Wednesday
Jan222020
The Commentariat -- January 22, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Here's the New York Times' liveblog of today's impeachment trial (or "trial"). The Guardian's liveblog (which covers a range of stuff) is here. For instance (@11:35), Trump said of the service members injured by Iranian rockets that they "'had headaches and a couple of other things' which he deemed 'not very serious'." ~~~
~~~ Here's part of one NYT entry: "Mr. Trump fired off so many Twitter messages as his fate was being debated on the Senate floor that he set a record for any single day in his presidency. As of 4:45 p.m., he had posted or reposted 132 messages on Twitter, surpassing the previous record of 123 set in December, as he defended himself and lashed out at the House managers. Most of the messages were retweets of messages from allies and supporters assailing Mr. Schiff and others prosecuting the case."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "After a marathon debate about how to conduct the impeachment trial, the Senate will formally move into the oral arguments phase of the proceeding on Wednesday as the House managers open their case to convict President Trump and remove him from office.... The trial convenes at 1 p.m. Eastern and will last through the afternoon and into the evening. If the managers divide their total of 24 allotted hours evenly over three days, the arguments could go until 9 p.m. or later depending on breaks." Emphasis original.
Lamest Excuse Yet. Sonam Sheth of Business Insider: "... Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he's opposed to the former national security adviser, John Bolton, testifying in his impeachment trial because 'it's a national security problem.... He knows some of my thoughts,' Trump told reporters. 'He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals how I feel about another leader and it's not positive ... it would make the job a lot harder.' Trump's statement, however, underscores why Democrats believe Bolton's testimony is crucial: he 'knows some of' Trump's thoughts." Mrs. McC: There's nothing stopping Bolton from sharing "some of Trump's thoughts" in another venue; say, in a paid lecture or in a book. Although Trump himself does release classified information without giving it a thought, often at the expense of national security, Bolton is an old hand in the national security field and knows how to answer questions without compromising U.S. security. ~~~
It's almost as if he's obsessing over something he doesn't understand at all. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~
~~~ ** Wait, Wait! It Gets Way Worse: Trump Boasts about Obstruction of Congress. Dan Spinelli of Mother Jones: "'We're doing very well,' [Trump] told reporters before leaving the World Economic Forum in Davos, later adding, 'Honestly, we have all the material. They don't have the material.'... 'The second article of impeachment was for obstruction of Congress: covering up witnesses and documents from the American people,' tweeted Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), one of the House impeachment managers prosecuting the case. 'This morning the President not only confessed to it, he bragged about it.'" ~~~
~~~ As always, he says the quiet part out loud. -- Justin Hendrix, in a tweet
I did get to see some of it. It's a hoax. It's a total hoax. I think the team was really good. The facts are all on our side. -- Donald Trump, on the impeachment trial, in an interview ~~~
~~~ What Facts? Joe Concha of the Hill: "'Fox News Sunday' anchor Chris Wallace on Tuesday said that he would 'not be especially pleased' if he were President Trump watching the White House defense of him in the opening round of the Senate impeachment trial.... 'They are basically saying, there's nothing to see here, all of this is bogus, while the House managers are taking every second of their one hour to make whatever case they want to make,' [Wallace said].... 'And this is being watched by millions of people on the three cable channels, I don't know why you wouldn't take the time and every second you have to make an argument on behalf of the president.'"
"Driving Miss Trump." Your Taxpayer Dollars at Work. Justin Rohnlich of Quartz: "Vehicles rented by the US Secret Service to shuttle Ivanka Trump ... around Davos will add another $34,000 to the cost of the administration's two-day trip to this year's World Economic Forum, helping nudge the total price tag past $4 million."
Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: "D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine sued President Trump's inaugural committee and business Wednesday, alleging that the committee violated its nonprofit status by spending more than $1 million to book a ballroom at Trump's D.C. hotel that its staff knew was overpriced and that it barely used. During the lead-up to Trump's January 2017 inauguration, the committee booked the hotel ballroom for $175,000 a day, plus more than $300,000 in food and beverage costs, over the objections of its own event planner. The committee was formed to organize the events around the inauguration, but Racine alleges it instead 'abandoned this purpose and violated District law when it wasted approximately $1 million of charitable funds in overpayment for the use of event space at the Trump hotel.... These charges were unreasonable and improperly served to enrich' Trump's business, the complaint reads. He alleges that Trump and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, were likely aware of the charges, based on documents Racine subpoenaed from the committee and the Trump Organization."
This Is So-o-o Stupid. Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is suing Hillary Clinton for defamation over the former secretary of State's remarks on a podcast characterizing the Democratic presidential candidate as a Russian asset. Gabbard filed the defamation lawsuit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Gabbard's lawyers allege that Clinton's comments have 'smeared' Gabbard's 'political and personal reputation.'... The lawsuit claims that Clinton is a 'cutthroat politician' and 'sought retribution' for Gabbard endorsing Clinton's 2016 Democratic primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Gabbard is now facing Sanders in the crowded 2020 Democratic primary."
Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "[United Nations] is calling for an 'immediate investigation' by the United States and other countries into the hacking of [Jeff] Bezos' phone, which experts said may have been part of 'an effort to influence, if not silence, The Washington Post's reporting on Saudi Arabia." Mrs. McC: Yeah, I'm sure the Trump/Barr DOJ will get right on that. Related stories linked below. ~~~
~~~ A Hill report is here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Senate Republicans Come Down Hard on the Wrong Side of History
If the Senate votes to deprive itself of witnesses and documents, the opening statements will be the end of the trial.... If the Senate votes to deprive itself of witnesses and documents, the opening statements will be the end of the trial. --Rep. Adam Schiff ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A divided Senate began the impeachment trial of President Trump on Tuesday in utter acrimony, as Republicans blocked Democrats' efforts to subpoena witnesses and documents related to Ukraine and moderate Republicans forced last-minute changes to rules that had been tailored to the president's wishes. In a series of party-line votes punctuating 12 hours of debate, Senate Republicans turned back every attempt by Democrats to subpoena documents from the White House, State Department and other agencies, as well as testimony from White House officials that could shed light on the core charges against Mr. Trump.... Democrats, who came armed with slick digital slides and video clips to drive home their arguments, spent hours detailing the factual record compiled by the House investigation and cataloging the witnesses and thousands of pages of highly relevant documents Mr. Trump had succeeded in withholding. Senators facing such a grave decision as removing a president, they argued, have a responsibility to try to push all the facts to light.... Mr. Trump's lawyers replayed many of his most frequent and personal grievances, accusing Democrats in only slightly more lawyerly terms of conducting a political search-and-destroy mission."
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Tuesday was a day for Americans to see three true things: all the President*'s men are incompetent and dishonest; all the Senate Republicans are craven & corrupt; Democratic Houses members, who arguably hold less "important" jobs than the aforementioned, danced rings around the President*'s lying, unprepared, sometimes-incoherent & off-topic representatives. As I wrote yesterday of the first of the eleven amendments Democratic senators introduced,
"... Adam Schiff did a masterful job of meticulously outlining why it would be out of sync with precedent and irresponsible for the Senate to disallow witnesses & docs. Pat Cipollone made a stupid, content-free, 3-minute speech in favor of McConnell's rules, and Jay Seculow made a longer, but not a lot better, argument about something. Seculow's remarks were riddled with misrepresentations & flat-out lies. But these are Trump's guys.... Schiff [then rebutted] whatever that was Seculow was talking about, and point[ed] out that whatever that was had nothing whatsoever to do with the rules, which were supposed to be the subject of his discourse. He also called out both Trump lawyers for some of the lies they told.... And the best man will lose -- altho the House managers have already had a minor win -- see Mitch's changes, as noted below by NYT reporters." ~~~
~~~ As Jonathan Alter said on MSNBC: The difference in competence between the two sides of the arguments was painfully obvious. There are two reasons for this: (1) the fish rots from the head, and Donald Trump can't get/doesn't want competent, truthful representation; and (2) Trump has no case. (Paraphrase) ~~~
~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday over setting the stage for a 'rigged' impeachment trial for president Trump. Schiff, the lead impeachment manager on the House team, zeroed in on a provision in the rules resolution that could force the impeachment trial to go late into the night. The provision gives the impeachment managers 24 hours to present their arguments, but over just two legislative days, with arguments beginning Wednesday and Thursday at 1 p.m." (Also linked yesterday.)
The New York Times liveblog for Tuesday/Wednesday of impeachment trial developments is here. [Link fixed.] The Guardian's liveblog for Tuesday/Wednesday is here. Both are worth scanning. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here's the Guardian liveblog's summary: "Over the course of nearly 13 hours, House impeachment managers clashed with White House lawyers as they debated the rules that will govern the impeachment trial. Republican senators voted to kill 11 amendments to the trial rules brought forth by the Democrats, thwarting multiple attempts to subpoena documents and witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton. House Judiciary chair Jerrold Nadler, who is one of the impeachment managers, accused Republicans of 'voting for a coverup' by rejecting attempts to acquire more evidence. Voting along party lines, Republicans pushed through the rules as proposed by Senate leader Mitch McConnell, unamended. McConnell did change the rules a bit since he first revealed them, allowing for each side to take three days, rather than two, to present their cases. He also allowed the House's impeachment evidence to be admitted into the Senate record. Throughout, Chief Justice John Roberts played a procedural role -- piping up just once to admonish both sides for a lack of civil discourse. 'I do think that those addressing the Senate should remember where they are,' he said. As the hours wore on, lawmakers looked visibly worn out -- a couple of senators appeared to nod off. The trial is adjourned until Wednesday at 1pm ET, when House managers will present their case."
From the NYT liveblog: Michael Shear: "Republicans made last-minute changes in their proposed organizing resolution for the impeachment trial after fierce attacks from Democrats that the proposed rules were unfair and part of an attempted 'cover-up' of President Trump's actions. The initial proposal ... had set aside 24 hours for each side to argue the case -- but said they had to complete the arguments in two days. Democrats said that would most likely force the debate well into the wee hours of the morning.... When the resolution was read, however, the two-day limit was changed to three days." Mrs. McC: According to MSNBC, the changes were "penciled in" to the copies of the rules distributed to senators. ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Fandos: "Senator Mitch McConnell ... made changes to the proposed rules for the trial after Republicans senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, raised concerns...." ~~~
~~~ Fandos: "In a significant change, the rules resolution submitted by Senator Mitch McConnell automatically enters the evidence collected by the House impeachment inquiry into the Senate record of the trial, in the same way that a similar resolution treated evidence during the 1999 impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton. Democrats had railed against a provision in the proposed rules that would not have automatically admitted into the official record the House's evidence. They warned that Republicans were attempting to conduct a trial with 'no evidence' at all."
Fandos: "The seven House managers submitted one final written brief at noon on Monday, just an hour before the Senate was set to reconvene as a court of impeachment. The 34-page filing included a point-by-point rebuttal of arguments put forward by President Trump's lawyers in his defense on Monday, and an appeal to senators to convict him based on the House charges." (Also linked yesterday.)
Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Donald Trump's lawyers made an impeachment U-turn on Tuesday -- one that could have immediate consequences for the president's ongoing legal fight against the House's oversight investigations. After arguing in court for months that federal judges should stay miles away from disputes between Congress and the White House ... the president's lawyers spent the first working day of Trump's Senate impeachment trial arguing the exact opposite, and suggesting that those who disagree are hostile to the Constitution. 'The president's opponents, in their rush to impeach, have refused to wait for judicial review,' said Jay Sekulow.... But that argument is in direct conflict with the Trump Justice Department's own forceful arguments -- some as recently as this month -- that allowing courts to step into such battles between Congress and the White House would be an affront to the separation of powers. On Jan. 3, a Justice Department attorney fighting the House's impeachment inquiry said 'unelected' judges should not be 'refereeing' such disputes."
If there's any unfairness in these proceedings, it's the astounding mismatch between the high skill and preparation of the House managers and the rambling, dissembling and gaslighting of @realDonaldTrump's counsel. It's like the New York Yankees versus the Bad News Bears. -- George Conway, in a tweet ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "... Donald Trump's defense failed him at the opening of his Senate impeachment trial on Tuesday>. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had one job. He just had to collect 51 votes for the trial rules he had written, in close consultation with White House officials, to deliver Trump an acquittal quickly, quietly and with as few surprises as possible. He couldn't do it.... The other half of Trump's squad, his legal team chose not to defend his actions with a cogent explanation for them. Rather than rebutting hours of evidence presented by House Democratic impeachment managers, White House lawyers opted to repeat Trump's attacks on the process and the disjointed set of rejoinders he's delivered to Democrats in public.... At ... times, Trump's lawyers contradicted each other.... Taken together, McConnell and the White House team demonstrated that, for all of their coordination and the institutional advantages afforded them by Republicans' Senate majority, they still appear focused more on pleasing their audience of one -- Trump -- than persuading any undecided senators or voters outside the chamber."
David Graham of the Atlantic: "The rules that McConnell has laid out ... provide for a Potemkin trial, not a real one. McConnell has been open that his goal is to dispose of the trial before the State of the Union address, on February 4, and the rules show far more interest in speed than accuracy or deliberation.... Trump's acquittal is effectively a foreordained outcome -- especially if senators don't hear any more evidence or witnesses, though it's not clear that any evidence of misconduct by the president could really sway Republican senators at this point. So why bother having a trial at all? The catch is voters, and in particular the multiple electorates that McConnell has to consider: the nation as a whole, but also the voters in those states where vulnerable Republicans are up for reelection.... Vulnerable senators sit in the dock, the jurors are voters, and the verdicts won't come back until November."
Aside. Say What? Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Jay Seculow, during a brief tirade on the Senate floor, expressed outrage that House Manager Val Demings (D-Fla.) had referred to "lawyer lawsuits." But Demings never used such a term. Later, the White House backed up Seculow, based -- the White House said -- on a mysterious "transcript" Blake couldn't find. Mrs. McC: Maybe Seculow was trying to confuse the "jury" with fake outrage over something that never happened. Hey, it's all he's got.
Trump Lawyers Disagree with Trump Lawyers: ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Turley, in a Washington Post op-ed: "There are ample defenses to be raised on both articles [of impeachment] without claiming, implausibly, that this was handled perfectly.... [Trump's] defense ... appears premised on two highly contested points. First, there is the position that there was nothing even remotely inappropriate in the president asking a foreign country to investigate a political rival.... Second..., you cannot impeach a president without a crime. It is a view that is at odds with history and the purpose of the Constitution." Turley was the House Republicans' "Constitutional expert" during the Judiciary Committee hearing on impeachment. ~~~
~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "In summer 2018, when he was still in private practice, [now-Attorney General William] Barr wrote a confidential memo for the Justice Department and Mr. Trump's legal team to help the president get out of [answering questions posed by Robert Mueller's investigators]... III, was pressuring him to answer questions about whether he had illegally impeded the Russia investigation. But ... even without the possibility of criminal penalties [being imposed on the President*], he wrote, a check is in place on presidents who abuse their discretionary power to control the executive branch of government -- impeachment. The fact that the president 'is answerable for any abuses of discretion and is ultimately subject to the judgment of Congress through the impeachment process means that the president is not the judge in his own cause,' he wrote. He added, 'The remedy of impeachment demonstrates that the president remains accountable under law for his misdeeds in office,' quoting from a 1982 Supreme Court case."
The most important moment for the Republican Party since the censure of Joe McCarthy and the impeachment and resignation of Richard Nixon, in which Republicans became great heroes and patriots. Now, we're looking at 'Midnight Mitch' and the so-called world's greatest deliberative body really embracing a cover-up that is there for all to see. That's what this is about. It's about preventing information from becoming known and seen by the American public. -- Carl Bernstein on CNN, last night ~~~
~~~ Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "Carl Bernstein sent social media users into overdrive after he slapped Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) with a taunting new nickname. The famed Watergate reporter called McConnell 'Midnight Mitch' during a panel discussion on CNN's 'Anderson Cooper 360°' on Monday. It centered on McConnell's proposed compressed schedule for ... Donald Trump's imminent Senate impeachment trial over the Ukraine scandal that would see some testimony taking place in the early hours." (Also linked yesterday.) Thanks to PD Pepe for the lead. Mrs. McC Update: Looks as if Bernstein's critique worked, since Mitch hastily changed the "midnight" rule.
James Crowley of Newsweek: "About 71 percent of Republicans believe that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should call witnesses during ... Donald Trump's impeachment trial, a new survey showed. SurveyUSA asked 4,096 registered voters whether witnesses with firsthand knowledge should be allowed to testify, with 71 percent of Republicans, 93 percent of Democrats, and 81 percent of Independents saying witnesses should be allowed to testify. Only 15 percent of Republicans said that they should not be allowed to testify...."
The Ugly American. Heather Long of the Washington Post: "President Trump renewed his threat to put hefty tariffs on European cars Tuesday at the World Economic Forum, promising hardball tactics if trade negotiations do not go his way. Just days after Trump scored wins with China, Mexico and Canada, the move highlighted how Trump is quickly pivoting to make Europe the next front in his protectionist trade war. As part of this push Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned Italy and Britain could face U.S. tariffs if they pursue taxes on large technology companies such as Facebook and Alphabet's Google. French President Emmanuel Macron agreed in recent days to delay a similar tax to avoid Trump's tariffs. The threatened tariffs were evidence of the growing rift between the United States and Europe, on clear display as leaders from the two continents appeared to be talking from different scripts. Trump insisted on discussing a new trade deal, while European leaders kept emphasizing action on climate change and cooperation."
Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg inveighed against the sowers of 'climate chaos' at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, offering a view of the world that stood in stark contrast to President Trump's. In two speeches at the conference, the 17-year-old Thunberg renewed the call to 'start listening to the science' on climate change. The world, she said, needs to 'treat this crisis with the importance it deserves.'... Trump said he was a 'big believer in the environment' but did not single out climate change and lashed out at 'alarmists.' He said the United States will participate in a plan to add 1 trillion trees worldwide -- a plan that climate activists argued would not even begin to scratch the surface." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Silvia Amaro of CNBC: "The U.S. president addressed politicians and business leaders at WEF on Tuesday morning, where he took credit for America's 'stunning turnaround.' In what was his second speech as U.S. leader at Davos, Trump outlined how his 'America-first' approach had worked and advised other countries to follow suit. However, some of the audience members looking on argued that Trump was actually talking to voters back home." (Also linked yesterday.) Mrs. McC: Trump is like that stock fictional character, the bossy rich great aunt the poor relations have to invite to family events & humor throughout in the hopes she'll leave them some of her millions. Nobody wants her around; nobody is impressed by her opinions; but they must be polite and solicitous.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "More U.S. service members have been transported out of Iraq for medical treatment and evaluations following Iran's missile attack on military facilities there, the Pentagon said Tuesday, nearly two weeks after President Trump and defense officials initially said no one was hurt. The Pentagon said Friday that 11 service members required medical treatment outside Iraq. U.S. military officials declined to say Tuesday how many more are receiving care but said 'additional' personnel had been sent to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany."
Presidential Race
Bernie Surges. Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has improved his standing in the national Democratic race for president, joining former Vice President Joe Biden in a two-person top tier above the rest of the field, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. The poll marks the first time Biden has not held a solo lead in CNN's national polling on the race. Overall, 27% of registered voters who are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents back Sanders, while 24% favor Biden. The margin between the two is within the poll's margin of sampling error, meaning there is no clear leader in this poll. Both, however, are significantly ahead of the rest of the field, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 14% and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 11%. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg lands at 5% in the poll, while Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and businessman Andrew Yang each hold 4% support. Businessman Tom Steyer has 2%. No other candidate reaches 1% support."
Hey, Hillary Is Good at Projection, Too. Quint Forgey of Politico: “Hillary Clinton lambasted Bernie Sanders in a forthcoming documentary as a 'career politician' who[m] 'nobody likes,' savaging her rival for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination less than two weeks before the 2020 Iowa caucuses. The brutal remarks reopened longstanding party wounds, with multiple Obama White House alumni knocking Clinton, Sanders supporters galvanizing behind their candidate, and current and former Clinton aides rushing to her defense." A New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Hillary, the Cable Show. Here's the Hollywood Reporter's story on the documentary. ~~~
Nobody likes him.... Nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it. -- Hillary Clinton, on Bernie Sanders, in a Hulu documentary ~~~
~~~ STFU. Mara Gay of the New York Times: "That'll play nicely in a Trump campaign ad if Mr. Sanders is the Democratic nominee.... It's of no help to the [Democratic] cause when Hillary Clinton, the party's 2016 nominee, disparages other Democrats and shatters party unity based on her own festering resentment.... Worse, Mrs. Clinton declined to commit to campaigning for Mr. Sanders, or even supporting him, if he wins the nomination.... As a reminder, after the 2016 Democratic convention, Mr. Sanders campaigned vigorously for Mrs. Clinton." Mrs. McC: In 2016, some people chastised me for my dislike of Clinton. Now, do you see why? ~~~
~~~ Update. Allan Smith of NBC News: "Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night walked back scathing comments in which she would not commit to backing Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.... Asked by the [Hollywood Reporter] in an interview released on Tuesday whether her assessment still stands, Clinton said, 'Yes, it does.' And she would not commit to endorsing Sanders, who backed her as the Democratic nominee following the 2016 primaries, if he becomes the Democratic nominee. 'I'm not going to go there yet,' she said. 'We're still in a very vigorous primary season.' But Tuesday evening, Clinton amended her comments, tweeting that defeating ...t Donald Trump was the top priority, adding, 'I will do whatever I can to support our nominee.'... In The Hollywood Reporter, Clinton also criticized the 'culture around Sanders.... '... it's not only him, it's the culture around him,' Clinton said. 'It's his leadership team. It's his prominent supporters. It's his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women.' Clinton said Sanders has 'not only permitted' that culture but is 'very much supporting it.'"
A Win for Trump & Co. Susannah Luthi of Politico: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Democrats' plea to consider a high-stakes legal challenge that could kill Obamacare, punting a resolution in the politically fraught case until after the presidential election. The decision deals a blow to Democrats' hopes to elevate the issue in 2020, but it will come as a relief to ... Donald Trump and Republicans, who've been wary of the lawsuit's potential to scramble their election hopes.... Trump, who has appeared sensitive to Democratic attacks on his efforts to wipe out Obamacare, last week falsely claimed on Twitter he 'saved Pre-Existing Conditions in your Healthcare,' despite his support for a lawsuit that would eliminate those protections. Trump also lashed out at Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar last Thursday over polling that shows Americans trust Democrats more on health care." (Also linked yesterday.)
Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "The Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos had his mobile phone 'hacked' in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message that had apparently been sent from the personal account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, sources have told the Guardian. The encrypted message from the number used by Mohammed bin Salman is believed to have included a malicious file that infiltrated the phone of the world's richest man, according to the results of a digital forensic analysis. This analysis found it 'highly probable' that the intrusion into the phone was triggered by an infected video file sent from the account of the Saudi heir to Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post." ~~~
~~~ Marc Fisher & Steven Zeitchik of the Washington Post: "A United Nations investigation to be released Wednesday will report that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's cellphone was hacked in 2018 after he got a WhatsApp message that came from an account purportedly belonging to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a person with direct knowledge of the report. The report is expected to detail a forensic investigation into long-standing allegations by Bezos, the world's richest man, that the Saudi regime launched a cyberattack on him as part of a complex series of conflicts among Bezos, the Saudis, President Trump and the National Enquirer tabloid."
Dan Diamond of Politico: "The CDC confirmed Tuesday that a Washington state resident contracted the first reported case of the deadly Chinese coronavirus in the United States as officials expanded screening of travelers to Atlanta and Chicago. The patient, a man in his 30s, traveled from the city of Wuhan to Seattle on Jan. 15 and sought medical attention four days later, officials said. He was reported in good condition and is currently hospitalized 'out of precaution' and not because of severe illness."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Brazil. Ernesto Londoño & Letícia Casado of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors in Brazil on Tuesday charged the American journalist Glenn Greenwald with cybercrimes for his role in bringing to light cellphone messages that have embarrassed prosecutors and tarnished the image of an anti-corruption task force. In a criminal complaint made public on Tuesday, prosecutors in the capital, Brasília, accused Mr. Greenwald of being part of a 'criminal organization' that hacked into the cellphones of several prosecutors and public officials last year. Mr. Greenwald, an ardent critic of Brazil's far right president, Jair Bolsonaro, is a deeply polarizing figure in Brazil, where his work is lionized by leftists and condemned as partisan and heavy handed by officials in the Bolsonaro administration. The news organization Mr. Greenwald co-founded, The Intercept Brasil, published articles last year based on the leaked cellphone messages that raised questions about the integrity and the motives of key members of Brazil's justice system." A Daily Beast story is here. ~~~
~~~ The Intercept condemns the prosecutor. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Glenn Greenwald is one of the whiniest journalists in the business. He now has something really serious to whine about.
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Reader Comments (22)
I am going to have to disagree, maybe for the first time, with Mrs. McC. Greenwald is a muckraker, not a whiner, who left the US after Justice Department harassment. A gay man in Brazil, he has done the same kind of reporting that he did here, apparently, standing up to speak truth to power. Many instances of him pissing off authorities, rightfully, in my opinion.
@Allen Rosskopf: Aw, c'mon. I write disagreeable things every day. You might want to read this 2018 New York mag profile of Greenwald. I don't really disagree with Greenwald's underlying premise -- that there are plenty of establishment hacks on the so-called left. I just don't think Maddow & Yglesias, for instance, are prominent among them. And that's even tho I, too, have disagreed with Maddow from the left (can't recall finding fault with Yglesias' thinking, but maybe) -- like when she stood up for Tom Brokaw against a #MeToo accuser.
I came across that profile of Greenwald when I was looking in vain on the Internets for a funny post I read years back by some leftish journalist -- I don't remember who -- who imagined what it would be like to have a meal with Greenwald. He figured Greenwald would complain about everything from soup to nuts, if the journalist didn't blow up at Greenwald before they got to the nuts. That's pretty much the way I feel about Greenwald.
The Pretender, the guy who would love to testify but never does, blows more smoke:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-davos-meeting-trump-impeachment/trump-says-impeachment-trial-witnesses-would-be-national-security-risk-idUSKBN1ZL1KG?
Or....since as president I am now indistintuishable from the country, any risk to me....
Narcissism writ nation large.
@Marie: You sure enough have some differences with Allen R. re: Greenwald, but your description* of our Man abroad sits very well with me; in fact we could use that description to cover the sorry Republican asses that sat for hours yesterday pretending that the information they were listening to doesn't matter because they only care about their own survival.
* Mrs. McC: Trump is like that stock fictional character, the bossy rich great aunt the poor relations have to invite to family events & humor throughout in the hopes she'll leave them some of her millions. Nobody wants her around; nobody is impressed by her opinions; but they must be polite and solicitous."
My head hurts today after being glued to the T. V. for hours listening to the masterly performances by Schiff and others and the shoddy rebuttals by Fatty's fatuous lawyers. I find the "other side's" reluctance to stand up for, in a word, the TRUTH not only despicable but disheartening.
I keep hearing Cummings say on many occasions: "Come on! We're better than that!"
Obviously we are not.
The Shirt of Trump
Fatty’s message to world leaders: be an ignorant, isolationist schmuck like me. Wave tariffs at your former trade partners, start toxic trade wars that will require you to empty your coffers paying off voters hurt by your ill considered actions. Then? Tell everyone what a genius you are, take credit for things that never happened or economic advances you had nothing to do with. Steal your next election, repeat as needed.
Sadly, according to a report this morning, some countries are reluctantly considering at least part of this “advice”, planning for all out international trade wars, to strike before Fatty can disrupt their economies purely to satisfy his ego and prove that he can do it because he feels like it. Oh, and the drooling Foxbots at home love to see him kick furriners in response to the invented and fantasy outrages concocted out of whole Republican cloth by imbeciles like Larry Kudlow and Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity. This is the same cloth with which Trump has created his very own Shirt of Nessus (a mythological poisoned garment which eventually kills the recipient) which he proudly presented to American businesses. Shirts of Nessus for everyone!
In the history of the world, the single biggest index of—and prescription for—peace, has been trade. Nothing comes close. You want prosperity? Trade does it. The Phoenicians discovered this thousands of years ago. It’s still the case. But Trump, a lifetime lover of chaos and as ignorant of world history as a dog in the yard licking his balls, only cares that he is looked at as a tough, smart leader to be emulated by the losers and wannabes around the world who, unhappily for them, will never be as wonderful as the Great Donald.
You want to destroy hopes for peace, or disrupt long-established peaceful relations with other countries? Trump style Trade wars!
Republicans who continue to support this dangerous idiot deserve the severest censure historians can conjure. Maybe they need their very own Shirts of Trump. Right this way, Senator McConnell! Oh this shirt will look very becoming on you. Try it on!
Regarding Greenwald, I have to admit that when I first encountered his writhing (haha! I meant “writing, but I think I’ll leave in the auto-correct choice), I found his brand of scorched earth liberalism bracing, especially in the wake of the Bush Debacle when any commentators who harbored a liberal conscience felt the need to vehemently deny it or hide behind the obstructing boulders of both-siderism. Greenwald was an Admiral Farragut in a sea of hard-anchored dories.
But his take no prisoners POV quickly betrayed a form of intolerant, humorless fanaticism, the kind you see...well, all the time on the right. It was at this point that he lost me. When passion turns to peevishness, I tune out, which, I admit, is a failing of mine. But I’ve never been one for the hair shirt, no matter how good for your moral development.
A bit of whimsy: Pat Cipollone, Fatty's lawyer/comedian, whose name rhymes with baloney, tells biggest lie ever and the twitter feed again has a ball with it.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-lawyer-biggest-lie-ever-senate_n_5e280c41c5b67d8874a96e63
AK: Shirts of Nessus for everyone! Ads for next Xmas gifties: a Family gathered around the tree, Mother comes from the kitchen in her lovely robe, bearing cups of hot something; Father then stands and announces in his loud baritone ––"Shirts of Nessus" for everyone! We then watch as those everyones put on their poisoned shirts, bright yellow with the Donald's head smack dab in the middle. Everyone looks pleased as punch, especially father who loves how the head of the Donald puffs out on mother. We hear carols being sung in the background.
I thank you dear Akhilleus for this detour from the real poison in the pudding.
Remove a phrase and insert another in the Mrs. McC quote on Trump.
"Trump is like that stock fictional character...…" (insert) the inappropriate offspring, who is hoisted on others in every meeting of international leaders. Her sole purpose is to provide daddy with comfort and a woman to flaunt (yech).. "Nobody wants her around; nobody is impressed by her opinions; but they must be polite and solicitous."
Ivanka Trump.
Citizens Indicted
So yesterday was the ten year anniversary of the political blight known as Citizens United, foisted on us by the Supreme Court who sed "Whadaya worried about, huh?"
It was supposed to be First Amendment blah, blah, blah.
So how has it worked out? Ever heard of the Black Death? Just look at what's happening now. Ten years on, the candidate "selected" by wealthy donors (and the Russian) is being impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.
"...[S]uper PACs now regularly operate as shadow campaigns, offering the wealthiest Americans opportunities to buy political influence that are not available to the average citizen.
Just ask Lev [Parnas]. He had little connection to Trumpworld until promising a six-figure donation to Trump’s super PAC, America First Action. In exchange, he and Fruman were invited to an intimate dinner with Trump, where they, according to Parnas’ account, first urged the president to fire the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch."
...who was getting in the way of their (and Rudy's) grifting.
In his own words, Parnas sez (in so many words) "I was a nobody til I gave them big bucks. Next thing ya know, I'm making policy decisions. Yippee!"
And that's just the Ukraine debacle. Look at what's going on with global warming, education, the economy, the military. Foreign and domestic policies are being written in board rooms by deep pocketed beneficiaries of Citizens United.
And now we're going through ANOTHER Republican initiated national nightmare.
I'd say the horrible results of ten years' worth of anti-democratic USA-for-sale chicanery is more than enough to deem this one of the worst SCOTUS decisions in our history, seeing as it could be the effective end of our history (no apologies to Francis Fukuyama).
Until then, there'll be plenty more citizens (and foreign state actors) indicted.
The Republican Way.
@Akhilleus: You're right. Citizens United is an all-around contributor to bad government: government of rich people, by rich people, and for rich people. But then, as you point out, even the non-rich -- if they're sleazy enough -- can get in on the game. They may have to defraud others, they may have to make shady deals with foreign oligarchs, whatever. If they get the money and spend it wisely, they can become "persons of influence." The Trump administration isn't just Betsy DeVos awful; it's also Lev Parnas awful.
At the end of yesterday's (well, actually today's, because it was nearly 2 am), Mitch McConnell (I think it was) thanked John Roberts for putting in the long hours. Roberts responded, "It comes with the job." Well, maybe not, Johnnie, if you hadn't tipped the scales toward the corruption that is the subject of this impeachment trial.
@NJC: I meant to write a couple of days ago: Sometimes getting fired is a badge of honor. I guess you know that.
A thought while on a walk: If Warren gets the brass ring she might want to tap Susan Rice or Samatha Powers for Vice. She needs a viable foreign policy person. ALL women! shout the misogynists, how dare she!
How I would love it if she dared.
@PD Pepe: Typically, more women than men vote in federal elections. So I don't see any reason they can't be represented by a total X-chromosome ticket.
Marie,
Glad you brought up Little Johnny. This morning I cringed through yet another in the endless litany of outright false and willfully misleading reports on NPR as it they related Roberts’ late night finger wagging as Republican liars continued to shout and smear, and lie and misdirect as they wallowed in the Trump Swamp of Treason during Midnight Mitch’s carny-barking show trial.
The gist of the piece was that (Jesus, god!) both sides were behaving badly in what used to be called (laughably, under the Turtle’s baleful influence) the world’s most deliberative body. Deliberate rat bastards is more like it. At least 53 of them.
Roberts, of course, simply could not bring himself to scold his brothers and sisters in Trump, he had to make it about both sides (as if in a poker game where several players dealt from the bottom of a deck of marked cards, that all in the game had better straighten up and behave), and NPR, bless their little two-sided hearts, were loath to offer the tiniest clarification, lest some goggle eyed MAGA douchebag in some red state den of treason call them filthy Trump and Jesus hating commie bastards.
Fuck me.
Here's a link about Warren's new plan for getting rid of Trump's corruption and people and setting up an independent task force to find all the crimes to prosecute. Liz Warren Unveils Plan To Remove Trump Stench From White House Curtains. Restoring Integrity and Competence to Government After Trump.
If I were not inured to hearing what comes out of our idiot POTUS' mouth, I would have been surprised when I heard him on the car radio bragging about having "all the material."
But the campaign alone, not to mention the succeeding three years, rendered surprise a stranger.
RAS,
I wish her luck. Trump’s treasonous moles are dug in like ticks. The courts are filthy with misogynists and Sieg Heiling racists who wouldn’t know justice if Themis herself visited their chambers, removed her blindfold and crowned them with her scales.
Government departments and agencies have been largely clear cut of any competent, honest management and replaced by clutching, grasping confederate crooks and religious nutbags.
It took Obama a full eight years to try to clean up after Bush and Cheney and their scheming horde and still didn’t succeed in fumigating the place. Fatty, in just three years, has far surpassed the embedding of cronies and frauds left over after the Bush Debacle.
Competence, ethical behavior, and the rule of law have been banished under the latest stinking effluence from right wing world, and once again it’s left for a Democrat to clean up after their mess.
Wait, wait, wait...
Trump is worried that if John Bolton testifies at his impeachment trial foreign leaders will know what he thinks about them?
Mr. Inscrutable is sure that no one can tell what what's on his mind unless someone tells them?
You mean like here?
Got news for you, Fatso, you're about as hard to decipher as an air-raid siren.
So, the guy who called Kim Jong Un "Little Rocket Man" and threatened to carpet bomb his country, the guy who refused to shake Angela Merkel's extended hand in an Oval Office photo op, the asshole who wandered behind Hillary Clinton during a presidential debate, made faces and did everything but hold up two fingers in a V behind her head, is worried that other world leaders might suddenly figure out "his thoughts" about them?
Sometimes I'm not entirely sure whether Trump truly is brain damaged or whether he's playing games. But statements like this remove all doubts.
I think anyone who is paying the slightest attention, Repub or Dem, knows deep down that the orange buffoon is guilty. The problem is that the general public is not paying the slightest attention. Last night Jimmy Fallon's show aired man-on-the-street interviews where a half-dozen folks said they had voted on the impeachment question. Highly edited, of course, but if they want to reach the public, Democrats need to figure out how to get on "The Bachelor".
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-gabbard-idUSKBN1ZL2UR
Maybe Tulsi and Devin, both (sadly) public figures, can use the same lawyer to cut costs.
Since I'm pretty much Oscar ignorant, missed this and sorry I did.
Yet another Obama coup to drive the Pretender even farther around the bend.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/obamas-netflix-doc-american-factory-nominated-oscar-1268944