The Conversation -- April 25, 2024

Aaron Katersky of ABC News: "A federal judge in New York on Thursday rejected ... Donald Trump's bid for a new trial in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. The ruling upheld the jury's $83.3 million damage award. 'Contrary to the defendant's arguments, Ms. Carroll's compensatory damages were not awarded solely for her emotional distress; they were not for garden variety harms; and they were not excessive,' Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote. 'Mr. Trump's malicious and unceasing attacks on Ms. Carroll were disseminated to more than 100 million people,' he added. 'They included public threats and personal attacks, and they endangered Ms. Carroll's health and safety.'"

Marie: I'm waiting for a couple of outlets to come up with analysis of this morning's travesty of justice, a/k/a/ the Trump immunity hearing, but the consensus seems to be that the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will twiddle their thumbs till they eventually come up with a ruling that (1) sends the case back through the lower courts and into Trumpy Limbo Land AND (2) eliminates at least some of the charges against Trump. Democracy dies in darkness? Well, only if you figure "darkness" = the Supreme Court's edict against cameras in the courtroom. I surmise the lights were on at the Supreme Court this morning, and democracy still took a nosedive. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Okay, here's one, and as Ken W. notes, Patrick had already covered Millhiser's analysis in today's Comments. ~~~

     ~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox: "Thursday's argument in Trump v. United States was a disaster for Special Counsel Jack Smith, and for anyone who believes that the president of the United States should be subject to prosecution if they commit a crime. At least five of the Court's Republicans seemed eager to, at the very least, permit Trump to delay his federal criminal trial for attempting to steal the 2020 election until after this November's election. And the one GOP appointee who seemed to hedge the most, Chief Justice John Roberts, also seemed to think that Trump enjoys at least some immunity from criminal prosecution. Much of the Court's Republican majority, moreover, seemed eager not simply to delay Trump's trial until after the election, but to give him extraordinarily broad immunity from criminal prosecution should he be elected once again. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, for example, argued that when a president exercises his official powers, he cannot be charged under any federal criminal statute at all, unless that statute contains explicit language saying that it applies to the president."

Here's the New York Times liveblog of the Supreme Hearing on the Supreme Immunity of Our Supreme Ruler. ~~~

~~~ See Akhilleus' entry near the top of today's Comments thread, in which he cites a Rolling Stone article. From the Stone piece: "'We already pulled off the heist,' says a source close to Trump, noting it doesn't matter to them what the Supreme Court decides now...."

The New York Times' liveblog of the Trump 2016 election interference case is here:

Michael Gold: "Hours before court was set to begin today, Donald Trump made a campaign stop at a construction site in Manhattan, where he was asked about David Pecker's testimony and their relationship. 'David's been very nice,' Trump said. 'He's a nice guy.'"

Nate Schweber: "As Trump's motorcade arrived at court just before 9 a.m., a group of a few dozen people demonstrating against him blocked traffic. They stretched a banner across Centre Street that read 'No One Is Above the Law.' They sang out, 'Trump is not above the law.' Police monitored, and the demonstration was orderly."

Maggie Haberman: "Prosecutors are submitting what they say are an additional four times Trump has violated the gag order, including an attack on Michael Cohen while speaking to reporters gathered in the hallway outside the courtroom.... Another violation prosecutors mention is an interview in which Trump referred to the jury as '95 percent Democrats.'... They're now describing Trump's comments at an event this morning as another violation.... Prosecutors say it was a message to Pecker and others: be 'nice,' or get attacked."

Jonah Bromwich: "Pecker resumes testifying about Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said that she had a sexual relationship with Trump."

Haberman: "Pecker, explaining why McDougal said she didn't want her story told, said, 'She said she didn't want to be the next Monica Lewinsky.'"

Kate Christobek: "Pecker is testifying about a conversation he had with Trump where Trump described Karen McDougal as 'a nice girl.' Pecker said this conversation made him believe that Trump 'knew who she was.' Trump is stone-faced as Pecker talks about this conversation."

Bromwich: "Pecker is now describing a follow-up conversation with Michael Cohen in which he asked Cohen who would pay for McDougal's story of having had an affair with Trump. This was a central concern for Pecker. Cohen reassured him, telling him, 'The boss will take care of it.'"

Haberman: "David Pecker is now attesting to a key point prosecutors made in their opening statement, that Trump was famously frugal. He testifies that he knew that Michael Cohen 'didn't have any authorization to disperse any funds from' the Trump Organization. Even when the two went for lunch, Pecker says, Pecker always paid."

Bromwich: "David Pecker testifies that once negotiations had taken place with Karen McDougal, Pecker again asked Michael Cohen who would pay for her story. Cohen -- who Pecker said just minutes ago had earlier promised that Trump would take care of it -- this time said, 'You should pay.' Pecker was reluctant, having already purchased another story on Trump's behalf, but Cohen again pledged that Pecker would eventually be made whole by Trump."

Jesse McKinley: "David Pecker is now describing a 2002 conversation with Arnold Schwarzenegger where he asked Pecker not to run negative stories about him before his run for governor of California. He was ultimately elected and served from 2003-2011. Pecker says that women did come forward about relationships that they had with Schwarzenegger and he did not publish stories on them. One that Pecker passed on ended up in The Los Angeles Times, he says."

Haberman: "David Pecker is now detailing the agreement American Media Inc., The National Enquirer's parent company, struck with Karen McDougal. The contract guaranteed she would be put on two magazine covers and that the company would have the right to publish fitness columns by her. It's worth noting how bizarre this set-up was. It wasn't just buying her story -- it was also giving her work within the A.M.I. empire.... Pecker says that the contract was intended to stipulate that McDougal would perform 'services' for A.M.I., that there was a basis for the $150,000 she was receiving."

McKinley: "David Pecker is asked if The National Enquirer had any intention to publish Karen McDougal’s story, which it bought for $150,000. Pecker is blunt: 'No, we did not.' This is catch and kill in a microcosm."

Bromwich: "David Pecker's last few minutes of testimony were really key. He said that his company had disguised the hush money payment to Karen McDougal as a deal for services she would perform for American Media. This is hugely important for the prosecution's case: They have to show that the conspiracy that they accuse Trump of participating in to win the 2016 election was conducted through 'unlawful means.' Pecker just indicated that it was. The jury may never catch this complicated point, but it's enormously important for the legal viability of the case."

Michael Rothfeld: "Despite David Pecker's assertions that he structured the deal with Karen McDougal to avoid violating campaign finance law, his company later admitted doing just that in its 2018 non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors."

McKinley: "We are in a nitty-gritty, nuts-and-bolts part of the prosecution's case, as they introduce invoices and vouchers showing the payments to Karen McDougal."

Bromwich: "Earlier, Pecker had a hard time recalling what a text message referred to, in what seemed like it could be an ominous sign for the prosecution. But he's sounded steadily more confident here, identifying exhibits that corroborate his story about McDougal.... Pecker admits straightforwardly, when asked, that he didn't 'want this story to embarrass Mr. Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign.' This is the crescendo of his story about McDougal, and hugely powerful testimony for the prosecution."

McKinley: "David Pecker is now describing Trump's interest in obtaining boxes of material regarding Karen McDougal, saying that Trump was worried about what would happen if Pecker got 'hit by a bus' or his company was sold. Trump 'did not want someone else to potentially publish those stories.'"

Bromwich: "Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, wraps up his questioning about Karen McDougal by asking David Pecker about a contentious exchange with Michael Cohen, in which Pecker got concerned about the potentially unlawful implications of the deal. Cohen was upset with him and screamed: 'The boss is going to be very angry at you.' But Pecker -- thoroughly anxious at this point -- stood firm. 'The deal is off,' Pecker recalls telling him then. Pecker concludes by saying that he was never paid for the McDougal deal and we begin a 20-minute break."

Haberman: "With David Pecker back on the stand, we are turning to the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape.... The tape, which Pecker is describing, featured an outtake of Trump on that show from the 2000s, boasting about grabbing women's genitals. Pecker describes it as 'very embarrassing, very damaging' to the campaign. It was released on Oct. 7, 2016."

McKinley: "David Pecker describes an urgent call from The National Enquirer's editor, Dylan Howard, in October 2016, in which he was informed that Stormy Daniels was shopping a story of a sexual affair with Trump for $120,000.... Pecker says he didn't want The National Enquirer associated with a porn star, meaning Stormy Daniels, because one of the tabloid's biggest distributors was Walmart, where a lot of families shop.... Pecker says that he refused to pay $120,000 for Stormy Daniels's story, noting his previous payments to a doorman shopping an apparently false story about a child fathered by Trump and to Karen McDougal, who said she had an affair with him. 'I am not a bank,' Pecker said, explaining his decision."

Rothfeld: "Prosecutors showed jurors this article, which I co-authored while at The Wall Street Journal. It revealed The National Enquirer's $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal. It was published four days before the 2016 election and first introduced the term 'catch and kill.'"

Haberman: "Pecker, before a tense and focused courtroom, is recounting Trump calling him three days before election day, after the Journal article was published. He was 'very upset, saying how could this happen, I thought you had this under control, either you or one of your people have leaked the story,' Pecker says. The call ended with no goodbye from Trump."

Bromwich: "David Pecker is now describing a post-election meeting he had with Michael Cohen at Trump Tower. Pecker said Cohen told him he had not been reimbursed for his payment to Stormy Daniels. Cohen, who also wanted to be paid a holiday bonus, asked Pecker 'if I would talk to the boss on his behalf.'"

Haberman: "Pecker says that after Cohen asked him to intercede with Trump on his behalf, he spoke privately with Trump about the bonus. 'He's been working very hard, from my perspective, and I believe that he would throw himself under a bus for you,' Pecker says he told Trump. Trump said Cohen already owned 50 taxi medallians and multiple apartments in Trump buildings, but he would take care of it."

** Bromwich: "Pecker has just given us a very detailed description of Jared Kushner walking him into Trump Tower, and then into Trump's office, shortly before Trump's inauguration as president. In the office were ... James Comey, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus and Mike Pompeo.... Into that tableau walks Pecker, to be asked about Karen McDougal by the president-elect.... In front of Comey, the head of the F.B.I., Trump thanked Pecker for purchasing the stories -- and committing at least one crime in the process, as Pecker well knew. This is a wild, wild scene we are hearing about."

McKinley: "Seemingly important question here, as prosecutors ask David Pecker whether Trump was concerned about his wife or family finding out about his alleged affairs when he was campaigning for office. Pecker responds no. This suggests that Trump's worries were electoral, not personal."

McKinley: "Prosecutors showed a photo of Trump and Pecker walking together on the White House grounds. Pecker says they were discussing Karen McDougal at that moment."

Susanne Craig: "This was a real wow moment for me. The photo was taken from behind, the two men were clearly deep in conversation. Now Pecker tells us that the conversation was, at least in part, about Karen McDougal. 'How is Karen doing,' Pecker says Trump asked him. She is doing well, he says he responded. 'She is quiet.'"

Bromwich: "David Pecker is now describing a conversation he had with Trump more than a year after he was elected president, prompted by Karen McDougal having given a television interview. 'I thought you had -- we had -- an agreement with Karen McDougal that she can't give any interviews or be on any television shows,' Pecker recalls Trump saying then. When Pecker explained that he had amended the agreement, he says, 'Mr. Trump got very aggravated.' To emphasize, again, Pecker is saying that the president of the United States continued to monitor McDougal's movements while in office."

Haberman: "Prosecutors are now asking David Pecker to walk through his non-prosecution agreement in connection with the 2018 federal investigation into the actions of Michael Cohen and American Media Inc., The National Enquirer's parent company." ~~~

~~~ Christobek: "Justice Merchan tells the jury that this is being offered to provide context and to help them assess Pecker's credibility. He adds that this is not evidence of the defendant's guilt."

Bromwich: "[Pecker] says that he hasn't spoken to Trump since 2019. 'Even though we haven't spoken, I still consider him a friend,' Pecker adds, as he testifies against Trump at his criminal trial.... The prosecution is done questioning David Pecker.... Pecker had only just begun to describe the hush-money payment made to Stormy Daniels. That means that other witnesses, likely includin Michael Cohen, will be left to give most of the testimony about it. The lack of testimony from Pecker about Daniels also makes me wonder if Daniels herself might testify...."

McKinley: "Emil Bove, the defense lawyer, is questioning David Pecker about his history of 'checkbook journalism,' and drawing out that his magazines only published about half of the stories that they bought.... In an admission of the ugly side of the tabloid trade, Pecker says that his magazines would buy negative stories as leverage against celebrities to coerce them into providing interviews and other access."

Bromwich: "I believe Bove is seeking to show that the catch-and-kill deals were not standalone examples of a shady conspiracy, but rather standard practice at the publisher."

Haberman: "Emil Bove is now walking David Pecker through how he engaged in very similar behavior to help Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for governor of California, orchestrating catch-and-kill deals to protect him."

Bromwich: "David Pecker is testifying that he suppressed stories on behalf of Ari and Rahm Emanuel."

Bromwich: "Emil Bove, Trump's lawyer, spent the last part of his cross-examination pressing David Pecker on what seems to be an inconsistency about whether Hope Hicks was at the 2015 Trump Tower meeting, where Pecker first agreed to suppress stories on Trump's behalf. Bove's questioning suggested that Pecker told federal prosecutors that Hicks was not at the meeting, and told state prosecutors that she was.... Prosecutors objected to that line of questioning, and Justice Merchan appears to agree with them: Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor, says that Hicks was simply not mentioned in the 2018 meeting with federal prosecutors and thus there was no inconsistency in Pecker's story, as Bove was suggesting. 'It's misleading and we're going to correct this tomorrow,' Justice Merchan says, adopting a scolding tone with Bove for the first time." ~~~

McKinley: "After the jury leaves, Justice Merchan expresses frustration with Bove. 'I don't think you're responding to what I'm saying,' the judge tells him."

Eric Levenson of CNN: “The New York Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned the sex crimes conviction against Harvey Weinstein, the powerful Hollywood producer whose downfall stood as a symbol of the #MeToo movement. The court, by a 4-3 vote, ordered a new trial. 'We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes because that testimony served no material non-propensity purpose,' the ruling, written by Judge Jenny Rivera, states. 'The court compounded that error when it ruled that defendant, who had no criminal history, could be cross examined about those allegations as well as numerous allegations of misconduct that portrayed defendant in a highly prejudicial light. The synergistic effect of these errors was not harmless.'"

Washington. Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times: "The Republican base, it turns out, is now opposed to democracy.... After the candidates left [the state's GOP convention], the convention's delegates got down to crafting a party platform. [Among their decisions:] A resolution called for ending the ability to vote for U.S. senators. Instead, senators would get appointed by state legislatures, as it generally worked 110 years ago prior to the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913. 'We are devolving into a democracy, because congressmen and senators are elected by the same pool,' was how one GOP delegate put it to the convention. 'We do not want to be a democracy.'... Then ... they passed a resolution calling on people to please stop using the word 'democracy.'... The resolution sums up: 'We ... oppose legislation which makes our nation more democratic in nature.'... When people say 'democracy itself is on the ballot' in this election, though, I think this is what they're talking about." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Westneat seems to be making light of the rubes' dislike of democracy, at least to some extent, but read it in the context of Robert Kagan's WashPo essay, linked below, and you see how these particular rubes are exactly the people the Founders worried about: those who lacked "public virtue" and had little or no appreciation for "natural rights."

~~~~~~~~~~

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden signed a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Wednesday, reaffirming U.S. support for Kyiv in the fight against Russia's military assault after months of congressional gridlock put the centerpiece of the White House's foreign policy in jeopardy. 'It's a good day for world peace,' Mr. Biden said from the State Dining Room of the White House. 'It's going to make America safer, it's going to make the world safer, and it continues America's leadership in the world and everyone knows it.'... But even as he hailed the package on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said the process should have 'been easier, and should have gotten there sooner.... But in the end we did what America always does. We rose to the moment.'... 'Imagine if instead we had failed,' Mr. Biden said as he admonished 'MAGA Republicans' for allowing Ukrainian officials to run low on artillery. The White House first sent a request for the security package in October, but Republicans -- many of them egged on by ... Donald J. Trump -- said the United States was bearing too much of the burden. Mr. Trump, who has long expressed admiration for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, has made clear that he would not back Ukraine if he wins in November." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ How Biden Did It. Liz Goodwin, et al., of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Mike Johnson had walked into something of an ambush. President Biden had called the four congressional leaders -- Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), along with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) -- to the Oval Office in late February ostensibly to talk about heading off a government shutdown. But Biden and the others had devised a plan to pressure Johnson to push through a Ukraine aid package that was deeply dividing House Republicans. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and CIA Director William J. Burns gave a dire presentation, warning that Ukraine would lose the war without immediate U.S. support....

"As the bill's chances dimmed, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients convened a daily strategy meeting. Aides would try to figure out if Biden should call McConnell and Schumer or summon congressional leaders to the Oval Office. They tried to pick the right moment to call wavering lawmakers, and to decide whether the outreach should be made by top White House officials, retired generals or even Zelensky." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Of course Republicans are going to lie about the effects of the bill, as Trump's ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell did when he claimed the bill would send $100 billion to "foreign countries." As Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post writes, "The one thing Grenell got right is that the bill cost nearly $100 billion.... But it's highly misleading to say these funds are going to foreign countries. Nearly 80 percent will be spent on weapons made in the United States or by the U.S. military. This spending may be for the benefit of foreign countries -- such as Ukraine in its war against Russia -- but the money is mostly being used to create jobs in the United States." ~~~

~~~ Cristiano Lima-Strong of the Washington Post: "President Biden announced Wednesday he has signed legislation to ban or force a sale of TikTok, just hours after Congress dealt the video-sharing platform's Chinese ownership a historic rebuke following years of failed attempts to tackle the app's alleged national security risks. The Senate approved the measure 79 to 18 late Tuesday as part of a sprawling package offering aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, with the House having passed it Saturday. Biden confirmed that he signed the bill into law during a White House address on Wednesday, though he did not directly address the language targeting TikTok."

Mixed Message. Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken cheered on the sidelines at a basketball game in Shanghai on Wednesday night, and spent Thursday chatting with students at New York University's Shanghai campus and meeting American business owners. It all went to emphasize the kind of economic, educational and cultural ties that the United States is pointedly holding up as beneficial for both countries. But ... even as the Biden administration tries to stabilize the relationship with China, it is advancing several economic measures that would curb China's access to the U.S. economy and technology. It is poised to raise tariffs on Chinese steel, solar panels and other crucial products to try to protect American factories from cheap imports. It is weighing further restrictions on China's access to advanced semiconductors to try to keep Beijing from developing sophisticated artificial intelligence that could be used on the battlefield."

Mike Butts In. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday said President Biden should take action, including potentially sending in the National Guard, to quell pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and on other campuses across the country that he said had grown violent and antisemitic. 'There is executive authority that would be appropriate,' Mr. Johnson said during a news conference on the steps of Columbia's Low Library, where he was booed and heckled by some onlookers. 'If these threats are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard. We have to bring order to these campuses.'... The United States has a grim history of employing the military to quell campus protests. In 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on antiwar protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others....

"On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson, who met with Jewish students privately before his news conference, appeared to be looking for an opportunity to reclaim some conservative credibility and spotlight an issue that unites his party. He said that Dr. Nemat Shafik, the university president whom he also met with briefly, should resign if she cannot immediately get the situation under control. He called her a 'very weak and inept leader.' And he accused progressives of stoking antisemitism in America."

David Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: "A wave of pro-Palestinian protests spread and intensified on Wednesday as students gathered on campuses around the country, in some cases facing off with the police, in a widening showdown over campus speech and the war in Gaza. University administrators from Texas to California moved to clear protesters and prevent encampments from taking hold on their own campuses as they hav at Columbia University, deploying police in tense new confrontations that already have led to dozens of arrests. At the same time, new protests continued erupting in places like Pittsburgh and San Antonio. Students expressed solidarity with their fellow students at Columbia, and with a pro-Palestinian movement that appeared to be galvanized by the pushback on other campuses and the looming end of the academic year."

Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), who represented New Jersey in the House for more than a decade, has died at the age of 65. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) confirmed Payne's death in a statement on Wednesday." @12:45 pm ET Wednesday, this is a developing story. (Also linked yesterday.) Rep. Drake's New York Times obituary is here.

The Trials of Trump & the Trump Mob

Marie: Today is a Big News day, and alas, I will be away for most of the day. The criminal trial of his nibs is back in business in Manhattan, and as you know, New York Times reporters do a credible job of liveblogging it. In the meantime, Trump's buddies on the Supreme Court will be hearing his nibs' appeal to their worser angels by asking them to declare him king of the realm, immune from any and all criminal prosecution, including and especially the main criminal case against him: his effort to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. The Supremes' main Web page is here, and it should have a link to allow you to listen to oral arguments, which begin at 10 am ET. Also, MSNBC indicated yesterday they would carry the arguments live; the advantage to "watching" the oral arguments is that, as I recall, the cable stations show you who is speaking. In addition, the NYT and other outlets like ScotusBlog, the WashPo & CNN should have liveblogs.

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Thursday over Mr. Trump's claim that criminal charges against him in the federal election subversion case must be thrown out because the Constitution makes him all but immune from being prosecuted for actions he took as president-- no matter what the evidence may show. That vision of a presidency operating above the law dovetails with second-term plans that Mr. Trump and his allies are making to eliminate myriad internal checks and balances on the executive branch and to centralize greater power in his hands.... As he once declared to a cheering crowd of supporters in 2019, referring to the portion of the Constitution that creates and empowers the presidency: 'I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.'" ~~~

~~~ Two NYU Law Professors Say Supremes Flunk Democracy. Melissa Murray & Andrew Weissmann in a New York Times op-ed: "... the [Supreme C]ourt's insistence on putting its own stamp on this case -- despite the widespread assumption that it will not change the application of immunity to this case and the sluggish pace chosen to hear it -- means that it will have needlessly delayed legal accountability for no justifiable reason.... The court's delay may have stripped citizens of the criminal justice system&'s most effective mechanism for determining disputed facts: a trial before a judge and a jury, where the law and the facts can be weighed and resolved.... The Supreme Court's ... delays ... therefore [risk] transforming our nation into a Potemkin village of democracy that bears the surface trappings of legal institutions but without actual checks on the executive branch of government."

Marie: Yesterday, I wrote that "as far as I can tell, David Pecker hasn't testified to anything that implicated Trump in any illegal activity. If Trump talks a publisher into running fake negative stories about his opponents or quashing negative stories about himself, it's tawdry, but it's not illegal.... Pecker's NDAs with Trump's lady friends and others are not illegal, either, even if the intent is to deceive readers & the millions of voters who scan the Enquirer at the check-out lane." But Wednesday afternoon on MSNBC, my law guru Andrew Weissmann remarked that Pecker was providing in-kind as well as actual cash contributions to the Trump campaign. So it occurs to me that if Trump didn't report those contributions -- and we can be fairly certain he didn't -- then he violated federal campaign finance law and maybe state election law, too.

"How Trump Turned the 2016 Primary into a Supermarket Tabloid Gutter Fight." Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "Back in March 2016, as the Republican presidential primary narrowed to a showdown between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, unsubstantiated rumors about the senator from Texas having extramarital affairs started appearing in the National Enquirer, a supermarket tabloid of wide circulation and ill repute. Cruz called the allegations 'complete and utter lies ... a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen.' Trump responded, 'I had absolutely nothing to do with it.' Eight years later, testimony in a Manhattan courtroom finally revealed what happened. According to the Enquirer's then-publisher, David Pecker, Cruz was right.... The fresh details about the inner workings of [Trump's] tactics in the 2016 Republican primaries provide fresh clarity on how his unlikely candidacy upended the customs and logic of presidential campaigns. And in another measure of how completely that overhaul has taken hold, those same rivals maligned by Trump in 2016 are now vocally defending him against the current charges."

MEANWHILE, Out West ~~~

Yvonne Sanchez of the Washington Post: "An Arizona grand jury on Wednesday indicted seven attorneys and aides affiliated with Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign as well as 11 Arizona Republicans on felony charges related to their alleged efforts to subvert Joe Biden's 2020 victory in the state, according to an announcement by the state attorney general. Those indicted include former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb, top campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and former campaign aide Mike Roman. They are accused of allegedly aiding an unsuccessful strategy to award the state's electoral votes to Trump instead of Biden after the 2020 election. Also charged are the Republicans who signed paperwork on Dec. 14, 2020, that falsely purported Trump was the rightful winner, including former state party chair Kelli Ward, state Sens. Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern, and Tyler Bowyer, a GOP national committeeman and chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of the pro-Trump conservative group Turning Point USA. The indictments cap a year-long investigation by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) into how the elector strategy played out in Arizona, which Biden won by 10,457 votes. Trump was not charged, but he is described in the indictment as an unindicted co-conspirator....

"In releasing the indictment, Mayes's office redacted the names of all of the individuals outside of Arizona who were charged until they have been served their indictments. The Washington Post was able to identify all of them through the accounts of their alleged actions described in the indictment." MB: On MSNBC, Mary McCord said she identified Unindicted Coconspirator 4 as Ken Chesebro. Politico's story is here. The New York Times report is here.

~~~ The indictment, via Politico, is here. ~~~

~~~ Sanchez & others at the WashPo have a rundown of who the perps are and what parts they played in the scheme.

AND in Michigan. Laura Romero of ABC News: "... Donald Trump, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Rudy Giuliani are unindicted co-conspirators in the Michigan attorney general's case against the state's so-called "fake electors" in the 2020 election, a state investigator revealed in court on Wednesday. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged 16 Republicans last year with forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery for allegedly attempting to replace Michigan's electoral votes for Joe Biden with electoral votes for Trump at the certification of the vote on Jan. 6, 2021. During Wednesday's hearing, which was part of preliminary examinations for the so-called fake electors, Howard Shock, a special agent for the attorney general's office, also testified that former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis is also an unindicted co-conspirator."

Will Sommer of the Washington Post: "Gateway Pundit, the popular far-right blog, is filing for bankruptcy as it faces lawsuits alleging it promoted bogus claims about the 2020 election, its founder announced Wednesday -- though he vowed to continue publishing. Since its launch in 2004, the site has become a prolific clearinghouse for conspiracy theories about the election, school shootings, and other topics, helping to funnel such flimsy stories from the fringes of the internet to the broader pro-Trump right thanks to its substantial audience. But all those conspiracy theories have had a cost for Jim Hoft, the Missouri blogger who founded Gateway Pundit. In a message on the site, Hoft said its parent company would file for bankruptcy because it was under attack from 'progressive liberal' lawsuits."

Presidential Race

Robert Kagan in a Washington Post op-ed adapted from his book: "How to explain [the] willingness [of voters] to support Trump despite the risk he poses to our system of government? The answer is not rapidly changing technology, widening inequality, unsuccessful foreign policies or unrest on university campuses but something much deeper and more fundamental. It is what the Founders worried about and Abraham Lincoln warned about: a decline in what they called public virtue.... A healthy republic would not be debating whether Trump and his followers seek the overthrow of the Founders' system of liberal democracy. What more do people need to see than his well-documented attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power...? Trump not only acknowledges his goals, past and present; he promises to do it again if he loses this year. For the third straight election, he is claiming that if he loses, then the vote will have been fraudulent.... This kind of open challenge to our democracy was never meant to be addressed by the courts."

Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a slate of new rules aimed at bringing more transparency to the cost of air travel and making it easier for customers to get refunds when flights are delayed or canceled. Under the new rules, airlines and ticket agents will be required to disclose up front fees for checked and carry-on bags and for canceling or changing a reservation. Previously, the Transportation Department only required airlines and ticket agents to initially disclose mandatory carrier-imposed and government charges. The rules would also streamline the refund process for travelers when they experience significant delays or when their flights are canceled.... Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the rules, along with other steps the administration has taken, represent the biggest expansion of passenger rights in the Transportation Department's history."

That Didn't Take Long. Julian Mark of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups on Wednesday sued the Federal Trade Commission over a new rule that would make most noncompete agreements illegal, setting up a potential showdown over the scope of the agency's authority. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas, comes a day after the FTC voted 3-2 to issue a rule that bans noncompete agreements, which restrict workers from switching employers within their industry.... The suit comes as the power of federal agencies faces intense legal scrutiny, with the Supreme Court in recent years inclined to limit the scope of the administrative state."

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court appeared sharply divided on Wednesday over whether Idaho's near-total abortion ban overrides a federal law that protects patients who need emergency care in a case that could determine access to abortions in emergency rooms across the country. In a lively argument, questions by the justices suggested a divide along ideological lines, as well as a possible split by gender on the court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative, appeared skeptical that Idaho's law, which bars doctors from providing abortions unless a woman's life is in danger or in cases of ectopic or molar pregnancies, superseded the federal law. The argument also raised a broader question about whether some of the conservative justices, particularly Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., may be prepared to embrace language of fetal personhood, that is, the notion that a fetus would have the same rights [as] the pregnant woman." This is the pinned item in a liveblog. (Also linked yesterday.) The stand-alone version of VanSickle's report is here. ~~~

[Marie: Personally, I am not prepared to embrace the language of Alito personhood, as I definitely don't think Insufferable Sam should have the same rights as a pregnant woman.]

Pam Belluck: "Justice Sotomayor asks Idaho's lawyer if it's true that the state's ban would prevent abortion in a situation where a woman would otherwise lose an organ or have serious medical complications.... 'Yes, Idaho law does say that abortions in that case aren't allowed,' he said."

Belluck: "The [U.S.] solicitor general reminds the justices of a crucial point: In the kinds of pregnancy emergencies in which an abortion is typically required, there is no chance for a live birth. In most of those cases, including when a woman's water has broken much too early, the pregnancy could not be viable and by making her wait for an abortion until she is on the brink of death, it is just causing additional suffering for the woman, the solicitor general says."

Elizabeth Dias: "This frank discussion about what can happen to pregnant women's bodies -- the dysfunction of their bodily systems, the loss of their reproductive organs and fertility, their other organs shutting down -- shows the challenges anti-abortion activists face as their mission of ending abortion, once largely theoretical, has become utterly concrete for so many Americans."

Will Hobson of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department announced Tuesday it has agreed to pay nearly $139 million to victims of former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, settling legal claims brought over the department's failure to investigate allegations that could have brought the convicted child molester to justice sooner and prevented dozens of assaults. One of the largest of its kind in Justice Department history, the settlement brings to a close the last major legal case in an ugly chapter of Olympic sports in this country. Nassar's prolific abuses occurred over a span of decades at international events including the Olympics, as well as at Michigan State University, where Nassar worked, and local gymnastics centers in Michigan and around the country." (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona. Jack Healy, et al., of the New York Times: "Arizona took a major step on Wednesday toward scrapping an 1864 law banning abortion, when three Republican lawmakers in the state House of Representatives broke ranks with their party and voted with Democrats to repeal the ban. Republicans have narrow majorities in both chambers of Arizona's Legislature, and had blocked earlier repeal efforts in the two weeks since the Arizona Supreme Court ignited a political firestorm by reviving the Civil War-era law.... The State Senate could take up a vote on repeal next week. With two Republican senators already supporting repeal, Democrats say they believe they will prevail. Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat and a vocal supporter of abortion rights, has been urging lawmakers to repeal the 1864 law and is expected to sign a repeal if it reaches her desk." ~~~

     ~~~ So Then. Joseph Choi of the Hill: "Two Arizona state House lawmakers were removed from key committees Monday following the chamber's vote to repeal the state's 1864 abortion ban, with one Republican who voted with Democrats among them. Arizona state House Rep. Matt Gress (R) was removed from the Appropriations Committee, while Rep. Oscar De Los Santos (D) was removed from both the Appropriations Committee and Rules Committee.... Gress was the sole Republican to vote with Democrats when they attempted to pass the [repeal] bill last week." MB: Expressing the slightest support for women's health will cost you in Arizona.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz celebrated his country's 'ironclad' alliance with the United States after President Biden signed into law a foreign aid package that includes billions of dollars in military funding for Israel and humanitarian aid for Gaza. A top Hamas political official told the Associated Press the group could agree to a truce with Israel if there is a solution to establish an independent Palestinian state. Israel has pledged to eliminate Hamas, and talks have so far failed to reach a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal."

News Lede

CNN: "The US economy cooled more than expected in the first quarter of the year, but remained healthy by historical standards. Economic growth has slowed steadily over the past 12 months, which bodes well for lower interest rates, but the Federal Reserve has made it clear it's in no rush to cut rates."

The Conversation -- April 24, 2024

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden signed a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Wednesday, reaffirming U.S. support for Kyiv in the fight against Russia's military assault after months of congressional gridlock put the centerpiece of the White House's foreign policy in jeopardy. 'It's a good day for world peace,' Mr. Biden said from the State Dining Room of the White House. 'It's going to make America safer, it's going to make the world safer, and it continues America's leadership in the world and everyone knows it.'... But even as he hailed the package on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said the process should have 'been easier, and should have gotten there sooner.... But in the end we did what America always does. We rose to the moment.'... 'Imagine if instead we had failed,' Mr. Biden said as he admonished 'MAGA Republicans' for allowing Ukrainian officials to run low on artillery. The White House first sent a request for the security package in October, but Republicans -- many of them egged on by ... Donald J. Trump -- said the United States was bearing too much of the burden. Mr. Trump, who has long expressed admiration for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, has made clear that he would not back Ukraine if he wins in November." ~~~

     ~~~ Cristiano Lima-Strong of the Washington Post: "President Biden announced Wednesday he has signed legislation to ban or force a sale of TikTok, just hours after Congress dealt the video-sharing platform's Chinese ownership a historic rebuke following years of failed attempts to tackle the app's alleged national security risks. The Senate approved the measure 79 to 18 late Tuesday as part of a sprawling package offering aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, with the House having passed it Saturday. Biden confirmed that he signed the bill into law during a White House address on Wednesday, though he did not directly address the language targeting TikTok."

Will Hobson of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department announced Tuesday it has agreed to pay nearly $139 million to victims of former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, settling legal claims brought over the department's failure to investigate allegations that could have brought the convicted child molester to justice sooner and prevented dozens of assaults. One of the largest of its kind in Justice Department history, the settlement brings to a close the last major legal case in an ugly chapter of Olympic sports in this country. Nassar's prolific abuses occurred over a span of decades at international events including the Olympics, as well as at Michigan State University, where Nassar worked, and local gymnastics centers in Michigan and around the country."

Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), who represented New Jersey in the House for more than a decade, has died at the age of 65. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) confirmed Payne's death in a statement on Wednesday." @12:45 pm ET Wednesday, this is a developing story.

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court appeared sharply divided on Wednesday over whether Idaho's near-total abortion ban overrides a federal law that protects patients who need emergency care in a case that could determine access to abortions in emergency rooms across the country. In a lively argument, questions by the justices suggested a divide along ideological lines, as well as a possible split by gender on the court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative, appeared skeptical that Idaho's law, which bars doctors from providing abortions unless a woman's life is in danger or in cases of ectopic or molar pregnancies, superseded the federal law. The argument also raised a broader question about whether some of the conservative justices, particularly Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., may be prepared to embrace language of fetal personhood, that is, the notion that a fetus would have the same rights [as] the pregnant woman." This is the pinned item in a liveblog. ~~~

[Marie: Personally, I am not prepared to embrace the language of Alito personhood, as I definitely don't think Insufferable Sam should have the same rights as a pregnant woman.]

Pam Belluck: "Justice Sotomayor asks Idaho's lawyer if it's true that the state's ban would prevent abortion in a situation where a woman would otherwise lose an organ or have serious medical complications.... 'Yes, Idaho law does say that abortions in that case aren't allowed,' he said."

Belluck: "The [U.S.] solicitor general reminds the justices of a crucial point: In the kinds of pregnancy emergencies in which an abortion is typically required, there is no chance for a live birth. In most of those cases, including when a woman's water has broken much too early, the pregnancy could not be viable and by making her wait for an abortion until she is on the brink of death, it is just causing additional suffering for the woman, the solicitor general says."

Elizabeth Dias: "This frank discussion about what can happen to pregnant women's bodies -- the dysfunction of their bodily systems, the loss of their reproductive organs and fertility, their other organs shutting down -- shows the challenges anti-abortion activists face as their mission of ending abortion, once largely theoretical, has become utterly concrete for so many Americans."

Marie: Earlier today, I wrote that "as far as I can tell, David Pecker hasn't testified to anything that implicated Trump in any illegal activity. If Trump talks a publisher into running fake negative stories about his opponents or quashing negative stories about himself, it's tawdry, but it's not illegal.... Pecker's NDAs with Trump's lady friends and others are not illegal, either, even if the intent is to deceive readers & the millions of voters who scan the Enquirer at the check-out lane." But this afternoon on MSNBC, my law guru Andrew Weissmann remarked that Pecker was providing in-kind as well as actual cash contributions to the Trump campaign. So it occurs to me that if Trump didn't report those contributions -- and we can be fairly certain he didn't -- then he violated federal campaign finance law and maybe state election law, too.

~~~~~~~~~~

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday night to give final approval to a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending it to President Biden and ending months of uncertainty about whether the United States would continue to back Kyiv in its fight against Russian aggression. The vote reflected resounding bipartisan support for the measure, which passed the House on Saturday by lopsided margins after a tortured journey on Capitol Hill, where it was nearly derailed by right-wing resistance. The Senate's action, on a vote of 79 to 18, provided a victory for the president, who had urged lawmakers to move quickly so he could sign it into law. And it capped an extraordinary political saga that raised questions about whether the United States would continue to play a leading role in upholding the international order and projecting its values globally." ~~~

~~~ Sahil Kapur, et al., of NBC News: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday celebrated the impending passage of $60 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine ahead of a final vote, while lamenting the fact that it took months to secure enough Republican support to land it. At a press conference, the Kentucky Republican pinpointed two men responsible for that delay: former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson and ... Donald Trump. 'The demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin,' McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.... 'And then our nominee for president didn't seem to want us to do anything at all,' McConnell said. 'That took months to work our way through it.'" MB: Based on this report, it appears McConnell can criticize Trump without mentioning his name.

Sapna Maheshwari & David McCabe of the New York Times: "A bill that would force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner, ByteDance -- or ban it outright -- was passed by the Senate on Tuesday and is expected to be signed quickly into law by President Biden. Now the process is likely to get even more complicated. Congress passed the measure citing national security concerns because of TikTok's Chinese ties. Both lawmakers and security experts have said there are risks that the Chinese government could lean on ByteDance for access to sensitive data belonging to its 170 million U.S. users or to spread propaganda. The proposed law would allow TikTok to continue to operate in the United States if ByteDance sold it within 270 days, or about nine months, a time frame that the president could extend to a year. The measure is likely to face legal challenges, as well as possible resistance from Beijing, which could block the sale or export of the technology. It's also unclear who has the resources to buy TikTok, since it will carry a hefty price tag." The Verge has a report here.

** Tami Luhby of CNN: "Millions of salaried workers will soon qualify for overtime pay under a final rule released by the US Department of Labor on Tuesday. The new rule raises the salary threshold under which salaried employees are eligible for overtime in two stages. The threshold will increase to the equivalent of an annual salary of $43,888, or $844 a week, starting July 1, and then to $58,656, or $1,128 a week, on January 1, 2025. About 4 million more workers will qualify for overtime when the rule is fully implemented in January, the agency estimates. In its first year, the rule is expected to result in an income transfer of about $1.5 billion from employers to workers, mainly from new overtime premiums or from pay raises to maintain the exempt status of some affected employees."

** Julian Mark of the Washington Post: "The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday banned noncompete agreements for most U.S. workers, a move that will affect an estimated 30 million employees bound by contracts that restrict workers from switching employers within their industry. The agency voted 3-2 to issue the rule, with commissioners in the majority saying they saw a mountain of evidence that noncompete agreements suppress wages, stifle entrepreneurship and gum up labor markets. The new rule makes it illegal for employers to include the agreements in employment contracts and requires companies with active noncompete agreements to inform workers that they are void [except for senior executives].... The rule is set to take effect after 120 days, but business groups vowed to challenge it in court.... The rule, recommended by President Biden as part of a 2021 executive order, is the latest step in a major effort by the FTC to expand the boundaries of antitrust enforcement." ~~~

     ~~~ Andrea Hsu of NPR: "The vote was 3 to 2 along party lines." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "This is the most pro-labor administration since FDR and it's not remotely close."

     ~~~ Marie: Many of these noncompete agreements are as ridiculous as they are coercive and unfair; the workers who change jobs do know any "company secrets" about the company they left that they might share with a new employer, nor do they get substantial or unique on-the-job training that they could transfer from one job to another. I hope the businesses that bring cases against the FTC lose, but we have the Supreme Court we have, and those old boys don't think the gummit should be telling biniss what to do. ~~~

~~~ Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court appeared prepared to side with Starbucks in its request to curtail the National Labor Relations Board's authority in determining whether fired union activists should get their jobs back in a case that was argued before the court Tuesday."

The Trials of Trump, Ctd.

Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan is off to an ominous start for the former president, and it might not get any easier in the days ahead. The judge presiding over the case, Juan M. Merchan, is expected to rule soon on a request from prosecutors to hold Mr. Trump in contempt of court for attacking witnesses and jurors alike. And the first witness -- David Pecker, longtime publisher of The National Enquirer -- will return to the stand on Thursday after the trial's weekly Wednesday hiatus.... Already, Mr. Pecker has delivered some compelling testimony, transporting jurors back to a crucial 2015 meeting with Mr. Trump and his fixer [at] Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. Prosecutors called it the 'Trump Tower conspiracy,' arguing that Mr. Pecker, Mr. Trump and Michael D. Cohen, who was then Mr. Trump's personal lawyer and fixer, hatched a plot at the meeting to conceal sex scandals looming over Mr. Trump's campaign.... [Mr. Pecker's account] bolstered the prosecution's argument that the men were protecting not just Mr. Trump's personal reputation, but his political fortunes." ~~~

~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's trial in Manhattan held a fiery hearing on Tuesday about whether to find Mr. Trump in criminal contempt for repeatedly violating the provisions of a gag order. While the judge, Juan M. Merchan, did not issue an immediate ruling, he engaged in a heated back-and-forth with one of Mr. Trump's lawyers, scolding him for his failure to offer any facts in his defense of the former president. 'You've presented nothing,' Justice Merchan told the lawyer, Todd Blanche, adding soon after: 'You're losing all credibility with the court.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Margolin, et al., of ABC News: "The U.S. Secret Service held meetings and started planning for what to do if ... Donald Trump were to be held in contempt in his criminal hush money trial and Judge Juan Merchan opted to send him to short-term confinement, officials familiar with the situation told ABC News. Merchan on Tuesday reserved decision on the matter after a contentious hearing. Prosecutors said at this point they are seeking a fine. 'We are not yet seeking an incarceratory penalty,' assistant district attorney Chris Conroy said, 'But the defendant seems to be angling for that.'" ~~~

~~~ Tuesday was another court day for our nation's No. 1 (alleged!) criminal. Here is the New York Times' liveblog of the proceedings. See yesterday's Conversation for some of the reporters' observations. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ At long last, the New York State court system has published the April 22 transcript of the proceedings. The link to it is here. The April 22 transcript is here. ~~~

Jed Shugerman, in a New York Times op-ed, argues that "the Manhattan D.A. has made a historic mistake. Their vague allegation about 'a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election' has me more concerned than ever about their unprecedented use of state law and their persistent avoidance of specifying an election crime or a valid theory of fraud.... If convicted, Mr. Trump can fight many other days -- and perhaps win -- in appellate courts. But if Monday's opening is a preview of exaggerated allegations, imprecise legal theories and persistently unaddressed problems, the prosecutors might not win a conviction at all." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Shugerman says he was of the impression that the fraudulent business records were "entirely internal." If that's the case, they didn't defraud anybody. So far, as far as I can tell, David Pecker hasn't testified to anything that implicated Trump in any illegal activity. If Trump talks a publisher into running fake negative stories about his opponents or quashing negative stories about himself, it's tawdry, but it's not illegal. Politicians -- and others -- do some version of that all the time. Pecker's NDAs with Trump's lady friends and others are not illegal, either, even if the intent is to deceive readers & the millions of voters who scan the Enquirer at the check-out lane. Updated above. ~~~

     ~~~ Jonathan Alter, in a Substack post, partially refutes Shugerman: "Rumor has it that the DA plans to employ a little-known New York statute that bars conspiring to interfere in an election." MB: I don't know what-all that law says, but I suspect that every campaign ever conducted in the state of New York has violated it.

The Incredible Shrinking Bully. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "For months, the news coverage of Donald Trump's legal ordeal eagerly amplified the four-times-indicted former president's narcissistic spin: He would use his trials to his benefit, dominating the 2024 campaign.... How wrong they were. When the criminal trial actually began, reality hit home. Rather than dominate the proceedings or leverage his court appearance to appear in control and demonstrate no court could corral him, Trump day by day has become smaller, more decrepit and, frankly, somewhat pathetic. The judge is in control, not Trump.... Trum's apparent naps in court have generated mocking commentary on social media and the late-night comedy shows.... The candidate who criticizes Biden's energy has trouble staying conscious. (Meanwhile, the president set a vigorous campaign schedule crisscrossing Pennsylvania.)... Unable to mask his emotions in the midst of a narcissist's worst nightmare, Trump has never looked so small, so weary and so feeble."

Marie: What most struck me about yesterday's testimony was how it amplified what a sleazebag Trump is. While many of Manhattan's elite hang out with one another a posh parties and swanky events, Trump pals around with the head guy at a fake supermarket tabloid. Like the elites, Trump & Pecker do each other favors, but the mutual assistance arrangement between Trump & Pecker is so vulgar. I don't usually shower in the afternoon, but after spending some time reading Pecker's testimony, I really could not help but try to wash it off.

Trump's Immunity Claim Relies on the Big Lie. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: In arguing to the Supreme Court that he is immune from prosecution, "Mr. Trump used a tactic on which he has often leaned in his life as a businessman and politician: He flipped the facts on their head in an effort to create a different reality.... In Mr. Trump's telling..., [his plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results] are official acts that he undertook as president to safeguard the integrity of the race and cannot be subject to prosecution.... Mr. Trump's immunity claim is breathtaking. In one instance, his lawyers went so as far as to say that a president could not be prosecuted even for using the military to assassinate a rival unless he was first impeached. But the wholesale rewriting of the government's accusations -- which first appeared six months ago in Mr. Trump's motion to dismiss the election interference case -- may be the most audacious part of his defense."

Presidential Race

Pennsylvania Primary Races. Chris Cameron & Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump and President Biden scored overwhelming primary victories in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, facing opponents who had long since dropped out of the race. Mr. Trump appeared to take 83 percent of the vote against Nikki Haley, his former rival in the Republican primaries. Still, Ms. Haley won the votes of more than 155,000 Pennsylvanians across the state that is considered essential to victory in November, although she ended her campaign more than a month ago.... Mr. Trump has shown little interest in winning Ms. Haley's endorsement and has made few attempts to reach out to her supporters.... On the Democratic side, Mr. Biden, who grew up in Scranton, Pa., took nearly 95 percent of the vote. Representative Dean Phillips, who was on the ballot but dropped out of the race last month, got about 5 percent of the vote."

Meredith McGraw & Kimberly Leonard of Politico: "If the opening week of Trump's hush-money trial laid bare the courtroom's constraints on Trump, no single 24-hour stretch demonstrated the extreme asymmetry of the unfolding campaign more than Tuesday. There was Biden making campaign stops with fawning supporters of abortion rights in Tampa, Florida, while Trump was sitting in a 'freezing' Manhattan courtroom, with barely any supporters in sight.... On Tuesday, while Trump in New York was listening to the judge in his case snap at his attorney, Biden surrounded himself with allies, including several lawmakers, candidates and abortion-rights leaders who took the stage before him. They praised Biden for supporting abortion rights and tore into Trump for appointing the deciding Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade."

This isn't about states' rights, it's about women's rights. -- President Joe Biden, Tuesday in Florida ~~~

~~~ Seung Min Kim of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday blamed Donald Trump for Florida's upcoming abortion ban and other restrictions across the country that have imperiled access to care for pregnant women, arguing Trump has created a 'healthcare crisis for women all over this country.' Biden's campaign events at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa placed the president in the epicenter of the latest battle over abortion restrictions. The state's six-week abortion ban is poised to go into effect May 1 at the same time that Florida voters are gearing up for a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. Biden said that millions of women are facing 'pain and cruelty.' 'But it's not inevitable. We can stop it. When you vote, we can stop it,' he said.... 'There was one person who was responsible for this nightmare,' Biden said. 'And he's acknowledged it and he brags about it -- Donald Trump.'"

Edward-Isaac Dovere of CNN: "Joe Biden will land a major union endorsement Wednesday from North America's Building Trades Unions, whose leaders say the president has his infrastructure bill largely to thank for it. In making one of their earliest ever presidential endorsements, NABTU leaders are kickstarting an eight-figure organizing program to try to deliver their 250,000 members in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin for Biden.... The backing from NABTU, which has 3 million members nationwide, is more enthusiastic than its 2020 backing of Biden.... It's 'almost like the perfect leader was sent at the perfect time for working people,' NABTU President Sean McGarvey told CNN about Biden in an interview announcing the endorsement." ~~~

~~~ ** Marie: This conversion of a union leader is remarkable. Watch at least through McGarvey's videotaped statement: ~~~

Donald Trump Has Been Asking, "Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?" Let's Check. Top News in at NBC News, April 24, 2020: "President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of an 'injection' of disinfectant into a person infected with the coronavirus as a deterrent to the virus during his daily briefing Thursday."

Some people are celebrating the anniversary:

Four years ago today, Trump told Americans to inject bleach on national television pic.twitter.com/9VdGe9hn3w

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 23, 2024

Tom Sullivan of Hullabaloo and others wish everyone a Happy Disinfectant Injection Day. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Marie: Even though we remember this example of Trump's stupid suggestion as quite hilarious, the more important effect was that his comment was negligent and dangerous. New York Times, April 24, 2020: "In Maryland, so many callers flooded a health hotline with questions that the state's Emergency Management Agency had to issue a warning that 'under no circumstances' should any disinfectant be taken to treat the coronavirus. In Washington State, officials urged people not to consume laundry detergent capsules. Across the country on Friday, health professionals sounded the alarm. Injecting bleach or highly concentrated rubbing alcohol 'causes massive organ damage and the blood cells in the body to basically burst,' Dr. Diane P. Calello, the medical director of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, said in an interview. 'It can definitely be a fatal event.' Even the makers of Clorox and Lysol pleaded with Americans not to inject or ingest their products."

Top News in the NYT, April 23, 2020: "The official who led the federal agency involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine said on Wednesday that he was removed from his post after he pressed for rigorous vetting of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug embraced by President Trump as a coronavirus treatment, and that the administration had put 'politics and cronyism ahead of science.'... In a scorching statement, Dr. [Rick] Bright ... assailed the leadership at the health department, saying he was pressured to direct money toward hydroxychloroquine, one of several 'potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections' and repeatedly described by the president as a potential 'game changer' in the fight against the virus." (Also linked yesterday.)

Victoria Kim, et al., of the New York Times: "Columbia University was emerging from a night of tense standoff early Wednesday, after school administrators and pro-Palestinian protesters had negotiated into the early morning over a large encampment that has engulfed a part of the campus. A midnight deadline set by the university late on Tuesday for protesters to disband passed without signs of police moving onto the campus to quell the demonstrations that have upended the final weeks of the spring semester and challenged the school's leadership. Around 3 a.m., a statement from the university said student protesters had agreed to remove a significant number of the tents erected on the lawn, ensure non-students would leave, and bar discriminatory or harassing language among the protesters."

Dan Froomkin of Press Watch: "Mainstream-media reporters covering the growing wave of college protests against Israel's war in Gaza have adopted an overwhelmingly negative tone about something they should be celebrating: the peaceful free expression of college students understandably devastated by the pulverizing of Gaza and the slaughter of over 34,000 Palestinians by the Israeli military. The root cause of this journalistic dysfunction is that too many reporters have embraced the toxic presumption that any anti-Gaza-war protest is inherently antisemitic, and that any such protest legitimately makes Jewish students feel unsafe. That's actually a grotesque viewpoint: it both smears peaceful protesters (many of whom are Jewish) and trivializes real antisemitism."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona Senate Race. Flippity-Flip-Flop. Alex Tabet of NBC News: "Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake said in an interview with an Idaho media outlet that 'unfortunately,' her state's near-total abortion ban dating from 1864 is not being enforced.... Her comments came in response to criticism from a group that opposes abortion rights, Idaho Chooses Life. ... [and flipped] back on comments she made against the law earlier this month, when she called state legislators asking them to repeal it.... 'This total ban on abortion that the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are,' said Lake in a video posted to X on April 11th.... Those comments also represented a change of tune from Lake on the ban. In 2022, while she was running for governor of Arizona, Lake called the law a 'great law.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What's the problem? Lake is 100% consistent: you can count on her to always say what she thinks is expedient in each situation.

New York Congressional Race. Sad News! Anthony Izaguirre of the AP: "Former U.S. Rep. George Santos on Tuesday said he is dropping his longshot bid to return to Congress, months after he was expelled from the House while facing a slew of federal fraud charges. Santos, who was running as an independent candidate for the 1st Congressional District in New York, said he was withdrawing from the race in a post on the social media platform X. The announcement came after the disgraced former congressman's campaign committee reported no fundraising or expenditures in March, raising speculation that his campaign had failed to get off the ground." MB: Perhaps you will be kind enough to help George think up a new career now that "Congressman" appears to be out. Remember, no specialized education or experience required; Santos can just make up a job-appropriate CV (if he doesn't already have one on file).

Pennsylvania Congressional Race. Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Representative Summer Lee, a first-term progressive Democrat, won her primary contest in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, fending off a moderate challenger in a race that centered on her stance on the war in Gaza.... The congresswoman was winning by an overwhelming margin with counting nearly complete late Tuesday, underlining the strength of her position as an incumbent this year after she out-raised her opponent with widespread backing from Democratic officials. Ms. Lee, who in 2022 was elected the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress and later joined the group of left-leaning lawmakers known as the Squad, defeated Bhavini Patel, a city councilwoman in Edgewood, Pa.... The seat is considered safely Democratic in the general election."

Tennessee. Jonathan Mattise of the AP: "Protesters chanted 'Blood on your hands' at Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday after they passed a bill that would allow some teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns on public school grounds, and bar parents and other teachers from knowing who was armed. The 68-28 vote in favor of the bill sent it to Republican Gov. Bill Lee for consideration. If he signs it into law, it would be the biggest expansion of gun access in the state since last year's deadly shooting at a private elementary school in Nashville. Members of the public who oppose the bill harangued Republican lawmakers after the vote, leading House Speaker Cameron Sexton to order the galleries cleared."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "President Biden said he will sign a $95 billion foreign aid bill as soon as it reaches his desk Wednesday, after the Senate approved it in a 79-18 vote. The measure contains $26 billion in funds for Israel and humanitarian aid for Gaza and other places.... Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) lauded the bipartisan show of support in a news conference after the vote. Nine Republican senators flipped their votes to support the legislation on Tuesday after voting against an earlier version of the aid in February. Top U.N. officials called for an international investigation into allegations of mass graves at hospitals in Gaza, following reports that hundreds of bodies were recovered at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. The Israel Defense Forces said its forces did not create the graves in Khan Younis."

The Conversation -- April 23, 2024

Today is another court day for our nation's No. 1 (alleged!) criminal. Here is the New York Times' liveblog of the proceedings:

Jonah Bromwich: "The lawyers and the judge left the courtroom almost immediately after the [morning's] session began.... The judge [returned to] the bench and says that two matters are now in the record.... It appears that the two matters were the two separate attempts that prosecutors have made to see Trump held in contempt of court. They say he's violated the gag order 10 times."

Bromwich: "A prosecutor, Christopher Conroy, begins to detail his team's argument on the gag order. He says each of the 10 Trump posts in question violated the order, and that eight of them were on Truth Social. Two were on his official campaign website."

Maggie Haberman: "Conroy says that these violations pose a very real 'threat' to the proceedings, having an 'undertow' effect on witnesses and making them afraid. The witnesses, he says, 'rightly fear being subject to similar vitriol.'"

Bromwich: "As expected, Conroy says Trump's attacks on Michael Cohen in the hallway outside the courtroom yesterday again violated the order. So that's 11 violations prosecutors say he committed."

Haberman: "Conroy is ticking through Trump's alleged gag order violations, including one in which he thanked Stormy Daniels's disgraced lawyer, Michael Avenatti, for criticizing Michael Cohen. Conroy also describes how Trump called Cohen and Daniels 'sleaze bags.'"

Bromwich: "And finally, Conroy says Trump violated the gag order when on Truth Social, he quoted the Fox News commentator Jesse Watters denigrating prospective jurors as 'undercover liberal activists.' Prosecutors have flagged this as the most serious of the violations and Conroy does so again, calling it 'very troubling.'"

Bromwich: "Todd Blanche, one of Trump's lawyers..., says Trump knows what the gag order allows him to do, and there was 'no willful violation' of it.... It's fascinating to see a lawyer for Trump try to separate out politics from legal proceedings.... The judge loses patience with Todd Blanche.... 'I'm asking the questions, OK,' he says. 'Im going to decide whether your client is in contempt or not, so please don't turn it around.'"

Haberman: "Todd Blanche says Trump is entitled to complain about 'two systems of justice.' 'There's two systems of justice in this courtroom? That's what you're saying?' Justice Merchan says."

Bromwich: "Justice Merchan has repeatedly pushed Todd Blanche to clarify his arguments, only to have Blanche deny that he is saying what he seems to be saying. Trump is very lucky that the jurors are not here for this. Merchan is really dressing down Blanche right now."

Jesse McKinley: "'You've presented nothing,' Merchan just said to Blanche, who has been presenting his argument for some 20 minutes. It's devastating for Blanche."

Bromwich: "As Blanche insists Trump is trying to follow with the rules, Merchan interrupts him. 'You're losing all credibility with the court,' he says.... This hearing, ostensibly about violations of a gag order, doubled as a complete onslaught on the Trump ethos. Justice Merchan clarified that politics infused everything that the former president does and insisted on hearing good faith arguments, and the truth, wherever possible. We knew this was going to be a big moment; it was even more revealing than expected."

[Marie: Sorry, for some reason, the reporters' remarks about Pecker keep disappearing! Really.]

Bromwich: “Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor, resumes questioning David Pecker.... Pecker says that he’s had 'a great relationship with Mr. Trump over the years,' and that he launched a magazine with him called Trump Style.... He's ... coming across ... as a longtime fan, friend and ally of Trump.... Pecker is now describing what he calls his first meeting with Michael Cohen, in 2007. He says Trump introduced them at his office, and that he was told to route all communications to Trump through Cohen. But Steinglass then makes him clarify: That was his second meeting with Cohen, after meeting him years earlier at a bar mitzvah.... Steinglass asks Pecker about Hope Hicks, another intermediary for Trump."

Haberman: "Steinglass is now drilling down on the key meeting in what prosecutors say was a conspiracy -- an August 2015 gathering between Trump, Cohen and Pecker. 'I received a call from Michael Cohen telling me that the boss wanted to see me,' Pecker says."

Bromwich: "When he got there, he says, Cohen and Trump asked him what he and his magazines could do 'to help the campaign,' a quote that will be key to prosecutors' argument that the hush money payments were made to help Trump win the election."

Alan Feuer: "Recall that Blanche, in his opening statement, tried to convince the jury that Trump's relationship with Pecker was par for the course in the world of journalism. But a naked appeal by a political candidate to a magazine publisher 'to help the campaign' is not normal."

Bromwich: "As expected, Pecker is describing himself as the agent of 'catch-and-kill' schemes in which he or others would help Cohen suppress negative information about Trump, specifically negative information pertaining to 'women selling stories.'"

Haberman: "Pecker is asked if Bill and Hillary Clinton's names came up in the meeting.... Coverage of Hillary Clinton running for president that described Bill Clinton as 'a womanizer' was a big seller, he says. 'I was running the Hillary Clinton stories, I was running Hillary as an enabler for Bill Clinton, with respect to all the womanizing.'... Asked about Trump's reaction to the stories, Pecker says, 'he was pleased.'"

Bromwich: "Pecker repeats that 'writing positive stories about Mr. Trump and covering the election, and writing negative stories about his opponents' helped them both, increasing tabloid newsstand sales while benefitting the Trump campaign. Steinglass then makes him clarify that suppressing negative news about Trump only benefitted the candidate, not the tabloid. Pecker agrees."

Bromwich: "Now, we are discussing negative headlines attacking three of Trump's Republican opponents in 2016, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, which prosecutors argue illustrate the outcome of the agreement reached during the Trump Tower meeting. Pecker says that Cohen would feed him negative information and that The National Enquirer would 'embellish' and add onto it."

Kate Christobek: “Prosecutors just showed several examples of the negative headlines about Trump's opponents, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio.... Pecker said that after the Republican debates, Cohen would call him and direct him to focus the negative coverage on whichever candidate had been most successful onstage.”

Haberman: “Pecker is now being asked about being introduced to Steve Bannon, Trump's top strategist, in October 2016. He recalls Trump saying, 'I believe you and Steve would get along really well.'”

Bromwich: “[After a short break,] Pecker is now being asked about Dino Sajudin, a doorman who worked at a Trump building and looked to sell a story — which was apparently false — about Trump fathering a child out of wedlock.... Pecker says Cohen called him furiously denying that the child in question was Trump's, saying that he offered to take a DNA test and that because he was German-Irish and the woman was Hispanic, it was impossible for the child to be his.... Steinglass, the prosecutor, is asking Pecker why he paid so much for this story. 'I made the decision to buy the story because of the potential embarrassment it would have to the campaign and Mr. Trump,' Pecker responds.”

Bromwich: “[Steinglass] moves on immediately to the second catch-and-kill deal, which involved the former Playboy model Karen McDougal.... Pecker says he advised Trump to purchase McDougal’s story directly.... David Pecker tells the courtroom that he asked Dylan Howard, the former editor of The National Enquirer, to investigate Karen McDougal’s story and that he told Cohen he had done so. He seems to indicate his conversations with Cohen soon increased in frequency and the two men began to talk multiple times daily. Cohen said they should communicate over Signal, an encrypted app, which is often used for conversations that a person wants to keep private.”

Nate Schweber: “A day after Trump issued a call for more supporters to gather outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, the number reached its nadir. The number of identifiable Trump fans across the street in Collect Pond Park on Tuesday sank to the mid-single digits, after hovering at about a dozen for a week.”

Trump couldn't get a job at a shopping mall. Thanks to RAS for the lead: ~~~

Donald Trump Has Been Asking, “Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?” Let's Check. Top News in the NYT, April 23, 2020: “The official who led the federal agency involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine said on Wednesday that he was removed from his post after he pressed for rigorous vetting of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug embraced by President Trump as a coronavirus treatment, and that the administration had put 'politics and cronyism ahead of science.'... In a scorching statement, Dr. [Rick] Bright ... assailed the leadership at the health department, saying he was pressured to direct money toward hydroxychloroquine, one of several 'potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections' and repeatedly described by the president as a potential 'game changer' in the fight against the virus.”

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News from the Trump Trials

Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times : “Manhattan prosecutors delivered a raw recounting of Donald J. Trump’s seamy past on Monday as they debuted their case against him to jurors, the nation and the world, reducing the former president to a co-conspirator in a plot to cover up three sex scandals that threatened his 2016 election win. Their opening statement was a pivotal moment in the first prosecution of an American president, a sweeping synopsis of the case against Mr. Trump, who watched from the defense table, occasionally shaking his head. Moments later, Mr. Trump’s lawyer delivered his own opening, beginning with the simple claim that 'President Trump is innocent.'... The former president lied 'over and over and over' again, [prosecutor Matthew] Colangelo emphatically said, casting him as a conniving criminal. But Mr. Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche sought to undercut the prosecution’s lofty rhetoric with a more innocuous distillation of the case: a 'business records violation.' He called it 'just 34 pieces of paper.'” (Also linked yesterday.)

If you're interested in the nitty-gritty, the New York court systems plans to publish daily transcripts of the Trump trial proceedings "online and publicly available before the end of the next business day." Links to the daily transcripts will be on this page. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Marie: I know the transcript of Monday's proceedings was published Monday evening, but I'll be damned if I can see the link to it.

Here's the New York Times' liveblog of Monday's proceedings in the Trump trial. The Times' liveblogs usually include some pretty frank appraisals of the subject at hand. MB: If you don't have access to the Times, you can check out yesterday's Conversation, where I posted quite a few of the reporters' entries. ~~~

     ~~~ David Bauder of the AP: "Trump’s hush money trial is illustrating the potency of live blogs as a news tool — by necessity."

     ~~~ Apparently the answer to that question was yes. ~~~

Jonathan Alter of the New York Times: “In the prosecution’s opening statement, Matthew Colangelo outlined what his team calls the August 2015 'Trump Tower conspiracy' hatched by Trump, Michael Cohen and David Pecker, boss of The National Enquirer.... Colangelo previewed a large amount of evidence that will corroborate Cohen’s testimony about the falsified business records (including handwritten notes) that will most likely be damaging to Trump.... Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney, seemed to be setting up a defense partly based on Trump not wanting the Stormy Daniels story made public in order to protect his family. But Cohen and others are expected to testify that Trump tried to avoid paying the hush money on the theory that it wouldn’t matter if the story came out after the election. So much for shielding Melania.... By insisting that Trump is completely innocent, his lawyers have made it harder for the jury to convict him of just misdemeanors, not felonies. But it will be a few weeks before the jury understands all of that.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Once you've read the various bits of commentary on the 2016 Trump case, the prospects for Trump look bad, and it's my guess that Trump himself has made his prospects worse. For instance, Blanche's assertion that Trump "is innocent" is odd. The defense does not have to prove that the defendant is innocent, only that the prosecution has not proved he's guilty. The defense also doesn't have to prove that Trump is -- ha ha! -- "distinguished." All of the jurors know he's a former president*, and Blanche's assetion that Trump has "earned" the honorific is at odds with the tawdry behavior and corrupt actions of which he is accused in this case. Blanche didn't have to characterize one of New York City's loudest & proudest womanizers as "a family man," a family man whose family, BTW, has not come to the courtroom to support him and who has been successfully sued for sexual assault. I don't think Blanche and his team chose the Trump defense; I think it comes from the lying SOS who claims, "I did nothing wrong."

The defense has to prove only that Trump knew nothing about the unlawful acts that Cohen, Pecker and others engaged in. But if it's true -- as the prosecution has asserted and will have to demonstrate -- that participants in the skullduggery "took notes on the criminal conspiracy," only jury nullification will save Trump. And Justice Merchan already has warned the jury against that. Besides, when Trump himself is dissing and endangering the jury -- and some of them will find out about that -- they don't have a lot of incentive to help him out. 

Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: “Mr. Trump has portrayed his legal jeopardy as a threat to America itself, and he has suggested that the country would not put up with it. But the streets around the courthouse on Monday were chaos-free — well-patrolled and relatively quiet. As his motorcade made its way to the courthouse, the few Trump supporters gathered in the park were outnumbered by Trump detractors, who waved signs about his alleged liaison with a porn star.... Shortly after 7 a.m., he posted on his social media website that 'America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses' and he followed this lament with a call for his supporters to 'GO OUT AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST. RALLY BEHIND MAGA. SAVE OUR COUNTRY!'... Mr. Trump had made no secret of the fact that he wanted a circus to accompany his trial.” MB: I do wonder why the Trumpettes & their ilk have not followed Trump to town to play a part in what has turned out to be barely a one-ring circus. Maybe it's because you can't set up a camper in Manhattan (as far as I know). (Also linked yesterday.)

Lachlan Cartwright in the New York Times Magazine (April 3) describes what went down at the National Enquirer, where he was an editor of "catch-and-kill" stories. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd: ~~~

Matthew Haag of the New York Times : “The New York attorney general’s office and representatives for Donald J. Trump agreed in court on Monday to slightly modify the terms of a $175 million bond posted by the former president in his civil fraud case after the state questioned the qualifications of the company that provided it and sought to have it rejected. The deal will keep the bond largely unchanged, with the $175 million in cash that Mr. Trump deposited as collateral remaining in a money-market account, while adding new terms stipulating that the $175 million must remain as cash, and not be transferred into mutual funds, for example. The two sides also agreed to give the California firm that provided the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, exclusive control over the money-market account.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “In late November 2021, as officials at the National Archives were trying to persuade ... Donald J. Trump to return a trove of records he had taken from the White House when he left office, one of Mr. Trump’s associates advised him in the sharpest terms possible to give the materials back, newly unsealed documents show. 'Whatever you have, give everything back — let them come here and get everything,' the unnamed associate told Mr. Trump, according to an interview the person gave the F.B.I. 'Don’t give them a noble reason to indict you, because they will.'... A summary of the associate’s interview with federal agents was among nearly 400 pages of investigative records that were unsealed on Monday by the judge overseeing Mr. Trump’s classified documents case. The associate’s identity was redacted from the summary.... [He is referred to as 'Person 16' in the unsealed records.] Person 16 also suggested that some of Mr. Trump’s children had been enlisted in the task of persuading him to return the presidential records to the archives.” ~~~

~~~ Tierney Sneed & Holmes Lybrand of CNN: “Plasmic Echo – a name that could conceivably work for 1970s rock band or could describe the supernatural goo left behind by the ghosts chased in the movie 'Ghostbusters' – appears to be the code name for the FBI investigation into the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House. The name was revealed in unredacted court filings published on Monday in the special counsel’s criminal case against ... Donald Trump. A case file included in the documents is marked with the case ID '[Redacted] PLASMIC ECHO; Mishandling of Classified or National Defense Information.'” MB: The name seems a little too cool to be attached to the Frumpy Old Man who was the subject of the operation.

Amanda Seitz of the AP: “The medical records of women will be shielded from criminal investigations if they cross state lines to seek an abortion where it is legal, under a new rule that the Biden administration finalized Monday. The regulation, which is intended to protect women who live in states where abortion is illegal from prosecution, is almost certain to face legal challenges from anti-abortion advocates and criticism from abortion-rights advocates that it does not go far enough. 'No one should have their medical records used against them, their doctor or their loved one just because they sought or received lawful reproductive health care,' Jennifer Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council, told reporters on Monday.”

Peter Baker of the New York Times: “The House passage of a landmark $95 billion foreign aid package gives [President] Biden much-needed momentum at a time when his credibility and American leadership have been questioned on the world stage. For months, the president has vowed unstinting support for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan without being able to deliver on Capitol Hill. Now, at last, he has planeloads of artillery rounds, air defense missiles and other munitions to back up his words. 'This was a historic win for President Biden and for America’s global leadership,' Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, said in an interview.”

Patrick Svitek & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post notice that House Republicans can't just get along with each other: “Since eight Republicans voted with all Democrats to oust then-speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), more pragmatic Republicans have become irate at the 'no' bloc of the conference and encouraged GOP leadership to punish those members.”

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “A majority of the Supreme Court appeared inclined on Monday to uphold a series of local ordinances that allowed a small Oregon city to ban homeless people from sleeping or camping in public spaces. The justices seemed split along ideological lines in the case, which has sweeping implications for how the country deals with a growing homelessness crisis. In a lengthy and, at times, fiery argument that lasted almost two and a half hours, questioning from the justices reflected the complexity of the homelessness debate.... The conservative majority appeared sympathetic to arguments by the city of Grants Pass, Ore., that homelessness is a complicated issue best handled by local lawmakers and communities, not judges. The liberal justices strongly resisted that notion.”

Alan Blinder of the New York Times: “Less than a week after the arrests of more than 100 protesters at Columbia, administrators at some of the country’s most influential universities were struggling, and largely failing, to calm campuses torn by the conflict in Gaza and Israel. During the turmoil on Monday, which coincided with the start of Passover, protesters called on their universities to become less financially tied to Israel and its arms suppliers. Many Jewish students agonized anew over some protests and chants that veered into antisemitism, and feared again for their safety. Some faculty members denounced clampdowns on peaceful protests and warned that academia’s mission to promote open debate felt imperiled. Alumni and donors raged. And from Congress, there were calls for the resignation of Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, from some of the same lawmakers Dr. Shafik tried to pacify last week with words and tactics that inflamed her own campus.” ~~~

~~~ Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “The [Columbia U]niversity senate is expected to vote, possibly as early as Wednesday, on a resolution censuring [university president Nemat] Shafik, a reaction to her testimony before Congress and the arrests of more than 100 student protesters. A draft of the resolution, circulated Monday, accused Dr. Shafik of violating 'the fundamental requirements of academic freedom,' ignoring faculty governance and staging an 'unprecedented assault on student rights.' The resolution is expected to be introduced by two members of the 111-seat senate. It specifically states that the resolution is not a call for Dr. Shafik’s resignation, but the resolution also calls for the censure of other university officials, including Claire Shipman and David Greenwald, the chairs of Columbia’s board of trustees.”

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Minnesota. Legislator by Day, Cat Burglar by Night. Steve Karnowski of the AP: “A state senator and former broadcast meteorologist was arrested on suspicion of burglary early Monday in the northwestern Minnesota city of Detroit Lakes, police said. Democratic Sen. Nicole Mitchell, 49, of Woodbury, was being held in the Becker County Jail on suspicion of first-degree burglary.... Mitchell worked as a meteorologist with the U.S. military and for KSTP-TV and Minnesota Public Radio before she was elected to the Senate in 2022 from a suburban St. Paul district. She still serves as lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, commanding a weather unit, her official profile says. She worked for The Weather Channel earlier in her career, her profile says. Dispatchers received a 911 call at 4:45 a.m. from a homeowner about 'an active burglary in process at her residence,' [Detroit Lakes Police Chief Steve] Todd said in an interview. Officers searched the home and arrested Mitchell, Todd said.” 

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Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: “The U.S. State Department said in a new report that the conflict between Israel and Hamas 'continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights,' pointing to alleged violations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and citing reports of war crimes committed by Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups. A separate, independent report looking into the embattled U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees found that Israel has not substantiated claims that significant numbers of the agency’s employees have ties to militant groups.... U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news conference that Hamas has 'moved the goal posts' on hostage talks. After Iran and Israel exchanged attacks, Miller said the militant group’s leaders appear to have made 'the determination that they might get the full-scale regional war they were hoping for, and so have not agreed to a very significant proposal that was on the table.'” ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Tuesday are here. The New York Times' live updates are here.