The Commentariat -- Nov. 16, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Real Bad News for Fake-New-Faker-in-Chief. Michael Grynbaum & Emily Baumgaertner of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Friday directed the White House to restore the press credentials of Jim Acosta of CNN, a win for media advocates and news organizations in a major legal test of press rights under President Trump. The judge, Timothy J. Kelly of Federal District Court in Washington, ruled that the Trump administration had most likely violated Mr. Acosta's due process rights when it revoked his press badge after a testy exchange with the president at a news conference last week. The ruling was a significant but narrow victory for CNN. Judge Kelly, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, declined to weigh in on the First Amendment issues cited by the network, and the White House has the right to appeal. For now, Mr. Acosta can resume working on the White House grounds.... Other legal issues raised in the case were expected to be addressed in later court sessions." ...
... Mrs. McC: Sarah Sanders immediately issued a statement about "decorum," then lied about the ruling: "Ms. Sanders claimed in her statement that 'the court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House.' But Judge Kelly did not rule on the First Amendment issues because he granted the temporary return of Mr. Acosta's pass on due process grounds."
Commander-in-Chief? Not So Much. Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "He canceled a trip to a cemetery in France where American soldiers from World War I are buried. He did not go to the observance at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day. He has not visited American troops in Iraq or Afghanistan.... Rhetorically, Mr. Trump has embraced the United States' 1.3 million active-duty troops as 'my military' and 'my generals' and has posted on Twitter that under his leadership, the American armed forces will be 'the finest that our Country has ever had.' But top Defense Department officials say that Mr. Trump has not fully grasped the role of the troops he commands, nor the responsibility that he has to lead them and protect them from politics.... On Thursday, Mr. Trump spent less than an hour in a pre-Thanksgiving visit to the Marine Barracks in Washington, three and a half miles from the White House.... On Wednesday, it was Defense Secretary Jim Mattis who visited American troops on the border with Mexico in the latest military deployment under Mr. Trump's watch."
Laura Meckler of the Washington Post: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday released her long-awaited rewrite of rules governing campus sexual harassment and assault allegations, narrowing the cases schools must investigate and giving the accused more rights. The proposed regulation replaces less formal guidelines created under President Barack Obama that tilt more toward accusers. DeVos rescinded the Obama measure a year ago. Under the proposal, fewer allegations would be considered sexual harassment and schools would be responsible only for investigating incidents that are part of campus programs and activities and that were properly reported. Accused students would be entitled to lawyers and cross-examination."
Trump, Ricardel Insult Estonia. Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg News: "... Donald Trump offered to nominate Mira Ricardel as ambassador to Estonia after First Lady Melania Trump forced the deputy national security adviser out of the White House, according to two people familiar with the matter. Ricardel turned down the posting to the Baltic state, two of the people said. The president wants to find her a good position, and she's been presented nearly a dozen jobs from which to choose, according to a senior White House official."
Can This Marriage Be Saved? Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "George T. Conway III, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, said the Republican Party has become 'a personality cult' under President Trump and that he would 'move to Australia' rather than vote for the president again. 'I don't feel comfortable being a Republican anymore,' Conway said in ... about his decision to drop his party registration earlier this year....' Asked if he thinks the president is fully stable, Conway responded: 'No comment.'"
Elana Schor of Politico: "Chuck Grassley plans to trade his Senate Judiciary Committee gavel to lead the Finance Committee next year, he said on Friday -- leaving Lindsey Graham in line to replace him as chairman." Mrs. McC: Oh, great. Now Lindsey can go ballistic for as long as he wants every time Democrats find fault with Trump's usual low-par nominees.
Allan Smith of NBC News: "A video surfaced Thursday of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi saying it might be a 'great idea' to make it harder for some people to vote, and her campaign quickly responded that she was 'obviously' joking. Hyde-Smith, who is in a runoff against Democrat Mike Espy on Nov. 27, made the remark at a campaign stop in Starkville, Mississippi, on Nov. 3. It was posted to Twitter on Thursday by Lamar White Jr., publisher of The Bayou Brief. Smith earlier this week posted video of Hyde-Smith making a comment on Nov. 2 about a 'public hanging' that started a controversy.... Danny Blanton, a spokesman for Espy's campaign, called Hyde-Smith a 'walking stereotype who embarrasses our state.' 'For a state like Mississippi, where voting rights were obtained through sweat and blood, everyone should appreciate that this is not a laughing matter,' Blanton said in a statement." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's Senator Cindy there to the left. Now try to picture her back in the 1960s, standing at the front of a crowd of white ladies screaming at little black children on their way to their newly-integrated school. That wasn't hard, was it?
Karen Zraick of the New York Times: "A lawsuit accusing the publisher of the neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer of coordinating a 'terror campaign' of online harassment against a Jewish real estate agent cannot be dismissed on First Amendment grounds, a federal judge in Montana ruled this week. In his ruling denying a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Dana L. Christensen, the chief judge for United States District Court in Missoula, Mont., wrote that the real estate agent, Tanya Gersh, was a private citizen, not a public figure, and that the publisher, Andrew Anglin, incited his followers to harass her as part of a personal campaign."
*****
David Remnick of the New Yorker: "The unwinding [of Donald Trump] accelerates daily. The unhinged tweet storms; the thunderbolts of blame and insult; the firing of Jeff Sessions and the appointment of a hyper-obedient acting Attorney General; the invective hurled at the press (and particularly at African-American reporters); the fact-free rants directed at firefighters trying to put out conflagrations amplified by climate change; the obvious fear of looming investigations and the special counsel's report.... The President is losing what last shred of poise he might have possessed.... There is no overestimating the damage that Trump has done and will continue to do."
Our Coy Mister. Erica Warner & Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "President Trump did not commit Thursday to avoiding a partial government shutdown next month if lawmakers don't give him money to build a border wall, a top Republican senator said, raising the potential for a high-stakes budget battle as the GOP prepares to lose its grip on Congress.... Although they retain full control of Congress for now, Republicans still need support from Democrats to pass any bill in the Senate. Democrats have expressed opposition to giving Trump the money he wants to build his long-promised wall.... [Trump] initially threatened to shut down the government on Oct. 1 if Congress didn't give him the money, but GOP leaders warned such a tactic would hurt them during the midterms. Trump relented under pressure, in part because he was promised that Republicans would work to secure the money in early December."
Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump on Thursday sought to stifle media reports that his administration is engulfed 'in chaos' and 'in meltdown.'... 'The White House is running very smoothly and the results for our Nation are obviously very good. We are the envy of the world. But anytime I even think about making changes, the FAKE NEWS MEDIA goes crazy, always seeking to make us look as bad as possible! Very dishonest!'... But his early morning Twitter boast attacking 'the FAKE NEWS MEDIA' did not go over well, with many folks suggesting America under Trump is actually a global 'laughingstock.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Zachary Basu of Axios: "President Trump renewed his attacks on the credibility of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation in a series of Thursday morning tweets, using his oft-repeated refrain of 'WITCH HUNT.' 'The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation and don't care how many lives the ruin. These are Angry People, including the highly conflicted Bob Mueller, who worked for Obama for 8 years. They won't even look at all of the bad acts and crimes on the other side. A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Looks as if John Kelly didn't give Trumpy enough "policy time" Thursday. ...
... Natasha Bertrand of the Atlantic: "It isn't clear what prompted Trump's early-morning tirade [against the Mueller investigation].... But it could be a sign that he received negative news from his legal team or that new indictments against his family or associates are coming down the pike.... He was unusually specific in his accusation that Mueller's investigators were 'threatening' people 'to come up with the answers they want.'" ...
... Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times note that Trump wrote the tweets "fresh off three days of private meetings with his personal lawyers [in which they] worked to draft answers to questions posed by the special counsel...." Mrs. McC: This is time Trump could have spent watching Fox "News," tanning & fixing his hair, so maybe that why he was especially irritated at Mueller. ...
... Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "These tweets came not long after the president basically confirmed what everyone already thinks -- that Matthew Whitaker's replacement of Jeff Sessions as acting Attorney General of the United States has everything to do with the Mueller probe. The transcript of Trump's Wednesday interview with the Daily Caller, when he was asked about Whitaker[.]... He was asked about Whitaker, said the Office of Legal Counsel issued a 20-page 'very good' and 'strong' opinion, and then immediately steered the conversation toward Robert Mueller's 'illegal investigation' that 'should have never been brought.'... At least two former federal prosecutors [as well as Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)] suspect that, actually, Trump has heard something from someone that would indicate he knows more indictments are coming.... The logic here is ultimately pretty simple: the president is privy to certain information in advance of the media." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: The former prosecutors to whom both Bertrand & Naham spoke speculate that Trump's sources are attorneys for some of the investigation's targets. Rachel Maddow speculates -- and I find her suggestion more compelling & far more terrible -- that Trump's source is Matt Whitaker.
This Is the Saturday Night Massacre ... in Slow Motion. Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, in Slate: "The last time a president made a personnel change to undermine an investigation of his associates, Congress forced him to resign.... President Trump has launched a piecemeal Saturday Night Massacre of his own. He first fired FBI Director James Comey last year for his handling of the Russia probe.... If members of Congress or the American people fail to act, these precedents will become the guideposts for future presidents who follow the path President Trump is blazing. A new tenet of American democracy will become that a president is permitted to evade investigation by firing the heads of agencies that investigate the president's close associates, even when the investigation is the reason for the firings.... Putting a president above the rule of law is a threat to democracy."
Mary Jalonick & Mike Balsamo of the AP: "Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker told Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in a meeting on Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation will proceed, according to a person familiar with the meeting. The meeting with Graham and Whitaker comes as a bipartisan group of senators is pushing legislation to protect Mueller's job." Mrs. McC: Take no comfort in this assertion. Whitaker is a flim-flam artist. But maybe the Graham-Whitaker conversation will further rile Trump. ...
... Burgess Everett & Eliana Johnson of Politico: "Senate Republicans are urging ... Donald Trump to quickly nominate a permanent attorney general, hoping a new top law enforcement officer will blunt bipartisan concern over the future of special counsel Robert Mueller and boost the GOP ahead of tough government funding talks." Mrs. McC: Because Senate Republicans don't believe Whitaker, either.
Marshall Cohen of CNN: "A federal judge on Thursday upheld a federal indictment against the Russian troll farm accused of meddling in the 2016 election, handing a victory to special counsel Robert Mueller. In a 32-page opinion, Judge Dabney Friedrich rejected efforts by Concord Management and Consulting to dismiss the indictment, which accused the Russian company of conspiring to defraud the US government. Mueller's team says the company was involved in a well-funded 'troll farm' that pumped out political propaganda to millions of Americans throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. It was the second time that Friedrich, a Trump appointee, sided with Mueller and let the case proceed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Matt Zapotosky & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has been charged under seal, prosecutors inadvertently revealed in a recently unsealed court filing -- a development that could significantly advance the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and have major implications for those who publish government secrets. The disclosure came in a filing in a case unrelated to Assange. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer, urging a judge to keep the matter sealed, wrote 'due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged.' Later, Dwyer wrote the charges would 'need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested.' Dwyer is also assigned to the WikiLeaks case. People familiar with the matter said what Dwyer was disclosing was true, but unintentional." ...
... The New York Times story, by Charlie Savage & Michael Schmidt, is here.
Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "Justice Department lawyers, defending the Trump administration's revocation of [CNN reporter Jim] Acosta's credentials, submitted a brief on Wednesday responding to CNN's lawsuit seeking their restoration. The network is seeking a restraining order against the White House, an action that government lawyers are opposing on a number of grounds.... In a hearing before U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly on Wednesday afternoon, Deputy Assistant Attorney General James Burnham was forced to expound upon these arguments. It was unsightly." Read on for details. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "Trump administration officials last month asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen in an attempt to persuade [Turkey's president Recep] Erdogan to ease pressure on the Saudi government..., four sources said. The effort includes directives to the Justice Department and FBI that officials reopen Turkey's case for his extradition, as well as a request to the Homeland Security Department for information about his legal status, the four people said.... Career officials at the agencies pushed back on the White House requests, the U.S. officials and people briefed on the requests said.... [An earlier request] took place under Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, whose ties to Turkey came under scrutiny in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... OR, as Eric Levitz puts it: "In order to help an Islamist theocracy get away with executing one American immigrant [Jamal Khashoggi], Trump is (reportedly) trying to find a legal rationale for letting another (much less totalitarian) Islamist theocracy execute a different American immigrant [Fethullah Gulen].... In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal earlier this week, Marco Rubio wrote that Donald Trump's ... nationalistic ethos was rooted in his deep appreciation for America's 'identity as a nation committed to the idea that all people are created equal, with a God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'... It seems safe to say, contra Rubio, that Trump is less of an American nationalist who harbors a deep commitment to human rights than an American solipsist who is ready and willing to abet crimes against humanity if he believes that he stands to benefit personally from doing so." ...
... Just Saying. Josh Kovensky of TPM: "The Trump Organization continues to accept millions from foreign governments. Three weeks ago, ABC reported that a Turkish business group had moved to cancel an event at Trump's DC hotel amid negotiations over Gulen's fate. Saudi officials have organized diplomatic events at Trump's Washington hotel since his inauguration. The country rents out a floor of one of Trump's New York buildings." ...
... P.S. It Won't Work. Roy Gutman of the Daily Beast: "Turkey pressed on with its demands for a full accounting from Saudi Arabia for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi early last month -- dismissing a Saudi prosecutor's indictments Thursday as an attempt to cover up the murder. Turkey also rejected a reported White House plan to expel Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic preacher, from the United States in exchange for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan easing the pressure for a full investigation.... The Turkish rejection of the reported U.S. bid was both swift and blunt. 'At no point did Turkey offer to hold back on the Khashoggi investigation in return for Fethullah Gulen's extradition,' a senior Turkish official said Thursday night. Turkey's request for Gulen's extradition and the investigation into the Khashoggi murder 'are two separate issues. They are not connected in any way, shape or form.'"
... Sonam Sheth & John Haltiwanger of Business Insider: "Foreign-policy veterans were floored Thursday following a bombshell report that the White House considered extraditing one of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top enemies to get Ankara to back off the investigation into the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.... [Fethullah] Gulen is a legal US resident and a green-card holder who's been living in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s.... Ned Price, the former senior director of the National Security Council under President Barack Obama, said..., 'This is the Trump administration seeking to barter away a US resident who has lived here legally for years.'... Diplomatic, immigration, and law-enforcement officials during the Obama administration determined that Turkey's case for Gulen's extradition did not meet the required threshold.... Randa Slim, the director of conflict resolution at the Middle East Institute, echoed that view.... "If the White House seriously considered it, it shows to what lengths the [Jared] Kushner camp was willing to go to protect their young protege in Riyadh," she added. Slim was referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who once reportedly bragged that he had Kushner, a senior White House adviser, 'in his pocket.'"
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It seems to me that Trump's plan to barter away a long-time legal American resident to help Trump's friend & client get away with murdering another American resident is also one more way Trump is discouraging immigration. Isn't it foolish to seek refuge in the U.S. if, on the POTUS*'s whim, you might be deported back to a country that is planning to execute you?
Sheila Kaplan & Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "Stopping short of its threatened ban on flavored e-cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday that it would allow stores to continue selling the products, but only from closed-off areas that are inaccessible to minors. At the same time, the agency moved to outlaw two traditional tobacco products that disproportionately harm African Americans: menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. The proposed menthol ban would be the most aggressive action the F.D.A. has taken against the tobacco industry in nearly a decade, and it was notable given the Trump administration's business-friendly approach to regulatory issues. If it clears the usual federal regulatory hurdles, a process which could take at least two years, the menthol ban could make a significant dent in cigarette sales. Menthol cigarettes account for about 35 percent of cigarette sales in the United States." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The Treasury Department has designated 17 Saudi Arabians for involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, imposing sanctions that freeze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit Americans from dealings with them. All of the 17, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement, were 'involved in the abhorrent killing' that 'targeted and brutally killed a journalist who resided and worked in the United States [and] must face consequences for their actions.' Mnuchin indicated that the United States would continue investigating to determine whether others were also responsible and said that 'the government of Saudi Arabia must take appropriate steps to end any targeting of political dissidents or journalists.' The Treasury announcement followed the release of a statement in Riyadh saying 11 unnamed Saudi citizens had been indicted in the crime.... It said authorities would seek the death penalty against five of those indicted. Neither statement implicated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Turkey has indirectly accused of ordering Khashoggi's death. A spokesman for the Saudi prosecutor, speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, said Mohammed had no knowledge of the operation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The top scientist at the Census Bureau [John Abowd] testified Wednesday that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions exerted 'political influence' when he directed Justice Department staff not to meet with census experts about the Justice Department's request to add a citizenship question to the census.... Abowd's testimony was in the ongoing federal trial in New York over Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross's move to add a citizenship question to the census.... Ross called Sessions personally in the fall of 2017 seeking that the Justice Department formally request a citizenship question, which it did in ... December 2017.... The Census Bureau concluded that adding the question would be costly and would result in less accurate data.... Abowd's team sought to meet with Justice Department staff to discuss this assessment in early 2018. Sessions directed the Justice Department to cancel the meeting[.]" --s
Betsy's Bodyguards. Heidi Przybyla of NBC News: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos began receiving around-the-clock security from the U.S. Marshals Service days after being confirmed, an armed detail provided to no other cabinet member that could cost U.S. taxpayers $19.8 million through September of 2019, according to new figures provided by the Marshals Service to NBC News. While it remains unclear who specifically made the request, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions granted the protection on February 13, 2017, a few days after DeVos was heckled and blocked by a handful of protesters from entering the Jefferson Academy, a public middle school in Washington.... The cost of security provided to DeVos was $5.3 million in fiscal year 2017 and $6.8 million for fiscal year 2018, according to the Marshals Service -- an amount that is ultimately reimbursed by the Education Department. The estimated cost for fiscal year 2019 is $7.74 million. That far exceeds the $3.5 million spent on security for former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who resigned in July amid questions about lavish spending habits during his 17-month tenure at the agency. An EPA inspector general report ... found the price tag for Pruitt's security detail was 'not justified' and far exceeded the security costs incurred under past EPA heads. Typically, cabinet secretaries are protected by security arranged by their departments' internal enforcement units."
Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "Raymond David Vela, President Trump's nominee to be director of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), mentioned climate change on Thursday as he read from prepared remarks during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Hearing a Trump nominee cite climate change as an issue that must be tackled is a rare, if not unheard of, occurrence.... The National Park Service has gone almost two years without a director. Vela has been with the parks service for almost 30 years; most recently, he served as superintendent of Grand Teton National Park." --s
Trump's Best Crooks, Ctd. Michael Biesecker of TPM: "The Trump administration's top environmental official for the Southeast has been arrested on Alabama state ethics charges related to a scheme to help a coal company avoid paying for a costly toxic waste cleanup. Trey Glenn was booked into a county jail in Birmingham on Thursday before being released on a $30,000 bond. Glenn was appointed last year as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency's regional office in Atlanta, which oversees operations in eight states. Glenn is charged with multiple ethics violations stemming from his prior work as a coal-industry consultant opposing federal Superfund cleanup efforts. He resigned as director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in 2009 following another ethics scandal." --s
Democrats Have Their Fights in Public. Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Representative Nancy Pelosi asserted Thursday that she has enough support among her colleagues to become the next speaker of the House, as the first hint of opposition emerged from an Ohio Democrat, Representative Marcia Fudge, who said she is considering a run. 'Come on in, the water's warm,' Ms. Pelosi said, dismissing the notion that Ms. Fudge was a threat. Asked if she had the 218 votes necessary to win the speakership, she said emphatically, 'Yes.' Ms. Pelosi is an exceptionally skilled politician, and many Democrats say she remains the odds-on favorite to return to the post in January. Her comments came as the fight over whether she should be speaker is heating up among her colleagues, exposing deep divisions over the role of gender in leadership at a time when a so-called pink wave put the party back in the House majority." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Matt Fuller of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) is all but announcing her intention to run for House speaker against Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), testing the waters Thursday by slamming Pelosi and foregrounding issues of race.... During the course of our interview, the former Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman made it clear she thinks Pelosi has not been a vocal enough advocate for African-Americans in Congress, she dismissed suggestions that Pelosi had led Democrats back to the majority, and she painted herself as equally liberal as Pelosi.... Fudge said this was about a fresh start in Congress, making sure that Democratic leadership reflects the voters who gave Democrats the majority ― specifically, African-American women.... Fudge also suggested Pelosi is simply unpopular with Democrats. She pointed to polling suggesting that Pelosi has a 17 percent favorability rating, and that more Democrats oppose Pelosi being speaker than those who support her." ...
... AND Democrats Fight in Private. Anthony Adragna, et al., of Politico: "A fight broke out in a closed-door meeting of House Democrats over climate change as a powerful veteran lawmaker fought with freshman star Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members-elect over the creation of a special panel for the issue. New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, incoming chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee -- backed by a number of other committee members -- slammed the creation of the new climate panel, according to multiple sources in the room. Pallone argued that his committee and other existing panels within the House could take on the issue aggressively." Mrs. McC: The old guard are finding out that the new kids don't know their place. Too too bad.
"We Are Ruled by Monsters & Fools." Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "On Thursday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) delivered a speech to the conservative Federalist Society that would have been more at home on Alex Jones' radio show than at a gathering of many of the most powerful lawyers and judges in the country.... [Lee] claims 'the left' will start a civil war unless federal highway system abolished.... Lee warned of a brewing civil war, and claimed that the only way to avert violence would be to eradicate a long list of federal programs including 'the interstate highway system,' funding for 'K through 12 public education,' 'federal higher education accreditation,' 'early childhood education, the Department of Commerce,' 'housing policy, workforce regulation,' and what Lee labeled the 'huge glut of federally owned land.'"
Election 2018
California. Scott Wong of the Hill: "Democrat Katie Porter unseated incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Calif.), marking the first time Democrats have won the inland Orange County district since its creation in 1983. The Associated Press called the race on Thursday, nine days after Election Day. Porter's victory represented the fifth GOP seat that Democrats flipped in the 2018 midterms, an devastating blow to the new Republican leader, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Walters ... was one of a handful of vulnerable Republicans who voted for and defended both Trump's Obamacare repeal bill and his tax cuts law. Porter, a consumer-protection attorney, seized on Walters's unapologetic support of the Trump agenda, running ads that said her GOP opponent voted with the president 98 percent of the time."
Florida. What a Mess. Sean Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "The five-day sprint to run ballots in Florida through counting machines for a second time ended Thursday, with the state ordering a manual recount of results in the U.S. Senate race, where about 12,600 votes separated Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson from Republican Rick Scott, the state's governor. No such measure was ordered in the governor's race, where former congressman Ron DeSantis (R) held an edge over Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D). At least three counties did not submit new totals for the machine recount and are relying on counts from last week." Mrs. McC: The three counties -- Palm Beach, Broward & Hillsborough (Tampa) -- are all Democratic-leaning. ...
... SNAFU. Alex Harris of the Miami Herald: "With just 15 minutes to go before Thursday's deadline, Broward County finally finished recounting every vote. At least, that's what officials told reporters and the canvassing board at 2:45 p.m. In a surprise announcement at nearly 6 p.m., Broward's director of elections planning, Joseph D'Alessandro, told the canvassing board the county actually turned in results to the state two minutes late. They won't count officially. Broward's original count, due Nov. 10, will stand until the manual recount totals come in Sunday at noon. The manual recount will be added to the first official count." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: D'Alessandro's excuse? "... “my unfamiliarity with their [the state's] website." Okay, why should the director of elections planning know the least little thing about the state's website? Guess he forgot the "planning" part of his title. On the other hand, why should the state refuse a download that's two minutes late? Oh, Governor/Candidate Rick Scott.
... Emily Mahoney of the Miami Herald: "Nine days after Election Day, and one machine recount later, it is all but official: Ron DeSantis is Florida's next governor. The results of the statewide machine recount which rolled by the Thursday 3 p.m. deadline, solidified what most already knew, as DeSantis has already made himself busy with transitioning to power and creating a new government. In the governor's race, it was an anticlimactic finish to the dramatic machine recount -- plagued with technical issues and an avalanche of lawsuits -- with almost not change in the margin between DeSantis and his Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum, since this weekend. Still, about .41 percentage points separate the two candidates, or just under 34,000 votes."
Maine. Kevin Miller of the Portland Press Herald: "Democrat Jared Golden was declared the winner of Maine's 2nd Congressional District race on Thursday following a historic tabulation of ballots using ranked-choice voting. Golden, a Marine Corps veteran and state lawmaker from Lewiston, began the day roughly 2,000 votes behind incumbent Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin. But Golden surged past Poliquin by slightly less than 3,000 votes after the ranked-choice votes of two independents in the race were redistributed Thursday afternoon.... This is the first time in U.S. history that a congressional race was decided using ranked-choic voting, which allows voters to cast ballots for their favorite candidate but also rank other candidates in order of preference.... Poliquin is challenging the constitutionality of ranked-choice voting in federal court, and the campaign could ask for a recount of the results." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Several commentators have pointed out that New England's House delegation will now be totally GOP-free. Damned East Coast librul elites.
Natasha Korecki & Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "A day after he was arrested on domestic violence allegations, Stormy Daniels attorney and 2020 aspirant Michael Avenatti suggested on social media that pro-Trump activist Jacob Wohl was behind his legal ordeal. 'First Mueller and now me. When we are fully exonerated I am coming for you Jacob Wohl aka Surefire,' Avenatti tweeted. Avenatti did not further explain the tweet or respond to a request for comment. Wohl, a former hedge fund manager and right-wing blogger, is a central figure in a widely dismissed plot accusing special counsel Robert Mueller of sexual misconduct. At a recent Northern Virginia news conference where he made the claims against Mueller, Wohl acknowledged his connection to a firm called Surefire Intelligence. That private intelligence firm's Twitter account on Thursday tweeted a link to Avenatti's arrest then declared: 'Surefire Intelligence strikes again.'... After his arrest, Avenatti's ex-wife and his second wife, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, with whom he is in the midst of a divorce, released statements defending Avenatti, saying he had never demonstrated evidence of violence."
Dylan Scott of Vox: "After two years of Donald Trump and his anti-immigrant rhetoric, fewer immigrant families are using federal food stamps — even though no formal changes have been made to the program or its eligibility rules.... The implication ... is families who should still be eligible for those benefits -- and who still need them -- have voluntarily decided to leave the program for fear that they would be at risk if they applied through the official channels.... In other words, it appears Trump is making immigrant families too afraid to apply for federal assistance so they can afford food." --s ...
... AND in case you thought Trump's fake caravan scare had no real consequences for us true-blue bona fide U.S citizens:
... Words Matter. Allegra Kirkland & Josh Kovensky of TPM: "Federal prosecutors on Thursday requested that the avowed neo-Nazi [Jeffrey Raphiel Clark] who was friends on social media with the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter be held in a Washington, D.C. jail while he awaits trial on gun charges.... The new court documents ... contain transcripts of Clark's interview with an FBI agent following his arrest.... Jeffrey purportedly said that the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter 'did it because he's a white nationalist and he's mad at Jews.' 'He was upset with what ... what he sees as Jewish groups destroying America based on what he saw from that caravan, the migrant caravan that was going on, and he decided he wanted to retaliate,' the court filing cites Jeffrey as saying." [Emphasis mine] --s
Joe Romm of ThinkProgress: "The stunning price drops in wind and solar power have continued. No longer are U.S. solar and wind plants merely cheaper than coal plants -- they are also more affordable than new natural gas plants. And this is without subsidies or a price on carbon.... The bad news, however, is that while renewables are projected to capture two-thirds of the $10 trillion the world will invest in new generation through 2040, this will not be enough to avoid catastrophic warming." --s ...
... Jonathan Watts of the Guardian: "China, Russia and Canada’s current climate policies would drive the world above a catastrophic 5C of warming, according to a study that ranks the climate goals of different countries. The US and Australia are only slightly behind with both pushing the global temperature rise dangerously over 4C above pre-industrial levels says the paper, while even the EU, which is usually seen as a climate leader, is on course to more than double the 1.5C that scientists say is a moderately safe level of heating.... The aim of the paper is to inform climate negotiators as they begin a two-year process of ratcheting up climate commitments, which currently fall far short of the 1.5-to-2C goal set in France three years ago." --s
Beyond the Beltway
Thomas Fuller, et al., of the New York Times: "Within hours of the flames igniting in Northern California last week, an instant new homeless crisis was born. In a state already suffering an acute housing shortage, the fire that swept through the town of Paradise and neighboring hamlets has once again laid bare one of California's biggest vulnerabilities: With each disaster — wildfire, mudslide or earthquake — there are thousands of people who cannot find homes in a market that for years has had very little vacancy."
Connor Sheets of AL.com: "A former state trooper shot Greg Griggers, the district attorney for Alabama's 17th Judicial Circuit, in the face Thursday afternoon in Demopolis, according to Michael Jackson, district attorney for Alabama's 4th Judicial Circuit. After he shot Griggers, the former trooper was shot to death, reportedly by a law enforcement officer.... Jackson said the shooter has been identified as Steven Smith, Jr., a former state trooper who was previously questioned in connection with a 1996 incident in which someone used a shotgun to shoot up the home of Sumter County Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway, the first black judge to preside over Sumter, Marengo and Greene counties.... Griggers, who serves as district attorney of Greene, Marengo and Sumter counties, was transported to a hospital and is expected to survive, according to Jackson." --s
Way Beyond
Andrew Roth of the Guardian: "Russia’s repeated arrests of opposition leader Alexei Navalny are politically motivated, the European court of human rights (ECHR) has ruled, in a sharp rebuke of the Russian authorities that is sure to provoke anger in Moscow. In a ruling released on its website, the Strasbourg-based court ruled that seven arrests of the Russian corruption whistleblower dating from 2012 to 2014 were politically motivated under the terms of the European convention on human rights, to which Russia is a partner. The arrests were aimed at 'suppressing political pluralism', the ruling said. In a final, binding decision, the court's grand chamber ordered Russian authorities to pay €63,000 (£55,600) in compensation for moral harm, material damages and court costs." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Rebecca Ratcliffe of the Guardian: "Central African Republic risks sliding into full-scale war, an aid agency has warned, after the UN security council failed to agree terms for extending a peacekeeping mission in the country. Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said international efforts to solve the crisis were failing and civilians were routinely being targeted." --s
News Ledes
Los Angeles Times: "The death toll from the devastating Camp fire jumped to 63 on Thursday as search crews recovered seven more bodies in the burn area. The number of people unaccounted for jumped dramatically to 631 people, up from 130 on Wednesday evening. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters that crews found three bodies in Magalia, three in Paradise and one in Concow. One body in Paradise was found in a car that had been flipped on its side. The blaze has scorched 141,000 acres and destroyed 11,862 structures. It was 40% contained as of Wednesday evening."
New York Times: "William Goldman, who won Academy Awards for his screenplays for 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and 'All the President's Men' and who, despite being one of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters, was an outspoken critic of the movie industry, died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 87.... In his long career, which began in the 1960s and lasted into the 21st century, Mr. Goldman also wrote the screenplays for popular films like 'Misery,' 'A Bridge Too Far,' 'The Stepford Wives' and 'Chaplin.' He was a prolific novelist as well, and several of his screenplays were adapted from his own novels, notably 'The Princess Bride' and 'Marathon Man.'"
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