August 29, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Hand Jive.Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: According to a report from Rolling Stone..., Donald Trump has been alternately raging at and ridiculing Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as the Florida governor has been rising as his heir apparent. The former president, as well as his family, have been sniping at the Florida Republican by claiming he has been 'stealing' from Trump, by which they mean he has been appropriating Trump's mannerisms when giving speeches as he sets in motion his bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.... As one Trump associate told Rolling Stone, 'There was this time, maybe a year ago that I remember him making fun of [DeSantis] for doing similar hand gestures and motions. He called it "stealing" from him and [to paraphrase] described it as a lame impression of Trump.'... You can read more here [firewalled]." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Most people would find this purported emulation the sincerest form of flattery. Not Trump. He seems to think he can patent a gesture. Since I've never watched a DeSantis speech & seldom have seen much of a Trump speech, I have no idea if the Trump claim is true. But politicians do study successful politicians' style of speech & mannerisms. I recall reading that Bill Clinton practiced Ronald Reagan's style and even boasted once to Hillary that he had mastered a particular hand gesture that Reagan made. Clinton turned out to be one of the most effective American speakers of the 20th century, so the practice paid off. He is far better than Reagan, IMO, so there's more to it than mimicry.

Gwen Egan of Boston.com: Former Red Sox pitcher Curt "Schilling is facing Twitter's wrath after posting a critique of [President] Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. This digital anger was incited by Schilling's own business history. 'My body my choice? Your loan my responsibility? This isn't loan forgiveness, it's a generation of lazy unaccountable uneducated children being covered by hard working debt paying Americans,' Schilling wrote. Following that Aug. 24 tweet, repliers, and quote-tweeters were quick to remind Schilling about 38 Studios, his failed computer game venture. The company folded after the state volunteered $75 million in loan guarantees to the budding business." Here's some background, from a 2013 story by Matt Bai in the New York Times. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his comment below, which is more expansive and to-the-point than the Boston.com article.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A former D.C. bartender and Proud Boy who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison on Monday. Joshua Pruitt, 40, pleaded guilty in June to obstruction of an official proceeding after he was caught on video joining a mob pursuing police officers and smashing a sign inside the U.S. Capitol. Two U.S. Capitol Police officers wrote victim impact statements in his case urging Judge Timothy J. Kelly to give Pruitt a severe sentence in the case. Ultimately, Kelly imposed a sentence that fell a few months short of the five years that prosecutors had requested.... Pruitt said that he apologized for his actions and he was 'not happy that Jan. 6 happened at all,' but said he still held onto his beliefs that Donald Trump actually won the election that he lost to President Joe Biden." Worth clicking on; scroll down the page a bit to see a photo of Pruitt. Would I cross the street if I saw this guy coming toward me? Yes I would.

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "FBI agents have already finished their review of possibly privileged documents seized in an Aug. 8 search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, according to a Justice Department court filing Monday that could undercut the former president's efforts to have a special master appointed to review the files. The 'filter team' used by the Justice Department to sort through the documents and weed out any material that should not be reviewed by criminal investigators has already 'completed its review,' the brief filed by Justice Department prosecutors says.... The new government filing says prosecutors will provide more information later this week. But in the meantime, it notes that even before the judge's weekend ruling, the filter team 'identified a limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information ... and is in the process of following the procedures' of the search warrant to handle any privilege disputes." ~~~

     ~~~ Glenn Thrush & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A deeper 'classification review' of the intelligence implications of Mr. Trump's retention of government documents by the F.B.I. and the director of National Intelligence is continuing, the filing revealed.... On Tuesday, the department is expected to file a detailed inventory of the materials seized. But that list, which will go into greater depth than the nominal description in the search warrant that was unsealed this month, will be filed under court seal.... The judge herself will now have access to the government's own assessment of the materials, and could have the information needed to rule on requests by Mr. Trump's team to exclude individual documents[, thus eliminating the need for a special master]." CNN's report is here.

Georgia Judge Delay's Kemp Testimony. Amy Wang & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The judge presiding over the Georgia grand jury investigation into possible election interference by Donald Trump and his allies on Monday denied a motion from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to quash a subpoena requiring him to testify. However, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney also delayed Kemp's appearance before the grand jury until 'some date soon after' Election Day in November. Kemp, who is running for reelection against Democrat Stacey Abrams, has alleged that the investigation is politically motivated. In his six-page order, the judge rejected Kemp's request to toss the subpoena while recognizing the potential impact of the investigation on the upcoming Nov. 8 election." Politico's report is here.

Qassim Abdul-Zahra & Samya Kullab of the AP: "A hugely influential Shiite cleric announced Monday he would resign from Iraqi politics and his angry followers stormed the government palace in response, sparking fears that violence could erupt in a country already beset by its worst political crisis in years.... At least one demonstrator, a follower of an influential Shiite cleric, was killed in clashes with Iraqi security forces who used tear gas, gunfire and physically shoved back crowds after hundreds stormed the government palace on Monday. Three Iraqi officials confirmed the death in violence that broke out after the cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced he would resign from Iraq politics and his angry followers stormed the government palace in response."

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Trump & a Trumpy Judge Create Another Mess. David Nakamura & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "A federal judge's indication that she is prepared to appoint a special master to review materials seized from Mar-a-Lago by federal agents could present new complications and unresolved legal questions in the federal government's high-stakes quest to wrest control of the documents from ... Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon's two-page order issued on Saturday appeared unusual in that the judge has not yet heard arguments from the Justice Department, said former federal prosecutors and legal analysts on Sunday. Cannon, 41, whom Trump appointed to the bench in the Southern District of Florida in 2020, has also given federal officials until Tuesday to provide the court with a more detailed list of items the FBI had removed from Trump's Florida estate on Aug. 8.... Her ruling left unclear how a special master would operate and who might qualify to take on such a role in a case involving classified national security secrets."

Maggie Haberman & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Often tinged with Mr. Trump's own bombast and sometimes conflating his powers as president with his role as a private citizen, the legal arguments put forth by his team sometimes strike lawyers not involved in the case as more about setting a political narrative than about dealing with the possibility of a federal prosecution.... The former president has a history of approaching legal proceedings as if they are political conflicts, in which his best defense is the 74 million people who voted for him in the 2020 election."

Marie: This story from August 26 raises a question. Eric Tucker & Michael Balsamo of the AP: "Fourteen of the 15 boxes recovered from ... Donald Trump's Florida estate early this year contained classified documents, many of them top secret, mixed in with miscellaneous newspapers, magazines and personal correspondence, according to an FBI affidavit released Friday." Other reporting suggests Trump himself went through the boxes deciding what to send to the Archives. My question: Whether or not that is true, why would Trump or his staff send newspaper & magazine clippings to the National Archives? If some of the clippings had notes on them or attached to them, I can see that those could be considered presidential records. But a raw clipping? The only purpose to box those up could have been to spite the archivists. The fact that Trump's staff included no inventory of what-all was in the boxes supports that theory. And there's this from the story: "Douglas London, a former senior CIA officer..., said this showed Trump's lack of respect for controls. 'One of the rules of classified is you don't mix classified and unclassified so there's no mistakes or accidents,' he said."

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan Congressional Race. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Michigan state Sen. Tom Barrett, a Republican congressional candidate, reportedly removed the 'values' section of his campaign website that revealed he opposes abortion rights. The Detroit News first reported over the weekend that Barrett's campaign had updated his website to remove the 'values' portion 'that touted his anti-abortion position and history with the pro-life movement.' In a statement to the paper, Barrett insisted that he continues to oppose abortion rights. 'I don't watch my own website every day, so I don't know,' Barrett [said]." He suggested his team "probably" just updated the Website to highlight "the most salient issues." MB: Right. Because depriving women of bodily autonomy is not "salient."

New Hampshire Senate Race. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Don Bolduc, a retired Army general who leads the Republican field in what should be a competitive race for the New Hampshire Senate seat held by Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat..., has said the state's popular Republican governor is 'a Chinese Communist sympathizer,' called for the repeal of the 17th Amendment allowing direct popular election of senators and raised the possibility of abolishing the F.B.I.... 'I signed a letter with 120 other generals and admirals saying that Donald Trump won the election and, damn it, I stand by' it, Mr. Bolduc said at a recent debate.... In the final competitive primary of the year, scheduled for Sept. 13, Republican officials in New Hampshire ... warn that grass-roots voters are poised to elect another problematic nominee, Mr. Bolduc, and jeopardize a winnable race against a vulnerable Democrat."

Texas Gubernatorial Race. Vimal Patel of the New York Times: Beto O'Rourke, the former congressman and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who is running to unseat Greg Abbott in the tightening race for Texas governor, said on Sunday that he would be sidelined from campaigning because of a bacterial infection. Mr. O'Rourke, 49, said on Twitter that he had gone to Methodist Hospital, in San Antonio, after feeling ill on Friday." Politico's report is here.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Monday are here: "A 'support and assistance mission' from the International Atomic Energy Agency is 'on its way' to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, the head of the organization said Monday, after Russian forces struck perilously close to the plant, according to Ukrainian officials.... Ukrainian officials reported more strikes around the Zaporizhzhia plant. Ten people were injured Sunday, including four of the plant's workers, in shelling that hit the city of Enerhodar, where the facility is located and many of its workers live, according to Energoatom, the Ukrainian state nuclear power company."

Julia Mueller of the Hill: "A 24-year-old man from Memphis, Tenn., was the latest American killed in the conflict in Ukraine, according to reports that he died fighting Russian forces in the contested Donbas region.... [The State Department] State confirmed the death of an American to USA Today, but declined to confirm his identity."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Today, [after many delays, a test rocket in NASA's Space Launch System] stands on Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, towering at 322 feet.... NASA is scheduled to make its first attempt to launch Monday at 8:33 a.m., a test flight that is meant to propel the Orion crew capsule, without any astronauts on board, into orbit around the moon. A successful launch will mark a major milestone in NASA's quest to return astronauts to the lunar surface under its Artemis program.' ~~~

     ~~~ Update. BUT. AP: "Fuel leaks and a possible crack discovered during final liftoff preparations threatened to delay the launch of NASA's mighty new moon rocket Monday morning on its shakedown flight with three test dummies aboard. As precious minutes ticked away, NASA repeatedly stopped and started the fueling of the Space Launch System rocket with nearly 1 million gallons of super-cold hydrogen and oxygen because of a leak. The fueling already was running nearly an hour late because of thunderstorms off Florida's Kennedy Space Center." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. NEW AP Lede: "Fuel leaks have forced NASA to scrub the launch of its new moon rocket on a no-crew test flight. The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest."

New York Times: "Two people were shot and killed and a third was wounded at a shopping center in Bend, Ore., on Sunday, prompting law enforcement agencies to flood the area and enter a grocery store, where officers found the gunman dead from a gunshot wound, the authorities said."

August 28, 2022

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "Ironic that Friday was Women's Equality Day, designated so by Congress in the '70s. At a time when women all over the world should be blossoming, we're seeing stunning setbacks. There's a bizarre trend of punishing women, Saudi-style, for their sexuality. Sanna Marin, Finland's 36-year-old prime minister, is under fire for dancing with her friends in a country that always gets named 'the happiest country in the world' in the United Nations-sponsored World Happiness Report. What a grim, still-sexist world this is, when Marin is forced to tearfully apologize -- and take a drug test -- after video leaked of her letting loose.... The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was cheered for chugging beers at a public concert while Marin was under fire for dancing at a private party."

Smooth Sailing. AP: "The U.S. Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such transit publicized since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August, at a time when tensions have kept the waterway particularly busy. The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville are conducting a routine transit, the U.S. 7th Fleet said. The cruisers 'transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State,' the statement said."

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Florida gave notice on Saturday of her 'preliminary intent' to appoint an independent arbiter, known as a special master, to conduct a review of the highly sensitive documents that were seized by the F.B.I. this month during a search of Mar-a-Lago..., Donald J. Trump's club and residence in Palm Beach. In an unusual action that fell short of a formal order, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, signaled that she was inclined to agree with the former president and his lawyers that a special master should be appointed to review the seized documents.... Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Mr. Trump in 2020, set a hearing for arguments in the matter for Thursday in the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach -- not the one in Fort Pierce, Fla., where she typically works." The Hill's report is here.

Does This Orange Jumpsuit Make Me Look Fat? Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Since the release of the search warrant [on Mar-a-Lago], which listed three criminal laws as the foundation of the investigation, one -- the Espionage Act — has received the most attention. Discussion has largely focused on the spectacle of the F.B.I. finding documents marked as highly classified and Mr. Trump's questionable claims that he had declassified everything held at his residence. But by some measures, the crime of obstruction is as, or even more, serious a threat to Mr. Trump or his close associates. The version investigators are using, known as Section 1519, is part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a broad set of reforms enacted in 2002.... The heavily redacted affidavit [released Friday] provides new details of the government's efforts to retrieve and secure the material in Mr. Trump's possession, highlighting how prosecutors may be pursuing a theory that the former president, his aides or both might have illegally obstructed an effort of well over a year to recover sensitive documents that do not belong to him.... Section 1519's maximum penalty is 20 years in prison, which is twice as long as the penalty under the Espionage Act." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jeremy Herb & Annie Grayer of CNN: "Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has sent a letter to the House Intelligence and House Oversight committee chairs, saying the intelligence community is conducting a damage assessment of the documents taken from ... Donald Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago, according to a letter obtained by CNN.... Several members of Congress have called for an intelligence damage assessment of the documents." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Notes from the Scene of the Crime. Niall Stanage of the Hill: "One of former President Trump's main claims about the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago is being undermined by Friday's release of a key affidavit. Trump has pushed the narrative that he and his lawyers were cooperating with the Department of Justice's (DOJ) inquiries about documents from his time in the White House. This, he claims, means that the Aug. 8 raid on his Florida estate was gratuitous.... Even in heavily redacted form, the affidavit points out that there was a prolonged process lasting around seven months in 2021 before Trump's team coughed up any documents at all.... [For instance,] according to a Trump legal filing earlier this week, one of the FBI agents, having been shown the storage room in which some documents were held, purportedly said, Now it all makes sense.' The same Trump filing refers to a June 8 letter in which the DOJ 'requested, in pertinent part, that the storage room be secured' -- a request that is implied to have been met when Trump told staff to put a second lock on the door. By contrast, the DOJ's affidavit quotes a letter on the same date -- presumably the same letter -- reiterating to a Trump lawyer that there was no 'secure location authorized for the storage of classified information' anywhere at the resort. The letter makes clear that the DOJ's request was not some generalized security check-up but a demand for the 'preservation' of the storage room in its 'current condition until further notice' -- phrasing that is far more redolent of an investigation of a possible crime scene than a friendly chat about padlocks." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Steve Benin of MSNBC: "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Organized Crime Corruption and Reporting Project published a stunning report [Friday] on a young woman named Inna Yashchyshyn, who presented herself as Anna de Rothschild.... The report notes that this woman -- with a fake identity and shadowy background' -- allegedly bypassed the security at Mar-a-Lago with relative ease[.] The FBI has reportedly begun an inquiry into the matter.... Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, who actually chaired the Senate Homeland Security Committee for six years, downplayed the seriousness of Trump's scandal last week because, as the Wisconsinite put it, Mar-a-Lago is 'a pretty safe place' and 'a secure location.'... There's overwhelming evidence to the contrary."~~~

     ~~~ A related straight news story by Edward Helmore of the Guardian is here. Yashchyshyn is the daughter of an Illinois truck driver.

Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the nearly three weeks since the FBI searched ... Donald Trump's Florida home to recover classified documents, the National Archives and Records Administration has become the target of a rash of threats and vitriol.... Following the Aug. 8 FBI search, Trump and his allies unleashed a torrent of attacks on one of the most apolitical arms of the federal bureaucracy.... Trump's recent actions have whipped his followers into a fervor against the Archives, and he has empowered some of his most politically combative allies to represent him in negotiations with the agency.... In June, around the time the Justice Department stepped up its hunt for documents at Mar-a-Lago, Trump assigned two new Archives representatives who focused on pubicizing documents they claimed would vindicate Trump and damage the FBI: Kash Patel and John Solomon.... NARA's motto, Littera Scripta Manet, translates from Latin to 'the written word remains.' But in Trump's White House, the written word was often torn, destroyed, misplaced or hoarded.... Some NARA officials believe that there might still be more records missing, according to a person familiar with the matter." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I doubt that anyone who decides to embark upon a career as an archivist thinks, "Wow, this job is going to be fun. I'll be wrangling with presidents* & be in danger at every moment."

Emily Peck & Sara Fischer of Axios: "The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refused Donald Trump's application for a trademark for 'Truth Social,' the name of his social media company earlier this month.... The USPTO found two other companies who already use the Truth Social wording, which would create what's known as 'likelihood of confusion' if Trump also got the mark. Typically, when a company files for a trademark -- the distinct brand-name it wishes to use exclusively -- lawyers vet the term to make sure there's no conflicts.... Trump can appeal, which trademark lawyers believe is likely.... The trademark refusal is just the latest setback for the former president's social media app and its parent company, which have been beset by a raft of issues over the past few months." MB: You might think Trump would have hired a patent attorney who knew how to apply for a patent, but I suppose he couldn't find any who would work for him without demanding a huge retainer. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's Truth Social website is facing financial challenges as its traffic remains puny and the company that is scheduled to acquire it expresses fear that his legal troubles could lead to a decline in his popularity. Six months after its high-profile launch, the site -- a clone of Twitter, which banned Trump after Jan. 6, 2021 -- still has no guaranteed source of revenue and a questionable path to growth, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings from Digital World Acquisition, the company planning to take Trump's start-up, the Trump Media & Technology Group, public. The company warned this week that its business could be damaged if Trump 'becomes less popular or there are further controversies that damage his credibility.' The company has seen its stock price plunge nearly 75 percent since its March peak and reported in a filing last week that it had lost $6.5 million in the first half of the year.” (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jared's Dilemma: "There's Different Words." Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Making the rounds promoting his new memoir, Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of ... Donald J. Trump, this week ... [was asked] Did he agree with Mr. Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen? 'I think that there's different words,' Mr. Kushner told the talk show host Megyn Kelly during a friendly interview.... Pressed to say whether Mr. Trump lost, Mr. Kushner demurred. 'I believe it was a very sloppy election,' he said. 'I think that there's a lot of issues that I think if litigated differently may have had different insights into them.' In reality, the words that election officials have used to describe the 2020 contest are 'the most secure in American history,' and judges across the country rejected nearly all of the several dozen lawsuits that allies of Mr. Trump filed alleging fraud. Mr. Kushner's reluctance to concede as much reflected the contortions he is now attempting as he tries to sell a book whose success hinges on his close ties to Mr. Trump. At the same time, he is seeking to keep his distance from the lies and misdeeds that paved the way for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Like the memoir itself, titled 'Breaking History,' the task involves a highly selective narrative that casts Mr. Kushner as a young star getting things done in the White House without getting his hands dirty." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yeah, it depends upon what the meaning of "lost" is. What a nitwit. Karni & Haberman have fun tearing into Jared in this straight news story.

Beyond the Beltway

Utah. Jim Acosta of CNN: "Utah independent Senate candidate Evan McMullin has accused a motorist of brandishing a firearm and pointing it at him and his wife as the couple was driving home from a campaign event in April. The allegation is described in a 'victim impact statement' filed by McMullin in the District Court for Utah County, Utah, this week.... In the filing, McMullin accused the motorist, Jack Aaron Whelchel, of making unprovoked threats that included forcing the couple's car into oncoming traffic, before aiming a firearm in a threatening manner. Whelchel was indicted in April on misdemeanor charges of making a threat with a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct. Whelchel pleaded not guilty to both charges. McMullin testified as a witness during a preliminary hearing in July, at which he identified Whelchel as the motorist, but the candidate has not publicly mentioned the incident.... [Whelchel's attorney] said he expects the case to go to a jury trial after a scheduled hearing next month.... Whelchel's Facebook page features several far-right memes."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Sunday are here: "Local authorities in Zaporizhzhia are distributing potassium iodide tablets in case of a leak of radioactive material , and residents are lining up. The tablets helps counteract the effects of radioactive exposure by blocking the body's absorption of the radioactive form of iodine.... The [U.S.] State Department confirmed another U.S. citizen has died but did not identify them.... Vladimir Putin has ordered payments and welfare benefits be made to Ukrainians arriving in Russia, according to a law signed this weekend."

Pakistan's "Climate Catastrophe." Zarar Khan of the AP: "Deaths from widespread flooding in Pakistan topped 1,000 since mid-June, officials said Sunday, as the country's climate minister called the deadly monsoon season 'a serious climate catastrophe.' Flash flooding from the heavy rains has washed away villages and crops as soldiers and rescue workers evacuated stranded residents to the safety of relief camps and provided food to thousands of displaced Pakistanis. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority reported the death toll since the monsoon season began earlier than normal this year -- in mid-June -- reached 1,033 people after new fatalities were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Sindh provinces."

News Lede

Washington Post: "Four people were dead after a man set a residence on fire, shot at people fleeing and was then killed by a police officer early Sunday in Houston, authorities said. Just after 1 a.m., the city's police and fire departments received calls about a fire and shooting at a house used as a rental facility, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at a news conference. Firefighters arrived first but had to take cover when the gunman opened fire, although it was not clear if he was firing at them. Soon after that, police officers got to the scene and found the shooter in a parking lot across the street from the house. An officer shot and killed the man, who was dressed in black and armed with a shotgun, Finner said. Two residents were pronounced dead at the scene, and a third died at a hospital."

August 27, 2022

This Afternoon in Trumpster Dumpster Fire News:

Does This Orange Jumpsuit Make Me Look Fat? Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Since the release of the search warrant [on Mar-a-Lago], which listed three criminal laws as the foundation of the investigation, one -- the Espionage Act -- has received the most attention. Discussion has largely focused on the spectacle of the F.B.I. finding documents marked as highly classified and Mr. Trump's questionable claims that he had declassified everything held at his residence. But by some measures, the crime of obstruction is as, or even more, serious a threat to Mr. Trump or his close associates. The version investigators are using, known as Section 1519, is part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a broad set of reforms enacted in 2002.... The heavily redacted affidavit [released Friday] provides new details of the government's efforts to retrieve and secure the material in Mr. Trump's possession, highlighting how prosecutors may be pursuing a theory that the former president, his aides or both might have illegally obstructed an effort of well over a year to recover sensitive documents that do not belong to him.... Section 1519's maximum penalty is 20 years in prison, which is twice as long as the penalty under the Espionage Act."

Jeremy Herb & Annie Grayer of CNN: "Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has sent a letter to the House Intelligence and House Oversight committee chairs, saying the intelligence community is conducting a damage assessment of the documents taken from ... Donald Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago, according to a letter obtained by CNN.... Several members of Congress have called for an intelligence damage assessment of the documents."

Notes from the Scene of the Crime. Niall Stanage of the Hill: "One of former President Trump's main claims about the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago is being undermined by Friday's release of a key affidavit. Trump has pushed the narrative that he and his lawyers were cooperating with the Department of Justice's (DOJ) inquiries about documents from his time in the White House. This, he claims, means that the Aug. 8 raid on his Florida estate was gratuitous.... Even in heavily redacted form, the affidavit points out that there was a prolonged process lasting around seven months in 2021 before Trump's team coughed up any documents at all.... [For instance,] according to a Trump legal filing earlier this week, one of the FBI agents, having been shown the storage room in which some documents were held, purportedly said, Now it all makes sense.' The same Trump filing refers to a June 8 letter in which the DOJ 'requested, in pertinent part, that the storage room be secured' -- a request that is implied to have been met when Trump told staff to put a second lock on the door. By contrast, the DOJ's affidavit quotes a letter on the same date -- presumably the same letter -- reiterating to a Trump lawyer that there was no 'secure location authorized for the storage of classified information' anywhere at the resort. The letter makes clear that the DOJ's request was not some generalized security check-up but a demand for the 'preservation' of the storage room in its 'current condition until further notice' -- phrasing that is far more redolent of an investigation of a possible crime scene than a friendly chat about padlocks."

Emily Peck & Sara Fischer of Axios: "The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refused Donald Trump's application for a trademark for 'Truth Social,' the name of his social media company earlier this month.... The USPTO found two other companies who already use the Truth Social wording, which would create what's known as 'likelihood of confusion' if Trump also got the mark. Typically, when a company files for a trademark -- the distinct brand-name it wishes to use exclusively -- lawyers vet the term to make sure there's no conflicts.... Trump can appeal, which trademark lawyers believe is likely.... The trademark refusal is just the latest setback for the former president's social media app and its parent company, which have been beset by a raft of issues over the past few months." MB: You might think Trump would have hired a patent attorney who knew how to apply for a patent, but I suppose he couldn't find any who would work for him without demanding a huge retainer. ~~~

~~~ Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's Truth Social website is facing financial challenges as its traffic remains puny and the company that is scheduled to acquire it expresses fear that his legal troubles could lead to a decline in his popularity. Six months after its high-profile launch, the site -- a clone of Twitter, which banned Trump after Jan. 6, 2021 -- still has no guaranteed source of revenue and a questionable path to growth, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings from Digital World Acquisition, the company planning to take Trump's start-up, the Trump Media & Technology Group, public. The company warned this week that its business could be damaged if Trump 'becomes less popular or there are further controversies that damage his credibility.' The company has seen its stock price plunge nearly 75 percent since its March peak and reported in a filing last week that it had lost $6.5 million in the first half of the year."

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Reading Between the Redactions

Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "The Justice Department's search of ... Donald J. Trump's Florida home was spurred by the discovery that he had retained a trove of highly classified material that included documents related to the use of 'clandestine human sources' in intelligence gathering, according to a redacted version of the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant. The portions of the affidavit made public on Friday describe the Justice Department's monthslong push to recover sensitive materials taken from the White House by a former president who viewed state documents as his private property, and now faces a department investigating the possibility he illegally obstructed those efforts.... There was 'probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found' at Mr. Trump's house, prosecutors wrote in the affidavit.... The redacted document did not offer details of what the possible obstruction might be, but the mention raised the possibility that the former president could face considerable legal peril.... The affidavit, which was sworn to on Aug. 5, also noted that the F.B.I. had 'not yet identified all potential criminal confederates nor located all evidence related to its investigation.'"

Glenn Thrush & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Justice Department asked to search ... Donald J. Trump's Florida residence after retrieving an initial batch of highly classified national security documents, out of concern that their disclosure could compromise 'clandestine human sources' used in intelligence gathering, according to a redacted version of the affidavit used to obtain the warrant. The affidavit -- including more than three dozen pages of evidence and legal arguments presented by the Justice Department's national security division plus supporting documents -- describes the government's monthslong push to recover highly classified materials taken from the White House by a former president who viewed state documents as his private property." This is a liveblog that was updated numerous times Friday afternoon. Reporters' comments are informative. Following are a few items in the liveblog: ~~~

"Less than an hour after a heavily redacted copy of the affidavit used to justify the F.B.I.'s search of ... Donald J. Trump's residence in Florida was released on Friday, he and many of his allies were directing their ire toward the judge who signed the warrant. In a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, Mr. Trump named Judge Bruce Reinhart and falsely described the search of Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8 to retrieve classified documents as a 'break-in of my home.'...

[Another Lie.] "The General Services Administration, the federal agency charged with managing the government's property, rebutted on Friday a claim made by ... Donald J. Trump's aides that the agency had improperly packed hundreds of pages of documents with classified markings that were sent from the White House to Mr. Trump's home in Florida.... The agency said that it had no role in packing the boxes.... In the aftermath of the F.B.I.'s search of Mr. Trump's property two weeks ago, a top aide to Mr. Trump, Kashyap Patel, said ... that 'the G.S.A., not Trump, had mishandled the packaging of the documents.'... Around the same time, Mr. Trump's spokesman told NBC News that the former president was working to ensure that any items improperly moved by the General Services Administration were appropriately returned.'... The [GSA] said that while it was in charge of moving the boxes after they were packed[, shrink-wrapped & put on pallets], its personnel never examined the contents of the boxes, nor did it have any idea what was in them....

"A letter from the Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran to Jay Bratt, the top counterintelligence official in the national security division at the Justice Department, suggests that Trump had absolute declassification authority. But the letter does not state that Trump actually declassified any of these documents. Instead, the Trump adviser Kash Patel started making that claim around that time....

"A rare, unredacted line in a largely censored set of pages recounting events says that the National Archives made a request for the missing government documents on May 6, 2021, 'and continued to make requests until approximately late December 2021,' when Trump's office told them they had found 12 boxes that were ready for the agency to retrieve from Mar-a-Lago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

     ~~~ The Washington Post story, by Perry Stein & Devlin Barrett, is here. According to a note, it will be updated frequently. "The details contained in the affidavit and unsealed Friday ... underscore the high stakes and unprecedented nature of a criminal probe into whether the former president and his aides took secret government papers and refused to return all of the material -- even in the face of demands from senior law enforcement officials.... 'There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found,' the affidavit says.... Of the 38 pages in the affidavit, nearly half are entirely or mostly redacted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Records the FBI obtained from Trump’s Florida home in advance of the Aug. 8 search bore indications they contained human source intelligence, intercepts under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and signals intelligence, as well as other tags indicating high sensitivity. Several of those tightly-controlled documents contained Trump's 'handwritten notes,' the partially-redacted affidavit detailing the Justice Department investigation says.... In those boxes [obtained early this year], agents found 184 unique documents, 25 of which were marked 'top secret,' 92 of which were marked 'secret,' and 67 of which were marked 'confidential' -- the lowest level of national security classification. Prosecutors also added in another court filing unsealed Friday that the ongoing criminal probe into government records stashed at Trump's Florida home has involved 'a significant number of civilian witnesses' whose safety could be jeopardized if their identities were revealed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

     ~~~ Politico has a facsimile of the affidavit here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Amber Phillips of the Washington Post outlines top takeaways from the redacted affidavit.

More Big Lies. They could have had it anytime they wanted -- and that includes LONG ago. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS ASK. The bigger problem is, what are they going to do with the 33 million pages of documents, many of which are classified, that President Obama took to Chicago? -- Donald Trump, on his fake Twitter site, August 12 ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times:"The National Archives and the Justice Department tried and failed repeatedly for more than a year and a half to retrieve classified and sensitive documents from ... Donald J. Trump before resorting to a search of his Mar-a-Lago property this month, according to government documents and statements by Mr. Trump's lawyers. The documents, including an unsealed, redacted version of an affidavit from the Justice Department requesting a warrant to conduct the search, make clear the lengths to which the government went before pursuing a law enforcement action to recover the material. Here's a timeline of the events that led to the search." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie P.S. President Obama did not take any documents to Chicago. All of his presidential papers in the custody of the National Archives.

Julian Barnes & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: Clandestine human sources "risk imprisonment or death stealing the secrets of their own governments. Their identities are among the most closely protected information inside American intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Losing even one of them can set back American foreign intelligence operations for years. [They] ... are the lifeblood of any espionage service. This helps explain the grave concern within American agencies that information from undercover sources was included in some of the classified documents recently removed from Mar-a-Lago..., raising the prospect that the sources could be identified if the documents got into the wrong hands. Mr. Trump has a long history of treating classified information with a sloppiness few other presidents have exhibited. And the former president's cavalier treatment of the nation's secrets was on display in the affidavit underlying the warrant for the Mar-a-Lago search. The affidavit, released in redacted form on Friday, described classified documents being found in multiple locations around the Florida residence, a private club where both members and their guests mingle with the former president and his coterie of aides."

Yeah but, what with all the security at Mar-a-Lago, there's no possibility any foreign spies or shady characters got into Mar-a-Lago. ~~~

~~~ Nikki Schwab, et al., of the Daily Mail: "A Ukrainian woman posing as a member of the Rothschild banking dynasty successfully infiltrated Mar-a-Lago and former President Donald Trump's inner circle and is now being investigated by the FBI and Canadian authorities. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project were out with a report Friday on 33-year-old Inna Yashchyshyn, who told Florida socialites she was heiress Anna de Rothschild, and was 'fawned all over' by guests at Trump's private club.... Canadian law enforcement confirmed Yashchyshyn has been the subject of a major crimes unit investigation in Quebec since February, the Post-Gazette reported. Yashchyshyn started showing up at Mar-a-Lago last spring...." Yashchyshyn carries Ukrainian & Russian passports. Her Florida drivers license lists an address at a mansion where she had never lived. She was involved with a man whom she described in court as a violent criminal who held her hostage; he said she was a grifter. She apparently had connections with organized crime. Article includes a photo of Yashchyshyn posing with Trump & Lindsey Graham at Trump's Florida golf club. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "Former Attorney General William Barr attacked Donald Trump and his Republican supporters for again 'pandering to outrage,' this time over the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Barr was pressed Thursday by journalist Bari Weiss on her podcast 'Honestly' on why Republicans should trust the legitimacy of the FBI search in the wake of Trump's attacks on the operation to retrieve government documents. An irritated Barr responded: 'Something I'm pretty tired of from the right is the constant pandering to outrage and people's frustrations. And picking and picking and picking at that sore without trying to channel those feelings in a constructive direction.' Barr said it's 'premature' to reach a conclusion about the Aug. 8 FBI search of Trump's resort and residence. Agents turned up 27 boxes of material, including 11 packets of classified material, including some top secret information.... Barr conceded it's 'hard to explain' why Trump would have held on to the official documents. He characterized vicious attacks on the FBI by Trump and his supporters as 'over the top.'"

New York Times Editors: "No matter how careful [Attorney General Merrick Garland is or how measured the prosecution might be, there is a real and significant risk from those who believe that any criticism of Mr. Trump justifies an extreme response. Yet it is a far greater risk to do nothing when action is called for. Aside from letting Mr. Trump escape punishment, doing nothing to hold him accountable for his actions in the months leading up to Jan. 6 could set an irresistible precedent for future presidents. Why not attempt to stay in power by any means necessary or use the power of the office to enrich oneself or punish one's enemies, knowing that the law does not apply to presidents in or out of office? More important, democratic government is an ideal that must constantly be made real. America is not sustained by a set of principles; it is sustained by resolute action to defend those principles.... Mr. Trump's actions have brought shame on one of the world's oldest democracies and destabilized its future. Even justice before the law will not erase that stain."

Andrew Weissmann in a New York Times op-ed: "The redacted affidavit is further proof that Mr. Trump's flouting of criminal statutes persisted for a long time and gives every appearance of being intentional.... The key questions that remain include what precisely is the full scope of what Mr. Trump took from the White House, why he took the documents and did not return them all and what he was doing with them all this time."

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Donald Trump's attorneys late Friday made a new pitch for an independent review of the materials seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate. In a 12-page filing, they urged a federal judge to appoint a 'special master' to prevent the Justice Department from continuing to comb through dozens of boxes taken by FBI agents earlier this month. The reporters lay out the case as presented. A CNN report, by Tierney Sneed, finds other shortcomings in the motion's arguments. ~~~

     ~~~Marie: I'm no judge, but their arguments sound unpersuasive. The one point the attorney made -- that under a 1991 appeals court ruling, the president* has "virtually complete control' over his records -- doesn't look so helpful to Trump when you actually read the 1991 ruling. First, it applies only to the president* during his time in office. Second, he must notify the Archivist -- who then must notify the Congress -- if he intends to dispose of any records he considers inconsequential. Third, Trump didn't dispose of the records in question here; he stole them & maintained them in an unsafe place where prying eyes might find them. That's different from his usual ripping, flushing or trashing techniques. (I find it pretty funny that, by law, Trump was required to notify the Archivist that he was going to flush some papers down the toilet. Under that law, Trump would have had to wait a couple of weeks to flush. Eeew!) It looks to me that, except for notes to himself [eg., "Fire McGahn!!!], there should be a record of all of Trump's communications, as the people to whom he wrote any notes would have had to retain them.

** Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: President Biden on Thursday offered some harsh words about those of the 'extreme MAGA philosophy' currently hacking away at our democracy. 'It's not just Trump,' he said at a fundraiser. 'It's the entire philosophy that underpins the -- I'm going to say something: It's like semi-fascism.' He expanded on the theme later at a rally. 'The MAGA Republicans,' he said, are 'a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people. They embrace -- embrace -- political violence.' Good for him. Those who cherish democracy need to call out the proto-fascist tendencies now seizing the Trump-occupied GOP. Republican candidates up and down the November ballot reject the legitimate outcome of the last election -- and are making it easier to reject the will of the voters in the next. Violent anti-government rhetoric from party leaders targets the FBI, the Justice Department and the IRS. A systemic campaign of disinformation makes their supporters feel victimized by shadowy 'elites. These are hallmarks of authoritarianism." Read on. ~~~

~~~ Marie: The one & only downside of defeating the fascists would be this: there will be no more absurd bullies, liars & lemmings to mock. We will have to satisfy ourselves with drunken old politicians taking dips with strippers in the Tidal Basin and congressmen stuffing their freezers with cold cash receipts of bribes. ~~~

~~~ Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post, in the first of several letters to her Dearest Mother: "I heard the good news today from Senator Grassley and Senator Cruz and many voices more: The Lord be praised, President Biden is starting a new army, 87,000 strong, and all armed, to work for the IRS. They shall burst into homes and knock down doors and wreak Biden's personal vengeance on the middle class, and every one shall have an AR-15. My dream is coming true. I am rushing to enlist; I am leaving the farm in your hands until my return from service in this glorious cause." MB: I do not want to give away the ending of this epistolary column, but suffice it to say that Biden's war against the American taxpayer disappoints Petri. I am sorry to tell you that, as a general rule, believing Chuck & Ted is bound to lead to disappointment.

There's a New Twitter Master at the White House. Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "... the White House [Twitter] account has been quiet and unassuming, largely regurgitating press releases and explaining [President] Biden's policies. Not anymore.... The White House account this week decided to hit back in uncharacteristically feisty -- and personal -- fashion after a number of Republicans hammered Biden's decision to wipe out up to $20,000 in student debt for many borrowers.... For the White House, the newly punchy tone seems to be part of a revamped strategy leading up to November's midterm elections, with Biden increasingly attacking Republicans directly and sometimes by name.... The White House also recently hired Megan Coyne ... in its Office of Digital Strategy. Coyne garnered widespread attention among Democrats for bringing humor and punchiness to a Ne Jersey state-run account with tweets that went viral."

Rebecca Robbins & Jenny Gross of the New York Times: "The vaccine manufacturer Moderna sued Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday, claiming that its rivals' Covid-19 shot copied groundbreaking technology that Moderna had developed years before the pandemic. The allegation of patent infringement sets up what could become a protracted and expensive legal battle between the companies behind coronavirus vaccines that have saved millions of lives worldwide and raised hopes for future medical products using similar messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology. Experts said Moderna's litigation, regardless of its outcome, was unlikely to impede access to Covid vaccines or chill the development of mRNA products. But the outcome could dictate whether Pfizer or Moderna controls and profits more from a powerful and lucrative medical technology."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida suspended four elected members of the Broward County school board on Friday, following the recommendation of a grand jury impaneled to look into school safety and other issues after the mass school shooting in Parkland that left 17 people dead in 2018. In its report, which was released last week, the grand jury found that the four school board members -- and a fifth one who no longer holds that position -- had 'engaged in acts of incompetence and neglect of duty,' in part for what the grand jury described as mismanagement of an $800 million bond issue.... [Laurie Rich Levinson, one of those suspended,] said that all the suspended board members had won elections since the shooting. 'What country is this? Ms. Levinson, formerly the board chairwoman, said in an interview Friday. 'Governor DeSantis ... doesn't care about democracy and he overturned the will of the voters.' She added that Mr. DeSantis 'impaneled this grand jury under the guise of school safety as a pretext to remove school board members who did not fire the former superintendent.'" The board is nonpartisan, but all four suspended members are registered Democrats. A UPI story is here. ~~~

~~~ ** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dan Froomkin of Press Watch: "Mainstream-media journalists are completely unprepared to cover a presidential candidate who would use the power of the state against his political enemies, who stokes division with racist conspiracy theories, and who will do anything to entrench one-party control of the government. Yes, we've been through this before. But in 2016, the media at least had the excuse that it was new to them.... But here comes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.... And in some ways, he's much more dangerous to our democracy than Trump. He's an ideologue, not just a narcissist -- with a real track record of authoritarian governance. He isn't just tweeting idle threats, or enriching himself personally. He is already using his position of power to punish his enemies and reward his allies in furtherance of his political goals. His hyperbole and mendacity match and surpass Trump's. He doesn't just insult people who disagree with him, he accuses them of wanting to sexualize kindergartners.... Trump is a Trumpist. But DeSantis is a fascist."

GOP Fields Dangerous Candidates

Michigan. GOP to Nominate Fraudster/Conspiracy Theorist as State Attorney General. Alexandra Berson & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Bolstered by his association with [Donald Trump, Matthew] DePerno [-- well-known to state legislators & judges as am 'absurd' conspiracy theorist ---is poised to be nominated as the G.O.P. candidate for attorney general, the top legal official in the state, at a state party convention on Saturday. He is among a coterie of election deniers running for offices that have significant authority over elections, worrying some election experts, Democrats and some Republicans across the country. This month, the Michigan attorney general's office released documents that suggest Mr. DePerno was a key orchestrator of a separate plot to gain improper access to voting machines in three other Michigan counties." The article delves into DePerno's extremely dodgy career, which includes a 2020 scam in which he collected more than $400,000 for himself from a site calling itself "The 2020 Election Fraud Defense Fund." MB: No wonder Donald Trump endorses him.

Pennsylvania Governors Race. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Doug Mastriano, the far-right Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, wore a Confederate uniform for a faculty photo at the Army War College that surfaced on Friday. The photo, from the 2013 to 2014 academic year, shows Mr. Mastriano wearing a gray military uniform, including a gray cap with yellow trim, and holding a Civil War-era firearm. It was first reported Friday evening by Reuters, which obtained it through a Freedom of Information Act request. Mr. Mastriano -- a retired Army colonel and now a state senator whose district includes Gettysburg, the site of the battle where the tide of the Civil War turned against the Confederacy -- is running for governor against the Pennsylvania attorney general, Josh Shapiro, a Democrat."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "Russia and Ukraine accused each other of fresh shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, just two days after the plant was cut off from Ukraine's electricity, causing a massive power outage and sparking international fears of a radiation disaster, before backup diesel generators kicked in. Inspectors from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog are expected to visit the plant next week.... Shelling at the plant may result in hydrogen leakage, sputtering of radioactive substances and fires, Ukraine's nuclear power agency warned in a statement, as it accused Russian troops of 'repeatedly' targeting the facility over the past day. Russia's attack and control of the plant was a threat to 'the security of the whole world,' it added. Russia's ministry of defense meanwhile said Ukraine had fired shells at the facility in the past 24 hours. Negotiations for a visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by U.N. inspectors are nearing completion, but the Kremlin is insisting on a Russian media presence for the visit, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told The Washington Post. At the United Nations, Russia blocked the final draft of a declaration on a joint treaty on nuclear security after weeks of negotiations."