repeat. Now with virtual immunity granted by the Roberts court, Trump feels he’s above the law and untouchable. He IS the law[.] A defiant White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, 'If the Democrats want to argue in favor of turning a plane full of rapists, murderers, and gangsters back to the United States, that’s a fight we are more than happy to take.' Next up from the Trump WH, it’s the 'They just needed killin'' defense. The Constitution and the rule of law are inconveniences.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm so confused. One of the arguments the Trump administration is making is that it could not comply with Judge Boasberg's order because at the time he ordered return of the planes, at least some of them were over international waters, where he had no jurisdiction. But wait! Weren't the flight over the brand-new Gulf of America??? Aren't those our waters now? ~~~
~~~ Homan: "I Don't Care What the Judges Think." Ivana Saric of Axios: Donald "Trump's border czar Tom Homan on Monday doubled down on the decision to defy a court order that barred the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members.... The White House's decision to disregard a federal judge's order has set up a legal battle that could make its way to the Supreme Court and define the limits of Trump's deportation powers.... Homan claimed in a Fox News interview Monday that the two deportation flights to El Salvador did not need to be turned around because they were already above international waters when the order came through. 'We are going to make this country safe again ... I'm proud to be a part of this administration. We are not stopping. I don't care what the judges think. I don't care what the Left thinks. We're coming,' he added. Asked what was coming next in the administration's deportation efforts, Homan said: 'Another flight. Another flight every day.'"
Jonathan Allen, et al., of NBC News: “... Donald Trump and his allies have launched a multipronged attack on the judiciary, punctuated over the weekend by his decision not to comply with a federal judge’s order to halt the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador.... More broadly, Trump is claiming nearly limitless power through a campaign to delegitimize institutions that have long acted as checks on the presidency.... The administration has repeatedly been accused of failing to follow court orders while sometimes declining to acknowledge that it had not been.... Trump allies inside and outside the administration have frequently criticized judges who have ruled against him — in some cases calling for their removal from office.... In an official statement Saturday night, [Pam] Bondi, the attorney general, referred to [Judge James] Boasberg as 'a DC trial judge' who, she claimed, 'supported Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans.'”
Avery Lotz of Axios: Donald "Trump claimed Monday that former President Biden's preemptive pardons to members of the House Jan. 6 select committee and others are 'VOID' and 'VACANT' because they were 'done by Autopen.'... Experts cast doubt on Trump's rationale, and said it was unlikely that a court would allow a president to revoke or nullify his predecessor's pardons.... Trump contended in a late-night Truth Social post that Biden's pardons are 'hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT' and that the 'necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden.' The committee members should 'fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level,' Trump wrote. He claimed without evidence that the members of the committee, which include former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), were 'probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf' without Biden's knowledge." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: “There is no power in the Constitution or case law to undo a pardon, and there is no exception to pardons signed by autopen. But Mr. Trump’s assertion, which embraced a baseless right-wing conspiracy theory about former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., was a new escalation of his antidemocratic rhetoric. Implicit in his post was Mr. Trump’s belief that the nation’s laws should be whatever he decrees them to be. And it was a jolting reminder that his appetite for revenge has not been sated.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Bear in mind that the graf above is the second paragraph in a news story about the President* of the United States, It appears on the online front page of the Both-Sides New York Times. The paragraph, in that context, is as extraordinary as the bunk the article describes. McCreesh describes Trump as a lying, vengeful autocrat, and his editors said, "Print it!" ~~~
~~~ Matt Viser of the Washington Post: “Trump recently claimed that Joe Biden routinely used the [autopen] and suggested without evidence that his unelected aides sometimes did it without his knowledge, illegally usurping the executive powers of the presidency.... Trump told reporters around midnight Sunday as he flew back from Florida[,] 'Did he know what he was doing? Did he authorize it? Or is this somebody in an office, maybe a radical left lunatic, just signing whatever that person wants?... And somebody was using an autopen to sign off and to give pardons to, as an example, just one example, but the J-6 unselect committee....' By Monday morning, Trump said he would not honor the pardons Biden made just before leaving office....
“The Justice Department, in an opinion issued in 2005, advised President George W. Bush that there was nothing legally problematic about using an autopen.... While conservatives have pointed to similarities in the signatures, it has not been confirmed that Biden used an autopen on the pardons Trump has focused on. But a solicitor general in 1929 wrote a memo to the attorney general concluding that the president’s signature was not required for pardons.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here's something that is not legal, Mr. Trumpy: a president* voiding the pardons of previous presidents.
Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Monday evening that he was ending Secret Service protection for former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son Hunter and daughter Ashley. Not only did Mr. Trump declare in a social media post that Hunter Biden — who has been a Trump target for years — would lose his protection 'effective immediately,' he mentioned his whereabouts: 'He is currently vacationing in, of all places, South Africa, where the Human Rights of people has been strenuously questioned.' The post merged two of Mr. Trump’s recent fixations: He has talked constantly about his predecessor and the Biden family since returning to office. And he has talked a lot lately about what he sees as the plight of white farmers in post-apartheid South Africa.... He has been on a revenge tour since he returned to the Oval Office, and he has several times exerted his power to revoke Secret Service protection from perceived enemies. His animus toward the Biden family is in part what motivated the former president to pardon his son.” The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Hunter Biden needs Secret Service protection in large part because Trump his repeatedly vilified him to his unstable, violent MAGA followers; now Trump not only removes Hunter's protection, he puts a bullseye on him by stating his whereabouts. Donald Trump is a vicious, twisted old man.
Travis Andrews of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump visited the Kennedy Center on Monday, where he presided over a meeting of its refashioned board of trustees and discussed changes to the institution’s annual Honors, including possibly hosting the ceremony himself.... The Washington Post obtained audio of the meeting, in which the board voted to expand the committee that chooses Kennedy Center honorees. Trump and board members floated names such as Paul Anka, Sylvester Stallone, Johnny Mathis and Andrea Bocelli for the award. The president also suggested giving awards to Elvis Presley, Luciano Pavarotti and Babe Ruth, though the Kennedy Center Honors are not given posthumously. Pavarotti was honored in 2001. Trump floated expanding the event to include politicians, executives and athletes.... At other points during the meeting, Trump shared personal stories and anecdotes, including about the first time he saw 'Cats' and which members of the cast he found attractive.” MB: Remembrances of Hard-ons Past. Ugh!
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: Donald “Trump moved on Monday to stack the boards overseeing U.S. military service academies with conservative activists and political allies, including Michael T. Flynn and Walt Nauta, who were charged in connection to earlier investigations of Mr. Trump and his presidential campaign. Mr. Nauta, a military aide working as a White House valet while Mr. Trump was president, was appointed to the board overseeing the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Mr. Nauta was charged with aiding Mr. Trump in obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve a trove of highly sensitive documents that Mr. Trump kept after he left office.... Mr. Flynn, a retired lieutenant general and a national security adviser to Mr. Trump during his first term, was named to the oversight board of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, in New York. Mr. Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his conversations with a Russian diplomat during a wider investigation into contacts between the first Trump presidential campaign and Russian officials. Mr. Trump later pardoned Mr. Flynn. Other allies of the president appointed to the oversight boards included Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist whose organization aided Mr. Trump in the 2024 election; Dina Powell, a deputy national security adviser to Mr. Trump; Sean Spicer, Mr. Trump’s first White House press secretary; and Maureen Bannon, the daughter of Steve Bannon who helps run his podcast.” Politico's report is here.
David Sanger of the New York Times: “... talking to reporters on Air Force One while returning from Florida on Sunday night, Mr. Trump made clear that his scheduled phone conversation with Mr. Putin on Tuesday would be focused on what lands and assets Russia would retain in any cease-fire with Ukraine. He will, in essence, be negotiating over how large a reward Russia will receive for its 11 years of open aggression against Ukraine, starting with its seizure of Crimea in 2014 and extending through the full-scale war Mr. Putin started three years ago. White House aides have made clear that Russia will certainly retain Crimea — in one of those odd twists of history, the location of the weeklong Yalta Conference in February 1945 — and strongly suggested it would get almost all of the territory it holds.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I do not understand why the U.S. president* is in charge of negotiating an end to Russia's aggresive wars against Ukraine.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: Hitler, Stalin & Mao could not silence the Voice of America. “But Donald Trump has just silenced the voice of freedom. For the first time since 1942, VOA has been taken off the air, after Trump put virtually all of its 1,300 staff members on leave. The administration also shut down VOA’s sister outlets Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. The world’s autocrats are doing somersaults.... Combined with the Trump administration’s canceling of most foreign aid, the silencing of VOA, which boasted a weekly audience of about 360 million people in nearly 50 languages, signals the complete surrender of U.S. 'soft power,' influence gained over decades using means other than warfare.... The Chinese propagandists have much to gain by silencing voices of truth and freedom. Apparently, so does the Trump administration.”
“[This] photograph, which was taken on Feb. 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press, won a Pulitzer Prize and was the model for a statue that serves as the centerpiece of the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.”
Jon Swaine & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: “Until recently, a page on the Defense Department’s website celebrated Pfc. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian who was one of the six Marines photographed hoisting a U.S. flag on Iwo Jima in 1945.... But the page, along with many others about Native American and other minority service members, has now been erased amid the Trump administration’s wide-ranging crackdown on what it says are 'diversity, equity and inclusion' efforts in the federal government.... Multiple articles about the Navajo code talkers, who were critical to America’s victory at Iwo Jima and the wider Pacific theater of the Second World War, were also removed, along with a profile of a Tonawanda Seneca officer who drafted the terms of the Confederacy’s surrender at Appomattox toward the end of the Civil War. The purge, which also targeted multiple webpages about women and LGBTQ+ service members, highlights how aggressively military leaders are pursuing ... Donald Trump’s anti-DEI mandate. Their actions mean that some of the most authoritative sources of public information about the achievements of minority service members decades before government DEI programs existed have disappeared.... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ... claimed [the references to these heroes] were 'immoral' and wasteful.” ~~~
~~~ Gen. Rogers' Profile Returned to DOD Website. Bill Chappell of NPR: "Army Maj. Gen. Charles C. Rogers is the highest-ranking Black servicemember to receive the Medal of Honor. His actions during the Vietnam War, when he was wounded and came under repeated attack by the North Vietnamese Army, were later hailed by then-President Richard Nixon. But a Department of Defense profile of Rogers, who died in 1990, was taken down on Friday. It comes as the Trump administration has pushed to remove references to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across the federal government. The removal prompted outrage over what many saw as a disrespectful erasing of history. As of Monday afternoon, the page had returned to the website."
Musk Sends Armed Officers to Take An Independent Agency by Force. Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: “A simmering dispute between the Department of Government Efficiency and an independent agency dedicated to promoting peace broke into an open standoff involving the police on Monday, as Elon Musk’s government cutters marched into the agency’s headquarters and evicted its officials. The dramatic scene played out in Washington on Monday afternoon as Mr. Musk’s team was rebuffed from the U.S. Institute of Peace, an agency that President Trump has ordered dismantled, then entered it with law enforcement officers. Agency officials say that because the institute is a congressionally chartered nonprofit that is not part of the executive branch, Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk do not have the authority to gut its operations.... George Moose, who was fired as the institute’s acting president last week but is challenging his dismissal, accused Mr. Musk’s team of breaking in. 'Our statute is very clear about the status of this building and this institute,' he told reporters. 'So what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit corporation.'”
Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, according to documents reviewed by Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. The strategy is part of large-scale layoffs, known as a 'reduction in force,' being planned by the Trump administration, which is intent on shrinking the federal work force. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the E.P.A., has said he wants to eliminate 65 percent of the agency’s budget. That would be a drastic reduction — one that experts said could hamper clean water and wastewater improvements, air quality monitoring, the cleanup of toxic industrial sites, and other parts of the agency’s mission. The E.P.A.’s plan, which was presented to White House officials on Friday for review, calls for dissolving the agency’s largest department, the Office of Research and Development, and purging up to 75 percent of the people who work there.... Representative Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the science committee..., said that the office was created by congressional statute and that dissolving it would be illegal.”
Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho, It's Off to Work We Go. Katie Mettler of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration has moved to reinstate at least 24,000 federal probationary employees fired in the president’s push to shrink the government, according to filings in one of two cases in which a federal judge ruled the terminations illegal. The records filed in federal court in Maryland late Monday span 18 agencies and mark the most comprehensive accounting to date of sweeping firings in recent months, which the administration has repeatedly declined to detail. Most of the reinstated employees were placed on paid administrative leave, according to declarations from officials at the agencies. Others were fully reinstated with pay, or reinstated without pay if they had been on unpaid leave before their termination, according to filings.... U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar had given the Trump administration until Monday to send out the job offers to fired probationary employees and until 7 p.m. to submit a comprehensive report to the court documenting their compliance....”
This Is Horrifying. Arthur Allen of Kaiser Foundation Health News: "National Institutes of Health officials have urged scientists to remove all references to mRNA vaccine technology from their grant applications, two researchers said, in a move that signaled the agency might abandon a promising field of medical research. The mRNA technology is under study at the NIH for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, including flu and AIDS, and also cancer. It was deployed in the development of covid-19 vaccines credited with saving 3 million lives in the U.S. alone — an accomplishment ... Donald Trump bragged about in his first term.... A senior official at the National Cancer Institute confirmed that NIH acting Director Matthew Memoli sent an email across the NIH instructing that any grants, contracts, or collaborations involving mRNA vaccines be reported up the chain to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s office and the White House." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: How about leeches, Bobby? Are leeches okay to study as cancer & AIDS cures?
Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, on Monday postponed a multicity tour to promote his forthcoming book, citing security concerns amid backlash to his decision to vote with Republicans for a stopgap spending bill to stave off a government shutdown.... Many Democratic activists, desperate for their leaders to stand up to President Trump, have been staging protests outside of Mr. Schumer’s Brooklyn home and calling for his resignation. Online, they have been organizing protests for every stop on his book tour.” Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Of course I have no idea if Schumer's book is any good, but I know that the title suggests its topic is: “Antisemitism in America: A Warning.” So losing the opportunity to promote the book and its message is one more reason Schumer should not have caved to the Trump/Musk administration. ~~~
~~~ Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice on how Donald Trump and others on the right use antisemetic and anti-Palestinian smears to deprive Jews of their identities and their rights to independent opinions. (Also linked yesterday.)
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: “Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is now accessible across the White House campus. It is the latest installation of the Wi-Fi network across the government since Mr. Musk joined the Trump administration as an unpaid adviser.... Mr. Musk, who is now an unpaid adviser working as a 'special government employee' at the White House, controls Starlink and other companies that have regulatory matters before or contracts with the federal government.... White House officials said that Starlink had 'donated' the service and that the gift had been vetted by the lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the White House Counsel’s Office.” (Also linked yesterday.)
About Those “Bulletproof” Cybertrucks. Christopher Jasper of the Telegraph: Elon Musk’s Tesla has been forced to halt sales of its electric Cybertruck pickup amid mounting concern about metal panels falling off the supposedly indestructible vehicles. Customers posting on the Cybertruck Owners Club website – as well as on Mr Musk’s own X, formerly Twitter – said they had been told by agents that deliveries were on hold. Electric vehicle-enthusiast website Electrek said the decision was taken amid increasing instances of trim and panels 'flying off the supposedly “bulletproof” electric truck.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: “Less than two months after former Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey was sentenced to 11 years in prison on federal corruption charges, the trial of his wife, Nadine Menendez, begins on Tuesday in Manhattan. Ms. Menendez, 58, was charged with her husband and three New Jersey businessmen in a wide-ranging bribery scheme, but her case was postponed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery and a long recovery period. The government has portrayed Ms. Menendez and her husband, a Democrat who once led the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as partners in a web of corruption. An indictment accused the couple of conspiring to accept gold bars, cash, a Mercedes-Benz and other bribes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for Mr. Menendez’s helping the businessmen and the governments of Egypt and Qatar.”
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Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: “A midwife and an associate have been arrested and charged with illegally performing abortions in greater Houston, according to court records and the Texas attorney general, apparently the first criminal arrests of abortion providers since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Ken Paxton, the attorney general in Texas, said in a statement that the midwife, Maria Margarita Rojas, operated clinics in several towns around Houston, including two in Harris County, the state’s most populous county, and one in Waller County, a more rural and conservative jurisdiction where the charges were brought.”
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Canada, et al. Carney: Canada is So-o-o European! Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: “In his first overseas trip as Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney went on a whirlwind tour of France and Britain on Monday to showcase Canada’s deep European bonds as President Trump threatens his country’s economy and sovereignty. Just three days after being sworn into office, Mr. Carney had lunch with President Emmanuel Macron of France in Paris, before heading to London, where he had an audience with King Charles III, Canada’s sovereign, and also met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain. 'I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, determined like you to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States,' Mr. Carney told the press alongside Mr. Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris.”
Israel's Wars. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday & Tuesday are here: “Israel’s military launched a large-scale bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, breaking the fragile ceasefire with Hamas that has been in place since late January. At least 326 people have been killed and more than 400 others wounded, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. An Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said the 'series of preemptive strikes' targeted Hamas leadership and infrastructure, following weeks of stagnant negotiations.” ~~~
~~~ A New York Times story is here.
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