The Conversation -- February 27, 2024

Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "President Biden and congressional leaders appeared to agree Tuesday to press forward to prevent a government shutdown, but in a gathering that one lawmaker [-- Chuck Schumer --] called the most intense Oval Office meeting of his career, officials remained divided on U.S. support for Ukraine as Russia begins to make battlefield gains in its two-year-old invasion."

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against ... Donald J. Trump brought a key witness back to the stand on Tuesday afternoon, as the judge weighs whether Fani T. Willis, the prosecutor who brought the case, has a disqualifying conflict of interest. The witness is Terrence Bradley, the former divorce lawyer and law partner of Nathan Wade, whom Ms. Willis hired to manage the case. The decision by Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court to seek more testimony from Mr. Bradley was a victory for Mr. Trump and his 14 co-defendants, who are trying to remove Ms. Willis, Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis's entire office from the high-stakes prosecution.... But 90 minutes into Tuesday's hearing, the defense had not achieved its goal of getting Mr. Bradley to contradict the two prosecutors about when the relationship began."

Feeling Good about the Economy? Thank an Immigrant. Rachel Siegel, et al., of the Washington Post: "Immigration has propelled the U.S. job market further than just about anyone expected, helping cement the country's economic rebound from the pandemic as the most robust in the world. That momentum picked up aggressively over the past year. About 50 percent of the labor market's extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers between January 2023 and January 2024, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data. And even before that, by the middle of 2022, the foreign-born labor force had grown so fast that it closed the labor force gap created by the pandemic, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.... Economists and labor experts say the surge in employment was ultimately key to solving unprecedented gaps in the economy that threatened the country's ability to recover from prolonged shutdowns."

Jordan Holman of the New York Times: "Macy's said on Tuesday that it would vastly reshape its strategy and retail footprint, closing about 150 Macy's stores over the next three years while expanding its upscale Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury chains. The moves put the stamp of the company's new chief executive, Tony Spring, on an effort to improve the profitability of the largest department store operator in the United States and stave off a potential takeover bid. It is the second major downsizing of the Macy's chain since 2020 and will leave the company with 350 stores, slightly more than half the number it had before the pandemic. Macy's said the 'underproductive locations' it planned to close accounted for 25 percent of the company's overall square footage but just 10 percent of sales."

Blayne Alexander, et al., of NBC News: "The former divorce attorney for Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade is expected to resume testimony Tuesday afternoon at a hearing pertaining to the romantic relationship between Wade and District Attorney Fani Willis. Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the Georgia election interference case against ... Donald Trump and his co-defendants, determined that some of Wade's communications with his former lawyer Terrence Bradley would not be covered by attorney-client privilege, according to an email chain obtained by NBC News."

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: Late start today; I was posting links up till 9:00 am ET, so if you came by earlier, check again.

Erica Green & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "President Biden will convene the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday as lawmakers swiftly run out of time to strike a deal to avert another partial government shutdown. The president plans to discuss the urgency of legislation to keep federal funding going past midnight on Friday, as well as his requests for billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine and Israel, said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary. 'A basic, basic priority or duty of Congress is to keep the government open,' Ms. Jean-Pierre said."

Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "The Defense Department on Monday released a long-awaited review of senior officials' handling of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's recent hospitalizations, finding that there was 'no attempt to obfuscate' his cancer diagnosis and medical treatment, even though the Pentagon initially withheld it from the White House and public. An unclassified summary of the review did not identify any failures by Austin or his aides as they oversaw the transfer of top-level authority from Austin to his deputy several times while he was undergoing medical treatment in December and January. But the probe, which was conducted by a senior Pentagon official, said that Austin's staff was constrained by medical privacy laws and their own concern about their boss's privacy." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: "Long-awaited"? Really? Austin's illness came to public attention only last month. "Long-awaited" were the Mueller report (three years after the offending behavior) and the DOJ's prosecution of the other guy's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election (two-and-a-half years after the insurrection). Update: See also Akhilleus' commentary below: he notes that in the lede, Ryan writes that the "long-awaited" report is about "recent hospitalizations." Uh, how does that work?

Lauren Herstik & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Alexander Smirnov, the former F.B.I. informant charged with falsely claiming that President Biden and his son Hunter had accepted bribes, will be held in custody indefinitely because he poses a significant flight risk, a judge in California ruled on Monday.... Judge Otis D. Wright II of Federal District Court found fault with a decision by a federal magistrate in Las Vegas who last week released Mr. Smirnov, 43, a confidential informant since 2010, and dismissed the argument by prosecutors that he would try to escape to Russia. Prosecutors working for David C. Weiss, the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden, offered new details about the circumstances of Mr. Smirnov's rearrest last week in the office of his lawyer.... A prosecutor for Mr. Weiss, Leo Wise, explained that the sheer number of guns [officers found during a search of the condo where Smirnov lived] prompted Justice Department officials to make an arrest at [Smirnov's lawyer's] office, rather than Mr. Smirnov's home, which they believed would not be safe." CNN's report is here.

The Trials of Trump & the Trump Gang

There has never been a case in American history in which a former official has engaged in conduct remotely similar to Trump. -- Prosecutors' surreply to a Trump filing in the classified documents case ~~~

~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors on Monday rejected ... Donald J. Trump's claims that he was unfairly charged with holding on to classified documents after he left office, saying that his case bore no comparison to the one in which President Biden was cleared of wrongdoing.... In rebuffing what was known as a 'selective prosecution' claim by Mr. Trump, the prosecutors said that while many government officials over the years had taken classified materials with them after leaving office -- often inadvertently, but occasionally willfully -- Mr. Trump's case remained unique because of the extent to which he had 'resisted the government's lawful efforts to recover them.... In their 12-page filing, the prosecutors dismissed as a 'conspiracy theory' a separate claim that Mr. Trump has raised in his own defense -- that Mr. Biden had 'secretly directed' the classified documents case and used the special counsel who filed the indictment, Jack Smith, as a 'puppet' and a 'stalking horse.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Special counsel Jack Smith said Monday that President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents -- which earned him a scolding from special counsel Robert Hur -- is not 'remotely' similar to the 'deceitful criminal conduct' of Donald Trump.... In fact, Hur's report underscored why Trump is facing criminal charges and Biden is not, they noted." ~~~

     ~~~ The prosecutors' reply, via the courts, is here.

Zach Schonfeld & Ella Lee of the Hill: "Former President Trump's lawyers in his hush-money case on Monday demanded a New York judge block key witnesses from testifying in Trump's first criminal trial set to begin next month. Trump attorney Todd Blanche moved to block testimony from Michael Cohen, Trump's ex-fixer, and two women he paid to stay quiet about affairs they alleged with Trump: Porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.... The 47-page motion attacks the witnesses' credibility at length, casting Cohen as a 'liar' and suggesting Daniels would offer 'false' and 'salacious' testimony. Trump's lawyers also took aim at how prosecutors have described the hush money payments as a 'catch-and-kill' scheme to quash negative information about Trump in advance of the 2016 presidential election." ~~~

~~~ Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Manhattan prosecutors on Monday asked the judge overseeing the criminal case against Donald J. Trump to prohibit the former president from attacking witnesses or exposing jurors' identities. The requests, made in filings by the Manhattan district attorney's office, noted Mr. Trump's 'longstanding history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him.'... The gag order in the Manhattan case, if the judge approves it, would bar Mr. Trump from 'making or directing others to make' statements about witnesses concerning their role in the case. The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, also asked that Mr. Trump be barred from commenting on prosecutors on the case -- other than Mr. Bragg himself -- as well as court staff members.... In a separate filing..., prosecutors asked that Mr. Trump be barred from publicly revealing [the jurors' identities. And although Mr. Trump and his legal team are allowed to know the jurors' names, Mr. Bragg asked that their addresses be kept secret from the former president." Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Bragg's motions are here, via Politico. The Politico story describes the motions as a "30-page court filing," but in fact, with adenda -- which detail Trump's attacks on participants in court proceedings against him and the resulting threats made to these participants -- the entire filing is 331 pages.

     ~~~ Marie: Obviously, the D.A.'s asks are perfectly reasonable, but it remains stunning that ordinary citizens must be protected from a dangerous former POTUS*. He's a mobster & a monster. ~~~

~~~ Oh, And This. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade were slammed with harassing phone calls over the weekend after one of ... Donald Trump's attorneys put their contact information in a public court filing, according to a new report.... The attorney, Steven Sadow, says he made a mistake in sharing unredacted phone records with a reporter, and 'when I realized the error, I immediately contacted him and told him explicitly not to disclose them to anyone else and not to publish the cell phone numbers or any other protected information,' reports [Zachary] Cohen [of CNN in a tweet]. However, Cohen reports that 'cell phone records "with personal identifying information" still appeared on social media, per the DA's response' to the motion filed by Trump's team on Friday."

Michael Sisak of the AP: "Donald Trump has appealed his $454 million New York civil fraud judgment, challenging a judge's finding that he lied about his wealth as he grew the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency. The former president's lawyers filed notices of appeal Monday asking the state's mid-level appeals court to overturn Judge Arthur Engoron's Feb. 16 verdict in Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit and reverse staggering penalties that threaten to wipe out Trump's cash reserves.... [MB: Separately (I surmise),] Trump said Engoron's decision, the costliest consequence of his recent legal troubles, was 'election interference' and 'weaponization against a political opponent.' Trump complained he was being punished for 'having built a perfect company, great cash, great buildings, great everything.'" ~~~

~~~ Trolling Trump. Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "New York Attorney General Letitia James is publicly keeping tabs on the interest accumulating on the hundreds of millions of dollars that Donald Trump has been ordered to pay following the civil fraud trial that James' office brought against the former president and his Trump Organization in New York. James has been posting daily updates on X of the running total of Trump's liability in the case.

** Lying to Investigators? Check. Intent? Oh Yeah. Em Steck, et al., of CNN: "Kenneth Chesebro, the right-wing attorney who helped devise the Trump campaign's fake electors plot in 2020, concealed a secret Twitter account from Michigan prosecutors, hiding dozens of damning posts that undercut his statements to investigators about his role in the election subversion scheme, a CNN KFile investigation has found. Chesebro denied using Twitter ... or having any 'alternate IDs' when directly asked by Michigan investigators last year during his cooperation session, according to recordings of his interview obtained by CNN. But CNN linked Chesebro to the secret account [BadgetPundit] based on numerous matching details.... The Twitter posts reveal that even before the 2020 election, and then just two days after polls closed, Chesebro promoted a far more aggressive election subversion strategy than he later let on in his Michigan interview.... Chesebro has not been charged with any crimes in Michigan and sat for an hourslong interview with the state attorney general's office in early December. In his retelling to Michigan prosecutors, Chesebro has cast himself as a moderate middleman who was duped by Trump's more radical lawyers.

"Asked about the secret tweets..., a spokesman for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, said in a statement to CNN, 'Our team is interested in the material and will be looking into this matter.'... Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University, who reviewed the posts for CNN, [said,] 'The Twitter posts strongly suggest Chesebro committed the crime of making false statements to investigators ... his entire cooperation agreement may now fall apart.'"

     ~~~ Marie: Do you suppose Kenny Boy also lied to Georgia prosecutors who gave him that sweet plea deal?

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "An attempt by D.C. bar authorities to force former Justice Department attorney Jeff Clark to fork over documents -- part of an effort to potentially disbar the ... Donald Trump ally -- would violate his Fifth Amendment rights, a D.C. appeals court panel ruled Monday. In a brief order, the three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals agreed that the investigators' effort to subpoena documents from Clark 'infringes on Mr. Clark's Fifth Amendment right not to be compelled to be a witness against himself.'"

Jonathan Allen & Zoe Richards of NBC News: "Authorities in Palm Beach County, Florida, responded to Donald Trump Jr.'s home Monday after he was sent an envelope containing a death threat and white powder.... The spokesperson [for the County Fire Rescue squad] said that test results to identify the white substance were inconclusive but that officials on the scene did not believe it was deadly.... 'It's just become a little bit too commonplace that this sort of stuff happens,' he told the [Daily Caller]. 'It doesn't matter what your politics are, this type of crap is unacceptable.'" MB: You might want to tell that to Dad, Donnie. See NYT story linked above, in which Jonah Bromwich reports, "In an affidavit released Monday, the head of his security detail listed some of the worst of the dozens of attacks directed at [Manhattan D.A. Alvin] Bragg last year, including racial slurs and death threats," as a result of Daddy's repeated spoken & written unhinged rants against Bragg.

Presidential Race

He's about as old as I am, but he can't remember his wife's name. -- President Biden, on Donald Trump ~~~

~~~ Trump Is Old. Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden has come up with a new defense against claims that he is too old to run for another term: At least he knows who his wife is.... As he expands his efforts to reassure voters that he is fit for another four years, Mr. Biden took a turn on the talk show circuit, using an appearance on 'Late Night With Seth Meyers' on NBC to poke his challenger, former President Donald J. Trump, on his own struggles with memory.... [When Trump appeared to refer to his wife as 'Mercedes' during a speech over the weekend, he] was addressing Mercedes Schlapp, a former White House adviser whose husband, Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, hosts the conference, according to the former president's spokesman, Steven Cheung." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Nice save, Steve-o. But I still suspect Trump confused Melanie with Mercedes. They're both attractive women with longish brown hair, and Mercedes is as cruel & irresponsible as Melanie I-Really-Don't-Care-Do-U Trump. According to Schlapp's Wiki page, "In May 2018, Schlapp defended White House aide Kelly Sadler after she joked that John McCain's opposition to CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel was irrelevant because 'he's dying anyway'." ~~~

     ~~~ More here, with Amy Poehler, too!

** It's primary election day in Michigan today for both Democrats & Republicans. On the GOP side, Trumpbots like those featured below will be voting. Thanks to RAS for the lead: ~~~

~~~ IOKIYAR, Trumpity Doo-Dah Edition:

~~~ Michigan. Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "In the run-up to Michigan's presidential primary on Tuesday, President Biden has stayed out of the state, where he is facing a campaign from liberal activists frustrated with his enduring support for Israel in the war in Gaza.... Representative Ro Khanna of California last week assumed the unofficial role as mediator between Democrats disaffected by Mr. Biden's Middle East policies and Biden allies like himself. He met with students, Arab American leaders and progressive voters, many of whom said they were, at least for now, withholding their support from Mr. Biden. He was blunt about his takeaway. 'We cannot win Michigan with status quo policy,' Mr. Khanna, who has pushed for a cease-fire, said in an interview, adding that a shift should come in 'a matter of weeks, not months.'" More on President Biden's Israel/Palestine policy linked below. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IMO, if the Biden administration can deliver on a significant cease-fire, critics like Rashida Tlaib (here) & Beto O'Rourke (here) will end up looking like the foolish, counterproductive naifs they are. It's about carrots & sticks, kids. While I appreciate (and to an extent share) the underlying impetus of objections to Biden's Israel/Palestine policy, helping Donald Trump win the presidential election will hurt Palestinians a lot more than anything Joe Biden will ever do. Remember the Abraham Accords?

Michigan. Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post tries to explain why "Michigan will hold a Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, but that contest won't award all the state's delegates -- the GOP also will hold a state convention days later to award the rest." It's not entirely clear that a voter can participate in both contests -- well, all three contests, because the Michigan GOP is so messed up that rival party chairmen are holding dueling conventions unless a court decides this week who the "real leader" is. MB: Whatever happens, apparently Trump will win all or most of the state's delegates. As Mercedes/Melanie might say, "I really don't care, do U?"

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: Rona Romney McDaniel's tenure as chair of the Republican National Committee has been "marked by one electoral failure after another: the 2018 midterms that returned the House to Democratic control and ended the GOP's one-party rule in Washington; Trump's defeat in 2020 that was coupled with the Democrats taking back the Senate; the expected 'red wave' that failed to materialize in 2022, giving the GOP only the thinnest and most ungovernable of majorities in the House.... Last year saw the RNC's lowest annual fundraising total in a decade.... Meanwhile, many Republican state parties ... have disintegrated into a dysfunctional MAGA-fueled mess.... It is unfair to put the blame for the RNC's deterioration since then at McDaniel's feet.... For instance, it wasn't McDaniel but Trump who squandered the GOP's chances of taking back the Senate in 2022 by endorsing fringe candidates across the map. The real problem is that the Republican Party is no longer recognizable ... as a political party at all. It is being turned into a subsidiary of the Trump Organization."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court seemed skeptical on Monday of laws in Florida and Texas that bar major social media companies from making editorial judgments about which messages to allow. The laws were enacted in an effort to shield conservative voices on the sites, but a decision by the court, expected by June, will almost certainly be its most important statement on the scope of the First Amendment in the internet era, with broad political and economic implications. A ruling that tech platforms have no editorial discretion to decide which posts to allow would expose users to a greater variety of viewpoints but almost certainly amplify the ugliest aspects of the digital age, including hate speech and disinformation. Though a ruling in favor of big platforms like Facebook and YouTube appeared likely, the court also seemed poised to return the cases to the lower courts to answer questions about how the laws apply to sites that do not seem to moderate their users' speech in the same way, like Gmail, Venmo, Uber and Etsy.” ScotusBlog's analysis, by Amy Howe, is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alabama. Moira Donegan of the Guardian: "... the concept of embryonic personhood, now inscribed in Alabama law, poses dangers well beyond the cruelty it has imposed on the hopeful couples who were pursuing IVF in Alabama, before their state supreme court made that impossible. If embryos and fetuses are people, as Alabama now says they are, then whole swaths of women's daily lives come under the purview of state scrutiny.... Embryonic personhood would also ban many kinds of birth control, such as Plan B, IUDs, and some hormonal birth control pills, which courts have said can be interpreted as working by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg. (In fact these methods work primarily by preventing ovulation, but facts are of dwindling relevance in the kind of anti-abortion litigation that comes before Republican-controlled courts.)... Even before the Alabama court began enforcing the vulgar fiction that a frozen embryo is a person, authorities there had long used the notion of fetal personhood to harass, intimidate and jail women -- often those suspected of using drugs during pregnancies -- under the state's 'chemical endangerment of a child' law...."

Florida. Never Mind. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "Republican legislators in Florida hit the pause button on a bill that would have given any 'unborn child' new protections after opponents raised concerns it would impact women's reproductive rights in ways similar to the Alabama IVF ruling. The bill had passed easily through most committees in the Republican-led legislature until Democrats began raising concerns last week that the proposal was so broad that it might also impact in vitro fertilization treatments. The legislation sought to define a fetus as an 'unborn child' shielded by civil negligence laws.... Opponents called it an effort to establish 'fetal personhood' that would put abortion providers and people who help women obtain an abortion at risk of being sued.... [Florida GOP] lawmakers pulled a Senate Rules Committee hearing for a companion bill off the calendar on Monday. The committee is not scheduled to meet again this session, which ends March 8, making it unlikely that the bill will advance."

Missouri, et al. Incubator Chattel. Elura Nanos of Law & Crime: "A Missouri lawmaker [State Rep. Ashley Aune (D)] says it is time to end an archaic law that forces pregnant women to stay in potentially dangerous marriages. HB 2402 amends the state's existing divorce law to remove the requirement that a pregnant woman wait until she gives birth in order to get divorced and to specifically state that 'pregnancy status shall not prevent the court from entering a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation.' In Missouri, as in Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas, the current law requires that a pregnant woman has given birth before any child custody or child support order is finalized."

New York. Patrick Svitek of the Washington Post: "Lawmakers in the Democratic-led New York state legislature Monday rejected a new congressional map proposed by an independent redistricting commission, the latest political twist in a state that could play a large role in determining which party wins control of the House. The New York Senate voted down the map proposal Monday afternoon, followed by the lower chamber. The rejection of the map is likely to spark a legal challenge ahead of the state's June 25 primary.... A spokesman for [U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries [D-N.Y.] said on Feb. 16 that state lawmakers needed to 'meticulously' scrutinize the proposal, particularly whether it protected 'historically under-represented communities.'... The New York congressional map has been under scrutiny since 2022, when Democrats drew one that was heavily favorable to themselves and the state's highest court struck it down as unconstitutional." CNN's report is here.

New York. Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times: "The 93-year-old widow of a Wall Street financier has donated $1 billion to a Bronx medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with instructions that the gift be used to cover tuition for all students going forward. The donor, Ruth Gottesman, is a former professor at Einstein, where she studied learning disabilities, developed a screening test and ran literacy programs. It is one of the largest charitable donations to an educational institution in the United States and most likely the largest to a medical school. The fortune came from her late husband, David Gottesman, known as Sandy, who was a protégé of Warren Buffett and had made an early investment in Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate Mr. Buffett built. The donation is notable not only for its staggering size, but also because it is going to a medical institution in the Bronx, the city's poorest borough. The Bronx has a high rate of premature deaths and ranks as the unhealthiest county in New York."

~~~~~~~~~~

Hungary/Sweden/NATO. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Hungary's Parliament voted on Monday to approve Sweden as a new member of NATO, allowing the Nordic country to clear a final hurdle that had blocked its membership and held up efforts by the military alliance to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine. The measure passed after a vote of 188 for and only 6 against in the 199-member Parliament, which is dominated by legislators from the governing Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. On Friday, after his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, made a visit to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, Mr. Orban declared the end of a monthslong spat with Sweden over its membership of NATO."

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.

Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Monday that he believed negotiators were nearing an agreement that would halt Israel's military operations in Gaza within a week in exchange for the release of at least some of the more than 100 hostages being held by Hamas. Speaking with reporters during a stop in New York, Mr. Biden offered the most hopeful assessment of the hostage talks by any major figure in many days, suggesting that the war might be close to a major turning point. 'I hope by the end of the weekend,' he said when asked by reporters when he expected a cease-fire to begin. 'My national security adviser tells me that we're close. We're close. We're not done yet. My hope is by next Monday, we'll have a cease-fire.'" The AP's story is here.

Jon Stewart proposes some solutions, but the first two seem a bit sketchy:

The Conversation -- February 26, 2024

Lauren Herstik & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Alexander Smirnov, the former F.B.I. informant charged with falsely claiming that President Biden and his son Hunter had accepted bribes, will be held in custody indefinitely because he poses a significant flight risk, a judge in California ruled on Monday.... Judge Otis D. Wright II of Federal District Court found fault with a decision by a federal magistrate in Las Vegas who last week released Mr. Smirnov, 43, a confidential informant since 2010, and dismissed the argument by prosecutors that he would try to escape to Russia. Prosecutors working for David C. Weiss, the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden, offered new details about the circumstances of Mr. Smirnov's rearrest last week in the office of his lawyer.... A prosecutor for Mr. Weiss, Leo Wise, explained that the sheer number of guns [officers found during a search of the condo where Smirnov lived] prompted Justice Department officials to make an arrest at [Smirnov's lawyer's] office, rather than Mr. Smirnov's home, which they believed would not be safe."

Here's video of a Jimmy Kimmel segment RAS linked earlier today. The voters interviewed take IOKIYAR to a whole new level:

Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Manhattan prosecutors on Monday asked the judge overseeing the criminal case against Donald J. Trump to prohibit the former president from attacking witnesses or exposing jurors' identities. The requests, made in filings by the Manhattan district attorney's office, noted Mr. Trump's 'longstanding history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him.'... The gag order in the Manhattan case, if the judge approves it, would bar Mr. Trump from 'making or directing others to make' statements about witnesses concerning their role in the case. The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, also asked that Mr. Trump be barred from commenting on prosecutors on the case -- other than Mr. Bragg himself -- as well as court staff members.... In a separate filing..., prosecutors asked that Mr. Trump be barred from publicly revealing [the jurors' identities. And although Mr. Trump and his legal team are allowed to know the jurors' names, Mr. Bragg asked that their addresses be kept secret from the former president." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Obviously, the D.A.'s asks are perfectly reasonable, but it remains stunning that ordinary citizens must be protected from a dangerous former POTUS*. He's a mobster & a monster.

Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Hungary's Parliament voted on Monday to approve Sweden as a new member of NATO, allowing the Nordic country to clear a final hurdle that had blocked its membership and held up efforts by the military alliance to isolate Russia over its war in Ukraine. The measure passed after a vote of 188 for and only 6 against in the 199-member Parliament, which is dominated by legislators from the governing Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. On Friday, after his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, made a visit to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, Mr. Orban declared the end of a monthslong spat with Sweden over its membership of NATO."

~~~~~~~~~~

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Congressional leaders have failed to reach a deal on legislation to keep federal funding going past Friday, with Republicans insisting on adding right-wing policy dictates to the spending bills, pushing the government to the brink of a partial shutdown within days. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on Sunday that despite 'intense discussions' that were continuing among top lawmakers to break the impasse, Republican recalcitrance was raising the prospect of a 'disruptive shutdown' at midnight on Friday.... With no sign of a breakthrough, President Biden summoned congressional leaders to the White House on Tuesday to discuss the spending legislation, as well as the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel that the Senate passed earlier this month, which Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to take up." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is the one must-do job that the Constitution demands of the Congress, yet Republicans refuse to do it. This is dereliction of duty on the highest. However, these same jamokes are amenable to making sure women (and their partners) have to pay a huge price for enjoying "recreational sex." ~~~

~~~ ** Majority of House Republicans Support Total U.S. Abortion Ban. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Prominent congressional Republicans are coming out in support of in vitro fertilization days after the Alabama state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and therefore that someone can be held liable for destroying them. But many of the same Republicans who are saying Americans should have access to IVF have co-sponsored legislation that employs an argument similar to the one the Alabama Supreme Court used in its ruling. The congressional proposal, known as the Life at Conception Act, defines a 'human being' to 'include each member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization or cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.' The bill would also provide equal protection under the 14th Amendment 'for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.'

"The measure has no provisions for processes like IVF, meaning access to the procedure would not be protected. It would ban nearly all abortions nationwide. The legislation is co-sponsored by 125 Republicans in the House, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who, in the wake of the Alabama ruling, said in a statement ... that he supports efforts to allow IVF treatments because he believes 'the life of every single child has inestimable dignity and value.'" Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Sabrina Malhi of the Washington Post: "A cancer diagnosis often comes with a host of difficult decisions, including what to do about the impact of treatment on a person's fertility. Many individuals grappling with this dual burden turn to in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a way to preserve their reproductive options. That's why cancer patients and oncologists are expressing shock and anxiety about the recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are considered children under the law.... Cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, can have a significant impact on fertility in both men and women. Chemotherapy drugs are designed to kill rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells, but they can also harm healthy cells in the body, including those involved in reproductive functions [of both women and men].... Many physicians today say that egg and embryo freezing can be used as safety nets for people with cancer in case they decide to have a family in the future." ~~~

~~~ Sam Levine of the Guardian: "California's governor, Gavin Newsom, is launching a series of new advertisements in Republican states targeting Republican efforts to criminalize having an abortion and 'a war on travel' for reproductive care. The first advertisement by Campaign for Democracy, Newsom’s political action committee (Pac), will air this week in Tennessee, where lawmakers are considering legislation that would make it illegal for anyone who helps a minor obtain an abortion without permission from their parents. Anyone found guilty of the offense could face between three and 15 years in prison.... The Pac plans to air them in other states like Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma that are considering similar measures." ~~~

Tools or Traitors? Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Are Republicans easy marks or willing participants in Russian anti-Biden operations? That's a troubling question raised by the Feb. 14 grand jury indictment of a former FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, on charges of concocting a tale about President Biden's supposed involvement in his family members' business dealings.... [House Republicans] championed him as their star witness [against Biden].... They're vowing to plow ahead on this cock-and-bull mission that never got off the ground. Not only did multiple witnesses testify that Biden had no involvement with his son's business dealings, but previous allegations that Biden acted on his son's behalf had also already been thoroughly repudiated.... 'DOJ must investigate whether and when Grassley, Comer or Jordan knew that Smirnov was spreading Russian disinformation,' Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) warned." ~~~

~~~ Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "Former CIA Director John Brennan pounced on the House GOP leadership for using a now-indicted Russian purveyor of lies about President Joe Biden to be their central witness in their bid to impeach the president. During an appearance on MSNBC's 'The Weekend,' Brennan said it doesn't matter if they knew they were being played or not by their informant Alexander Smirnov who is now in custody for lying to the FBI.... 'I think it's unclear whether they knew or not, quite frankly.... Based on what I've seen, they really don't care if these things are true or not. They will just try to use them to advance their efforts to undermine the integrity of President Biden, as well as to advance their impeachment process.... So, therefore, they seized upon something that was clearly on un-evaluated information, it was raw, it was obtained by the FBI. Director Christopher Wray initially tried to resist them being provided to the Hill, but then the pressure increased and it was eventually shared with them.'"

David Edwards of the Raw Story: "U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan declined a request to grant a stay after a jury ordered Donald Trump to pay writer E. Jean Carroll over $83 million for defamation. 'Twenty-five days after the jury verdict in this case, and only shortly before the expiration of Rule 62's automatic stay of enforcement of the judgment,' Kaplan noted. 'Mr. Trump has moved for an "administrative stay" of enforcement pending the filing and disposition of any post-trial motions he may file. He seeks that relief without posting any security.... The Court declines to grant any stay, much less an unsecured stay, without first having afforded plaintiff a meaningful opportunity to be heard,' the judge wrote in his one-page order. Kaplan said Carroll must file a motion by Thursday. Trump will also have a chance to respond." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan O'Connell, et al., of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump, who built his business and political identities around boasts of financial savvy, now faces an immediate cash crunch of more than a half-billion dollars -- the combined cost of two legal battles that will now test the limits of his personal wealth. According to state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's final judgment, entered Friday, Trump now owes New York at least $454 million -- the $355 million penalty plus interest, which is now accruing at a rate of $112,000 per day. Separately, he faces an $83.3 million judgment in a federal defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll.... To keep both judgments from being enforced while he appeals, he must put up the entire amount in either cash or bonds, according to legal experts.... Most of Trump's wealth is tied up in real estate, and it's not clear whether he has enough cash on hand to cover what he now owes." The article goes on to outline some of the obstacles Trump faces in putting up the cash or bonds to cover the judgments.

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "... Donald Trump's lawyers see a major opportunity this week to use his criminal document mishandling case in Florida to create an impasse on his calendar for the two federal judges overseeing his major criminal cases.... The ultimate goal, his team has said openly, is to prevent Trump from being tried in federal court before voters cast their ballots in the 2024 general election. A primary aim for Trump's legal team, according to people familiar with the strategy, is to put the judge in DC overseeing the 2020 federal election obstruction case, Tanya Chutkan, in a position where she can't start a trial before Election Day. 'Meaning, ice her,' said a person familiar with Trump's trial schedule strategy. 'Making it impossible for her to jam a trial down before the election, by things that are out of her control.'... A gradually shifting calendar could ... [shield] Trump from other trials through the summer, multiple sources familiar with the former president's legal strategy told CNN."

Presidential Race

Michigan. Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Two days before the Michigan Democratic primary, speakers at a rally on Sunday in Dearborn, Mich., urged voters to withhold their support from President Biden over his policy on the war in Gaza -- and said that only Mr. Biden and Democrats who support his Israel policies would be to blame if the protest vote helped ... Donald J. Trump win in November. 'You all know Trump is an existential threat to our democracy,' said one of the speakers, Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, 'and President Biden is risking another Trump term over his support for the most right-wing government, most extremist government in the history of Israel.'" ~~~

~~~ Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Arab Americans, irate over [President] Biden's support for Israel, are pushing Democrats to select 'uncommitted' on the state's primary ballot on Tuesday. Several recent general election polls show Mr. Biden running behind ... Donald J. Trump in Michigan, while another shows Mr. Biden leading. Prominent Democrats in Detroit and Lansing say they are worried not just about losing Arab Americans, but also about Black men and union workers and young people. That leaves [Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer, one of eight national co-chairs of Mr. Biden's campaign, who is seen by many Democrats as a future contender for the presidency, facing perhaps the biggest electoral test of her career even though her name is not on the ballot. Ms. Whitmer is particularly strong with moderate voters and suburbanites, and has forged deep ties with Black leaders in Detroit. But it remains to be seen whether she can help much with those most frustrated with Mr. Biden, including voters further to the left and Arab Americans." MB: The Michigan primary is Tuesday.

Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News: "Steve Kramer, a veteran political consultant working for a rival candidate, acknowledged Sunday that he commissioned the robocall that impersonated President Joe Biden using artificial intelligence, confirming an NBC News report that he was behind the call. In a statement and interview with NBC News, Kramer expressed no remorse for creating the deepfake, in which an imitation of the president's voice discouraged participation in New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary. The call launched several law enforcement investigations and provoked outcry from election officials and watchdogs.... Kramer said he has received a subpoena from the Federal Communications Commission, suspected he might get sued by a half dozen people and said he could even face jail time.... Kramer said ... it had nothing to do with his client, Biden's long-shot primary challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn. Phillips had paid Kramer over $250,000 around the time the robocall went out in January, according to his campaign finance reports. Phillips and his campaign have denounced the robocall, saying they had no knowledge of Kramer's involvement and would have immediately terminated him if they had known."

Shane Goldmacher & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The political network created by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers announced on Sunday that it was suspending its support for Nikki Haley in the presidential primary after her latest defeat in South Carolina. The group, Americans for Prosperity Action, had spent tens of millions of dollars trying to elevate Ms. Haley and prevent the renomination of Donald J. Trump, but it had already slowed its spending in the G.O.P. race dramatically after Ms. Haley fell short in the New Hampshire primary last month. The organization made its decision official on Sunday." Politico's story is here.

Lost Causes 2024. Tom Sullivan in Hullabaloo: "Nikki Haley hopes to be lying around when the GOP finds its nominee convicted and facing jail. It is her only path forward.... What strikes me is the parallel magical thinking on the Democratic side. Digby wrote last week (agreeing with Josh Marshall), 'The brouhaha over Ezra Klein's article agitating for [President] Biden to drop out at this late date has been overwhelming and it's not helpful. The idea of choosing a new candidate at the conventions is downright fanciful. Not gonna happen.' But on this point, Haley and her supporters are thinking along the same lines as Klein and his. Klein's article promotes yet another Lost Cause." ~~~

~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times explains why Ezra Klein's bright idea of dumping President Biden at the Democratic National Convention would be a big mistake: "... an attempt to hold an open, brokered convention would immediately run into the basic issue that no candidate would be able to claim any kind of democratic legitimacy, especially if the delegates were free agents unaccountable to the public. The nominee who would come out of this process would have little basis, given the norms since 1968, to say that he or she was any better or more viable than any other candidate. The odds of alienating large parts of the Democratic Party coalition would be just as large as the odds of finding an able and competent nominee.... It would be difficult for the Democratic Party to win the November election with an unpopular incumbent at the top of the ticket. It would be even more difficult to do so with a divisive nominee -- who had neither earned the votes of Democratic voters nor weathered the vetting process of a primary campaign -- and a fractured coalition." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The only way, IMO, that a brokered convention would work for either party is if the nominee voters chose in primaries & caucuses around the country (1) dropped out of the race & supported the process of nominating a candidate at the convention or (2) was completely incapacitated or (3) dead.

Former Intel Officials Sound the Alarm. Erin Banco & John Sakellariadis of Politico: "Former top officials from Donald Trump's administration are warning he is likely to use a second term to overhaul the nation's spy agencies in a way that could lead to an unprecedented level of politicization of intelligence. Trump, who already tried to revamp intelligence agencies during his first term, is likely to re-up those plans -- and push even harder to replace people perceived as hostile to his political agenda with inexperienced loyalists, according to interviews with more than a dozen people who worked in his administration.... An overhaul of the type Trump is expected to attempt could undermine the credibility of American intelligence at a time when the U.S. and allies are relying on it to navigate crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. It could also effectively strip the intelligence community of the ability to dissuade the president from decisions that could put the country at risk."

Kaitlan Collins & Avery Lotz of CNN: "Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel will officially step down from her position on March 8, days after Super Tuesday."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The most important First Amendment cases of the internet era, to be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, may turn on a single question: Do platforms like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X most closely resemble newspapers or shopping centers or phone companies? The two cases arrive at the court garbed in politics, as they concern laws in Florida and Texas aimed at protecting conservative speech by forbidding leading social media sites from removing posts based on the views they express. But the outsize question the cases present transcends ideology. It is whether tech platforms have free speech rights to make editorial judgments." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes, but what did the Founders say about Facebook? Since the Federalist Papers were first published in New York newspapers, and not on Facebook or Twitter, won't the Supreme originalists have to conclude that social media are not protected by the First Amendment? But as Liptak reports, "'It is not at all obvious how our existing precedents, which predate the age of the internet, should apply to large social media companies,' Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote in a 2022 dissent when one of the cases briefly reached the Supreme Court." Oh, Sam, Sam, what a quandary!

Denise Chow & Evan Bush of NBC News: "Climate change is throwing the water cycle into chaos across the U.S. The water cycle that shuttles Earth's most vital resource around in an unending, life-giving loop is in trouble. Climate change has disrupted that cycle's delicate balance, upsetting how water circulates between the ground, oceans and atmosphere. The events of 2023 show how significant these disruptions have become. From extreme precipitation and flooding to drought and contaminated water supplies, almost every part of the U.S. faced some consequence of climate change and the shifting availability of water." See also Mexico City water crisis; story linked below.

~~~~~~~~~~

Florida Man! Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: A St. Ausgustine, Florida podcaster, Pete Melfi, has launched a Florida Man Games competition "with a series of zany events: A mullet contest. A 'mud duel' with pool noodles. An 'evading arrest' obstacle course, with real sheriff's deputies pursuing the contestants.... If ... the rest of the world is going to make Florida the punchline, then those who call it home might as well be in on the joke.... The phrase has entered the political lexicon, transforming from a generic term for a nonpublic person -- Florida Man as John Doe -- to a stand-in for ... Donald J. Trump.... The first-ever Florida Man Games were held at the fairgrounds of a historic district [in St. Augustine -- the oldest continuously settled city in the nation --], with tickets going for $55 a pop on Saturday. Sponsored by a Florida apparel company and others..., the competition awarded $5,000 to one winning team, based on its performance in events throughout the day."

Texas Man. Amanda Holpuch of the New York Times: "A Texas man pleaded guilty to insider trading after he was accused of making $1.7 million in illegal profits by purchasing and selling stocks based on his wife's work conversations, which he had overheard while she was working remotely at home, federal prosecutors said on Thursday. The man, Tyler Loudon, of Houston, bought 46,450 shares of stock in the truck stop and travel center company TravelCenters of America after he heard his wife discuss her employer's proposed acquisition of it, according to a complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Loudon's wife, who is not named in court documents, was a mergers and acquisitions manager at BP, a British oil and gas company, the complaint said."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israeli media reported that an Israeli delegation is expected to head to Qatar to move forward discussions over a potential cease-fire and hostage deal, following negotiations in Paris last week.... Officials involved in ongoing negotiations agreed to the 'basic contours of a deal,' White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday. He added that the United States hoped to firm up a final agreement 'in the coming days.'... On CBS's 'Face the Nation,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wants a deal to free the hostages held in Gaza, and he said he hopes Hamas will abandon what he called 'crazy demands.'... 'Very little' aid has entered the Gaza Strip in February, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said, noting a 50 percent reduction in delivered supplies compared with January."

Thomas Fuller & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces would push into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah regardless of the outcome of talks to pause the fighting that appear to have been making some progress in recent days.... Mr. Netanyahu did say that if a cease-fire deal was reached, the move into Rafah, which during 20 weeks of war has served as a last refuge for hundreds of thousands of Gazan families forced from their homes, would be 'delayed somewhat.'"

Ali Sawafta of Reuters: "Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday he was resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements following Israel's war against the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. The move comes amid growing U.S. pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas to shake up the Palestinian Authority as international efforts have intensified to stop the fighting in Gaza and begin work on a political structure to govern the enclave after the war."

Mexico. Laura Paddison, et al., of CNN: "Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 22 million people and one of the world's biggest cities, is facing a severe water crisis as a tangle of problems -- including geography, chaotic urban development and leaky infrastructure -- are compounded by the impacts of climate change. Years of abnormally low rainfall, longer dry periods and high temperatures have added stress to a water system already straining to cope with increased demand. Authorities have been forced to introduce significant restrictions on the water pumped from reservoirs.... Some experts say the situation has now reached such critical levels that Mexico City could be barreling towards 'day zero' in a matter of months -- where the taps run dry for huge swaths of the city." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Russia. Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Negotiations were underway on a prisoner exchange that would have involved swapping Alexei Navalny and two Americans for a Russian agent imprisoned in Germany, when the Russian opposition leader died in prison, one of his associates said Monday. Maria Pevchikh, who chairs Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said in a video address on YouTube that negotiations were in their final stages on Feb. 15 just before his death in the 'Polar Wolf' prison colony in the Yamalo-Nenets region of northern Russia. She alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin, having gained Germany's agreement to include Vadim Krasikov in a prisoner swap, then decided to 'get rid of the bargaining chip,' by having Navalny killed, so that the agent imprisoned for murder could be exchanged for someone else." The Guardian's story is here.

Ukraine, et al.

Carlotta Gall & Constant Méheut of the New York Times: "Some 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began two years ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, acknowledging for the first time in the war a concrete figure for Ukraine's toll.... But he declined to disclose the number of wounded or missing, saying that Russia could use the information to gauge the number of Ukraine's active forces."

Ivana Kottasová & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Former US President Donald Trump will be 'against Americans' if he chooses to support Russia over Ukraine, the war-torn country's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday. Speaking to CNN's Kaitlan Collins in Kyiv, Zelensky said he 'can't understand how Donald Trump can be on the side of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.' 'It's unbelievable,' he added."

Stephanie Halasz & Ivana Kottasová of CNN: "'Millions' could die in Ukraine's war with Russia if US lawmakers don't approve President Joe Biden's $60 billion aid request for Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN on Sunday. Asked by CNN's Kaitlan Collins about a claim made by the US Senator J.D. Vance that the outcome of the war would not change even if Ukraine receives the money, Zelensky said he wasn't sure Vance 'understands what is going on here.'"

The Conversation -- February 25, 2024

Presidential Race

Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump easily defeated Nikki Haley in South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday, delivering a crushing blow in her home state and casting grave doubt on her continued viability. Mr. Trump's victory, called by The Associated Press right as polls closed at 7 p.m., was widely expected, and offers fresh fodder for his contention that the race is effectively over.... In her election-night speech in Charleston, S.C., Ms. Haley congratulated Mr. Trump on his victory. But she said the results -- he was beating her by 60 percent to 39 percent as of late Saturday -- demonstrated that 'huge numbers of voters' were 'saying they want an alternative.'" This is the pinned item in a liveblog. The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: With 5% of the vote counted, Trump is ahead 54.8% to 44.5% for Haley, but the projected split, according to the NYT, is 61% for Trump, 38% for Haley. Update: With more than 95% of the vote counted, the split is 59.8%-39.5% Trump-Haley. ~~~

~~~ See also Akhilleus' commentary below on the press's coverage of the outcome.

Adriana Licon & Jill Colvin of the AP: "... Donald Trump cast November's presidential election as 'judgment day' and declared himself a 'proud political dissident' during a speech before conservative activists outside of Washington Saturday as he again cloaked his campaign in religious imagery. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference ahead of his win in the South Carolina Republican primary, Trump painted an apocalyptic vision of the future if President Joe Biden wins a second term as the two prepare for an expected rematch election.... He cast himself as a savior standing between his supporters and near-anarchy as he spoke of 'hoards of illegal aliens stampeding across our borders,' warned the country's social safety net and education system would 'buckle and collapse,' and claimed that, 'the gangs will be invading your territory.... These are the stakes of this election: Our country is being destroyed and the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me,' he declared, casting Biden's leadership as 'an express train barreling toward servitude and to ruin.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Gustaf Kilander & Katie Hawkinson of the Independent: "Donald Trump compared migrants to Hannibal Lecter as he claimed that they are coming from 'insane asylums' during his almost 90-minute meandering and ominous speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland." This is an item in a liveblog.

Heil Trump! Ben Goggin of NBC News: "Nazis appeared to find a friendly reception at the Conservative Political Action Conference this year. Throughout the conference, racist extremists, some of whom had secured official CPAC badges, openly mingled with conference attendees and espoused antisemitic conspiracy theories.... In previous years, conference organizers have ejected well-known Nazis and white supremacists such as Nick Fuentes. But this year, racist conspiracy theorists didn't meet any perceptible resistance at the conference where Donald Trump has been the keynote speaker since 2017. At the Young Republican mixer Friday evening, a group of Nazis who openly identified as national socialists mingled with mainstream conservative personalities, including some from Turning Point USA, and discussed so-called 'race science' and antisemitic conspiracy theories."

Cheyanne Daniels of the Hill: "Black leaders are condemning former President Trump's recent comments about Black voters as 'racist.' Speaking at the Black Conservative Federation (BCF) annual gala in South Carolina on Friday, Trump said his legal woes have earned him the support of Black voters around the country.... 'The NAACP is outraged, but not surprised by yet another racist remark from the former President,' Derrick Johnson, NAACP president, told The Hill in a statement.... The Democratic National Committee (DNC) also blasted Trump.... 'This might come as news to Trump, but pushing tired tropes, wannabe Jordans, and mugshot t-shirts isn't going to win over Black voters who suffered through record high unemployment and skyrocketing uninsured rates under his leadership,' Sarafina Chitika, the DNC's national press secretary, said in a statement.... The Biden-Harris campaign issued a scathing response Saturday, calling the former president 'an incompetent, anti-Black tyrant.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yesterday I noted that Trump was too ignorant to realize his comments were racist. Well, if he had a "very good brain," these reactions to his remarks would be very helpful in explaining to him why the remarks were racist. Unfortunately, he's stupid, so no attempts to educate him will help.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A veteran Republican National Committee member has initiated a long-shot effort to prevent Donald J. Trump from taking over the party committee before he has enough delegates to become the presumptive presidential nominee in an effort to prevent the R.N.C. from paying his legal bills. Henry Barbour, a committee member from Mississippi, has sponsored two resolutions, one that would require the committee to remain neutral in the primary and another that would assure it does not spend committee funds to assist Mr. Trump in his legal battles. The proposals, which would not be binding even if passed, come as Mr. Trump seeks to install new leadership in the organization, including Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, who has said she would be open to the committee paying his legal bills. The resolutions, which were first reported by The Dispatch, have come under fire from the Trump campaign." The NBC News story is here.

** Chauncey DeVega of Salon: "The claim that President Biden is old and therefore so diminished mentally and physically that he is incapable of being an effective leader has taken on a life of its own. In many ways, this narrative is immune to the facts and evidence and may be a deciding factor in the outcome of the 2024 election and the future of the United States.... In this conversation, [Dr. John] Gartner [-- a psychologist and former professor at the Johns Hopkins University Medical School --] argues that it is actually Donald Trump and not President Biden who is showing diminished mental acuity and dangerous behavior related to aging.... Gartner warns that given Trump's dangerous personality and emotional state..., he is almost certainly plotting revenge and how to make his 'enemies' suffer as revenge for finally being held accountable by the courts and the rule of law. At the end of this conversation, Gartner explains how even on his worst day as an older person, President Biden is a far superior leader and decision-maker (and human being) than Donald Trump." Read on. MB: Gartner makes a compelling case, with many examples, that "Biden's brain is aging. Trump's brain is dementing." And is a dangerous "malignant narcissist." ~~~

~~~ Want More Evidence? We Oblige. Marie: Back in 2018, Donald Trump welcomed his wife back from a hospital stay. We all thought Mrs. Trump's given name was "Melania." But in the 2018 welcome-home tweet, Trump called her "Melanie." Then, in an October 2022 deposition, Trump identified the woman with him in an old photo as his ex-wife Marla Maples. The woman in the photo was E. Jean Carroll. Okay, an old photo; all blondes look alike, & so forth. Now, in 2024, Donald has forgotten his current wife's name altogether. Instead of calling her "Melanie" -- a one-letter misspelling that could be explained away as a typo -- at CPAC on Saturday, Donald Trump introduced his wife as "Mercedes." Thanks to contributor Gonzo for the lead:

But the Laptop! Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "The Justice Department's assertions this week that a longtime FBI informant was seeking to 'spread misinformation' designed to hurt President Joe Biden after speaking to Russian intelligence operatives has put a new spotlight on an old debate: To what extent, if any, has the Russian government manufactured or amplified unproven allegations of corrupt Ukraine dealings by Joe and Hunter Biden?... [During the 2020 campaign, Rudy Giuliani gave derogatory information to the New York Post,] purportedly from Hunter Biden's laptop.... Soon after [the Post reported on the laptop material,] 51 former intelligence officials signed and blasted to the media a letter warning that the laptop story 'has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.'... After mainstream news organizations verified portions of the laptop material, the letter became a focus of anger among Donald Trump and his supporters.... Now, many of those former officials say they feel vindicated by the allegations against the FBI informant....

"NBC News reported in October 2020 that the CIA and other spy agencies gathered intelligence on Giuliani's dealings with alleged Russian intelligence agents as he searched for dirt on Biden and passed his findings on to the Trump White House.... recent court filing by the lead prosecutor in the case, special counsel David Weiss, says investigators authenticated the laptop material...." MB: Recent (and earlier) commentators (linked earlier on Reality Chex) have opined that the laptop story never made sense. So Weiss's "authentication" seems pretty dicey to me. ~~~

     ~~~ David Corn of Mother Jones has much more on the Russia/Trump disinformation campaign: "... According to Trump administration officials, the Biden-Burisma allegations were in part (if not wholly) the work of Russian operatives. Yet Trump, the MAGA right, and their media allies have been beating this drum for years, and once the GOP won back the House in 2022, it became impeachment fodder. Then Comer, Jordan, and the rest of their crew embraced [Russian operative Alexander] Smirnov's charges, even though they were not substantiated and even though they were in sync with a known Russian disinformation plot that targeted Biden to aid Trump. Moreover, it was highly suspicious that Smirnov shared his allegations with his FBI handler in June 2020 -- after not mentioning them for years -- just when Giuliani and other Trumpers were striving to tar Joe Biden with this false tale [that Joe & Hunter Biden each extracted $5 million from Ukrainian energy firm Burisma to end a U.S. investigation of Burisma].... The Smirnov case ... shows not only that Trump and the GOP are Putin dupes; they are willing dupes."

Former Speakers: Get Off Your Ass, Mike Johnson! Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Two early March deadlines on government funding are looming [before the House of Representatives], as is the ongoing dispute over funding Ukraine's defenses. On these and other issues, two veteran Republicans believe that ... [Mike Johnson] has been too timid.... 'I don't think you can be good at these jobs unless you're willing to lose [far-right members],' former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Wednesday.... In a podcast also released Wednesday, Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) delivered a more blunt assessment of Johnson's tenure by saying that his tendency to wait so long before making a decision cuts into his leverage with Senate Democrats and President Biden. In the process, those poorly negotiated deals further empower the far-right antagonists, who already ousted his predecessor, ex-speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).... The speaker has largely wasted three months haggling over these spending bills, which were all but certain to land in the exact spot they are now given Democratic control of the Senate and White House."

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "Justice Clarence Thomas has hired Crystal Clanton to be one of his law clerks, the most elite assignment a young law school graduate can secure.... In 2015, when Clanton was 20 and working for a conservative group allied with the justice's wife, Ginni Thomas, Clanton apparently sent racist texts to a fellow employee. 'I HATE BLACK PEOPLE,' one text read. 'Like f[uck] them all ... I hate blacks. End of story.'... [After being fired by the far-right organization Turning Point USA for the racist texts,] Clanton was hired by Ginni Thomas and lived with the Thomases in Virginia for almost a year before attending the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. Thomas then recommended Clanton to Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Pryor is one of the most conservative members of the federal judiciary...." Marcus goes on to summarize how the courts, Turning Point & Clanton stonewalled & almost certainly lied to the Judicial Conference ethics committee to prevent it from sanctioning Clanton. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In fairness to Thomas, there aren't that many white people who hate Black people more than Clarence Thomas does. It's uncanny.

Shocking News! As Akhilleus pointed out yesterday morning, digby has dug up documentary evidence of the right's opposition to "recreational sex" (what one might call "normal sex"). Now Maureen Dowd of the New York Times has let on that President Joe Biden AND Jill Biden are regular practitioners. (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Missouri. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Abortion rights activists in the state are working to get an amendment to the state constitution on the ballot in November. But the GOP-controlled Missouri state Senate on Thursday approved a measure that could make such things significantly more difficult -- at least for the left. The proposal, which passed along party lines, would require amendments to receive not only a majority of the vote statewide -- as is currently required -- but also a majority in five of eight congressional districts. This would be a much bigger hurdle for those on the left, because Missouri has five very Republican congressional districts."

~~~~~~~~~~

Russia. Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "The Russian authorities have transferred the body of the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny to his mother, his spokeswoman said on Saturday, ending a grim battle for custody of his remains, but it is unclear whether he will get a funeral that the public can attend." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ukraine, et al. Abbey Fenbert of Kyiv Independent: "Howard Buffett, the son of American billionaire Warren Buffett, has promised that his philanthropic foundation will donate $300 million in aid to Ukraine this year. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has already donated over $500 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. The combined funds exceed the humanitarian aid contributions of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada. In an interview with Business Insider published Feb. 24, Buffett praised President Volodymyr Zelensky's wartime leadership and said it would be a mistake for the United States to withdraw support for Ukraine at this critical time.... Buffett's foundation has helped repair agricultural infrastructure in Ukraine, aid demining efforts, and provide essential supplies to healthcare facilities. Funding for the foundation comes primarily from ... Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway CEO and seventh-richest person in the world."