The Conversation -- October 18, 2023

Katherine Tully-McManus, et al., of Politico: "Opposition to Jim Jordan's speakership bid is increasing, as the Ohio Republican again failed to get the 217 votes he needs to win the gavel. After halting voting for nearly a day in hopes of securing more Republican votes, Jordan instead lost two more votes on the second ballot. The House then went into another recess, at Jordan's request, before a possible third vote. The GOP is expected to hold a conference meeting Wednesday afternoon as it keeps searching for a way out of its speaker mess." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I just heard former Temporary Speaker My Kevin again blame Democrats for GOP dysfunction. Sorry, I didn't listen to hear what his supposed rationale was. ~~~

~~~ Here We Go Again. The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the House of Representatives. "Representative Jim Jordan, the hard-line Republican from Ohio, was battling on Wednesday to pick up the votes to become speaker, a day after a bloc of 20 G.O.P. holdouts handed him a defeat that raised questions about his ability to win the gavel. Mr. Jordan called for a second vote around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, hoping that he would be able to show he has the momentum on the House floor to win the majority he needs to be elected. A few Republicans who opposed him on Tuesday said they would relent and back Mr. Jordan on the second ballot. But other mainstream Republicans vowed to continue opposing Mr. Jordan...." ~~~

Luke Broadwater: "Jordan indicates he will support a vote on a proposal to empower [Patrick] McHenry [R-N.C.] as temporary speaker if he doesn't prevail. He tells reporters: 'People are talking about this resolution. I told leadership: "Call the question. Let's find out."'"

Annie Karni: "That doesn't mean he will stop his campaign for the gavel. If that proposal passes, it means Jordan will most likely try to grind it out as McHenry, in a temporary post, gets the House moving and business back to usual."

Catie Edmondson: "Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a veteran lawmaker and the chairman of the House Rules Committee, has risen to nominate Jim Jordan as speaker. The entire nomination choreography we saw play out Tuesday will be repeated again."

Annie Karni: "Representative Pete Aguilar, the No. 3 House Democrat, gives a nominating speech again for Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader.... Today, Aguilar is going after Jordan as someone with no legislative record. 'Gutting Medicare, gutting Social Security and giving cover to Jan. 6 attackers,' he says of what Jordan stands for. He says 'the country can't afford more delays and more chaos.'"

(Marie: The roll call has begun.)

(Déjà Vu All Over Again. Marie: We're only partway through the roll call, and Jordan has already lost unless some Republicans change their "other" votes.... In the grand finale, Jordan had 22 GOP votes against him; yesterday he had 20 votes against him. As for Hakeem Jeffries, he "won" the day with 212 votes for him over 199 for Jordan. I'll bet Jeffries had received more votes for Speaker of the House than anyone who was never Speaker of the House.)

Closed Until Further Notice. Edmondson: "The final tally: Jordan won 199 votes and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, won 212 votes. Four Republicans who backed Jordan on the first ballot rose to oppose him this time. Two Republicans who voted against Jordan yesterday changed their votes and supported him.... 'A speaker has not been elected,' the acting speaker, Patrick McHenry, says. He announces a recess."

From the New York Times liveblog of developments in the Israel/Hamas war, also linked below:

Peter Baker: "President Biden said on Wednesday that he had urged Israel to allow some humanitarian aid into Gaza as long as it did not go to the Hamas group, and Israel said it would not block deliveries from Egypt, offering the first sign of relief to civilians in the blockaded enclave besieged by days of deadly Israeli airstrikes."

Michael Shear: "President Biden announced $100 million in aid to help civilians in Gaza and the West Bank and said he had secured a commitment from Israel's government to allow food, water and medicine to be delivered to Palestinians in Gaza from Egypt in a humanitarian effort overseen by the United Nations and others."

Julian Barnes, et al.: "American officials say they have multiple strands of intelligence -- including infrared satellite data -- indicating that the deadly blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday was caused by Palestinian fighters." ~~~

~~~ Najib Jobain, et al., of the AP: "Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the first crack in a 10-day siege on the territory. Palestinians reeled from a massive blast at a Gaza City hospital that killed hundreds the day before and grew increasingly desperate as food and water supplies ran out. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the decision was approved after a request from visiting U.S. President Joe Biden. It said Israel 'will not thwart' deliveries of food, water or medicine, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don't go to Hamas militants. The statement made no mention of badly needed fuel. It was not clear when the aid would start flowing."

Abigail Hauslohner & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Jack Lew, President Biden's nominee to become the next U.S. ambassador to Israel, faces a Senate confirmation test on Wednesday as the administration scrambles to prevent the eruption of deadly violence there and in the Gaza Strip from spiraling into a larger regional war. A former treasury secretary under President Barack Obama, Lew has attracted criticism from some Senate Republicans for his defense of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Israel's right-wing government and many in the GOP vehemently opposed, and related efforts by Obama to de-escalate the long-volatile relationship between Washington and Tehran. Lew's hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee opened with a plea from Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the chairman, for a speedy approval of the nomination. 'Now,' Cardin said, 'is not the time to play political games.'" The New York Times liveblog, linked above, has a number of posts related to Lew's hearing.

Donald Goes to Court. Jennifer Peltz & Michael Sisak of the AP: "A woman was arrested Wednesday after she stood up at Donald Trump's New York civil fraud trial and walked toward the front of the courtroom where the former president was sitting. The woman, later identified as a court employee, retreated after a court officer told her to return to her seat. A short time later, officers escorted the woman out of the Manhattan courtroom and arrested her. She was charged with contempt of court for disrupting a court proceeding, state court spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said....

"Judge Arthur Engoron warned Trump and others involved in the case to keep their voices down after the 2024 Republican frontrunner conferred animatedly with his lawyers at the defense table during real estate appraiser Doug Larson's second day of testimony. State lawyer Kevin Wallace asked Engoron to ask the defense to 'stop commenting during the witness' testimony,' adding that the 'exhortations' were audible on the witness' side of the room. The judge then asked everyone to keep their voices down, 'particularly if it's meant to influence the testimony.'... Trump grew irritated as Larson testified.... Trump threw up his hands during the exchange.... Trump railed about that exchange during a court break. 'See what's happened? The government lied. They just lie. They didn't reveal all of the information that they had,' Trump said. 'They didn't reveal all the evidence that made me totally innocent of anything that they say.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump doesn't seem to understand that it's up to his own lawyers, not the prosecution, to present any exculpatory information to the judge. AND, since Engoron has already found the Trump Org committed fraud, it's kinda hard to reckon that Trump himself is "totally innocent of anything they say."

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Donald Trump was interviewed under oath in New York on Tuesday for a lawsuit related to his time as president and the termination of a Russia investigation-era FBI official. The deposition was conducted by attorneys for the FBI official, Peter Strzok, and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page late in the day on Tuesday, sources familiar with Trump's schedule say." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Maggie Haberman & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: In the Fulton County, Georgia, conspiracy case, attorney Kenneth "Chesebro's lawyers have argued that his work was shielded by the First Amendment and that he 'acted within his capacity as a lawyer.' They have called for his case to be dismissed, saying he was merely 'researching and finding precedents in order to form a legal opinion, which was then supplied to his client, the Trump campaign.'... But Mr. Chesebro's emails could undercut any effort to show that the lawyers were focused solely on legal strategies.... Mr. Chesebro made clear [in the emails] he was considering politics and was well aware of how the Trump campaign's legal filings could be used as ammunition for Republicans' efforts to overturn the results when Congress met to certify the Electoral College outcome.... Of the chances of success [in court], Mr. Chesebro estimated the 'odds the court would grant effective relief before Jan. 6, I'd say only 1 percent.' But he wrote the filing has 'possible political value.'"

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House of Chaos, Ctd.

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "While it was impossible to determine how, when or even if Republicans might emerge from their ongoing chaos, what was clear was that the House G.O.P. is badly stuck and in crisis, unable to settle on a leader at a time of international upheaval.... Mainstream [Republican] lawmakers -- usually the ones trying to cut deals and reach consensus -- have refused to countenance the prospect of [Rep. Jim] Jordan ascending to the job second in line to the presidency.... Mr. Jordan and his allies hoped to work the holdouts through a mix of pleas for party unity, negotiations and a social-media fueled pressure campaign that was already stirring a backlash and could cause more defections in the next round.... With Mr. Jordan at least initially stymied and more voting delayed until Wednesday, Republicans and Democrats were intensifying quiet discussions about a potential solution that would somehow empower Representative Patrick T. McHenry, who has been serving as speaker pro tem since [former Speaker Kevin] McCarthy was toppled, to conduct the business of the House even temporarily.... Representative Hakeem Jeffries [D-N.Y., the House Minority Leader,] went out to the Capitol steps to castigate Republicans for their predicament. He urged them to work with Democrats to find a solution, though he was not specific what that might be."~~~

~~~ Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "The size of the GOP opposition to Jim Jordan's speakership bid has revived serious bipartisan talks to empower acting Speaker Patrick McHenry. And the members pushing it could pull the trigger as soon as Jordan's second failed ballot.... The push by centrist Democrats to work with Republicans to elevate McHenry -- at a certain price -- was first reported by Politico. Those Democrats are all leaders of the Problem Solvers Caucus. The idea has also picked up public support from Democratic leaders, with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) pushing for Republicans to work with them to reopen the floor Tuesday evening."

Joan Greve of the Guardian: "The House of Representatives was unable to elect a new speaker on its first ballot on Tuesday, as the hard-right congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio struggled to win the gavel following the historic ouster of the Republican Kevin McCarthy earlier this month. In the first round of voting, 20 Republicans opposed Jordan, while 200 Republicans supported the judiciary committee chair. The result left Jordan far short of winning the speakership, given that he can only afford four defections within his conference and still capture the gavel. All 212 House Democrats supported Hakeem Jeffries of New York, giving the Democratic leader more votes than Jordan.... Before the session began on Tuesday, Jordan indicated Republicans would keep voting until a new leader is chosen, potentially teeing up another lengthy speakership election. But after the first ballot failed to produce a result, the acting speaker, the Republican Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, announced that the House was in recess." (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times liveblogged this episode of an American tragedy. Here is a brief selection of entries. See more in yesterday's Conversation & many more, of course, in the linked liveblog: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Luke Broadwater: "Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio is grasping for the votes he needs to be elected speaker on Tuesday, but the outcome is far from certain as Republicans continue to feud internally over who should lead them.... A number of mainstream Republicans who had said they could not countenance a vote for Mr. Jordan, a close ally of ... Donald J. Trump, fell into line after a pressure campaign by his right-wing allies and a series of one-on-one calls with him."

Catie Edmondson: "Just 10 months ago Elise Stefanik of New York, the conference chairwoman, nominated Kevin McCarthy for speaker. Now she is nominating Jim Jordan of Ohio, kicking off the formal vote." MB: She keeps invoking the Old Testament. That's appropriate.

Broadwater: "When Stefanik quoted the Book of Esther, Democrats in the chamber groaned. When she attacked President Biden, they audibly groaned again. When Stefanik referenced Jordan's success on a wrestling mat, Democrats laughed and jeered."

Carl Hulse: "Representative Hakeem Jeffries now being nominated by Representative Pete Aguilar as the Democratic candidate.... Aguilar is delivering an extremely tough attack on Jordan and his record. Typically the opposition party simply pushes forward their own candidate and doesn't focus on the alternative."

Broadwater: "Aguilar references that Jordan during his 16 years in Congress has not be the lead sponsor of any bill that has passed into law."

Annie Karni: "Aguilar describes Jordan as an architect of a nationwide abortion ban, a vocal election denier and an instigator of an insurrection."

Jordain Carney, et al., of Politico: "Jim Jordan's allies attempted to badger House Republicans into making him speaker. Those tactics backfired on Tuesday.... The Ohio Republican's most vocal GOP defectors during Tuesday's failed speaker vote said they were pressured to back Jordan by party bosses back home and national conservatives with big megaphones. Most of those skeptics viewed it as a coordinated push with a threatening theme: Vote for Jordan -- or else. The arm-twisting campaign, which in many cases included veiled threats of primary challenges, ... has put the Judiciary chair's bid on life support and threatened to plunge House Republicans deeper into turmoil.... 'Jim's been nice, one-on-one, but his broader team has been playing hardball,' Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Politico about Jordan's network of supporters, adding that he's been getting calls from party chairs back in Nebraska. He added that his wife even received multiple anonymous emails and texts saying: 'your husband better support Jim Jordan.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Charlie Nash of Mediaite has the receipts, via Olivia Beavers of Politico: screenshots of some of the anonymous text messages Bacon's wife received.

Donald Trump Is a Very Old Man. Eva Surovell of the Messenger: "... Donald Trump said Tuesday he thinks Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will be successful in his bid to become speaker.... 'He's a fantastic young man,' Trump said. 'He's pretty young still and very strong....'" MB: Jordan is 59 years old. You need a geriatric mindset to think 59 is "pretty young."

The Party of Fox. Sarah Ellison & Will Sommer of the Washington Post: Fox host Sean "Hannity's effort to personally whip up votes for [Jim] Jordan highlights the central role that right-wing media has played in the weeks-long drama engulfing Capitol Hill over who will wield the speaker's gavel. At each turn, conservative media figures such as Hannity and former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon have injected high-profile disruption into a process that normally plays out quietly behind the scenes in Capitol Hill corridors.... Some members have been unusually outspoken in blasting their colleagues for playing to the cameras. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) tweeted last week that his fellow members were making decisions based on 'egos and TV time.'"

The Party of Utter Incompetence. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "For years, it has been evident that the Republican Party can't govern. When Donald Trump was in office, it was revealing to see the extent to which Republican majorities in Congress struggled to write and pass any legislation of consequence. To wit, after an unsuccessful herculean lift trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and a successful effort to cut taxes (the lowest hanging fruit on the conservative menu), congressional Republicans essentially stopped legislating until they were dislodged from control of the House in the 2018 midterms. What's become clear of late, in the midst of the chaos that has left the House without a speaker at a particularly fraught moment in foreign and domestic affairs, is that Republicans are as unable to organize themselves as they are incapable of leading the affairs of state."

The Trials of Trump, Ctd.

Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Judge [Tanya] Chutkan released the formal written [gag] order [against Donald Trump] on Tuesday. She detailed in three brief pages how Mr. Trump has now been barred from making public comments targeting the members of her court staff, the special counsel Jack Smith and any members of his staff, as well as 'any reasonably foreseeable witnesses' in the sprawling federal criminal case in which the former president stands accused of seeking to overturn the 2020 election. But the order left unanswered the hardest questions involved in gagging Mr. Trump. Judge Chutkan will still have to determine on a case-by-case basis which, if any, of the former president's statements violate her ruling. And she will have to decide how to punish him if they do. Mr. Trump's legal team swiftly gave notice on Tuesday that he was appealing the order.... In federal court, judges cannot unilaterally impose a fine or order someone imprisoned for criminal contempt. Rather, such an allegation is treated as a new offense that requires the appointment of a prosecutor and another trial -- including a right to a decision by a jury." ~~~

     ~~~ Judge Chutkan's order, via Axios, is here. CNN's story on the written order is here. (The CNN article also includes a link to the order.)

MEANWHILE. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump tested the boundaries of a gag order imposed by a judge overseeing his New York fraud trial by sharing an article that appears to show the home address of New York Attorney General Letitia James. The former president was prohibited earlier this month from commenting publicly about court staffers by state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron after Trump disparaged a clerk on Truth Social, but MeidasTouch Network noticed he shared a post by right-wing activist Laura Loomer that appeared to expose the attorney general's home address. James is not a court staffer and the court order did not refer to her directly -- but as the person who filed the lawsuit against Trump and her associate, she is a central player." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "Special counsel Jack Smith has withdrawn a subpoena seeking records about fundraising by the political action committee Save America -- a group that is controlled by ... Donald Trump and whose activities related to efforts to block the results of the 2020 presidential election have come under investigation, people familiar with the matter said. The withdrawal of the subpoena earlier this month indicates Smith is scaling back at least part of his inquiry into the political fundraising work that fed and benefited from unfounded claims that the election was stolen, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation."

** Haroun Siddique of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's decision to declassify evidence given by a former British spy about the former US president's alleged links with Russia led to the disappearance of two Russian sources, according to a court document. Christopher Steele, who used to run MI6's Russia desk, compiled the notorious 'Steele dossier' investigating Trump's connections to Russia. In a witness statement released on Tuesday, Steele said publication of his testimony to the Mueller investigation on the matter, originally classified secret, was an 'egregious and reckless act' that 'served no purpose other than to expose me and Orbis [Steele's company], our sources and our methods'.... In his witness statement, Steele said the decision to declassify his testimony, taken on Trump's last day in office, resulted in several Russian sources being exposed and suffering 'varying consequences'. He said: 'Two of the named Russian sources have not been seen or heard of since. The publication of this document did serious damage to the US government's Russian operations and their ability to recruit new Russian sources. The claimant's [Trump's] actions in this regard were truly shocking and arguably constitute one of the most egregious breaches of intelligence rules and protocol by the US government in recent times.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Read on. If Steele can provide evidence of his allegation, this seems to be more fodder, of a gravely serious nature, for Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump in the documents case. Oh, and there's an Ivanka angle to the story.

GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Sentenced to 60 Day's Jail Time. Daniel Barnes & Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A former Republican candidate for Michigan governor was sentenced Tuesday to 60 days in prison for committing a federal crime during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Ryan Kelley, who was arrested during the Michigan gubernatorial primary in 2022, pleaded guilty this July to a misdemeanor count of entering and remaining on restricted grounds, admitting he 'rushed past U.S. Capitol police officers' and 'used his hands to support another rioter who was pulling a metal bike rack onto the scaffolding.' Prosecutors also said he ripped a tarp on the inauguration stage." (Also linked yesterday.)

Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "Prosecutors will convene a grand jury to consider whether to refile an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed on the set of the film 'Rust' in 2021, New Mexico prosecutors said on Tuesday.... Mr. Baldwin was rehearsing on a New Mexico film set with a gun that was not supposed to contain live ammunition when it suddenly fired a live round, killing the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins."

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Colorado. Ee-www. Rebecca Carballo of the New York Times: "The number of bodies found at a rural Colorado funeral home has grown to at least 189, officials said Tuesday, two weeks after they reported that a foul odor had led investigators to the decaying remains of 115 people there. Teams removed the remains of at least 189 individuals from the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, a facility about 100 miles south of Denver that provides green burial services, and transported them to the El Paso County Coroner's Office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in a news release on behalf of Sheriff Allen Cooper of Fremont County and Randy Keller, the county coroner.... No one had been arrested or charged in the matter.... The funeral home offered 'green' burials, environmentally sensitive alternatives to funerals, which typically require embalming fluids and elaborate coffins."

North Carolina. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) sued Republicans over a state Senate bill that changed election rules in the state. Cooper's lawsuit, filed against President Pro Tempore Phillip Berger, Speaker of the House Timothy Moore and the state of North Carolina, said they showed a 'flagrant disregard' for constitutional principles that establish separation of powers in state government and the executive powers granted to him as Governor.... The bill in question, SB 749, overhauled the state's elections by establishing bipartisan election boards. State and county elections boards will now be controlled by an equal group of appointed Democrats and Republicans, which could create gridlock when deciding early-voting locations or certifying election results. The governor's office previously oversaw who sat on the board."

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Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Protests broke out in cities across the Middle East in response to the explosion ... at a hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed hundreds and left Palestinians and Israelis trading blame.... And [President] Biden's scheduled meeting with Arab leaders was canceled, as key allies in the region condemned the explosion. Mr. Biden will now meet only with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who faces growing pressure from global leaders to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza.... Shortly before taking off for Israel on Air Force One on Tuesday, Mr. Biden said he was 'outraged and deeply saddened' by the explosion.... Hamas said its head of military intelligence was killed in an Israeli strike, the first time that the group acknowledged the death of one of its military leaders since it assaulted Israel.... Hundreds of thousands of people have heeded Israel's call to flee to southern Gaza, but Israel carried out strikes in southern cities, including Khan Younis and Rafah."

Peter Baker: "President Biden hugged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog and chatted briefly before getting into the motorcade."

Baker: “President Biden has arrived at the Kempinski hotel in Tel Aviv, where he is meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Baker: "President Biden appears to endorse Israel's denial of responsibility for the explosion at the Gaza hospital. 'Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,' he said. 'But there's a lot of people out there not sure.'"

Najib Jobain, et al., of the AP: "The Health Ministry run by Hamas said an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday hit a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter, killing hundreds of people. If confirmed, the attack would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008. The health ministry said at least 500 people had been killed. Photos and video purportedly from al-Ahli Hospital on social media showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital's grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. Around them in the grass were blankets, school backpacks and other belongings. The images could not immediately be independently verified.... Hamas called Tuesday's hospital strike 'a horrific massacre.'... In protest at the reported strike, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cancelled his participation in a meeting with [President] Biden, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egypt's president set for Wednesday in Amman, Jordan to discuss the war." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update from the New York Times liveblog (Tuesday), also linked yesterday: "Hundreds of people were reported killed by a strike at a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night where thousands of civilians reportedly had been sheltering. The Gazan health authorities said the blast had been caused by an Israeli airstrike; the Israel Defense Forces said it was caused by a rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group that malfunctioned after launching. The health ministry in Gaza said the number of casualties was expected to rise. Many civilians were sheltering at Ahli Arab Hospital, better known as Al-Ma'amadani, before it was hit. In the past, rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups have occasionally malfunctioned and hit civilian neighborhoods. The Civil Defense in Gaza said medical teams were overwhelmed and unable to respond adequately because the hospital was so badly damaged." (Also linked yesterday.)

Times of Israel: "A group of Chicago-area rabbis attended the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the six-year-old Palestinian American who was killed in his Illinois home by his landlord in what police are investigating as a hate crime. Al-Fayoume was killed [Monday] and his mother was seriously injured by 71-year-old Joseph Czuba who witnesses said was screaming, 'You Muslims have to die' when he barged into their apartment and began to attack them unprovoked. In a Facebook post published after attending Wadea's funeral, Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue Rabbi Ari Hart writes, 'We met with the Imam, heard from the father and stood with the boy's community as they mourned this horrific loss. We witnessed the pain. We expressed our shock and condemnation of the attack. We wept.... The murder of a six-year-old because of his faith and his identity is not complicated. It is a heinous crime. And that's why we went today, he says." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Glad to see senators have taken my advice! ~~~

No (Alleged!) Spies for Egypt Allowed. Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) will not be attending an all-senators classified briefing on Israel on Wednesday, after some of his colleagues aired concerns that his presence would risk national security. The former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee faces federal charges of bribery and conspiring to act as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.... 'Hey, I have a question for a friend,' [Sen. John] Fetterman [D-Pa.] asked reporters Tuesday. 'If someone has been accused of being a foreign agent for Egypt, should they be allowed to attend a classified briefing on Israel tomorrow?' The answer, apparently, is no. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer D-N.Y.) said on Tuesday that Menendez will not attend the briefing that will include Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other top administration officials. Schumer's office would not say whether the leader had asked Menendez not to attend or whether Menendez is barred from all such gatherings in the future."

China/Russia. Christian Shepherd & Lyric Li of the Washington Post: "Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday laid out a vision for a revamped version of his signature 'Belt and Road' investment initiative and promised continued economic support for nations that sign on to China's remade world order. With guest of honor Russian President Vladimir Putin, who shares his discontent with the Western-led world order, Xi presented the plan as an alternative route to riches than that offered by the United States and other industrial democracies, which he accused of holding back developing nations with trade sanctions and demands for political reform."

Ukraine, et al. David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "Ukraine's forces used newly supplied American long-range missiles against Russia for the first time on Tuesday after President Biden overcame his longstanding reluctance to providing the weapons, permitting the Pentagon to deliver them covertly in the last few days, American officials said. The decision to send the missiles represented a shift by the Biden administration at a time when the Ukrainian military is struggling in a counteroffensive in the country's south and east.... Ukraine used the missiles, called ATACMS, to strike two air bases in Russian-occupied territory on Tuesday, according to an American official familiar with the assault. Ukraine's special operations forces said the attack damaged runways and destroyed nine helicopters, an ammunition depot, an antiaircraft missile launcher and military equipment." Politico's story is here.

A Boost for Vlad. Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Russian President Vladimir Putin, increasingly isolated over the war against Ukraine, met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in China on Tuesday. The meeting was Putin's first with a European Union leader since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in March, accusing him of war crimes in the forced deportations of Ukrainian children. Orban, a self-proclaimed proponent of 'illiberal' Christian democracy, has a cozy relationship with Putin and Tuesday declared his determination to maintain his ties with Moscow, despite the tensions between Europe and Russia over the nearly two-year-old war. Orban has irritated other NATO members by slow-walking Sweden's accession to the alliance and his refusal to fully support Ukraine. Putin quickly crowed about the significance of the encounter, in which the two men shook hands and then held private talks ahead of a summit in Beijing marking the 10th anniversary of China's Belt and Road Initiative, a giant global infrastructure program."

Russia. Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared at a court hearing without legal representation Tuesday after three of his lawyers were arrested on extremism charges and two others left the country.... Navalny only learned of the arrest of the three lawyers Monday from journalists, and Tuesday he found out that a fourth lawyer, Alexander Fedulov, had fled the country. A fifth, Olga Mikhailova, was not in Russia when the others were arrested, but her offices were raided and a search warrant was issued."

News Lede

AP: "The chief suspect in Natalee Holloway's 2005 disappearance in Aruba admitted he killed her and disposed of her remains, and has agreed to plead guilty to charges he tried to extort money from the teen's mother years later, a U.S. judge said Wednesday[.] The disclosure came during a plea and sentencing hearing for Joran van der Sloot, 36, in a federal courtroom in Alabama -- just a few miles from the Birmingham suburb where Holloway used to live." The New York Times story is here.

The Conversation -- October 17, 2023

Times of Israel: "A group of Chicago-area rabbis attended the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the six-year-old Palestinian American who was killed in his Illinois home by his landlord in what police are investigating as a hate crime. Al-Fayoume was killed [Monday] and his mother was seriously injured by 71-year-old Joseph Czuba who witnesses said was screaming, 'You Muslims have to die' when he barged into their apartment and began to attack them unprovoked. In a Facebook post published after attending Wadea's funeral, Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue Rabbi Ari Hart writes, 'We met with the Imam, heard from the father and stood with the boy's community as they mourned this horrific loss. We witnessed the pain. We expressed our shock and condemnation of the attack. We wept.... The murder of a six-year-old because of his faith and his identity is not complicated. It is a heinous crime. And that's why we went today, he says."

Najib Jobain, et al., of the AP: "The Health Ministry run by Hamas said an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday hit a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter, killing hundreds of people. If confirmed, the attack would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008. The health ministry said at least 500 people had been killed. Photos and video purportedly from al-Ahli Hospital on social media showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital's grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. Around them in the grass were blankets, school backpacks and other belongings. The images could not immediately be independently verified.... Hamas called Tuesday's hospital strike 'a horrific massacre.'... In protest at the reported strike, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cancelled his participation in a meeting with [President] Biden, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egypt's president set for Wednesday in Amman, Jordan to discuss the war." ~~~

     ~~~ Update from the New York Times liveblog, also linked below: "Hundreds of people were reported killed by a strike at a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night where thousands of civilians reportedly had been sheltering. The Gazan health authorities said the blast had been caused by an Israeli airstrike; the Israel Defense Forces said it was caused by a rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group that malfunctioned after launching. The health ministry in Gaza said the number of casualties was expected to rise. Many civilians were sheltering at Ahli Arab Hospital, better known as Al-Ma'amadani, before it was hit. In the past, rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups have occasionally malfunctioned and hit civilian neighborhoods. The Civil Defense in Gaza said medical teams were overwhelmed and unable to respond adequately because the hospital was so badly damaged."

House in Chaos, Ctd. Joan Greve of the Guardian: "The House of Representatives was unable to elect a new speaker on its first ballot on Tuesday, as the hard-right congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio struggled to win the gavel following the historic ouster of the Republican Kevin McCarthy earlier this month. In the first round of voting, 20 Republicans opposed Jordan, while 200 Republicans supported the judiciary committee chair. The result left Jordan far short of winning the speakership, given that he can only afford four defections within his conference and still capture the gavel. All 212 House Democrats supported Hakeem Jeffries of New York, giving the Democratic leader more votes than Jordan.... Before the session began on Tuesday, Jordan indicated Republicans would keep voting until a new leader is chosen, potentially teeing up another lengthy speakership election. But after the first ballot failed to produce a result, the acting speaker, the Republican Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, announced that the House was in recess."

The New York Times is liveblogging the impending American tragedy in the House: ~~~

Luke Broadwater: "Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio is grasping for the votes he needs to be elected speaker on Tuesday, but the outcome is far from certain as Republicans continue to feud internally over who should lead them.... A number of mainstream Republicans who had said they could not countenance a vote for Mr. Jordan, a close ally of ... Donald J. Trump, fell into line after a pressure campaign by his right-wing allies and a series of one-on-one calls with him."

Catie Edmondson: "Just 10 months ago Elise Stefanik of New York, the conference chairwoman, nominated Kevin McCarthy for speaker. Now she is nominating Jim Jordan of Ohio, kicking off the formal vote." MB: She keeps invoking the Old Testament. That's appropriate.

Broadwater: "When Stefanik quoted the Book of Esther, Democrats in the chamber groaned. When she attacked President Biden, they audibly groaned again. When Stefanik referenced Jordan's success on a wrestling mat, Democrats laughed and jeered."

Broadwater: "With one Republican absent and all Democrats present, Jordan will need 217 votes to become speaker if everyone in the chamber votes."

Carl Hulse: "Representative Hakeem Jeffries now being nominated by Representative Pete Aguilar as the Democratic candidate.... Aguilar is delivering an extremely tough attack on Jordan and his record. Typically the opposition party simply pushes forward their own candidate and doesn't focus on the alternative."

Broadwater: "Aguilar references that Jordan during his 16 years in Congress has not be the lead sponsor of any bill that has passed into law."

Annie Karni: "Aguilar describes Jordan as an architect of a nationwide abortion ban, a vocal election denier and an instigator of an insurrection."

Edmondson: "Lawmakers have declined to formally nominate any protest candidates, but members can still choose to vote for someone other than Jordan or Jeffries if they choose when their names are called."

(Marie: The rollcall has started.... ** Unless a number of Republicans change their votes from others to Jordan, Jordan has lost on this first round of voting.... 20 Republican votes against Jordan, quite a few more than expected.... Still no speaker, still no ability for the House to act on pressing matters, and Patrick McHenry orders the House in recess.)

Edmondson: "Temporary Speaker Patrick McHenry says Jordan won 200 votes; Jeffries 212. Kevin McCarthy received 6 votes, Steve Scalise received 7 votes, and 5 others received a total of 7 votes. Jim Jordan has fallen short of winning the gavel this round."

** Haroun Siddique of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's decision to declassify evidence given by a former British spy about the former US president’s alleged links with Russia led to the disappearance of two Russian sources, according to a court document. Christopher Steele, who used to run MI6's Russia desk, compiled the notorious 'Steele dossier' investigating Trump's connections to Russia. In a witness statement released on Tuesday, Steele said publication of his testimony to the Mueller investigation on the matter, originally classified secret, was an 'egregious and reckless act' that 'served no purpose other than to expose me and Orbis [Steele's company], our sources and our methods'.... In his witness statement, Steele said the decision to declassify his testimony, taken on Trump's last day in office, resulted in several Russian sources being exposed and suffering 'varying consequences'. He said: 'Two of the named Russian sources have not been seen or heard of since. The publication of this document did serious damage to the US government's Russian operations and their ability to recruit new Russian sources. The claimant's [Trump's] actions in this regard were truly shocking and arguably constitute one of the most egregious breaches of intelligence rules and protocol by the US government in recent times.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Read on. If Steele can provide evidence of his allegation, this seems to be more fodder, of a gravely serious nature, for Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump in the documents case. Oh, and there's an Ivanka angle to the story.

GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Sentenced to 60 Day's Jail Time. Daniel Barnes & Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A former Republican candidate for Michigan governor was sentenced Tuesday to 60 days in prison for committing a federal crime during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Ryan Kelley, who was arrested during the Michigan gubernatorial primary in 2022, pleaded guilty this July to a misdemeanor count of entering and remaining on restricted grounds, admitting he 'rushed past U.S. Capitol police officers' and 'used his hands to support another rioter who was pulling a metal bike rack onto the scaffolding.' Prosecutors also said he ripped a tarp on the inauguration stage."

~~~~~~~~~~

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio picked up steam on Monday in his bid to become speaker, winning over several of his biggest opponents in the fractured G.O.P. ranks even as deep reservations remained about elevating him to the top post in the House. Several mainstream Republicans who had said they could not countenance a vote for Mr. Jordan, the hard-line co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, fell into line after a pressure campaign by his right-wing allies and a series of one-on-one calls with him. Their reversals suggested that Mr. Jordan was within striking distance of the 217 votes he would need to be elected in a planned vote around noon on Tuesday. But the outcome remained far from certain.... People close to Mr. Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the number of Republican holdouts had shrunk from around 50 to around 10.... Leaving a two-hour meeting of House Republicans on Monday night at the Capitol, Mr. Jordan indicated he would force a series of floor votes on Tuesday until Republicans had chosen a speaker." The AP's story, by Lisa Mascaro, is here.

STFU, Donald

Holmes Lybrand, et al., of CNN: "A federal judge on Monday issued a gag order on ... Donald Trump, limiting what he can say about special counsel Jack Smith's federal prosecution into his alleged attempt to subvert in the 2020 presidential election. The order restricts Trump's ability to publicly target court personnel, potential witnesses, or the special counsel and his staff. The order did not impose restrictions on disparaging comments about Washington, DC, -- where the jury will take place -- or certain comments about the Justice Department at large, both of which the government requested. 'This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses,' Judge Tanya Chutkan said. 'This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The New York Times liveblogged Judge Tanya Chutkan's hearing on motions regarding a gag order against Donald Trump: "Federal prosecutors and lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump are squaring off on Monday over whether a gag order should be put on Mr. Trump to restrict his often threatening statements about his federal indictment on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.... During the hearing in Federal District Court in Washington, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan drew a bright line between Mr. Trump the presidential candidate and Mr. Trump the criminal defendant. 'This trial will not yield to the election cycle,' she said." MB: I'm leaving up most of the NYT commentary I cited yesterday in case you missed it: ~~~

For instance. Charlie Savage: "Judge Chutkan tells John F. Lauro, a lawyer for Trump, to tone it down. Lauro suggests Chutkan is trying to censor his speech."

Alan Feuer & Savage: "A federal judge asked hard questions to lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump, repeatedly pressing them on Monday to explain why a gag order should not be placed on Mr. Trump to restrict his often threatening statements about his federal indictment on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. The judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, seemed to be leaning toward imposing a limited gag order on the former president that would prohibit threatening witnesses, encouraging violence or disrupting the integrity of the proceedings."

Feuer: "Judge Chutkan just said she will share the 'basic contours' of her decision now and then issue a written order."

Feuer: "Chutkan is granting in part and denying in part the government's request for a gag order. Details are coming now. The judge said she will craft 'a narrowly tailored' gag order on Trump."

Savage: "Trump can still attack the Biden administration or the Justice Department and say that he thinks the prosecution is politically motivated. But he cannot attack Jack Smith, the special counsel, or his staff or family, nor can he attack court staff or witnesses. He can attack Pence, except he can't talk about Pence's role in the events that involve this case. She did not say she was barring Trump from attacking her personally." MB: Oh, noes! How will potential jurors find out Smith is a "deranged thug"?

Feuer: "Judge Chutkan did not immediately address the question of how she will enforce her gag order. She merely said she would assess any consequences for Trump if and when he violates it." MB: My advice? Put a muzzle on him, cuff him, strap him in leg irons & toss him in the D.C. jail.

Marie: So I was wondering if Trump would claim, "I WON! I WON!" or if he would whine that he was being persecuted. Here's my answer:

Savage: “The Trump campaign has released a statement from an unnamed spokesman denouncing the gag order: 'Today's decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people's right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement.'" AND ~~~

Michael Gold: ... "Trump just responded to the gag order on Truth Social.... 'A TERRIBLE THING HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY TODAY,' he said in one post. In another, he said he planned to appeal the order. 'WITCH HUNT!' he added." AND ~~~

Maggie Haberman: "Trump's campaign has sent out a fundraising email falsely claiming the current president is behind the gag. 'A GAG ORDER HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN IMPOSED ON ME AT THE REQUEST OF JOE BIDEN,' it says."

~~~ AND. Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: Trump lawyer John Lauro argued "that President Joe Biden would not be barred under such an order to speak publicly about the case. '[Biden] is not a party to this case,' Chutkan said. 'He's not subject to conditions of release.'"

~~~ Marie: I can't find a published copy of Judge Chutkan's written order. I'll look again later. Several articles about the order commented on its unprecedented nature. Well, yeah. But the remarkable news here is not that another judge has issued a limited gag order on Donald Trump but that a former president* would repeatedly make statements that required the imposition of a gag order. In case Trump has caused you to lose sight of how appalling and unique his behavior is, let me remind you that no civilized person would make statements that s/he knew could lead to violence against public servants, potential witnesses, their families or others. Trump is a monster, a terrorist in a blue suit & long red tie.

Trump attacks Chutkan: Her whole life is not liking me pic.twitter.com/7pNGboiRtS

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 16, 2023

     ~~~ Via digby. Marie: In the clip, Trump says, the Judge ruled that "you can't speak badly about your opponent." That's a lie. During the hearing, even the prosecutor said Trump could "speak badly about his opponent," and Judge Chutkan ruled that Trump's remarks about his political opponents were not restricted, with one exception: she specified that Trump could not remark on Mike Pence's role in the case since pence is a likely witness. As an aside, digby notes that Trump interrupted his criticism of Hamas to complain (with apparently more animation than he devoted to Hamas' victims) that you can't buy flypaper anymore. He's a great man. Start interviewing sculptors willing to work while hanging onto Mount Rushmore.

~~~ Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: Donald Trump "lashed out on social media ahead of the [hearing], including making false statements about the extent of the gag order. Trump said the order is trying 'to silence me, through the use of a powerful GAG ORDER, making it impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden, and his corrupt and weaponized DOJ & FBI.... They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself,' Trump added in the post on his social media site. The order actually would allow Trump to criticize President Biden as well as the Justice Department, though the department asked that the gag order limit Trump's potential attacks on the team of special counsel Jack Smith. It also allows Trump to still talk about the case, including proclaiming his innocence." MB: Trump, the habitual bully, has become a real specialist in whining about fake stories about people bullying him. I see where his lawyer John Lauro is following Trump's example, as noted above. (Also linked yesterday.)

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A Trump Organization employee said in state court Monday that the company's top financial officer told him between 2017 and 2019 that Donald Trump wanted his net worth increased, testimony that could help bolster the New York attorney general's $250 million civil fraud case against the former president. Patrick Birney, a financial operations executive who helped assess the value of Trump properties and other real estate assets, said his boss, Allen Weisselberg, told him at a meeting that Trump wanted his wealth boosted in financial statements. Those statements of financial condition were compiled annually and distributed to lenders and insurance companies for a variety of business purposes."

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Two of the grand jurors in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation of the alleged election racketeering plot in Georgia have agreed to sit for interviews with attorneys representing Trump co-defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, reported The Messenger. Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case, made the announcement Monday, saying that the jurors 'expressed interest' in such an interview and that it 'would be on the record, but not a public proceeding.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "The government filed notice Monday that it was appealing the sentences of the five members of the far-right Proud Boys group convicted in the Jan. 6 attack, the second such unusual notice by federal prosecutors after a similar filing in July indicating they would challenge the punishments handed down to five members of the Oath Keepers for their role in the Capitol riot.... In both cases, the judges imposed sentences well below those recommended by the federal sentencing guidelines, which are only advisory." The Hill's story is here.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday once again reinstated the Biden administration's regulations on 'ghost guns,' firearms assembled from kits without the usual serial numbers and background checks on purchasers. The administration's regulations, which apply to self-made weapons the same kind of licensing and record-keeping required of guns sold commercially, will remain in place while legal battles continue. There were no noted dissents in the unsigned order, which was necessary because of contrary rulings from lower courts. In August, the Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote allowed the Biden administration's regulations to stay in effect. But after the order was issued, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor of Texas again stepped in to block the regulations as applied to two manufacturers who supply a large number of the kits sold nationwide. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit largely upheld that ruling. The Biden administration told the Supreme Court the lower courts had 'flouted' its August order, and again asked the justices to intervene." CNN's story is here.

Lawrence Hurley of NBC News: "Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett indicated Monday she would support a code of conduct for the Supreme Court in the wake of recent claims that some justices have fallen short of required ethical standards. Speaking at the University of Minnesota Law School, Barrett said it would be 'a good idea for us do it' and suggested that the justices are broadly in support of a set of principles similar to those that lower court judges are required to follow." The New York Times story is here. MB: A spokesperson for the Supreme Court later clarified Justice Barrett's remarks: "Look, Justice Barrett has a large family. They have needs; they have desires. The children's feet are growing; Justice Barrett herself likes to coordinate all of her outfits (yes, even the tight pantsuits!) with stiletto heels, and those shoes don't come cheap. Catholic school tuition is a bitch unless you're some cute little wide-eyed illegal who family lives on the welfare provided by hardworking real Americans. Therefore, the nature of any ethics code to which Justice Barrett agrees will have to allow her to take in some serious cash from highrollers who may or may not have business before this Court."

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "Lawyers representing thousands of families separated at the southern border during a Trump administration crackdown have reached a settlement with the federal government that enables the migrants to remain in the United States and apply for asylum, putting them on the path to permanent legal residency. The agreement, filed on Monday in federal court in San Diego, concludes years of negotiations that were part of a class-action lawsuit to address the harm inflicted by family separations carried out in 2017 and 2018. The policy was a key component of the Trump administration's efforts to curb unauthorized immigration. Children were systematically taken from their parents and sent to shelters and foster homes across the country, and parents were criminally charged for entering the country unlawfully." An NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "On Monday the [Biden] campaign began a project to meet ... Donald J. Trump's voters where they are -- on his social media platform. 'Let's see how this goes,' the campaign's account wrote on Monday in its first post on Truth Social. 'Converts welcome!' The Biden campaign painted its debut on Mr. Trump's outlet as a cheeky opportunity to troll the president's likely general election opponent.... 'There's very little "truth" happening on Truth Social, but at least now it'll be a little fun,' Kevin Munoz, a Biden campaign spokesman, said." The AP story is here. MB: Gee, what are the chances Trump will censor the Biden campaign?

Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump, condemned by his Republican rivals and others last week for calling Hezbollah militants 'very smart,' responded Monday by proposing harsher restrictions on immigration based on ideology, targeting Hamas sympathizers and critics of Israel. In addition to blocking people from entering the country based on ideological screenings, Trump said he would revoke student visas and deport anti-Israel demonstrators. He also pledged to expand his travel ban on people from Muslim-majority countries and refuse refugees.... Democrats on Monday swiftly condemned Trump's latest remarks. 'Donald Trump is doubling down on the same Islamophobic rhetoric that has done nothing but sow chaos and breed violence,' said Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison in a statement.... Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said over the weekend that the United States should not accept [refugees from the Gaza Strip], adding, 'If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic.'"

Presidential Race 2020. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "Concerned that the Democratic field wasn't up to the task of stopping ... Donald J. Trump in 2020, Oprah Winfrey pitched Mitt Romney on the idea of running for president as an independent, with her as his running mate, according to a forthcoming biography of the Republican senator from Utah. Ms. Winfrey floated the unusual ticket in a phone call she placed to Mr. Romney's wife, Ann Romney, in November 2019, according to an excerpt from the book, 'Romney: A Reckoning,' that was shared with The New York Times. Mr. Romney at least listened to the idea. (It was Oprah calling, after all.) He 'heard the pitch, and told her he was flattered, but that he'd have to pass,' the author, McKay Coppins of The Atlantic, writes." MB: I can't think of anyone better-qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency (of the Mittster, no less) than the woman who brought us Dr. Oz & "Dr." Phil. BTW, Joe beat Donald, and he might not have if Mitt & Oprah had muddied the electoral waters.

Why Isn't Johnny Healthy? Lenny Bernstein, et al., of the Washington Post: "For the first time, Lunchables are eligible to be served tonearly 30 million children under the rules of the National School Lunch Program after the company altered two of its products to qualify. The weak standards that govern federally subsidized school lunches illustrate the power of the food industry in Congress and the outsize influence of food companies on the School Nutrition Association, which represents 50,000 school lunch personnel. While many nations have adopted more-nutritious school meals and stricter advertising standards, pizza sauce and french fries still count as vegetables for schoolchildren in the United States, and U.S. food companies remain virtually free to advertise to youngsters any way they like. Together, these circumstances contribute to the country's harrowing childhood obesity problem...."

How to Get All Those Pesky Animals Off the Endangered Species List: Let Them Die Out. Aliza Chasen of CBS News: "Nearly two dozen species are being taken off the endangered species list because they are extinct, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday. Most of the species were listed under the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s or 1980s and were very low in numbers or likely already extinct at the time of listing. In the years since, 'rigorous reviews of the best available science' have been conducted to determine whether the animals are extinct. 'Federal protection came too late to reverse these species' decline, and it's a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before it's too late,' Service Director Martha Williams said."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' liveblog of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Days of efforts to get aid through Egypt's border with Gaza have failed to bear fruit. Early Tuesday morning, the United States again expressed hope that it was close to an aid agreement and to establishing 'safe zones' in southern Gaza, where the United Nations says that 600,000 Palestinians have fled after Israel warned them to leave the north. But Israeli forces have continued launching airstrikes into southern Gaza, including on Tuesday morning, when Gaza's Interior Ministry said that at least 72 people were killed and dozens more wounded in attacks on residential buildings in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. The situation in southern Gaza has grown increasingly dire.... Palestinian officials say that more than 2,800 people have been killed and more than 10,000 others injured in Israel's retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza."

David Sanger & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday to show solidarity with America's closest ally in the Middle East, in a wartime trip to bolster the country's resolve to eradicate Hamas but also to urge limits on what seems bound to be a casualty-filled ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. It will be a trip fraught with risks, both political and physical. The White House announced the visit on Monday evening after Mr. Biden met with his top intelligence officials and his closest advisers in the Oval Office to debate whether to accept the invitation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended over the weekend. In a briefing to reporters Monday night, John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said Mr. Biden would focus on 'the critical need for humanitarian assistance to get into Gaza, as well as the ability for innocent people to get out.'" The ABC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Hansler, et al., of CNN: "The White House is confronting a new war that has required an immediate reorienting of President Joe Biden's priorities and schedule, including a trip this week to Israel and Jordan as the situation in the Middle East grows ever more urgent. Biden had originally planned to spend Monday in Colorado talking about wind energy, but, in an unusual move, the trip out west was scrapped at the last minute. The president instead received briefings from his national security team and made phone calls to the leaders of Germany, Egypt and Iraq in the wake of Hamas' cross-border attack on Israel. The US president's upcoming trip, announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken from Tel Aviv in the early hours there Tuesday, follows an extensive day of meetings in Israel by the top US diplomat that included a seven-and-a-half hour meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet."

** Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "When Hamas attacked Israel, Republicans knew whom to blame: President Biden. Donald Trump asserted that the attack wouldn't have happened if he were still in the White House; Mike Pence, while condemning Trump for praising Hezbollah and Hamas, asserted that Biden was somehow endangering U.S. interests by 'projecting weakness.' Like much of what the American right says these days, these smears were both vile and infantile.... More generally, it's striking how both the far left, which has no significant influence on the Democratic Party, and the far right, which largely runs the G.O.P., are American solipsists. They blame U.S. leaders for everything bad that happens in the world, denying foreigners any agency. That said, even serious students of international affairs are noting that the world seems to be becoming more dangerous, with many local cold wars turning hot, and suggesting that we may be witnessing the end of the Pax Americana, the long era in which U.S. economic and military dominance limited the potential for wars of conquest.... But the problem isn't lack of toughness at the top. It's the enemy within[: the chaotic, untrustworthy Republican party]."

** Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... as atrocities are piled on atrocities, I hope Jews will attend to what is being threatened in our name. And all Americans should pay attention, given how much our country underwrites Israel's military.... But incitement against Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of whom have nothing to do with Hamas terrorism, is leading us toward somewhere even darker than where we are right now.... We can already see where the total dehumanization of Palestinians leads.... Already, according to Al Jazeera, at least 55 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed, some by soldiers and others by settlers."

News Lede

New York Times: "Four men, including one accused of killing a woman who was found strangled, escaped from a jail in central Georgia early on Monday, prompting law enforcement officials to warn the public and begin a search that involved several agencies. The inmates were considered dangerous, officials said."

The Conversation -- October 16, 2023

Holmes Lybrand, et al., of CNN: "A federal judge on Monday issued a gag order on ... Donald Trump, limiting what he can say about special counsel Jack Smith's federal prosecution into his alleged attempt to subvert in the 2020 presidential election. The order restricts Trump's ability to publicly target court personnel, potential witnesses, or the special counsel and his staff. The order did not impose restrictions on disparaging comments about Washington, DC, -- where the jury will take place -- or certain comments about the Justice Department at large, both of which the government requested. 'This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses,' Judge Tanya Chutkan said. 'This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice.'" ~~~

~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging Judge Tanya Chutkan's hearing on motions regarding a gag order against Donald Trump: "Federal prosecutors and lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump are squaring off on Monday over whether a gag order should be put on Mr. Trump to restrict his often threatening statements about his federal indictment on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.... During the hearing in Federal District Court in Washington, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan drew a bright line between Mr. Trump the presidential candidate and Mr. Trump the criminal defendant. 'This trial will not yield to the election cycle,' she said."

Oh, there are little exchanges like this one. Charlie Savage: "Judge Chutkan tells John F. Lauro, a lawyer for Trump, to tone it down. Lauro suggests Chutkan is trying to censor his speech."

Alan Feuer & Savage: "A federal judge asked hard questions to lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump, repeatedly pressing them on Monday to explain why a gag order should not be placed on Mr. Trump to restrict his often threatening statements about his federal indictment on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. The judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, seemed to be leaning toward imposing a limited gag order on the former president that would prohibit threatening witnesses, encouraging violence or disrupting the integrity of the proceedings."

Savage: "Chutkan is taking a brief recess to think about it."

Feuer: "Judge Chutkan just said she will share the 'basic contours' of her decision now and then issue a written order."

Feuer: "Chutkan is granting in part and denying in part the government's request for a gag order. Details are coming now. The judge said she will craft 'a narrowly tailored' gag order on Trump."

Savage: "Trump can still attack the Biden administration or the Justice Department and say that he thinks the prosecution is politically motivated. But he cannot attack Jack Smith, the special counsel, or his staff or family, nor can he attack court staff or witnesses. He can attack Pence, except he can't talk about Pence's role in the events that involve this case. She did not say she was barring Trump from attacking her personally." MB: Oh, noes! How will potential jurors find out Smith is a "deranged thug"?

Feuer: "Judge Chutkan did not immediately address the question of how she will enforce her gag order. She merely said she would assess any consequences for Trump if and when he violates it." MB: My advice? Put a muzzle on him, cuff him, strap him in leg irons & toss him in the D.C. jail.

Marie: So I was wonder if Trump would claim, "I won! I won!' or if he would whine that he was being persecuted. Here's my answer:

Savage: "The Trump campaign has released a statement from an unnamed spokesman denouncing the gag order: 'Today's decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people's right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement.'" AND ~~~

Michael Gold: ... "Trump just responded to the gag order on Truth Social.... 'A TERRIBLE THING HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY TODAY,' he said in one post. In another, he said he planned to appeal the order. 'WITCH HUNT!' he added." AND ~~~

Maggie Haberman: "Trump's campaign has sent out a fundraising email falsely claiming the current president is behind the gag. 'A GAG ORDER HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN IMPOSED ON ME AT THE REQUEST OF JOE BIDEN,' it says."

~~~ Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: Donald Trump "lashed out on social media ahead of the [hearing], including making false statements about the extent of the gag order. Trump said the order is trying 'to silence me, through the use of a powerful GAG ORDER, making it impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden, and his corrupt and weaponized DOJ & FBI.... They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself,' Trump added in the post on his social media site. The order actually would allow Trump to criticize President Biden as well as the Justice Department, though the department asked that the gag order limit Trump's potential attacks on the team of special counsel Jack Smith. It also allows Trump to still talk about the case, including proclaiming his innocence." MB: Trump, the habitual bully, has become a real specialist in whining about fake stories about people bullying him. And I see where his lawyer John Lauro is following Trump's example, as noted above.

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Two of the grand jurors in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation of the alleged election racketeering plot in Georgia have agreed to sit for interviews with attorneys representing Trump co-defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, reported The Messenger. Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case, made the announcement Monday, saying that the jurors 'expressed interest' in such an interview and that it 'would be on the record, but not a public proceeding.'"

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "Lawyers representing thousands of families separated at the southern border during a Trump administration crackdown have reached a settlement with the federal government that enables the migrants to remain in the United States and apply for asylum, putting them on the path to permanent legal residency. The agreement, filed on Monday in federal court in San Diego, concludes years of negotiations that were part of a class-action lawsuit to address the harm inflicted by family separations carried out in 2017 and 2018. The policy was a key component of the Trump administration's efforts to curb unauthorized immigration. Children were systematically taken from their parents and sent to shelters and foster homes across the country, and parents were criminally charged for entering the country unlawfully." An NBC News story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "... federal authorities and abortion rights groups said harassment, stalking and intimidation at abortion clinics have escalated since the Supreme Court's decision in the Dobbs case in June 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade -- the court's 1973 decision recognizing the federal right to an abortion. That behavior, they argue, has made the Justice Department's push for federal charges that come with harsh prison penalties more urgent.... Federal authorities are prosecuting several allegations of extremely dangerous behavior at abortion clinics that go well beyond being disruptive.... Some conservative groups, Republican lawmakers and defense attorneys have rebuked [Attorney General Merrick] Garland, accusing the department of going too far in aggressively pursuing members of antiabortion groups who have not necessarily been dangerous."

Coup de Vanilla Flambé Was the House Flavor of Last Week. Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "A number of House Republicans are in talks to block Rep. Jim Jordan's path to the speakership as the Ohio Republican tries to force a floor vote on Tuesday, according to multiple GOP sources. One senior Republican House member who is part of the opposition to Jordan told CNN that there he believes there are roughly 40 'no' votes, and that he has personally spoken to 20 members who are willing to go to the floor and block Jordan's path if the Ohio Republican forces a roll-call vote on Tuesday.... Republicans are expected to meet behind closed doors Monday evening." ~~~

~~~ Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said Sunday if House Republicans cannot elect a Speaker soon then a 'deal will have to be done' with Democrats in order to get the chamber running again, as it nears two weeks since Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) historic ousting.... Turner[, who supports Jordan,] said Jordan is 'working right now' to put a coalition together to get to the 217 votes needed."

Kelly Garrity of Politico: "Talks of a possible bipartisan solution to the House Speaker standoff that has created chaos in the Republican caucus are underway, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday. 'There are informal conversations that have been underway. When we get back to Washington tomorrow, it's important to begin to formalize those discussions,' the New York Democrat said during an interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'"

Do Not Bother Boebert with Governing Stuff. Jessica Piper & Sam Stein of Politico: "Well before Rep. Lauren Boebert [R-Colo.] and her date got thrown out of a local theater showing of Beetlejuice for being disruptive and frisky, her campaign spent hundreds of dollars at his bar...., [the] Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar in Aspen, Co., according to her most recent campaign finance filings. That's the same bar co-owned by Quinn Gallagher, the man who accompanied Boebert to the theater that fateful September night.... Hooch is a gay friendly bar that has hosted drag shows, the latter of which Boebert has publicly criticized.... Boebert says she and Gallagher are no longer dating because he is a Democrat."

Michael Kunzelman, et al., of the AP: "Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Donald Trump will argue in court Monday over a proposed gag order aimed at reining in the former president's diatribes against likely witnesses and others in his 2020 election interference case in Washington. In pressing U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose the narrow gag order, special counsel Jack Smith's team has accused the Republican of using increasingly incendiary rhetoric to try to undermine the public's confidence in the justice system and taint the jury pool."

Robert Draper of the New York Times profiles Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the federal case against Donald Trump for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Presidential Race 2024

Biden v. Bobo. Chris Megerian of the AP: "President Joe Biden is visiting the Colorado congressional district of Rep. Lauren Boebert, a combative Trump loyalist, on Monday as he draws a sharper contrast between the Democratic and Republican economic agendas. Boebert has described Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, the president's signature domestic legislation and the source of hundreds of billions of dollars for clean energy incentives, as 'a massive failure' that 'needs to be repealed.' But Biden is out to demonstrate otherwise when he visits CS Wind, the world's largest facility for wind tower manufacturing, in the town of Pueblo. The company is undergoing a $200 million expansion that is expected to create 850 jobs by 2026 with help from the tax incentives in the law."

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Climate Power, a liberal advocacy group, plans to spend $80 million on advertising to lift President Biden's standing on environmental issues and inform voters about the impact of legislation he signed last year. Polls show few voters are aware of the president's record on climate issues, and there is a broad dissatisfaction with his stewardship of the issue, a dynamic that mirrors voters' discontent with his handling of the economy and other concerns. This new effort also adds to the constellation of outside groups working to solve one of the Democratic Party's most vexing problems: how to make a president widely seen by his own party as too old to seek re-election just popular enough to win a likely rematch with ... Donald J. Trump."

Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "President Biden's campaign announced raising $71 million in the third fundraising quarter of the year, giving him a significant advantage over the current Republican field while falling short of the inflation-adjusted hauls of Barack Obama and Donald Trump at the same point in their reelection efforts." ~~~

     ~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's reelection campaign boasted they have more cash on hand than 'the entire MAGA field combined' after 3rd quarter reporting -- including more than double what ex-President Donald Trump has on hand.... That prompted Trump to make a video appeal for more donations ahead of the Q3 FEC reporting deadline."

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Alabama. Driving While In Labor. Bracey Harris of NBC News: "By the end of the month, two Alabama hospitals will stop delivering babies. A third will follow suit a few weeks later. That will leave two counties -- Shelby and Monroe -- without any birthing hospitals, and strip a predominantly Black neighborhood in Birmingham of a sought-after maternity unit.... People in Monroe County ... could face drives between 35 to 100 miles to a labor and delivery department. Trekking that far to give birth is not unheard of in Alabama, in which more than a third of the counties are maternity care deserts.... The state has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country.... Nationally, fewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery services...." MB: This is not a developed country. (Also linked yesterday.)

Illinois. Johnny Diaz, et al., of the New York Times: "The authorities in suburban Chicago accused a man of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy on Saturday and seriously wounding the boy's mother because they were Muslim, an attack that officials tied to the violence in Israel and Gaza.... Investigators in Will County, Ill., southwest of Chicago..., said a 71-year-old landlord turned on the boy and his mother, who were his tenants, at their home in Plainfield Township on Saturday morning, stabbing them repeatedly with a serrated knife that had a seven-inch blade." The CBS News story is here.

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Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel and Hamas on Monday denied that they had agreed to a humanitarian cease-fire, leaving it unclear whether emergency supplies would be allowed into the Gaza Strip to ease a mounting humanitarian crisis, or whether foreigners massed near the enclave's southern border would be allowed safe passage to Egypt. More than half a million people have fled their homes in Gaza in the past few days, according to the United Nations and Israel, many in response to an Israeli warning to head south as Israel prepares to invade the northern part of the strip.

"On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said, after meeting with Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, that the Rafah border crossing with Egypt would reopen, without giving details.... But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Monday that no cease-fire had been agreed to allow foreigners out of Gaza and foreign aid into the enclave. A senior official in Hamas's political bureau, Izzat Al-Rishq, also denied reports of a temporary cease-fire or the opening of the Rafah crossing. More than 500,000 Gazans have moved south after the Israeli military urged civilians to flee before a land invasion aimed at destroying Hamas...." ~~~

~~~ CNN's liveblog is here.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden warned Israel in an interview aired on Sunday not to reoccupy Gaza, his first significant public effort to restrain America's ally in the wake of the Hamas assault that killed more than 1,300 people, including at least 29 Americans. Mr. Biden has offered staunch support for Israel since the Oct. 7 attack and refused to criticize Israel for its retaliatory siege of Gaza, the coastal enclave controlled by Hamas, even as U.N. officials have warned of a humanitarian crisis there.... 'Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don't represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again.' But 'taking out the extremists' there, he added, 'is a necessary requirement.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The "60 Minutes" story, by Scott Pelley, is here. The transcript of Pelley's interview of President Biden, via "60 Minutes," is here. ~~~

Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "CNN anchor Jake Tapper capped off his show by wishing peace to 'all of us' after an unsparing video essay featuring relatives of Hamas victims who nonetheless strive for compassion and peace, and are unafraid to criticize the Israeli government if they see it as necessary." MB: This was an excellent segment/tearjerker, and I looked for it in vain on YouTube before I discovered Christopher had picked it up. Includes video & transcript.

Ecuador. Banana Repubic? Genevieve Glatsky, et al., of the New York Times: "Daniel Noboa, a center-right scion of a banana empire, was set to win Ecuador's presidential race on Sunday night with more than three-quarters of the votes counted, in a high-stakes campaign driven by an electorate frustrated with the country's surging violence and ailing economy. The political outsider was poised to defeat Luisa González, a leftist handpicked by former President Rafael Correa who ran on a pledge of returning to a time of prosperity and low homicide rates under the Correa government.The vote signaled a desire for change in a nation of nearly 17 million on South America's western coast that has seen a wave of violence from international criminal groups and local gangs that have turned Ecuador into a key player in the global drug trade and sent tens of thousands of Ecuadoreans fleeing to the U.S.-Mexico border."

Poland. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Centrist and progressive forces appeared capable of forming a new government in Poland after securing more seats in a critical general election on Sunday, despite the governing nationalist party, Law and Justice, winning the most votes for a single party. Exit polls showing a strong second place finish by the main opposition group, Civic Coalition, and better than expected results for two smaller centrist and progressive parties suggested a dramatic upset that would frustrate the governing party's hope of an unprecedented third consecutive term. A jubilant Donald Tusk, Civic Coalition's leader, declared the projected results a resounding 'win for democracy' that would end the rule of Law and Justice, known by its Polish acronym PiS, in power since 2015." The AP's story is here.