The Conversation -- October 12, 2023

** Republicans in Disarray, Ctd. Emily Brooks & Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Thursday dropped out of the race for Speaker, just one day after he won the Republican nomination for the role. Scalise narrowly prevailed in a secret ballot internal GOP election on Wednesday, but it was clear almost immediately that he would struggle to get the 217 votes needed on the House floor."

Chaos Party Still in Chaos. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana scrounged on Thursday for the support to be elected speaker as Republicans balked at rallying around their party's chosen candidate, leaving the House leaderless and the G.O.P. in chaos.... Supporters of his challenger, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, said they were not giving up.... Adding to the drama, [Donald] Trump weighed in on Thursday against Mr. Scalise, arguing that he was unfit for the post because he is battling blood cancer.... Some Republicans were already discussing the possibility of dumping Mr. Scalise and rallying around an alternative candidate who would be able to unite their ranks in a way that he has been unable to." CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "In fact, resistance against Mr. Scalise's speakership appeared to have grown, with lawmakers newly declaring on Wednesday evening that they were irrevocably opposed to voting for him.... Here's a broad overview of the factions not yet sold on Mr. Scalise."

** Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat charged last month with taking bribes in exchange for lucrative political favors, faced a stunning new accusation on Thursday -- that he conspired to act as an agent of Egypt even as he served as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Manhattan federal prosecutors filed the fresh charge against Mr. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, as well as a third defendant, Wael Hana, accusing them of conspiring to have the senator act as a foreign agent without registering with the Justice Department. The prosecutors have asked a judge to seize the Menendezes' residence in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., as well as a Mercedes-Benz convertible that the government says was given to them as a bribe. The charge ... is certain to intensify pressure for him to resign from office. It accuses him of violating an explicit prohibition on public officials serving as agents of foreign powers and appears to be the first time a sitting senator has been charged under the World War II-era Foreign Agents Registration Act." ~~~

     ~~~ The AP story is here. Politico's story is here. The updated indictment, via Politico, is here.

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "On Wednesday, Ronald McAbee, 29, was found guilty of taking part in that assault on the West Terrace of the Capitol, the site of intense violence where in minutes multiple police officers were swarmed and beaten while trying to block a tunnel into the building. McAbee, a sheriff's deputy at a rural Tennessee jail at the time, was on medical leave on Jan. 6 because he had fractured his shoulder in a car accident six days before. McAbee pleaded guilty last month to assaulting another police officer, Carter Moore, in the tunnel. But he insisted at trial for the assault of Wayte that he was trying to protect the officer and alert police to the body of an unconscious protester. McAbee was found guilty on five charges, including assaulting, impeding or resisting an officer and civil disorder, as well as three related to having a deadly or dangerous weapon: his reinforced gloves."

Michael Crowley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The United States and Qatar have agreed to deny Iran's access to $6 billion in funds recently transferred to the nation as part of a deal between Washington and Tehran that led to the release of five imprisoned Americans from Iran last month. Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, told House Democrats on Thursday that Iran would no longer have access to the funds, according to a person familiar with the matter. The money was under close supervision and strict conditions that it be used only for humanitarian purposes. The move comes amid harsh criticism, mainly from Republicans, that the Biden administration gave Iran access to a vast sum that freed up other funds for Tehran to provide support to Hamas before its attack on Israel over the weekend."

Nate Cohn of the New York Times sounds an alarm: "... even if ... the rise and fall of Kevin McCarthy ... ultimately ends like any other Republican congressional drama in Washington over the last decade, something different and important has already happened: The right wing didn't just bring down a House speaker -- its members also made a credible bid at claiming the gavel for themselves. A founder of the House Freedom Caucus, Jim Jordan, won 99 votes in the House Republican conference vote Wednesday, good for about 45 percent of congressional Republicans.... The swelling congressional support for Mr. Jordan ... might ... herald the emergence of a new, alternative Trumpist governing elite -- one authentically loyal to Donald J. Trump's pugilistic brand of politics, and one that would pose a fundamental challenge to what remains of the beleaguered Republican 'establishment.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For what it's worth, I think this was apparent on January 6, 2021, when eight Republican senators (out of 50) and 139 representatives (out of 218) voted to challenge certain state results -- and that was after the bloody insurrection. That's nearly 2/3rds of House Republicans.

Dan Sabbagh of the Guardian & Agencies: "A senior US politician said Israel had received an official warning from Egypt of a possible attack from Gaza three days before Hamas launched its deadly cross-border assault on Saturday. Michael McCaul, the chair of the US House foreign affairs committee, speaking after an intelligence briefing to senior members of Congress, said it was not clear at what level the warning was given. 'We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen,' McCaul, a Republican, told reporters on Wednesday. 'I don't want to get too much into classified [details], but a warning was given. I think the question was at what level.'" Thanks to RAS for the lead.

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Republicans in Disarray, Ctd.

Lisa Mascaro & Kevin Freking of the AP: "Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker but struggled to quickly unite their deeply divided majority and elect the conservative in a public floor vote.... In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly pushed aside Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the firebrand Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader.... The House was gaveled into a brief session, then broke indefinitely, with next steps uncertain.... It's an extraordinary moment of political chaos at a time of uncertainty at home and crisis abroad, moving into a second week without a House speaker." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' main story on the House chaos caucus' failure to select a speaker is here. I'm leaving up the link to yesterday's liveblog because it offers some details that don't appear in the new, main story.

~~~ The New York Times liveblogged developments yesterday in House Republicans' attempts to choose a candidate for speaker: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Luke Broadwater @ about 12 noon ET: "House Republicans, deeply divided over who should lead them, gathered in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning to try to choose a nominee for speaker. Should they unite around a candidate, a vote could come on the House floor as early as Wednesday afternoon, but that possibility was looking increasingly unlikely."

Broadwater @ about 12:15 pm ET: "Republicans are now voting on whether to select Scalise or Jordan as their nominee for speaker. The winner needs 111 votes."

Catie Edmondson @ about 2:45 pm ET: "It's impossible to overstate how unusual the scene playing out now is. For decades, the status quo was that a House speaker would be easily elected, in one vote, after the party that controlled the House nominated them. Kevin McCarthy's speakership was the first in a century to break that convention. Every speaker since 1923 has been able to clinch the gavel after just one vote."

Robert Jimison @ about 2:55 pm ET: "Not only is the House paralyzed until a new speaker is officially installed but the process of filling other positions in Republican leadership, such as majority leader and majority whip, are also largely on hold until the decision on speaker is finalized."

Broadwater & Annie Karni @ about 3:15 pm ET: "Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana narrowly scraped together enough Republican support [113 to 99] on Wednesday to become his party's choice to lead the House, but deep divisions in the G.O.P. ranks threatened to complicate his election as speaker. Mere minutes after a slim majority of Republicans voted in a closed-door party meeting to select him as the party's candidate, Mr. Scalise's fate was thrown into doubt. Several G.O.P. lawmakers announced they would not back him on the House floor without concessions, complaining of a rushed process to choose a new speaker. Republicans delayed a vote of the full House that had been planned for midafternoon so the party could regroup.... 'I just voted for Jim Jordan for speaker on a private ballot in conference, and I will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor,' said Representative Marjorie Taylor Green[e]...."

More fun reads throughout. Marie: Not casting any asparagus on Miss Margie & cohort, but they do not play well with others. It's obvious that over the years many members left their caucus -- where they voted for a speaker's candidate who failed to get the majority of the party's vote -- and went out onto the House floor and voted for a speaker who was not their first choice. IOW, they stuck together as a party so the House could get down to business. ~~~

~~~ NBC News live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Republicans used to consider themselves the orderly party, the one that assiduously adhered to the rules and respected the will of the majority. But the traditional rule book has been thrown out the window when it comes to the extraordinary tumult in the House. In what would have been unthinkable in the past, numerous House Republicans on Wednesday refused to honor the results of their internal election of Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana for speaker -- historically a given. They threatened a mutiny on the House floor that had factions of the party in open conflict amid the unrelenting chaos on Capitol Hill. After the weekend assault on Israel by Hamas, House Republicans had clamored for unity to allow lawmakers to get back to business and rush assistance to the nation's closest ally in the Middle East. Just days later, they were back at one another's throats...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: These last two chaotic speakers' elections are another manifestation of Republicans' antipathy to democratic principles. With "normal" order, the person who wins the majority of votes in caucus is the party's nominee for speaker. But not anymore. In these last two speakers' election, a minority of Republicans have opted against majority rule & dictated conditions making it impossible for the House to conduct its usual business, where a majority of the entire House should determine the content of bills.

Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice reviews some of wingers' stated reasons for refusing to unite behind Steve Scalise, continuing what Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) charitably called "kind of a shit show."

** David Firestone of the New York Times outlines why Salise & Jordan are both even worse than McCarthy. (Also linked yesterday.)

Nicholas Fandos & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: "A clutch of Republican House members from New York began pushing on Wednesday to expel ... Representative George Santos, amid mounting federal charges that he defrauded donors and lied about his campaign finances. The group of six New York freshmen announced plans to swiftly introduce an expulsion resolution to try to capitalize on a spate of new charges against Mr. Santos and a vacuum in House Republican leadership.... As the House's most extreme form of punishment, expulsion requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass, a barrier so high that it has only been cleared five times in the institution's history -- making it far from clear if the move was little more than a messaging exercise by Republicans preparing to defend swing seats next year. House Republicans repelled an earlier attempt by Democrats to expel Mr. Santos in May...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Fani Willis Stands Up to Gym Jordan. Sara Murray of CNN: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis declined to provide House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan with any additional information about her investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies as well as any interactions with the Justice Department, according to a new letter obtained by CNN. 'A charitable explanation of your correspondence is that you are ignorant of the United States and Georgia Constitutions and codes, Willis wrote in her letter to Jordan, an Ohio Republican, Wednesday.... A more troubling explanation is that you are abusing your authority as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary to attempt to obstruct and interfere with a Georgia criminal prosecution.'... Willis previously provided information about the federal funding her office receives. But she has rebuffed Jordan's demands for information related to her investigation and copies of any communication between the district attorney's office and federal executive branch officials, particularly anyone at the Justice Department."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: Donald Trump's claim last week that he has absolute immunity from prosecution "does not look promising for Mr. Trump and his lawyers.... [Trump's] motion cited the 1982 precedent, Nixon v. Fitzgerald, at least 40 times over 52 pages. But that decision merely held that a former president is immune from lawsuits in civil cases -- ones from private litigants seeking money -- and then only if the suits concerned conduct 'within the "outer perimeter" of his official responsibility.'... Other Supreme Court precedents seem to be of no help to Mr. Trump. In Clinton v. Jones in 1997, the court unanimously allowed a sexual harassment suit against President Bill Clinton to proceed while he was in office, discounting concerns that it would distract him from his official responsibilities. That was also a civil case.... And more recently, the Supreme Court ruled by a 7-to-2 margin in Trump v. Vance in 2020 that Mr. Trump had no absolute right to block the release of his financial records in a criminal investigation."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump lashed out at the special counsel, Jack Smith, on Wednesday, accusing his office of violating Mr. Trump's due process rights by seeking to obtain a guilty verdict against him before Election Day in the two federal cases he is facing 'no matter the cost.' The lacerating comments were contained in court papers in which the lawyers reasserted their request to delay, until after the 2024 election, Mr. Trump's trial in Florida on charges of mishandling classified documents.... [Trump's lawyer Christopher] Kise all but asserted that the [two federal] prosecutions had been filed against Mr. Trump in an effort to cripple his chances of being re-elected."

Michael Sisak & Jennifer Peltz of the AP: "Donald Trump obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in loans using financial statements that a court has since deemed fraudulent, a retired bank official testified Wednesday at the former president's New York civil fraud trial. Trump's 'statements of financial condition' were key to his approval for a $125 million loan in 2011 for his golf resort in Doral, Florida, and a $107 million loan in 2012 for his Chicago hotel and condo skyscraper, former Deutsche Bank risk management officer Nicholas Haigh testified. But although the bank didn't conduct its own full appraisals of Trump's properties, it sometimes gave sizable 'haircuts' to the values he'd placed on such holdings as Trump Tower and his golf courses, Haigh said."

Presidential Race 2024

Get a Dictionary, You Nincompoops! Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump is arguing to a judge in Colorado that he was not required to 'support' the Constitution as president, reported Brandi Buchman from Law & Crime. The argument came as he seeks to dismiss a lawsuit filed in the state by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), seeking to have him disqualified from the ballot in the state under the 14th Amendment. The Insurrection Clause of the amendment prohibits those who have 'engaged in insurrection' against the United States from holding a civil, military, or elected office unless a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate approve. But Trump's lawyers are arguing that the specific language of the Constitution argues that this requirement only applies to people in offices who are bound to 'support' the Constitution -- and the presidency is not one of those offices. 'The Presidential oath, which the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment surely knew, requires the President to swear to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution -- not to "support" the Constitution,' said the filing by Trump's attorneys."

Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump chanted 'Barack Hussein Obama' and said the U.S. capital 'looks like shit' during a bizarre rant in Florida on Wednesday.... During the same campaign rally, Trump tore into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accused Netanyahu of stealing credit for the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani." ~~~

     ~~~ Loose Lips. Lee Moran of the Huffington Post: "Trump suggested the story [about the capture of Soleimani] wasn't previously known. 'They'll say, "Oh, it's classified information." Well, maybe it is, but I don't think so,' he added. ... Earlier in his speech, Trump complimented the Iran-aligned Hezbollah, which on Sunday attacked Israeli positions from the north in what it described as being in solidarity with the 'Palestinian resistance.' 'You know, Hezbollah is very smart,' Trump said. 'They're all very smart.'"

     ~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump claimed that had the 2020 presidential election not been 'rigged' against him, Israel would not have been attacked by Hamas over the weekend. The election was not rigged."

Filip Timotija of the Hill: "'The Young Turks' founder Cenk Uygur announced on his show Wednesday that he will run for president as a Democrat, directly challenging President Biden." Uygur says he has lawyered up & will go to the Supreme Court on account of one little problem:~~~

As a naturalized citizen, Cenk Uygur is constitutionally ineligible to be President. But he is constitutionally eligible to take your money to pretend to run for president. Land of opportunity baby https://t.co/We36NGoBgv

— Gas Stove Prayer Warrior (@canderaid) October 11, 2023

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Several members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority seemed prepared on Wednesday to reinstate a South Carolina voting map that a lower court had ruled was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., for instance, seemed unpersuaded by the lower court's findings and reasoning. He said the evidence that Republican state lawmakers had used race as the predominant factor was circumstantial and consistent with something that is legally acceptable: trying to achieve the partisan goal of creating a district with a distinct conservative tilt.... Justices across the ideological spectrum agreed that the Supreme Court may only overturn the lower court's findings if they were ruled to be clearly erroneous, a demanding standard.... But several conservative justices indicated that they were prepared to rule that the lower court had committed a clear error." Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I wish John Roberts would just come right out & say he's a racist. Or, at the very least, admit he doesn't want Black people to have equal voting rights because they tend to vote Democratic. ~~~

     ~~~ An Outcome in Search of a Justification. Ian Millhiser of Vox: "The Supreme Court's Republican-appointed majority spent Wednesday morning seemingly hunting for a reason to uphold a South Carolina congressional map that everyone agrees was gerrymandered to benefit the Republican Party.... Under the Supreme Court's precedents, federal courts are not allowed to hear lawsuits challenging partisan gerrymanders -- that is, maps drawn to benefit one political party or the other. But federal courts may hear challenges to racial gerrymanders.... [AND] When a trial court determines that a legislative map is an impermissible racial gerrymander, the Court said in Cooper [v. Harris (2017)], the lower court's 'findings of fact -- most notably, as to whether racial considerations predominated in drawing district lines -- are subject to review only for clear error.'... But ... all six of the Court's Republican appointees appeared determined to find some way to uphold South Carolina's gerrymander."

Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "The United Automobile Workers union expanded its strike against Ford Motor on Wednesday evening, calling on 8,700 workers to walk off the job at a critical plant in Kentucky. The plant makes some of Ford's most profitable offerings, including the Super Duty version of its F-Series trucks and the Ford Expedition, a full-size sport utility vehicle."

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Oklahoma. Ken Miller of the AP: "The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court is recommending the removal of a lower court judge who was caught on camera scrolling through social media and texting during a murder trial. An investigation by the Oklahoma Supreme Court Council on Judicial Complaints found District Judge Traci Soderstrom exchanged more than 500 texts with her courtroom bailiff during the trial. Texts included in a court filing showed the judge mocked prosecutors, laughed at the bailiff's comment about a prosecutor's genitals, praised the defense attorney and called the key prosecution witness a liar, according to the petition filed Tuesday by Chief Justice John Kane IV. Soderstrom ... was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November...." MB: Yeah, well, Oklahoma voters tend to make bad choices.

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Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday of the Israeli war are here: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning, as the Israeli military said its troops were massed at the border with Gaza 'making preparations for the next stage of the war.' Mr. Blinken was also set to travel to Jordan and meet with other regional leaders.... The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was scheduled to meet with Mr. Blinken on Friday.... On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pledged in televised remarks to 'crush and eliminate' Hamas.... Israel continued to pummel the 140-square-mile Gaza Strip with airstrikes of a magnitude and intensity not seen in past conflicts with Gaza. Hamas is holding in the enclave about 150 hostages taken during the weekend incursion." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here. The AP's live updates are here.

Matthew Lee & Aamer Madhani of the AP: At a roundtable of Jewish leaders, "President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the weekend attack by Hamas militants on Israel as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust as the number of U.S. citizens killed in the fighting ticked up to at least 22." ~~~

     ~~~ Phillip Nieto of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden yelled while addressing the current conflict between Hamas and Israel, noting that he made sure to educate all of his children on the horrors of the Holocaust. On Wednesday, the president addressed the conflict while speaking to a group of Jewish community leaders by reiterating the United States' support for Israel and condemning anti-Semitism.... Biden then began screaming when he mentioned how he would make all of his children and grandchildren visit concentration camps in Europe to teach them about the significance of the Holocaust." ~~~

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senior U.S. officials have stepped up their efforts to lead Western governments to use hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian central bank reserves to help Ukraine.... The intensifying push to use the assets for Ukraine comes as U.S. and European governments that support Kyiv encounter new domestic political roadblocks for their plans to send taxpayer money to the war effort, although officials insist the matters are unrelated. The Kremlin has an estimated $300 billion frozen in various bank accounts throughout Western countries, but experts have warned that simply taking that money would face legal challenges and pose major financial risks."

Monica Alba, et al., of NBC News: "In a private phone call Tuesday, President Joe Biden urged Israel's prime minister to minimize civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as Israel sets out to destroy Hamas in reprisal for the deadliest attack the country has suffered in the last 50 years, two Biden administration officials and a former official told NBC News. The Biden administration is coordinating with other countries on a plan that would offer safe passage out of Gaza for civilians who risk getting caught in the crossfire in the densely populated coastal enclave, administration officials said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alex Griffing of Mediaite: “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put out a statement on Wednesday blasting what he called Israel's 'serious violation of international law' in cutting off services to Gaza.... 'Right now, the international community must focus on reducing humanitarian suffering and protecting innocent people on both sides of this conflict. The targeting of civilians is a war crime, no matter who does it. Israel's blanket denial of food, water, and other necessities to Gaza is a serious violation of international law and will do nothing but harm innocent civilians,' Sanders continued, adding: 'The United States has rightly offered solidarity and support to Israel in responding to Hamas' attack. But we must also insist on restraint from Israeli forces attacking Gaza and work to secure UN humanitarian access. Let us not forget that half of the two million people in Gaza are children....'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't know what it is that makes "leaders" think that fighting barbarism against civilians with barbarism against civilians will resolve conflicts.

Dan Williams, et al., of Reuters, via Yahoo! News: "Israel formed an emergency unity government on Wednesday as it pounded Gaza to root out Hamas and deployed forces north of the densely populated Palestinian enclave, where the militants said they were still fighting after their cross-border assault. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to form a war cabinet with former defence minister and centrist opposition party leader Benny Gantz and focus entirely on the conflict, a joint statement from Gantz's National Unity party said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adam Entous, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States has collected multiple pieces of intelligence that show that key Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attack in Israel, information that has fueled U.S. doubts that Iran played a direct role in planning the assault, according to several American officials. These key Iranian officials did not know the attack was coming, according to the intelligence. The United States, Israel and key regional allies have not found evidence that Iran directly helped plan the attack, according to the U.S. officials and another official in the Middle East." (Also linked yesterday.)

Yuval Harari in a Washington Post op-ed: "The real explanation for Israel’s dysfunction is populism rather than any alleged immorality. For many years, Israel has been governed by a populist strongman, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a public-relations genius but an incompetent prime minister. He has repeatedly preferred his personal interests over the national interest and has built his career on dividing the nation against itself. He has appointed people to key positions based on loyalty more than qualifications, took credit for every success while never taking responsibility for failures, and seemed to give little importance to either telling or hearing the truth. The coalition Netanyahu established in December 2022 has been by far the worst. It is an alliance of messianic zealots and shameless opportunists, who ignored Israel's many problems -- including the deteriorating security situation -- and focused instead on grabbing unlimited power for themselves.... The way populism corroded the Israeli state should serve as a warning to other democracies all over the world."

Ukraine, et al.: The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.

The Conversation -- October 11, 2023

Nicholas Fandos & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: :A clutch of Republican House members from New York began pushing on Wednesday to expel ... Representative George Santos, amid mounting federal charges that he defrauded donors and lied about his campaign finances. The group of six New York freshmen announced plans to swiftly introduce an expulsion resolution to try to capitalize on a spate of new charges against Mr. Santos and a vacuum in House Republican leadership.... As the House's most extreme form of punishment, expulsion requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass, a barrier so high that it has only been cleared five times in the institution's history -- making it far from clear if the move was little more than a messaging exercise by Republicans preparing to defend swing seats next year. House Republicans repelled an earlier attempt by Democrats to expel Mr. Santos in May...."

Republicans in Disarray, Ctd. Lisa Mascaro & Kevin Freking of the AP: "Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker but struggled to quickly unite their deeply divided majority and elect the conservative in a public floor vote.... In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly pushed aside Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the firebrand Judiciary Committee chairman, in favor of Scalise, the current majority leader.... The House was gaveled into a brief session, then broke indefinitely, with next steps uncertain.... It's an extraordinary moment of political chaos at a time of uncertainty at home and crisis abroad, moving into a second week without a House speaker." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments in House Republicans' attempts to choose a candidate for speaker: ~~~

Luke Broadwater @ about 12 noon ET: "House Republicans, deeply divided over who should lead them, gathered in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning to try to choose a nominee for speaker. Should they unite around a candidate, a vote could come on the House floor as early as Wednesday afternoon, but that possibility was looking increasingly unlikely."

Broadwater @ about 12:15 pm ET: "Republicans are now voting on whether to select Scalise or Jordan as their nominee for speaker. The winner needs 111 votes."

Catie Edmondson @ about 2:45 pm ET: "It's impossible to overstate how unusual the scene playing out now is. For decades, the status quo was that a House speaker would be easily elected, in one vote, after the party that controlled the House nominated them. Kevin McCarthy's speakership was the first in a century to break that convention. Every speaker since 1923 has been able to clinch the gavel after just one vote."

Robert Jimison @ about 2:55 pm ET: "Not only is the House paralyzed until a new speaker is officially installed but the process of filling other positions in Republican leadership, such as majority leader and majority whip, are also largely on hold until the decision on speaker is finalized."

Broadwater & Annie Karni @ about 3:15 pm ET: "Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana narrowly scraped together enough Republican support [113 to 99] on Wednesday to become his party's choice to lead the House, but deep divisions in the G.O.P. ranks threatened to complicate his election as speaker. Mere minutes after a slim majority of Republicans voted in a closed-door party meeting to select him as the party's candidate, Mr. Scalise's fate was thrown into doubt. Several G.O.P. lawmakers announced they would not back him on the House floor without concessions, complaining of a rushed process to choose a new speaker. Republicans delayed a vote of the full House that had been planned for midafternoon so the party could regroup.... 'I just voted for Jim Jordan for speaker on a private ballot in conference, and I will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor,' said Representative Marjorie Taylor Green[e]...."

More fun reads throughout. Marie: Not casting any asparagus on Miss Margie & cohort, but they do not play well with others. It's obvious that over the years many members left their caucus -- where they voted for a speaker's candidate who failed to get the majority of the party's vote -- and went out onto the House floor and voted for a speaker who was not their first choice. IOW, they stuck together as a party so the House could get down to business. ~~~

~~~ NBC News live updates are here.

** David Firestone of the New York Times outlines why Salise & Jordan are both even worse than McCarthy.

Monica Alba, et al., of NBC News: "In a private phone call Tuesday, President Joe Biden urged Israel's prime minister to minimize civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as Israel sets out to destroy Hamas in reprisal for the deadliest attack the country has suffered in the last 50 years, two Biden administration officials and a former official told NBC News. The Biden administration is coordinating with other countries on a plan that would offer safe passage out of Gaza for civilians who risk getting caught in the crossfire in the densely populated coastal enclave, administration officials said."

Dan Williams, et al., of Reuters, via Yahoo! News: "Israel formed an emergency unity government on Wednesday as it pounded Gaza to root out Hamas and deployed forces north of the densely populated Palestinian enclave, where the militants said they were still fighting after their cross-border assault. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to form a war cabinet with former defence minister and centrist opposition party leader Benny Gantz and focus entirely on the conflict, a joint statement from Gantz's National Unity party said."

Adam Entous, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States has collected multiple pieces of intelligence that show that key Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attack in Israel, information that has fueled U.S. doubts that Iran played a direct role in planning the assault, according to several American officials. These key Iranian officials did not know the attack was coming, according to the intelligence. The United States, Israel and key regional allies have not found evidence that Iran directly helped plan the attack, according to the U.S. officials and another official in the Middle East."

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Republicans in Disarray, Ctd. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Republicans toiled on Tuesday to unite around a candidate for speaker but appeared no closer to consensus on the eve of an internal party contest that has highlighted their divisions and deep uncertainty in the House of Representatives. Emerging from an hourslong closed-door candidates' forum on Tuesday evening, several Republicans said they remained deadlocked as several competing factions had become dug in for their candidates. That paved the way for a potentially raucous and drawn-out G.O.P. election on Wednesday morning and suggested that the House might go without a new speaker for days as the party worked through its rifts. Asked what the chances were that the House would select a new speaker by Wednesday as scheduled, Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said: 'I'd put it at 2 percent.'" The AP's story is here.

Corky Siemaszko of NBC News: "Four of the former Ohio State University wrestlers who have accused Rep. Jim Jordan of failing to protect them from a sexual predator when he was the team's assistant coach in the 1980s and '90s said Tuesday he has no business being the next speaker of the House. 'Do you really want a guy in that job who chose not to stand up for his guys?' said former OSU wrestler Mike Schyck, one of the hundreds of former athletes and students who say they were sexually abused by school doctor Richard Strauss and have sued the university. 'Is that the kind of character trait you want for a House speaker?'"

Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed a significant array of new charges against Representative George Santos of New York, accusing him of new criminal schemes, including stealing the identities and credit cards of donors to his campaign. The new accusations were made in a 23-count superseding indictment that laid out how Mr. Santos had charged his donors' credit cards 'repeatedly, without their authorization,' distributing the money to his and other candidates' campaigns and to his own bank account. The new indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York added 10 charges against Mr. Santos: conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsifying records to obstruct the commission." Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Trials of Trump

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Tuesday to force ... Donald J. Trump to tell them months before he goes to trial on charges of seeking to overturn the 2020 election whether he intends to defend himself by blaming the stable of lawyers around him at the time for giving him poor legal advice. In a motion filed to the judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, the prosecutors sought an order that would compel Mr. Trump to tell them by Dec. 18 if he plans to pursue the blame-the-lawyers strategy -- known as an advice of counsel defense -- at his federal election interference trial.... Defendants who pursue advice of counsel arguments waive the shield of attorney-client privilege that would normally protect their dealings with their lawyers. And, as prosecutors reminded Judge Chutkan, if Mr. Trump heads in this direction, he would have to give them not only all of the 'communications or evidence' concerning the lawyers he plans to use as part of his defense, but also any 'otherwise-privileged communications' that might be used to undermine his claims."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post:"While arguing against the motion by [Donald] Trump's lawyers to delay the May 20 trial, special counsel Jack Smith's lawyers ... said they are ready to prove ... why Trump allegedly took and kept [classified] documents.... The government apparently thinks it knows 'what Trump intended' with the documents.... Smith's team has clearly shown an interest in whether Trump used the documents for his personal advantage." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Sisak & Jennifer Peltz of the AP: "Donald Trump signed a document 30 years ago that gave the true size of his New York penthouse which was later listed as far larger on financial statements, according to evidence Tuesday at the former president's civil business fraud trial. The evidence appeared in an email attachment shown as Allen Weisselberg, the former finance chief of Trump's company, testified in New York Attorney General Letitia James' fraud lawsuit against Trump and his Trump Organization. Trump denies any wrongdoing. The attachment was a 1994 document, signed by Trump, that pegged his Trump Tower triplex at 10,996 square feet -- not the 30,000 square feet later claimed for years on financial statements that were given to banks, insurers and others to make deals and secure loans.... [During testimony,] Weisselberg repeatedly said he couldn't remember whether he discussed the financial statements with Trump while they were being finalized. The ex-CFO said he reviewed drafts 'from a 30,000-foot level' ... but paid special attention to something 'very important' to Trump: the descriptions of his properties.... 'He might say, "Don't use the word 'beautiful' -- use the word 'magnificent,"' or something like that,' Weisselberg testified."

David Edwards of Crooks & Liars: "Donald Trump on Monday bragged that he had been indicted more times than mobster Al Capone.... 'This was a seriously tough mobster. He was the, I guess you'd call him the king of the mobsters, right? Al Capone only got indicted once. I got indicted four times in mine.'" MB: While it may be that Trump has more charges against him -- 91 -- than Capone had in total, Trump's claim that Capone was indicted only once is false. Capone's Wikipage list a number of arrests, indictments & a conviction before the feds hit him with 22 counts of tax evasion & with violation of prohibition laws. But how pathetic is it that a candidate for president* boasts that he's been charged with more crimes than was "the king of the mobsters."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has claimed in a lawsuit in a London court that Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, inflicted 'personal and reputational damage and distress' on him by leaking a dossier detailing unsavory, unproven accounts of links between him and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. Lawyers for Mr. Trump argue that Mr. Steele's firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, breached British data protection laws with the dossier, which triggered a political earthquake when it was published just before Mr. Trump's inauguration in 2017. The lawsuit, the first filed by Mr. Trump in Britain related to the dossier, could offer the former president more favorable legal terrain than the United States. Last year, a federal judge in Florida threw out his lawsuit claiming that Mr. Steele, as well as Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, was involved in a concerted plot to spread false information about Mr. Trump's ties to Russia." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "A judge in Fulton County, Georgia ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel to testify in a criminal case against Donald Trump. District Attorney Fani Willis ... filed a petition seeking testimony from Jones and McDaniel, which Judge Scott McAfee granted. He ruled that each is 'a necessary and material witness in this prosecution' and 'will be required to be in attendance and testify.'"

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Georgia prosecutors say a key Trump campaign legal adviser's memos -- which guided efforts to subvert the 2020 election despite ... Donald Trump's defeat -- cannot be shielded by attorney-client privilege because they were about politics, not law. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argued Tuesday that the memos by Ken Chesebro, one of 18 defendants charged alongside Trump in a sprawling racketeering conspiracy related to the 2020 election, were not about a litigation strategy or legal advice, which would typically be protected by confidentiality rules.... Willis' argument hewed closely to the rulings of a federal judge in California, who found that many of [John] Eastman's emails in the aftermath of the 2020 election were not subject to attorney-client privilege because of their political character -- or because they were shared with non-lawyers and lost their confidentiality. That judge, U.S. District Judge David Carter, also found that some of Eastman's emails would be disclosed to the House Jan. 6 select committee because they constituted evidence of a likely conspiracy between Eastman and Trump." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Clarence Thomas renewed his call on Tuesday for the Supreme Court to reconsider New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark 1964 ruling interpreting the First Amendment to make it more difficult for public officials to prevail in libel suits. Justice Thomas wrote that the decision had no basis in the Constitution as it was understood by the people who drafted and ratified it. He added, quoting an earlier opinion, that it 'comes at a heavy cost, allowing media organizations and interest groups "to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity."' Justice Thomas has been the subject of a series of news reports raising questions about whether he had violated ethics rules.... Justice Thomas's latest opinion came in a case brought by Don Blankenship, a former coal company executive and Senate candidate in West Virginia. He sued several news organizations for calling him a felon after he was convicted of conspiracy, a misdemeanor, in connection with the aftermath of a mine explosion." A related NBC News story, which concentrates on Blankenship's failed suit, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024. Still Crazy. Alex Tabet, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump has been insinuating for weeks that former President Barack Obama is secretly still in control of the White House. On Monday in New Hampshire, he explicitly said it. 'It's never been worse than it is now under crooked Joe Biden and, frankly his boss, Barack Hussein Obama,' Trump told a crowd of hundreds at a campaign stop. 'I think it's his boss.' It's not a new conspiracy theory: A 2020 video of Obama on late-night television circulated in conservative corners of the internet this fall, showing him deadpanning to late-night TV host Stephen Colbert that in an ideal world, he would have a stand-in with an earpiece so he could deliver lines and stay out of the spotlight."

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Alabama. Laura Clawson of Crooks & Liars: "A children's picture book called 'Read Me a Story, Stella' wa added to an Alabama library's list of potentially sexually explicit books in need of further review.... 'Stella' is a book about a sister and brother reading books and building a doghouse. But! The author's name is Marie-Louise Gay. And in Alabama in the year 2023, that is apparently enough to get your books flagged for further review.... No, really."

Arizona Senate Race. Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "Kari Lake announced her bid for Arizona Senate on Tuesday, entering the race for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's (I-Ariz.) seat as the heavy favorite for the GOP nomination. Lake, a Trump ally who has denied her loss in last year's Arizona governor's race, will face off against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb in the Republican primary. The announcement comes a week after Lake filed paperwork to run in the critical swing state.... Trump immediately endorsed Lake in the GOP primary in a video posted on his Truth Social platform.... Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is running on the Democratic side, while Sinema has stayed mum on any campaign plans."

Arkansas. Gov. Sarah Gets a Very Nice Lectern. Anna Betts of the New York Times: "Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas is facing some of the sharpest scrutiny of her early tenure after a public records request revealed that her office bought a lectern for $19,000 -- and a whistle-blower accused the office of altering records to cover up the spending. Late last month, it came to light that the state had purchased the lectern and an accompanying traveling case in June, paying $19,029.25 to Beckett Events LLC, an events management company with ties to Ms. Sanders.... The information was obtained by Matthew Campbell, a lawyer and blogger who had filed a broad public records request.... According to documents shared online by Mr. Campbell, the Republican Party of Arkansas reimbursed the state for the lectern with a $19,029.25 check dated Sept. 14, three months after the purchase. The reimbursement, according to Mr. Campbell, occurred several days after he filed the Freedom of Information Act request for the records, and a day before he received the state's response...."

North Carolina. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "North Carolina Republican lawmakers on Tuesday overrode the Democratic governor's veto of a bill that overhauls who runs elections and achieves a long-sought goal of the state's GOP. The legislation creates bipartisan boards that could deadlock on establishing early voting locations or certifying results in a state that may prove crucial in next year's presidential election. Democrats and election experts warn the changes risk creating dysfunction in 2024, with Gov. Roy Cooper saying they 'could doom our state's elections to gridlock and severely limit early voting.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the North Carolina Democratic Party on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Election immediately after a pair of GOP-backed election laws went into effect when the state legislature voted to override the Democratic governor's veto on Tuesday. The lawsuit challenges Senate Bill 747, which the plaintiffs claimed 'is designed to undermine the right to vote in North Carolina.'"

Wisconsin. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "Republican lawmakers ... appear to be easing off an effort to impeach a new liberal state Supreme Court justice who in her campaign promoted abortion rights and condemned gerrymandering. Shortly after Janet Protasiewicz was sworn into office in August, Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said he would consider impeaching her if she did not remove herself from a case challenging the state's legislative districts.... On Friday, Protasiewicz in a lengthy decision said she would not step aside in the case.... But rather than move ahead with impeachment proceedings, as threatened, Vos fell silent.... On Tuesday, documents were made public that showed a conservative former state Supreme Court justice tasked with advising Vos concluded that impeachment was not warranted.... State Sen. Duey Stroebel (R), one of the most conservative lawmakers in Wisconsin, told Milwaukee's CBS affiliate in remarks reported Tuesday that he opposed impeaching Protasiewicz, in part because Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) could replace her with someone else. Republicans hold 22 of the 33 seats in the state Senate -- exactly the number needed to remove an official who has been impeached by the State Assembly."

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Israel/Palestine

Jin Yu Young of the New York Times: "The first shipment of U.S. weapons arrived in Israel, and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is heading there to help assess the country's needs as flare-ups with Lebanon and Syria fuel fears of a broader conflict.... The scale of Saturday's attacks is coming into focus as the Israeli military enters towns in the south that were overrun by more than 1,500 Palestinian gunmen. As they clear the towns, evidence is emerging -- in the form of videos, photographs and witnesses accounts -- of the atrocities Hamas committed against civilians. Israel said the death toll there rose to 1,200. Israel intensified its retaliation, launching missiles at the Gaza Strip for a fifth day, in attacks that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top military leaders have said would be 'bigger than before and more severe.' More than 900 Palestinians have been killed." This is a liveblog.

The New York Times publishes videos documenting some of the bloodshed in Israel: "Hamas gunmen, hitting more than 20 sites in southern Israel, killed more than 1,000 people, including women and children, and abducted an estimated 150 more people. Officials from Israel, the United States, Europe and the United Nations have condemned the violence in the starkest terms, with the U.N. secretary general saying, 'Nothing can justify these acts of terror and the killing, maiming and abduction of civilians.'... They were killed waiting for the bus, dancing at a festival, doing morning chores and hiding as best they could. Searching bullet-riddled houses, streets and lawns, Israeli soldiers are still finding them.... The evidence emerging from Israeli sites near Gaza is being found by the authorities, emergency workers and survivors tentatively returning to their homes." MB: I had hoped the tales of atrocities were exaggerated. Apparently not.

CNN's liveblog of developments is here. The AP's live updates are here.

An Eye for an Eye. Josef Federman & Issan Adwan of the AP: "Israeli warplanes hammered the Gaza Strip neighborhood by neighborhood Tuesday, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety in the tiny, sealed-off territory now suffering severe retaliation for the deadly weekend attack by Hamas militants. Humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid into Gaza and warned that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded people were running out of supplies. Israel has stopped entry of food, fuel and medicines into Gaza, and the sole remaining access from Egypt shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing." ~~~

~~~ AND Jospeh Krauss & Wafaa Shurafa of the AP: "Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip struggled to find any safe area Wednesday, as Israeli strikes demolished entire neighborhoods, hospitals ran low on supplies and a power blackout was expected within hours, deepening the misery of a war sparked by a stunning and deadly assault by Hamas militants. Airstrikes smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris. The bombardment raged on even though militants are holding an estimated 150 people snatched from Israel -- soldiers, men, women, children and older adults."

Aamer Madhani, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned the militant group Hamas for 'sheer evil' for its shocking multipronged attack on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip that has killed hundreds of civilians, including at least 14 American citizens. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation on the ground." The Washington Post story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump and Jared Kushner drafted a so-called peace plan that at least one expert claims actually enabled the terrorist attacks in Israel over the weekend. University of Illinois international relations professor Nicholas Grossman wrote for the Daily Beast Tuesday that the Abraham Accords led to false hopes, ignored the Palestinians and let Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu run roughshod over the whole process.... 'Claims that 'Trump brought peace to the Middle East' are almost an inversion of reality. He shifted U.S. policy fully in Israel's favor -- reducing support for the Palestinians and treating their quest for statehood as something that could be ignored -- and shaped the regional context by heightening confrontation with Iran without strategic benefit,' [Grossman wrote].... Trump gave Israel everything it wanted without getting anything in return."

Jodi Rudoren of the Forward: "The failure of Israeli -- and U.S. -- intelligence to detect plans for this unprecedented, coordinated assault, and Israel's inadequate response in the first 36 hours afterward, will rightly be the subject of investigatory commissions and commentary for months to come. The most plausible explanation I have heard so far is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government took its eye off the ball, moving thousands of troops from the Gaza Command to protect Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, and focusing far too much energy on suppressing pro-democracy protests rather than thwarting actual threats.... The horrific acts of terror these militants filmed themselves carrying out are every bit as bad as their fiercest critics ever described. Our empathy for individual Palestinians in Gaza, our support for Palestinian national sovereignty, must never obscure the cold truth of Hamas militants: They are hateful, antisemitic terrorists who want to wipe Israel from the map.... Israel and her allies have to find a way to crush Hamas -- and to make peace with the Palestinians."

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.

U.N./Russia. Emma Farge & Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber of Reuters: "Russia failed in its bid to return to the United Nations' top human rights body on Tuesday, with rivals winning considerably more votes at the General Assembly in an election seen as a key test of Western efforts to keep Moscow isolated. In the secret ballot, Russia won 83 votes versus 160 for Bulgaria and 123 for Albania, which had competed against it in the same eastern Europe grouping for two seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for a three-year term beginning on Jan. 1.... A U.N.-mandated investigative body said in March that Russia had committed a wide range of war crimes in Ukraine such as wilful killings, torture and the deportation of children." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Conversation -- October 10, 2023

** Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed a significant array of new charges against Representative George Santos of New York, accusing him of new criminal schemes, including stealing the identities and credit cards of donors to his campaign. The new accusations were made in a 23-count superseding indictment that laid out how Mr. Santos had charged his donors' credit cards 'repeatedly, without their authorization,' distributing the money to his and other candidates' campaigns and to his own bank account. The new indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York added 10 charges against Mr. Santos: conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsifying records to obstruct the commission." Politico's story is here.

Aamer Madhani, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned the militant group Hamas for 'sheer evil' for its shocking multipronged attack on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip that has killed hundreds of civilians, including at least 14 American citizens. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation on the ground." The Washington Post story is here.

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Georgia prosecutors say a key Trump campaign legal adviser's memos -- which guided efforts to subvert the 2020 election despite ... Donald Trump's defeat -- cannot be shielded by attorney-client privilege because they were about politics, not law. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argued Tuesday that the memos by Ken Chesebro, one of 18 defendants charged alongside Trump in a sprawling racketeering conspiracy related to the 2020 election, were not about a litigation strategy or legal advice, which would typically be protected by confidentiality rules.... Willis' argument hewed closely to the rulings of a federal judge in California, who found that many of [John] Eastman's emails in the aftermath of the 2020 election were not subject to attorney-client privilege because of their political character -- or because they were shared with non-lawyers and lost their confidentiality. That judge, U.S. District Judge David Carter, also found that some of Eastman's emails would be disclosed to the House Jan. 6 select committee because they constituted evidence of a likely conspiracy between Eastman and Trump."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "While arguing against the motion by [Donald] Trump's lawyers to delay the May 20 trial, special counsel Jack Smith's lawyers ... said they are ready to prove ... why Trump allegedly took and kept [classified] documents.... The government apparently thinks it knows 'what Trump intended' with the documents.... Smith's team has clearly shown an interest in whether Trump used the documents for his personal advantage."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has claimed in a lawsuit in a London court that Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, inflicted 'personal and reputational damage and distress' on him by leaking a dossier detailing unsavory, unproven accounts of links between him and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. Lawyers for Mr. Trump argue that Mr. Steele's firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, breached British data protection laws with the dossier, which triggered a political earthquake when it was published just before Mr. Trump's inauguration in 2017. The lawsuit, the first filed by Mr. Trump in Britain related to the dossier, could offer the former president more favorable legal terrain than the United States. Last year, a federal judge in Florida threw out his lawsuit claiming that Mr. Steele, as well as Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, was involved in a concerted plot to spread false information about Mr. Trump's ties to Russia.' ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice Clarence Thomas renewed his call on Tuesday for the Supreme Court to reconsider New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark 1964 ruling interpreting the First Amendment to make it more difficult for public officials to prevail in libel suits. Justice Thomas wrote that the decision had no basis in the Constitution as it was understood by the people who drafted and ratified it. He added, quoting an earlier opinion, that it 'comes at a heavy cost, allowing media organizations and interest groups "to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity."' Justice Thomas has been the subject of a series of news reports raising questions about whether he had violated ethics rules.... Justice Thomas's latest opinion came in a case brought by Don Blankenship, a former coal company executive and Senate candidate in West Virginia. He sued several news organizations for calling him a felon after he was convicted of conspiracy, a misdemeanor, in connection with the aftermath of a mine explosion." A related NBC News story, which concentrates on Blankenship's failed suit, is here.

North Carolina. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "North Carolina Republican lawmakers on Tuesday overrode the Democratic governor's veto of a bill that overhauls who runs elections and achieves a long-sought goal of the state's GOP. The legislation creates bipartisan boards that could deadlock on establishing early voting locations or certifying results in a state that may prove crucial in next year's presidential election. Democrats and election experts warn the changes risk creating dysfunction in 2024, with Gov. Roy Cooper saying they 'could doom our state's elections to gridlock and severely limit early voting.'"

Emma Farge & Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber of Reuters: "Russia failed in its bid to return to the United Nations' top human rights body on Tuesday, with rivals winning considerably more votes at the General Assembly in an election seen as a key test of Western efforts to keep Moscow isolated. In the secret ballot, Russia won 83 votes versus 160 for Bulgaria and 123 for Albania, which had competed against it in the same eastern Europe grouping for two seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for a three-year term beginning on Jan. 1.... A U.N.-mandated investigative body said in March that Russia had committed a wide range of war crimes in Ukraine such as wilful killings, torture and the deportation of children."

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Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Biden met over the past two days with Robert K. Hur, the special counsel investigating how classified documents improperly ended up at Mr. Biden's home and an office he used after leaving the vice presidency, the White House disclosed on Monday. 'The voluntary interview was conducted at the White House over two days, Sunday and Monday, and concluded Monday,' Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, said in a statement.... The interview raises the possibility that Mr. Hur is nearing the end of his investigation, which the Justice Department began after Mr. Biden's lawyers reported that they had found several classified documents mixed in with other papers in a storage closet while packing up an office at a Washington think tank, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement." Read on. Savage contrasts President Biden's cooperation with a special counsel to Trump's obstruction of everybody. CNN's report is here.

Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House is considering a move to attach Ukraine funding to a request for urgent aid to Israel, according to several people familiar with the deliberations, in the hopes that such a pairing would increase the chance that Congress would approve aid to Kyiv despite growing opposition from House Republicans. No final decisions have been made on whether to link the requests.... One ... [White House official] said such a move could make sense because it 'jams the far right,' which is firmly opposed to more Ukraine aid but strongly supportive of aid to Israel." The NBC News story is here.

Republicans in Disarray, Ctd. Marianna Sotomayor & Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "House Republicans are settling in for what many expect to be a drawn-out and contentious fight for the speaker's gavel this week, with simmering internal conflicts muddying the path forward for the two declared candidates.... Republicans returned to the Capitol on Monday under increased pressure to coalesce around a leader so that the House can begin work to provide aid to Israel.... Republican lawmakers met Monday evening to discuss the week ahead and air lingering grievances from last week's upheaval. It was a relatively staid meeting, according to lawmakers in attendance, but there was no clear consensus on the timing for choosing a leader. Republicans will hold a candidate forum Tuesday and internal votes to nominate a speaker starting Wednesday morning." CNN's report, by Manu Raju & others, is here. A Politico report is here. ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy floated the possibility on Monday that he might be open to reclaiming the post from which he was ousted less than a week ago, even as two other Republicans vied to replace him in a contest that has highlighted the party's deep divisions. With the House rudderless and paralyzed following Mr. McCarthy's removal last week, the California Republican worked to project normalcy and leadership in the face of the war unfolding in Israel.... He summoned reporters to the Capitol to lay out a plan to defend Israel and rescue American captives. The appearance had all the trappings of the job he just lost; Mr. McCarthy spoke from behind a podium in the Rayburn Room, where the speaker often holds official ceremonies, and used the language of a party leader during a crisis."

David Pierson & Vivian Wang of the New York Times: "China's top leader, Xi Jinping, met with Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, in Beijing on Monday and expressed hopes of 'peaceful coexistence' between China and the United States, even as escalating violence in the Middle East threatens to deepen a wedge between the two powers.... Mr. Xi's amicable tone is likely to increase expectations that he will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in San Francisco in November and meet with President Biden. Doing so would cap a tumultuous year for U.S.-China relations that reached a low in February after the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the United States."

Smith Alleges Trump Team Is Lying Again. Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "Special counsel Jack Smith urged the federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago willful retention of classified information prosecution to reject 'distorted and exaggerated' arguments about access to classified discovery and deny the former president's bid to push the case past the 2024 election. In the Monday filing, Smith said that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, should deny the bid to delay trial until after the election just as she did months before when setting trial for May 20, 2024.... 'To be sure, the extreme sensitivity of the special measures documents that Trump illegally retained at Mar-a-Lago presents logistical issues unique to this case,' the special counsel said in one part of his opposition to the Trump-requested trial adjournment. 'But the defendants' allegations that those logistical impediments are the fault of the SCO are wrong.'"

Jonathan O'Connell & Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "... documents [prepared by New York Attorney General Letitia James] show how accounting, banking and real estate experts repeatedly informed [Donald] Trump how much his properties and businesses were really worth. But over and over again, the documents reveal that Trump, his adult sons and top executives allegedly ignored or sidelined those experts, exchanging their figures for numbers from another source: Trump's own intuition.... The civil trial against Trump's business that on Tuesday enters its second week threatens to reveal the internal workings of Trump's business in never-before-revealed detail.... A Forbes journalist asked him that year why he cared so much -- why had he gone to such great lengths to inflate his wealth? 'It was good for financing,' Trump said. Therein lies the crux of James's case: that Trump used his inflated financial statements to obtain preferential treatment from banks and insurers, conduct that she argues violates state law due to its 'capacity or tendency to deceive, or creates an atmosphere conductive to fraud.'" ~~~

~~~ Michael Sisak of the AP: "As Donald Trump's longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg helped spare the former president's real estate empire from its last existential threat, staving off insolvency after casino bankruptcies and an airline failure in the 1990s. Now, after a recent jail stint for tax fraud, Weisselberg is front and center again -- set to testify Tuesday in the civil trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James' fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company, the Trump Organization. Weisselberg, also a defendant in the lawsuit, is expected to testify about his role in preparing Trump's annual financial statements -- including conversations they had while finalizing the documents, which were given to banks, insurers and others to make deals and secure loans.

Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post, reprinted in Yahoo! News: "... on Monday..., [Donald Trump] found time to rant about Forbes omitting him from its list of the nation's 400 richest people last week. The 'very badly failing, Forbes "Magazine," which lost most of its relevance long ago, and which knows less about me than Stormy Daniels (who doesn't know me at all!) or Rosie O'Donnell, took me off their Fake Forbes 400 list, just by a "whisker," even though they know that I should be high up on that now very dated and discredited "antique'"' Trump wrote on Truth Social. The ex-president worked in attacks on New York Attorney General Letitia James, accused Forbes of participating in 'the Election Interference Scam.'..."

Presidential Race 2024

Bobby's Vanity Project, Ctd. Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "In a move that could alter the dynamics of the 2024 election, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday that he would continue his presidential run as an independent candidate, ending his long-shot pursuit of the Democratic nomination against an incumbent president. Speaking to a crowd of supporters outside the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Mr. Kennedy, a leading vaccine skeptic and purveyor of conspiracy theories, said he represented 'a populist movement that defies left-right division.... 'The Democrats are frightened that I'm going to spoil the election for President Biden, and the Republicans are frightened that I'm going to spoil it for Trump,' he said. 'The truth is, they're both right. My intention is to spoil it for both of them.'" CNN's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s pivot Monday to an independent run for president met immediate resistance from Republican leaders, who have concluded that his new effort threatens to cannibalize their vote share next year, helping to reelect President Biden. The Republican National Committee greeted his announcement with a press release that described Kennedy as 'just another radical, far-left Democrat,' with a number of talking points that could be used by the expansive network of conservative commentators who tend to take messaging cues from the party." An AP story is here.

Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Will Hurd, a Republican former congressman from Texas who was once seen as a rising star in the G.O.P., announced on Monday that he would suspend his campaign for president. He endorsed Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and governor of South Carolina."

Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "Nearly 4,000 members of the United Automobile Workers union went on strike against Mack Trucks on Monday after rejecting a tentative contract that union's leaders had worked out with the company. The union informed the truck maker on Sunday that members had opposed the contract by a 73 percent vote, and that a strike would begin at Mack's factories in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida."

Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Thousands of Walgreens pharmacy staff across the country are walking off work this week, alleging that poor working conditions are putting employees and patients at risk. The walkout could impact hundreds of stores starting Monday and going through Wednesday.... Pharmacists, technicians and support staff claim that increased demands on understaffed teams -- such as administering vaccines while battling hundreds of backlogged prescriptions -- have become untenable and are impeding their ability to do their jobs responsibly."

John Koblin of the New York Times: "Hollywood film and TV writers voted overwhelmingly to approve a new three-year contract with the major entertainment studios, the Writers Guild of America said on Monday, formally bringing to a close a bitter five-month labor dispute. During the one-week voting period, more than 8,500 writers submitted ballots, and the contract was ratified with 99 percent of the vote, according to the Writers Guild, which represents more than 11,000 screenwriters."

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Vermont. A Battery in Every Garage. Ivan Penn of the New York Times: "... a Vermont utility ... wants to install batteries at most homes to make sure its customers never go without electricity. The company, Green Mountain Power, proposed buying batteries, burying power lines and strengthening overhead cables in a filing with state regulators on Monday. It said its plan would be cheaper than building a lot of new lines and power plants. The plan is a big departure from how U.S. utilities normally do business. Most of them make money by building and operating power lines that deliver electricity from natural gas power plants or wind and solar farms to homes and businesses. Green Mountain -- a relatively small utility serving 270,000 homes and businesses -- would still use that infrastructure but build less of it by investing in television-size batteries that homeowners usually buy on their own.... Green Mountain's plan builds on a program it has run since 2015 to lease Tesla home batteries to customers."

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Israel/Palestine

Patrick Kingsley & Jin Yu Young of the New York Times: "Israel regained control over the towns near Gaza after days of fighting gunmen who had rushed across the border facing little resistance, the country's military said Tuesday morning.... The military is preparing for the next phase of the war, mobilizing 360,000 reservists, the most ever, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military officials say they will now focus on destroying Hamas.... Facing one of the gravest crises in its history, Israel is turning to the United States for more weapons, asking for precision-guided munitions for combat aircraft and interceptors for its Iron Dome missile defense system." This is the top, pinned article of a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ The AP's live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here.

Arlette Saenz, et al., of CNN: “Eleven US citizens have died in the conflict in Israel, President Joe Biden said Monday, and an unknown number remain missing. 'As we continue to account for the horrors of the appalling terrorist assault against Israel this weekend and the hundreds of innocent civilians who were murdered, we are seeing the immense scale and reach of this tragedy,' Biden said in a statement. 'Sadly, we now know that at least 11 American citizens were among those killed -- many of whom made a second home in Israel.' It is 'likely,' Biden said, that American citizens may be among those being held hostage by Hamas, and that his administration is working with Israeli officials on 'every aspect of the hostage crisis.' Biden also noted that there are American citizens whose whereabouts remain unaccounted for. 'This is not some distant tragedy. The ties between Israel and the United States run deep,' he said. 'It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack as well as the scars inflicted through millennia of antisemitism and persecution of Jewish people.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story is here. President Biden's full statement, via the White House, is here.

President Biden also released a joint statement with President Macron of France, Chancellor Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Meloni of Italy & Prime Minister Sunak of the U.K., "express[ing] our steadfast and united support to the State of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism." Via the White House. President Biden will speak about the attacks at 1:00 pm ET today.

Monica Alba, et al., of NBC News: "The White House has been working urgently in the past 24 hours to get a Senate confirmation process in motion for President Joe Biden's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, according to two White House officials. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is now expected to hold a confirmation hearing for Jack Lew, a former Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff during the Obama administration, as early as Oct. 18, according to three people familiar with the plans. Biden nominated Lew more than a month ago. The Senate is not in session this week. But the White House officials said they hope lawmakers in both parties will agree with the president on the need to quickly confirm Lew amid the war between Israel and Hamas."

Joby Warrick, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Palestinian militants behind the surprise weekend attack on Israel began planning the assault at least a year ago, with key support from Iranian allies who provided military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons, current and former Western and Middle Eastern intelligence officials said Monday. While Iran's precise role in Saturday's violence remained unclear, the officials said, the assault reflected Tehran's years-long ambition to surround Israel with legions of paramilitary fighters armed with increasingly sophisticated weapons systems capable of striking deep inside the Jewish state. Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian militant organization that led the attack, has historically maintained a degree of independence from Tehran compared with true Iranian proxy groups such as the Lebanese-based Hezbollah. But in recent years, Hamas has benefited from massive infusions of Iranian cash as well as technical help for manufacturing rockets and drones with advanced guidance systems, in addition to training in military tactics -- some of which occurred in camps outside Gaza, the officials said."

David Gilbert of Wired: "While all major world events are now accompanied almost instantly by a deluge of disinformation aimed at controlling the narrative, the scale and speed at which disinformation was being seeded about the Israel-Hamas conflict is unprecedented -- particularly on X.... Rather than being shown verified and fact-checked information, X users were presented with video game footage passed off as footage of a Hamas attack and images of firework celebrations in Algeria presented as Israeli strikes on Hamas. There were faked pictures of soccer superstar Ronaldo holding the Palestinian flag, while a three-year-old video from the Syrian civil war repurposed to look like it was taken this weekend.... While some later featured a note from X's decimated community fact-checking system, many more remained untouched. And as Elon Musk has repeatedly done in recent incidents, the platform's CEO made the situation much worse.... The accounts Musk referenced [as 'good' sources] are well-known spreaders of disinformation.... Musk deleted his recommendation soon after posting it, but not before it was viewed over 11 million times." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I am still mystified as to why anyone would trust any social media outlets as news sources.