The Commentariat -- February 15, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

AP: "Democrats are starting to cast votes in Nevada's presidential caucuses as the still-crowded field of candidates is fanning out across Las Vegas. Early voting started Saturday morning at more than 80 locations across the state. Nevada Democrats are holding four days of early voting for their caucuses, the first test of a candidate's appeal to a diverse population with strong labor unions. Early votes cast on paper ballots will be added to in-person caucus votes made on Feb. 22, when Democrats will attend about 2,000 precinct meetings around the state."

It's Bloomberg Day at the Times & WashPo: ~~~

~~~ The New York Times story, by Alexander Burns & Nicholas Kulish, begins with an anecdote about Michael Bloomberg's expressed doubts about the #MeToo movement & sex abuse allegations against TV personality Charlie Rose and ending with his $100MM contributions to mostly female 2018 Congressional candidates. "A Times examination of Mr. Bloomberg's philanthropic and political spending in the years leading up to his presidential bid illustrates how he developed a national infrastructure of influence, image-making and unspoken suasion that has helped transform a former Republican mayor of New York City into a plausible contender for the Democratic nomination.... In all, Mr. Bloomberg has spent at least $10 billion on his charitable and political pursuits. The vast majority has gone to philanthropy, for causes that reflect his personal interests and passions, including $3.3 billion to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post story, by Michael Kranish, centers on Bloomberg's treatment of women: "Several lawsuits have been filed over the years alleging that women were discriminated against at Bloomberg's business-information company, including a case brought by a federal agency and one filed by a former employee, who blamed Bloomberg for creating a culture of sexual harassment and degradation. The most high-profile case was from a former saleswoman. She sued Bloomberg personally as well as his company, alleging workplace discrimination. She alleged Bloomberg told her to 'kill it' when he learned she was pregnant. Bloomberg has denied her allegation under oath, and he reached a confidential settlement with the saleswoman.... While allegations about Bloomberg's comments and treatment of women have received notice over the years, a review by The Post of thousands of pages of court documents, depositions obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with witnesses underscores how Bloomberg and his company, Bloomberg LP, have fought the claims...." Includes The Compleat Book of Profane & Sexist Remarks of Mike Bloomberg. Mrs. McC: On the upside, we can be sure he's pro-choice! ~~~

~~~ Eric Levitz of New York asserts Democrats should not sell their souls to a billionaire: "Mike Bloomberg has offered blue America a Faustian bargain: Forfeit all credibility on the issues of money in politics and democratic reform, and he will spend whatever it takes to make the bad man in the White House go away.... But Democrats would be fools to accept Bloomberg's indecent proposal.... As a political matter, allowing a Wall Street tycoon to win the Democratic nomination by leveraging his personal fortune to outbid all of his rivals (and many state and local Democratic Party organizations) for top-shelf campaign staff, and inundate the airwaves with an unprecedentedly exorbitant blitzkrieg of paid messaging, would deprive Democrats of what has long been their chief electoral asset: the perception that their party is less beholden to the rich than the GOP.... Hillary Clinton's mere perceived coziness with such fat cats ... was (ostensibly) sufficient to undermine the Democrats' populist edge four years ago...."

Nimble Bill Often Asks, "How High?" When Trump Says "Jump." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Bill Barr's intervention in the Mike Flynn case "bears striking similarities to the case of Roger Stone, whose sentence recommendation Barr intervened to reduce this week, triggering upheaval within the Justice Department. In each case, Trump criticized the department's treatment of a Trump ally; in both cases, Barr has inserted himself in an unorthodox manner that invites accusations of politicization. Those also invite comparison to U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation. Trump practically begged the Justice Department to probe the origins of the Russia investigation. After former attorney general Jeff Sessions begged off such theories, Barr took over and appointed Durham to look into it. The New York Times reported this week that Durham appears to be 'hunting for a basis to accuse Obama-era intelligence officials of hiding evidence or manipulating analysis.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Blake cites Andy McCabe as the prime example of one who got away. But that's not quite true. Somebody at Justice held up a decision on McCabe's case for two years and likely gave up only at the judge's insistence & the department's failure to make a case to a grand jury as convincing as those against the proverbial ham sandwich. Moreover, Barr is still going after McCabe in appointing a Trump-friendly U.S. attorney to "review" prosecutors' handling of the McCabe matter. It's unlikely McCabe will be indicted, but he's still under a dark Trumpy cloud. AND he still got fired & lost part of his pension in a dubious 11th-hour order signed by Jeff Sessions.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fun with Don & Billy

The Dictator at the Top. ... the public is listening to what's going on, and I don't think people like the fact that you got somebody at the top basically trying to dictate whether somebody should be prosecuted. I just think it's a banana republic when we go down that road.... -- Judge Reggie Walton, while presiding over Andrew McCabe's case

"I Have an Article 2 Right to Do Whatever I Want." Matt Zapotosky & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "A day after Attorney General William P. Barr publicly warned President Trump not to tweet about the Justice Department, Trump did just that, declaring that he has the 'legal right' to ask his top law enforcement official to get involved in a criminal case. In his tweet, Trump quoted Barr from a television interview Thursday in which he asserted that the president had never asked him to do anything related to a criminal case. 'This doesn't mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!' Trump added in his own voice." Mrs. McC: BUT, as New York's Daily Intelligencer notes (no link), "Ok, but Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton met on a plane once." Barr said Trump's tweets were making it "impossible" for him to do his job. So time to resign, Bill. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Cristina Cabrera of TPM has the story here. "Additionally, Trump's claim that he has 'so far chosen not to' get involved in a criminal case is a lie: He asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop the criminal investigation into Michael Flynn in 2017, according to Comey's memos on their meeting and his sworn testimony to Congress." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

A standard Trump progression: I didn't do it. I didn't do it, but I could do it. I did do it, so what? I did do it, and it was right to do it. -- Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), in a tweet

Sally Yates in a Washington Post op-ed: "The imperative of Justice Department independence from political influence has deep roots.... Presidents and department leaders from both parties have recognized that for case decisions to have legitimacy, they must be made without political influence -- whether real or perceived.... Until now.... From virtually the moment he took office, President Trump has attempted to use the Justice Department as a cudgel against his enemies and as a shield for himself and his allies."

~~~ See Billy Go. See Billy Try to Fix a Mess. Go, Billy, Go. ~~~

     Chapter 1. This Story Makes Trump Happy. Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr has assigned an outside prosecutor to scrutinize the criminal case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, according to people familiar with the matter. The review is highly unusual and could trigger more accusations of political interference by top Justice Department officials into the work of career prosecutors. Mr. Barr has also installed a handful of outside prosecutors to broadly review the handling of other politically sensitive national-security cases in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, the people said. The team includes at least one prosecutor from the office of the United States attorney in St. Louis, Jeff Jensen, who is handling the Flynn matter, as well as prosecutors from the office of the deputy attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen. Over the past two weeks, outside prosecutors have begun grilling line prosecutors in the Washington office about various cases -- some public, some not -- including investigative steps, prosecutorial actions and why they took them, according to the people." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Carol Lee of NBC News: "The inquiry also coincides with recent moves by Trump to vindicate his allies and exact revenge on his perceived enemies, including individuals who were involved with former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation or testified in the House Democrats' impeachment probe.... The inquiry into Flynn's FBI interview could be aimed at several former officials Trump has repeatedly criticized publicly, including former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, people familiar with the inquiry said.... Comey and McCabe signed off on sending two agents to interview Flynn. One of the agents was Peter Strzok.... They also said it could be part of an effort to make a presidential pardon of Flynn more palatable.... [Jeff] Jensen's inquiry seems similar to one Barr assigned to the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, John Durham, examining the origins of the FBI's investigation into potential ties between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Evan Perez, et al., of CNN have more background on Barr's Trump-pleasing move. Mrs. McC: While there has been a great deal of speculation in the press about the reason for Barr's "impossible" interview and its timing, it occurs to me that Barr's knowledge that the NYT story was about to drop is likely one of them. The story is yet further evidence of Barr's "collusion" with Trump's underhanded efforts to help his friends & punish his enemies. Barr likely thought an interview in which he ostensibly complained about Trump's interference in DOJ matters & claimed he (Barr) was ever-so-independent would be a fine antidote to another major story demonstrating that Barr is helping Trump pervert the principle of "equal justice under law."

     Chapter 2. This Makes Trump Mad. Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Andrew G. McCabe, the former deputy F.B.I. director and a frequent target of President Trump, will not face charges in an investigation into whether he lied to investigators about a media leak, his defense team said on Friday. The decision by prosecutors in Washington ends a case that had left Mr. McCabe in legal limbo for nearly two years. It also appears to be a sign that Attorney General William P. Barr wants to show that the Justice Department is independent from Mr. Trump: The notification came a day after Mr. Barr publicly challenged the president to stop attacking law enforcement officials on Twitter and said the criticisms were making his job more difficult. The prosecutors informed Mr. McCabe's lawyers of their decision by phone on Friday morning, the lawyers, Michael R. Bromwich and David Schertler, said in a statement." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The move was said to infuriate Trump, who has raged publicly and privately in recent months that McCabe and others he considers political enemies should be charged with crimes.... A White House official said that Trump was not given a heads-up and was upset, and that White House lawyers moved to calm the president. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions, said Trump 'believes very strongly that action should be taken.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Tom Winter & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "The decision was released on the same day it was revealed that a federal judge had expressed concerns months ago that [Andrew] McCabe's case was looking like a 'banana republic' prosecution.... The Justice Department's decision came the same day it was required by a judge to make details about the McCabe investigation public in a case stemming from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The court transcripts released [Friday] ... show prosecutors struggling with how to proceed in his case, and the judge in the matter expressing concerns about political pressure.... [Judge Reggie Walton said,] 'I just think the integrity of the process is being unduly undermined by inappropriate comments and actions on the part of people at the top of our government [i.e., Donald Trump].... And I think as a government and as a society, we're going to pay a price at some point for this.' Trump has sounded off repeatedly about McCabe ... over the past three years...." ~~~

     ~~~ Betsy Swan & Adam Rawnsley of the Daily Beast: “Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for CREW, said the eventual release of the court transcripts on Friday, after a lengthy court battle, showed that the government was 'trying to cover up the fact that they were stringing this [lawsuit] along while looking for a reason to indict McCabe.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Gerstein of Politico: "McCabe's lawyers were told last September that he should expect to be indicted on charges stemming from inaccurate statements he made to FBI investigators about his actions around the time of the 2016 election. However, no indictment was ever returned, leading to speculation that the Washington-based grand jury probing the matter took the rare step of rejecting charges." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: McCabe is not out of the woods yet. As noted above, Bill Barr has "outside counsel" looking over the shoulders of line prosecutors in the McCabe matter, and the Senator Most Reminiscent of the Toiletpaper on Donald Trump's Shoe has plan to harass McCabe, too: ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Jordain Carney of The Hill: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is requesting interviews with a slew of current and former Justice Department and FBI officials as part of his panel's probe into the department's handling of the investigation into Russia's election interference and the Trump campaign. Graham sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Friday asking that he make 17 officials, many of whom are identified only by title, available for interviews.... Graham has said he plans to call former FBI Director James Comey, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to testify as part of his investigation." --s

Alexander Mallin of ABC News: "Before breaking his silence Thursday in an interview with ABC News, Attorney General William Barr complained privately 'for weeks' to ... Donald Trump about his tweets and public statements related to Justice Department investigations, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. Despite those apparent warnings, however, Trump over the past several weeks was unrelenting in his targeting of his various political enemies in speeches and over Twitter like former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former special counsel Robert Mueller.... The public pressure facing Barr to reassert the DOJ's independence only further escalated following a tweet by Trump congratulating Barr for 'taking charge' of the [Roger] Stone case, just hours after he ordered the reversal of the previous sentencing recommendation put forward by prosecutors of seven to nine years.... According to the person, the Justice Department had disclosed to the White House that the interview with ABC News would occur, though they said the White House was not made aware about what Barr would say or his plan to criticize the president until after the interview taped."

Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a ten-page ethics complaint against William Barr with the Justice Department's inspector general & the Office of Professional Responsibility. The complaint "accuses Barr of violating several Justice Department rules, guidelines and procedures" and cites numerous instances of Barr's alleged unethical actions & remarks.

MEANWHILE. Spencer Hsu & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Defense attorneys for Roger Stone demanded a new trial Friday, one day after President Trump suggested that the forewoman in his longtime political confidant's case had 'significant bias.' The legal motion could affect Stone's Feb. 20 sentencing date on charges of witness tampering and lying to Congress. The basis for the request was filed under seal Friday, but its existence was disclosed in a court order by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who gave U.S. prosecutors until Feb. 18 to respond."

Rosalind Helderman & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "As the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump drew to a close..., federal prosecutors in New York contacted witnesses and sought to collect additional documents in an investigation related to Trump's personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, according to people familiar with their activities. The recent steps -- including an interview with a witness last week -- indicate that the probe involving Giuliani and two of his former associates is moving forward.... [Meanwhile,] Attorney General William P. Barr said this week that the department had established an 'intake process' to accept information about Biden gathered by the president's personal attorney. Officials confirmed Giuliani's tips are being routed to the U.S. attorney's office in Pittsburgh. At the same time, the U.S. attorney's office in the Southern District of New York -- which Giuliani led in the 1980s -- appears to be continuing its wide-ranging investigation of his activities and those of his former associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, including their efforts in Ukraine." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That's right. At the same time one U.S. attorney is looking to prosecute Giuliani for matters at least tangentially related to his efforts to dig up fake dirt on Joe Biden, another U.S. attorney is collecting that same fake information as if it were a treasure-trove of hot tips. An upside, perhaps, is that the crap Pittsburgh collected might help confirm some of the facts & connections SDNY is trying to establish; that is, Giuliani may be providing the DOJ with evidence against himself. If he is indicted, I imagine he'll get off on account of diminished capacity.

(Uh oh. Another Story to Make Trump Mad.) Jacqueline Feldscher of Politico: "The Army will not investigate Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council staffer who testified in the president's impeachment investigation, the service's top civilian said Friday. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy made the announcement at an event just days after ... Donald Trump said he imagined the military would 'take a look at' whether Vindman should face disciplinary action for the 'horrible things' he told House investigators about the president's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last July."

Adam Bienkov of Business Insider: "UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has canceled a trip to the US planned for next month after a furious phone call from ... Donald Trump in which Trump slammed down the phone on the prime minister. Johnson had been due to visit Washington last month but repeatedly delayed the trip after a series of rows with the president over Iran, Huawei, and a rejected request by the prime minister to extradite the wife of a US diplomat. The disagreements culminated in a phone call last month in which Trump hung up on Johnson, according to officials with knowledge of the conversation." Mrs. McC: So another reason Trump wants to keep staff from listening to his phone calls with foreign leaders: his own behavior is embarrassing. (Also linked yesterday.)

Your Tax Dollars at Play. S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago on Friday evening for the 29th golf-related trip of his presidency to his for-profit Palm Beach, Florida, resort, raising his total taxpayer golf tab to $133.8 million. That figure translates to 334 years of the presidential salary that Trump and his supporters frequently boast he is not taking."

Matthew Lee & Kathy Gannon of the AP: "The United States and the Taliban have reached agreement on a temporary truce that will take effect in the coming days and, if successfully completed, will lead to a formal cease-fire, the start of peace negotiations between all Afghan sides next month and the ultimate withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, a senior U.S. official said Friday. The official said the agreement for a seven-day 'reduction in violence' is 'very specific' and covers the entire country, including Afghan government forces. There were indications a formal announcement could come as early as the weekend." (Also linked yesterday.)

Anne Gearan & Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "A White House memo justifying the U.S. strike that killed Iranian military leader Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January makes no mention of an imminent threat, which was President Trump's rationale for the attack. The two-page memo made public by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday instead says the Soleimani strike was carried out in response to previous attacks and to deter Iran from conducting or supporting attacks in the future.... Congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, were furious that Trump approved a deadly military attack that threatened to escalate tensions in an already strained region without consulting Congress."

State Secrets. David Herszenhorn of Politico: "U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday in an encounter the American side apparently wanted to keep under wraps. The State Department made no announcement of the meeting, which took place in Lavrov's own dedicated meeting room at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof.... Pompeo's aides also did not provide any readout after the meeting ended.... Asked about the meeting by Politico, a State Department official confirmed that there had been a 'pull aside' with Lavrov but gave no further details.... A Russian journalist traveling with Lavrov said the U.S. side had requested that there be no press conference or joint statements and that photographers not even be invited to take a picture of the two top diplomats shaking hands." --s

Caitlin Dickerson & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is deploying law enforcement tactical units from the southern border as part of a supercharged arrest operation in sanctuary cities across the country, an escalation in the president's battle against localities that refuse to participate in immigration enforcement.... The move reflects President Trump's persistence in cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities, localities that have refused to cooperate in handing over immigrants targeted for deportation to federal authorities. It comes soon after the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security announced a series of measures that will affect both American citizens and immigrants living in those places." The AP has a story here.

$5 > $Billions. Lauren Villagran of the El Paso Times: "Smugglers in Juárez have engineered camouflage hook-and-ladders made of rebar that blend in so well with the border wall that it can be hard to detect, according to U.S. Border Patrol.... The ladders appear to be made with two poles of 3/8-inch rebar and four thinner poles, outfitted with steps and bent over at the end in a U, to hook on the top of the wall. It's the sort of cubed rebar support structure used in construction in Mexico, called castillo.... Six meters of castillo costs 99 pesos, or about $5.30[.]" --safari: Just a reminder that we're blowing up UNESCO biospheres for this vanity project.

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Over the past few months, the Trump administration has quietly been rolling out a Kafkaesque new processing policy for select categories of visas: If any fields on a form are left blank, it will automatically be rejected. Even if it makes no sense for the applicant to fill out that field. For example, if 'Apt. Number' is left blank because the immigrant lives in a house: rejected. Or if the field for a middle name is left blank because no middle name exists: rejected, too.... The policy change, at first affecting just asylum applicants, was announced without fanfare on the USCIS website sometime in the fall." (Also linked yesterday.)

Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the Trump administration's decision to allow states to compel some Medicaid recipients to work or prepare for a job in exchange for their health benefits. In a unanimous decision that blocks the first state that had imposed work requirements, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that President Trump's health officials had been' arbitrary and capricious' in allowing Arkansas to launch a Medicaid program called 'Arkansas Works' two years ago.... The administration did not indicate whether it might appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court." Mrs. McC: Isn't "arbitrary and capricious" the motto of this administration? I thought it was embroidered in pig-latin on King Donald's fake coat of arms. (Also linked yesterday.) An NBC News story is here.

Presidential Race

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Bernie Sanders is leading the 2020 Democratic field in Nevada, according to a survey released Friday, with the Vermont senator's campaign showing momentum ahead of the third presidential nominating contest next week. The Nevada poll, conducted by the GOP polling firm WPA Intelligence on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and AARP Nevada, reports that 25 percent of the state's likely Democratic caucusgoers support Sanders. Former Vice President Joe Biden comes in second place with 18 percent of respondents, followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 13 percent. Behind the three top-polling candidates are billionaire activist Tom Steyer with 11 percent; former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 10 percent; and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, also with 10 percent. Eight percent of those surveyed said they were undecided, and 5 percent favored another candidate."

Dylan Scott of Vox: "Sen. Bernie Sanders now holds critical polling leads in the 2020 Democratic primary: New surveys show him ahead in California and Texas, the biggest prizes in the upcoming Super Tuesday elections on March 3."

Amy Wang & Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post: "Allies of President Trump have sharply focused attention on the sexual identity of presidential contender Pete Buttigieg in recent days, questioning in stark terms whether Americans are ready for a gay candidate who kisses his husband onstage. The attacks are prompting blunt responses from Buttigieg's allies and even his Democratic rivals, who call the remarks inappropriate and offensive. The exchanges were ignited by radio host Rush Limbaugh, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump last week and who framed his comments as an ostensible analysis of how Democrats feel.... The episode is a window into what Buttigieg could face if he becomes the Democratic nominee. Buttigieg did not publicly address Limbaugh's remarks, but his surrogates and supporters pushed back." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It looks as if the GOP party line will more-or-less follow Rush's construct. When Geraldo asked Trump if Americans would vote for a gay presidential candidate, Trump said, "I think there would be some that wouldn't, and I wouldn't be among that group, to be honest with you."

David Siders of Politico: "Days after her surprising third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary, [Amy] Klobuchar is facing a storm as aspects of her record get more scrutiny in the presidential campaign. For Klobuchar, the hostile questioning is a sign of her arrival as a serious contender. But it also comes at a precarious time, as she scrambles to make inroads in Nevada and South Carolina -- two racially diverse states in which she has little demonstrated support..., [and] her opponents are beginning to cut her down."

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "In South Carolina, four presidential candidates are running ads featuring praise from former President Barack Obama. In Nevada, Senator Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Pete Buttigieg are pitching their candidacies in Spanish. And Mr. Steyer has gone negative, attacking Mr. Sanders of Vermont for failing to provide a price tag for his 'Medicare for All' plan, calling former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. 'another insider' and Mr. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., an 'untested newcomer.'" Several of the ads are embedded in the article.

(Hey, Kids. This Story Makes Trump Happy, Too.) Larry Neumeister of the AP: "Michael Avenatti, a lawyer who gained fame by representing a porn star in lawsuits against Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of trying to extort sportswear giant Nike. The verdict was returned Friday by a Manhattan federal jury after it deliberated charges of attempted extortion and honest services fraud in what prosecutors say was an attempt by Avenatti to extort up to $25 million from Nike with threats to otherwise harm it.... Avenatti, 48, became prominent during frequent cable television program appearances in 2018 and 2019 as journalists courted him for information about porn star Stormy Daniels and her claims of a Trump tryst before he became president and a payoff to remain silent about it. At his peak of notoriety, Avenatti even considered running for president himself." (Also linked yesterday.)

Hannah Natanson, et al., of the Washington Post: "Since Trump's rise to the nation's highest office, his inflammatory language -- often condemned as racist and xenophobic -- has seeped into schools across America. Many bullies now target other children differently than they used to, with kids as young as 6 mimicking the president's insults and the cruel way he delivers them. Trump's words, those chanted by his followers at campaign rallies and even his last name have been wielded by students and school staff members to harass children more than 300 times since the start of 2016, a Washington Post review of 28,000 news stories found. At least three-quarters of the attacks were directed at kids who are Hispanic, black or Muslim, according to the analysis. Students have also been victimized because they support the president -- more than 45 times during the same period." Mrs. McC: Don't worry; Melanie's anti-bullying program will fix this. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Mark Niesse of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution: "A wave of people signed up to vote in Georgia last year, adding 322,000 active voters to the rolls ahead of a presidential election.... The rising number of voters from demographic groups that tend to support Democrats could make the Republican-leaning state more of a battleground than ever, with a presidential race, two U.S. Senate seats and three open U.S. House seats on the ballot this year.... The number of Georgia voters in the 18-34 age group has jumped 68% since October 2016.... Meanwhile, the portion of the electorate that is white has fallen since 2016 ... accounting for 59% ... from 62% four years ago.... [T]he proportion of active voters 65 and older ... has declined from 24% in 2016 to 19% today.... The number of new voters ... has outpaced voter registration cancellations." --s

News Ledes

New York Times: "A.E. Hotchner, a novelist, playwright, biographer, literary bon vivant and philanthropist whose life was shaped and colored by close friendships with two extraordinarily gifted and well-known men, Ernest Hemingway and Paul Newman, died on Saturday at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 102.

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here.

Comments

[PD Pepe]

BLOOMBERG'S BILLIONS:

"How the candidate built an empire of influence:" by Alex Burns and Nick Kulish. Everything you ever wanted to know about M.B. with graphs and such.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/15/us/politics/michael-bloomberg-spending.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage