The Conversation -- September 30, 2023

No Way to Run a Government. Carl Hulse & Catie Edmonson of the New York Times: "Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown on Saturday as the House, in a stunning turnabout, approved a stopgap plan to keep the federal government open until mid-November. After Senate passage, President Biden signed the bill shortly before midnight.... A coalition of House Democrats and Republicans voted to pass a plan that would keep money flowing to government agencies and provide billions of dollars for disaster recovery efforts.... The measure was approved on a vote of 335 to 91, with 209 Democrats and 126 Republicans voting in favor and 90 Republicans and one Democrat in opposition.... The House adjourned immediately after the vote, leaving the Senate to either take up the legislation or face blame for a shutdown, since there was no way for the House to consider additional legislation before Monday. With little alternative, and Senate Republicans clamoring for the House bill, the Senate jettisoned its own stopgap measure that contained $6 billion for Ukraine and approved the House version on an 88 to 9 vote.... In a statement after Senate passage of the bill, Mr. Biden called it 'good news for the American people.' He added, 'I fully expect the speaker will keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment.'"

~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the GOP-engineered government shutdown crisis: Here's the latest at about 12:30 pm ET Saturday: "With their own members standing in the way of a stopgap measure to keep federal funding flowing, House Republican leaders did what they have been avoiding for weeks, turning to Democrats for help passing a temporary bill. At midday on Saturday, they hastily brought up a measure that would keep government funding flowing for 45 days and include disaster relief aid -- but no money for Ukraine.... The maneuver House Republicans were using -- which requires a two-third majority for passage -- would require a significant bloc of Democrats, who have strongly supported sending additional aid to Ukraine, to join with Republicans. The strategy was a final effort by [Speaker Kevin] McCarthy to show that Republicans were making an effort to keep the government open, just hours away from a shutdown. But Democrats, frustrated at being asked to support a speedily written measure they had not had a chance to read, were using parliamentary tactics to slow down the vote, and most had yet to state a position." MB: Leaving out Ukraine funding indicates My Kevin is still playing games. ~~~

~~~ Update @ about 4:10 pm ET: "In a stunning turnabout, the House on Saturday approved a stopgap plan to avert a government shutdown that was less than 12 hours away as a coalition of Republicans and Democrats backed a last-ditch proposal hastily put forward by Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The measure, which the Senate is expected to vote on this evening, would keep money flowing to government agencies through mid-November and provide billions of dollars for disaster recovery efforts. But it did not include money for Ukraine, a major sticking point for Democrats in the House and Senate. In the end, however, the Democrats supported the bill."~~~

~~~ Update @ about 6:55 pm ET: "Senate consideration of the stopgap bill that was passed by the House is being delayed by Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, his colleagues say. Bennet reportedly wants a promise of quick consideration of aid to Ukraine. Senators say the leadership is working on a written commitment. But a long delay could trigger a shutdown if the Senate doesn't act by midnight."

     ~~~ Here's CNN's liveblog. At about 12:15 pm ET: "House Democrats are not going to vote on the GOP's proposed 45-day short-term spending bill right away. They are trying to buy time to read the bill and figure out a game plan.... [AND] White House officials are currently consulting with House Democrats on the 45-day short-term spending bill that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has proposed...." ~~~

~~~ Update @ about 4:10 pm ET: "House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries celebrated the passing of the House stopgap spending bill that could avert a government shutdown hours before the deadline.... The bill must now pass the Senate, which is narrowly controlled by Democrats." ~~~

~~~ Update @ about 6:35 pm ET: "Senate leaders are trying to resolve an objection from Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado to reach a final vote tonight on a stopgap bill to keep the government open, according to two sources. Scheduling a vote requires consent of all 100 members."

** Maureen Dowd of the New York Times remembers Dianne Feinstein.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kayla Tausche, et al., of CNN: "President Joe Biden is expected to convene his Cabinet early next week to discuss continuity of government after a potential shutdown begins Sunday, four administration officials familiar with the plans told CNN. The meeting will be in person at the White House, one of the sources said. Biden will stay in Washington, DC, over the weekend and keep in close touch with his legislative affairs team, getting updates on any shutdown negotiations on Capitol Hill. He has no public events on his schedule Saturday, in the final hours before the government runs out of money, or Sunday."

John Harwood in ProPublica: "President Joe Biden said in an interview on Friday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had made a 'terrible bargain' and that 'in order to keep the speakership, he's willing to do things that he, I think, he knows are inconsistent with the constitutional processes.' Asked about the looming government shutdown, and the impeachment inquiry that McCarthy agreed to authorize in the hopes of keeping right-wing Republicans from ousting him from his post as speaker, Biden criticized the role of a 'group of MAGA Republicans who genuinely want to have a fundamental change in the way that the system works. And that's what worries me the most.' He marveled that ... Donald Trump had described himself in a recent speech as 'retribution' on behalf of his supporters, and that Republicans 'seem to be encouraging it.' The comments came as part of a wide-ranging interview with ProPublica contributor John Harwood that will be published Sunday morning. In it, Biden discussed everything from what he portrayed as looming threats to democracy, including his views of the roles played by Fox News and Elon Musk, to his concerns about the need for ethics reform on the Supreme Court."

Seung Min Kim, et al., of the AP: In Arizona Thursday, President Biden said that 'there is no question that today's Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA extremists.' He pointed to [Donald] Trump's recent suggestion that Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is stepping down from his post on Friday, should be executed for allegedly treasonous betrayal of him. 'Although I don't believe even a majority of Republicans think that, the silence is deafening,' Biden added. He also noted that Trump has previously questioned those who serve in the U.S. military calling 'service members suckers and losers. Was John [McCain] a sucker?' Biden asked...." Also linked yesterday.) More on President Biden's remarks in Arizona linked yesterday. ~~~

~~~ Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff of the Washington Post: "Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman who clashed with ... Donald Trump but found new footing under President Biden, reiterated in his retirement speech Friday that the U.S. military is loyal to the Constitution above anything or anyone else. 'We don't take an oath to a king, or a queen, to a tyrant or dictator or wannabe dictator,' Milley said in an apparent reference to Trump. He added that troops did not risk their lives to watch 'this great experiment in democracy perish.' Milley stepped aside Friday as his successor, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., was sworn in to the top military post in front of military personnel at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia on a day filled with ceremonial traditions."

Catie Edmonson, et al., of the New York Times: "Hard-line conservatives on Friday tanked Speaker Kevin McCarthy's long-shot bid to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown, in an extraordinary display of defiance that made it clear that Congress would almost certainly miss a midnight deadline on Saturday to keep federal funding flowing.... And the measure -- which would slash spending and impose severe immigration restrictions -- never had a chance of preventing a shutdown, since it was regarded as a nonstarter in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But Mr. McCarthy, bracing for political blowback for a government closure, had scheduled it anyway in hopes of showing he was trying to avoid the crisis. And the decision by right-wing lawmakers to effectively blow up his one final effort to seize some political leverage in the shutdown fight dealt the speaker a stinging defeat while leaving politically vulnerable Republicans fuming." The Hill's story, also linked yesterday, is here.

Christina Wilkie & Emma Kinnery of CNBC: "House Republican leaders Friday canceled a planned two-week recess as a government shutdown appeared more likely after they failed to pass a short-term spending bill with fewer than two days left to avoid the shutdown. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, informed the GOP caucus of the canceled break at a closed-door meeting after more than 20 Republicans embarrassed him by voting with Democrats to defeat the bill." MB: So sorry they have to work over the weekend. But at least they're paying themselves, even if they're stiffing most federal employees and contract workers.

Marie: Earlier this week, I linked to a report that said national parks would probably stay open during the latest GOP shutdown but not provide facilities like, say, restrooms. That has changed: ~~~

     ~~~ Beware of the Bears! Andrea Sachs & Sofia Andrade of the Washington Post: "The majority of national parks will close to the public if lawmakers are unable to reach a deal on government spending ahead of a deadline at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, the Interior Department announced Friday. The National Park Service oversees 425 sites, and each one will be affected under Interior's contingency plan. Parks with admission gates or fee booths, such as Acadia National Park and Shenandoah National Park, will be locked up. Attractions with open entry points, such as the Great Smoky Mountains and the National Mall, will be accessible but with minimal to no services. Visitor centers and restrooms will be shuttered, and educational programs will be suspended. Trash will not always be collected. Information on road or trail conditions will not be updated, and park websites and social media accounts will go dormant. Nearly 13,000 employees could be furloughed, representing 68 percent of the agency's workforce. That includes the staff members monitoring the brown bears featured in Alaska's Fat Bear Week contest."

Who Knew Matt Gaetz Was so Bipartisany (Even as He [Falsely] Denies It)? Olivia Beavers, et al., of Politico: "Matt Gaetz is privately courting some House Democrats to help him oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership. The Florida Republican, who is threatening to force a vote on booting McCarthy if he works with Democrats to avoid a shutdown, approached multiple Democrats on the floor late Thursday night to discuss how they would vote on a possible vote of no confidence against McCarthy. Among the Democrats he spoke to: Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).... Gaetz denied talking to Democrats about such an effort.... [One] Republican expressed the hope that the House Ethics Committee's investigation into Gaetz will end with a finding that can allow his party to 'kick his ass back to Florida.'"

Marie: Yesterday I linked to a piece by Mona Charen of the Bulwark who argued that fear of Trump was driving most Republican members of Congress to embrace him. Then contributor RAS provided this excellent proof of Charen's point. (I'll admit that in many cases, Republican's reactions to Rep. Greg Casar's [D-Texas] challenge here are nothing but dimwitted tribalism, but I'm sure some of them are fearful for their careers, if not their families' lives):

Question: Are Hunter and Trump both subject to the law?

Democrats: 👍
Republicans: 😬 pic.twitter.com/b6HPyTpqrO

— Congressman Greg Casar (@RepCasar) September 28, 2023

Marie: Yeah, that's the story here. But how is the disastrous hearing playing on Fox? ~~~

     ~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "By most objective accounts, [the House Oversight Committee's opening impeachment hearing] was not a huge success for the GOP, featuring witnesses who by their own admission couldn't provide any evidence incriminating [President] Biden and who were loath to state that such evidence existed.... [Yet Fox 'News' viewers would conclude] the hearing was just dandy. Anyone tuning in to Sean Hannity's prime time Fox News program, for example, learned that Republicans executed a precision strike on the sitting president, offering up evidence that only a buffoon or a hack could deny. This presentation was made easier by Hannity's playing host to the three Republicans leading the impeachment push -- each of whom offered false, baseless or debunked claims to which the Fox News host offered absolutely no pushback." Read on. The chairmen's assertions were bald-faced lies and misdirection. "But what else can we do but sit here outside of it," Bump asks,"attempting to convey reality like we're dropping leaflets into North Korea?"

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senator Dianne Feinstein, the trailblazing Democratic power broker who served in the Senate for 30 years, died on Thursday night, according to a family member." Update: The page has been converted to a liveblog of reactions to Sen. Feinstein's death. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Sen. Feinstein's New York Times obituary is here. NBC News' obituary is here; thanks to Forrest M. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Sahil Kapur & Frank Thorp of NBC News: "Top Republican senators said Friday they won't try to prevent Democrats from replacing the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on the Judiciary Committee after the vacancy left Democrats without a majority on the key panel. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told NBC News that 'there's no doubt in my mind' Democrats will be able to fill her spot on the panel once there is a successor appointed to her Senate seat. Feinstein's death means the key panel that processes President Joe Biden's judicial nominees is now split evenly, 10 to 10, between Democrats and Republicans. A tie vote means a nominee fails to advance out of committee...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Maeve Reston & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death cast an immediate spotlight Friday on California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is navigating a politically fraught decision with far-reaching implications both for his state and his future as he considers who[m] to appoint as her replacement. The Democratic governor plans to appoint a Black woman to the seat -- hewing to the promise he made in 2021 after he replaced then-Sen. Kamala D. Harris with Alex Padilla, who became the state's first Latino senator. But with no Black women in the U.S. Senate, Newsom has angered some liberal voters and activists by stating before Feinstein died that his choice will be an 'interim appointment,' which was interpreted by many as naming someone as a placeholder through January 2025 when Feinstein was slated to retire. A swift decision could help circumvent the intense lobbying effort that is already building among some on the left to convince Newsom to dispense with any reelection conditions and choose Rep. Barbara Lee, a Black woman who is running for the seat in 2024. The Oakland Democrat and her competitors, fellow Democratic Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Katie Porter, all declined Friday to comment on the political machinations in deference to Feinstein's passing." Politico's story is here.

Michael Crowley & Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "Before stepping aside as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after his indictment on federal corruption charges last week, [Sen. Robert] Menendez [D-N.J.] routinely opposed and even criticized President Biden -- and the previous Democrat in the White House, Barack Obama -- on foreign policy issues.... His replacement as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Ben Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, has been vague about his plans but is closer personally to Mr. Biden and likely to be more accommodating of his agenda.... '[Menendez] has used the chairmanship of that committee as a venue for intimidation and retribution to raise the cost of doing anything he doesn't like,' said [Benjamin] Rhodes, [a deputy national security advisor in the Obama administration,] pointing to the control Mr. Menendez has had over whether and when presidential nominees for diplomatic posts would receive hearings in his committee."

Trump Crime Family Trials

Josh Gerstein, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump plans to show up in person for at least the first week of a civil trial set to open in New York on Monday in which he and his business empire are accused of persistent fraud, according to court filings. Trump's plan, disclosed by his lawyers in a separate case, sets up the potential of a tense showdown with Justice Arthur Engoron, the Manhattan judge who is overseeing New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit aimed at dismantling Trump's businesses. Trump has repeatedly insulted Engoron on social media. 'I have a Deranged, Trump Hating Judge, who RAILROADED this FAKE CASE through a NYS Court at a speed never before seen,' Trump wrote in recent days on his social media platform." MB: Maybe he wants to stay in his 33,000 sq. ft. 11,000 sq. ft. Trump Tower penthouse for the last time before a receiver takes control of it.

Wherein contributor Forrest M. discovers that you can prove a negative (well, in a manner of speaking): ~~~

No other criminal defendant would be permitted to issue public statements insinuating that a known witness in his case should be executed. This defendant should not be, either. -- Prosecutor Molly Gaston, in a court filing ~~~

~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors on Friday reasserted the need to impose a gag order on ... Donald J. Trump in the case accusing him of seeking to overturn the 2020 election. They said that even after they first asked a judge three weeks ago to limit his remarks, Mr. Trump has continued to wage 'a sustained campaign of prejudicial public statements' against witnesses, prosecutors and others. The prosecutors cited several threatening statements that Mr. Trump made since they initially asked Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the election interference case in Federal District Court in Washington, to impose the gag order.... Prosecutors said in their filing on Friday night, Mr. Trump has continued to attack potential witnesses in the case like former Vice President Mike Pence -- who, Mr. Trump wrote online, had lied about him and had gone to the 'Dark Side.'... Moreover, prosecutors cited a menacing message that Mr. Trump posted on his social media site last week about Gen. Mark A. Milley..., suggest[ing] that [Milley] had committed treason and that in the past he might have faced execution....

"In their filing, the prosecutors ... [said] Mr. Trump may have violated the terms of his release in the election interference case by suggesting that he might have purchased a firearm on Monday during a campaign stop at a gun store in Summerville, S.C. That day, prosecutors noted, Mr. Trump's spokesman posted a video online of the former president handling a Glock pistol at the store. The spokesman said in the post that Mr. Trump had purchased it, but aides quickly denied that he had actually done so. In the government's filing, Ms. Gaston said Mr. Trump had 'either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release or seeks to benefit from his supporters' mistaken belief that he did so.'" Politico's report is here. The Hill's report is here.

** First Flip. And Then There Were 18. Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "One of the 19 defendants in a Georgia racketeering case against ... Donald J. Trump and his allies pleaded guilty on Friday to five misdemeanor charges, under a deal with prosecutors in which he would receive five years of probation. The guilty plea of Scott Hall, 59, a Georgia bail bondsman, was a significant victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, who secured an agreement from Mr. Hall to testify against other defendants.... Appearing in a Fulton County courtroom on Friday afternoon, Mr. Hall ... pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of intentional interference with performance of election duties. Under the terms of the deal, Mr. Hall is to pay a $5,000 fine, surrender his firearms carry license, perform 200 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the people of Georgia. He is not to participate in any activities related to the administration of elections, and he agreed to testify truthfully in all further proceedings in the case." The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "A federal judge on Friday denied a request from Jeffrey Clark, the former Trump justice department official, to transfer from state to federal court his criminal case for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, saying he had failed to prove he had been acting within the scope of his official duties. The ruling from the US district judge Steven Jones, which came a day after Donald Trump decided against making a similar request, means Clark will be tried in Fulton county superior court -- with its mainly Democratic jury pool -- unless the ruling is overturned by the 11th circuit appeals court." The article cites Jones' reasons for rejecting Clark's specific arguments. (Also linked yesterday.)

Glenn Thrush & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "A contractor for the Internal Revenue Service has been charged with leaking tax return information from a senior government official and wealthy taxpayers to two news organizations, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Washington on Friday. Charles Edward Littlejohn, who worked as a contractor for the tax agency from 2017 to 2021, was accused of stealing tax returns and other information of a 'Public Official A and thousands of the nation's wealthiest people,' according to a three-page indictment signed by prosecutors with the Justice Department's public integrity division. The indictment did not name the official, the other taxpayers or the news organizations. The public official is ... Donald J. Trump, and the two outlets identified in the indictment as 'News Organization 1' and 'News Organization 2' are The New York Times and ProPublica, according to a person familiar with the situation.... 'Both news organizations published numerous articles describing the tax information they obtained from the defendant,' the indictment added." CNN's story is here.

The Conversation -- September 29, 2023

First Flip. And Then There Were 18. Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: “One of the 19 defendants in a Georgia racketeering case against ... Donald J. Trump and his allies pleaded guilty on Friday to five misdemeanor charges, under a deal with prosecutors in which he would receive five years of probation. The guilty plea of Scott Hall, 59, a Georgia bail bondsman, was a significant victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, who secured an agreement from Mr. Hall to testify against other defendants.... Appearing in a Fulton County courtroom on Friday afternoon, Mr. Hall ... pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of intentional interference with performance of election duties. Under the terms of the deal, Mr. Hall is to pay a $5,000 fine, surrender his firearms carry license, perform 200 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the people of Georgia. He is not to participate in any activities related to the administration of elections, and he agreed to testify truthfully in all further proceedings in the case.” The NBC News story is here.

Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "A federal judge on Friday denied a request from Jeffrey Clark, the former Trump justice department official, to transfer from state to federal court his criminal case for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, saying he had failed to prove he had been acting within the scope of his official duties. The ruling from the US district judge Steven Jones, which came a day after Donald Trump decided against making a similar request, means Clark will be tried in Fulton county superior court – with its mainly Democratic jury pool – unless the ruling is overturned by the 11th circuit appeals court." The article cites Judge Jones' reasons for rejecting Clark's specific arguments.

Sahil Kapur & Frank Thorp of NBC News: “Top Republican senators said Friday they won’t try to prevent Democrats from replacing the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on the Judiciary Committee after the vacancy left Democrats without a majority on the key panel. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told NBC News that 'there’s no doubt in my mind' Democrats will be able to fill her spot on the panel once there is a successor appointed to her Senate seat. Feinstein’s death means the key panel that processes President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees is now split evenly, 10 to 10, between Democrats and Republicans. A tie vote means a nominee fails to advance out of committee....”

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the government shutdown fiasco: "Hard-line conservatives on Friday tanked Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s long-shot bid to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown, in an extraordinary display of defiance that made it clear that Congress would almost certainly miss a midnight deadline on Saturday to keep federal funding flowing." ~~~

     ~~~ The Hill's story on the failed legislation is here.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Senator Dianne Feinstein, the trailblazing Democratic power broker who served in the Senate for 30 years, died on Thursday night, according to a family member.” Update: The page has been converted to a liveblog of reactions to Sen. Feinstein's death. ~~~

    ~~~ Sen. Feinstein's New York Times obituary is here. NBC News' obituary is here; thanks to Forrest M. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ President Biden's statement is here.

Seung Min Kim, et al., of the AP: At Tempe, Arizona, Thursday, President “Biden said that 'there is no question that today’s Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA extremists.' He pointed to [Donald] Trump’s recent suggestion that Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is stepping down from his post on Friday, should be executed for allegedly treasonous betrayal of him. 'Although I don’t believe even a majority of Republicans think that, the silence is deafening,” Biden added. He also noted that Trump has previously questioned those who serve in the U.S. military calling 'service members suckers and losers. Was John [McCain] a sucker?' Biden asked....” More on President Biden's remarks in Arizona linked below.

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Marie: As we watch the Greatest Clown Show on Earth -- the one where the clowns choose not to fund the federal government, where they run a sham impeachment inquiry (that is not going very smoothly) to placate their Insatiable Ringmaster, as the master faces 91 criminal charges and a civil suit that may strip him of millions of dollars and control of his little real estate empire, as he berates and threatens his enemies real and imagined, and as his presidential* rivals make fools of themselves -- we must always bear in mind that, at its heart, the clown show is deadly serious, as President Biden reminded us yesterday. ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: “President Biden issued a broad and blistering attack against ... Donald J. Trump on Thursday, accusing his predecessor and would-be successor of inciting violence, seeking unfettered power and plotting to undermine the Constitution if he returns to office in next year’s elections. In his most direct condemnation of his leading Republican challenger in many months, [in a speech in Tempe, Arizona,] Mr. Biden portrayed Mr. Trump as a budding autocrat with no fidelity to the tenets of American democracy and who is motivated by hatred and a desire for retribution. While he usually avoids referring to Mr. Trump by name, Mr. Biden this time held nothing back as he offered a dire warning about the consequences of a new Trump term.... 'Seizing power, concentrating power, attempting to abuse power, purging and packing key institutions, spewing conspiracy theories, spreading lies for profit and power to divide America in every way, inciting violence against those who risk their lives to keep Americans safe, weaponizing against the very soul of who we are as Americans,' Mr. Biden said. 'This MAGA threat is a threat to the brick and mortar of our democratic institutions. It’s also a threat to the character of our nation.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here is the text of President Biden's speech as delivered, via the White House.

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “Robert K. Hur, the special counsel investigating President Biden’s handling of classified documents while serving as vice president, has interviewed many of Mr. Biden’s closest aides and advisers in a quiet inquiry that over the last nine months has reached into the upper levels of the White House and the cabinet, people familiar with the case said. Those who have been questioned about how government documents came to be stored in a think tank office set up for Mr. Biden after his vice presidency and in his Delaware home include officials who worked with him both at the tail end of the Obama administration and now. Among them are Steve Ricchetti, a top White House aide, and Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, the people familiar with the case said. Prosecutors have also spoken to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, who has been a key Biden foreign policy adviser for decades; Ron Klain, who served as White House chief of staff until earlier this year; and Michael R. Carpenter, the former managing director of the Penn Biden Center....”

The Greatest Clown Show on Earth

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: “The U.S. government started notifying federal workers on Thursday that a shutdown appears imminent, as a Republican-led standoff on Capitol Hill forced the Biden administration to embark on the formal, methodical process of preparing much of Washington to come to a halt. The messages acknowledged the growing risk that millions of employees and military service members may stop receiving pay in just three days, unless lawmakers in Congress can clinch a last-minute — and increasingly unlikely — deal that would extend government funding beyond Saturday.” (Also linked yesterday.)

The Washington Post is liveblogging developments in the looming shutdown: "With a federal government shutdown looming at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, the Republican-controlled House will try to pass a short-term spending measure Friday that would provide funding for 30 days. That’s less time than covered by a bill moving through the Democratic-led Senate, and the House bill contains steep spending cuts that are not in the Senate bill. If the two chambers fail to reach an agreement, the government will shut down...."

Mychael Schnell & Aris Folley of the Hill: "House Republicans late Thursday night approved legislation to fund the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2024, a success for GOP leaders after they decided to strip Ukraine funding from the legislation following two failed procedural votes. The chamber cleared the measure in a 218-210 vote.... The bill also includes a spate of riders that Democrats have slammed as divisive and said could hurt recruitment, such as measures targeting efforts aimed at diversity, equity, and inclusion, and others the party says would be potentially harmful to those in the LGBTQ community." First, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would strip Ukraine spending from the bill, then he said that was too difficult so he left it in, then the House Rules Committee stripped the Ukraine funding from the bill, and the stripped bill is what passed Thursday night. MB: I gather the Senate won't approve the bill without Ukraine funding, but it looks as if McCarthy is putting Ukraine funding in a separate bill, and maybe that will pass the House with Democratic support. I really don't know.

Leigh Ann Caldwell & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: “A contingent of far-right House Republicans are plotting an attempt to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker as early as next week, a move that would throw the chamber into further disarray in the middle of a potential government shutdown, according to four people familiar with the effort.... Some members of the far-right faction of the party are coalescing around nominating a member of McCarthy’s leadership team, Rep. Tom Emmer (Minn.), to be the next speaker if they can successfully oust McCarthy.... The members think Emmer is more attuned to their concerns and will better deliver conservative results.... It’s unclear if far-right members will move forward with the plan or if the plotting is simply a warning to McCarthy about the seriousness of their displeasure. But some members have emphasized that removing McCarthy is “inevitable” and “imminent” and they are calculating the right time to try to do it.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You kinda have to think the Great Ringmaster is behind this potential move or at least does not oppose it.

Jacqueline Alemany & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: “House Republicans are holding their first hearing Thursday as part of an inquiry into whether to impeach President Biden, which House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has said will lay out the basis for a probe that has so far shown no evidence of wrongdoing by the president.... In his opening statement, Comer alleged Biden has for years 'lied to the American people about his knowledge of and participation in his family’s corrupt business schemes.'... Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, hit back in his opening statement.... Raskin concluded his fiery remarks by saying that the inquiry all boils down to a “thoroughly demolished lie” that Rudy Giuliani and [Donald] Trump launched years ago regarding Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine.... [The GOP's own star witness Jonathan] Turley said that he supported an impeachment inquiry but that the current evidence did not warrant articles of impeachment.” The story has been updated. MB: I heard a clip of Raskin's saying, "No smoke. No gun." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “The first hearing in House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden featured their star witnesses testifying that they lacked proof that he committed impeachable offenses, multiple procedural skirmishes the G.O.P. majority nearly lost and, at times, nearly a dozen empty Republican seats. What it did not include was any new information about Mr. Biden’s conduct — or any support for Republicans’ accusations that he had entered into corrupt overseas business deals.... 'I am not here today to even suggest that there was corruption, fraud or any wrongdoing,' said Bruce G. Dubinsky, a forensic accountant [and a GOP witness]. 'In my opinion, more information needs to be gathered and assessed before I would make such an assessment.'... As the hearing ended, [Oversight Committee chair Rep. James] Comer [R-Ky.] said he was authorizing subpoenas for the personal bank records of Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president’s brother, and their affiliated companies. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Like everyone else in the hearing room, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) had trouble finding the crime here. Thanks to RAS for the lead: ~~~

BUT. Paul Campos in LG&$ explains why the whole charade works: "Hey, but if you hold months of hearings and comb through millions of pages of documents, you might find something. And if not something substantive, at least something that casts shadows/raises doubts/inspires many many many NYT stories and op-eds. About shadows and clouds and stuff. The real goal here, besides the standard destructive nihilism toward government in general, is to convince our delicately labeled “low information voters” that impeachments are just partisan witch hunts, because I mean obviously this one is on its face, so Both Sides Do It. Q.E.D."

The Trials of Trump

Olivia Rubin of ABC News: "Attorneys for Donald Trump have notified a Fulton County court that the former president will not seek to have his Georgia election interference case removed to federal court. The move comes three weeks after a judge denied a bid by co-defendant Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, to have his case moved.... Trump last month notified the court that he may file to remove, which the new filing says was done 'in an abundance of caution.'" MB: Probably not because he realizes an attempt to remove the case to federal court is a lost cause but because he wants the trial to be televised, which is unlikely in his federal trials. Just saying. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Harry Litman, appearing on MSNBC, said one reason Trump may have opted to stay in state court is that the state judge is a Republican, while the federal judge overseeing the Georgia RICO cases is an Obama appointee. ~~~

~~~ AND There's This. Ben Protess of the New York Times: “... as [Donald] Trump’s legal problems have expanded, the ad hoc system [of 'helping' witnesses and some fellow (alleged!) criminals] has come under intense strain with the PAC doling out financial lifelines to some aides and allies while shutting the door on others. It is now running short of money, possibly forcing Mr. Trump to decide how long to go on helping others as his own legal fees mount.” ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times: “Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud trial over accusations that he inflated the value of his properties by billions of dollars could begin as soon as Monday after a New York appeals court rejected the former president’s attempt to delay it. The appeals court, in a terse two-page order Thursday, effectively turned aside for now a lawsuit Mr. Trump filed against the trial judge, Arthur F. Engoron. The lawsuit had sought to delay the trial, and ultimately throw out many of the accusations against the former president. Thursday’s ruling came two days after Justice Engoron issued an order that struck a major blow to Mr. Trump, finding him liable for having committed fraud by persistently overvaluing his assets and stripping him of control over his New York properties.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Rukmini Callimachi of the New York Times: “A New York judge ... determin[ed] in a ruling that [Donald Trump] had inflated the value of his properties by considerable sums to gain favorable terms on loans and insurance. If the ruling stands, Mr. Trump could lose control over some of his most well-known New York real estate — an outcome the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, sought when she filed a lawsuit last year that accused him of fraud and called for the cancellation of his business certificates for any entities in the state that benefited from deceitful practices.” The article lists the main New York properties that could be transfered to the control of an independent receiver. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Ryan Grenoble of the Huffington Post: "New York Attorney General Letitia James intends to call ... Donald Trump ― and his three oldest kids ― to the stand next week, where prosecutors will press for $250 million in penalties as recompense for decades of financial fraud committed by Trump and the Trump Organization. James’ witness list includes Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump among its 28 names. Other notables include Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, and the Trump Organization’s former CFO Allen Weisselberg."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “Federal prosecutors on Thursday accused ... Donald J. Trump’s lawyers of trying to employ an arcane law governing the use of classified material to 'intentionally derail' the timing of his trial on charges of mishandling national security documents and obstructing efforts to retrieve them.... In court papers filed to Judge Aileen M. Cannon..., the prosecutors accused Mr. Trump’s legal team of seeking to delay by at least three months a crucial step in how the government intends to prepare the classified documents at the heart of the proceeding for review by the defense. That request for a delay, wrote one of the prosecutors, Jay I. Bratt, 'threatens to upend the entire schedule established by the court' and 'amounts to a motion to continue the May 20, 2024, trial date.'... In their filing, prosecutors said there were at least nine documents that were so sensitive they were not allowed to be stored in the SCIF in Florida and would be made available to Mr. Trump’s lawyers only in Washington.” The Guardian's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hey, ya know the pictures of all those boxes full of classifed documents and golf shirts that Rep. Crockett held up during the fake impeachment inquiry? At least nine documents Trump stashed in a public Mar-a-Lardo crapper or on a ballroom stage are so super-secret that there's no place in the State of Florida that's secure enough to keep them. Maybe we'll just have to credit Trump with having the genius to hide them in plain sight. OR maybe he's more like a toddler who puts his hands over his eyes and exclaims, "You can't see me!" OR like a thieving, sloppy, mendacious hoarder.

Nadeem Badshah of the Guardian: “Donald Trump is suing a former MI6 officer and the intelligence consultancy he founded, high court records in England show. The former US president ... is bringing a data protection claim against Orbis Business Intelligence and its founder Christopher Steele, who previously ran the secret intelligence service’s Russia desk. According to a court order published on Thursday, a two-day hearing for the legal action is set to start on 16 October.... Steele was the author of the so-called Steele dossier, which included allegations that Trump had been 'compromised' by Russian security service the FSB.”

** Alex Kingsbury of the New York Times: “Though it was lost in the four-year cyclone that was the presidency of Donald Trump, one of his most immoral acts was to pardon soldiers who were accused of committing war crimes by killing unarmed civilians or prisoners. Military leaders, including his own defense secretary and the secretary of the Army objected, saying it would undermine good order and discipline.... According to a new article in The Atlantic, Gen. Mark Milley, upon becoming the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2019, 'found himself in a disconcerting situation: trying, and failing, to teach President Trump the difference between appropriate battlefield aggressiveness on the one hand, and war crimes on the other.' Donald Trump ... is a man unencumbered by any moral compass.... It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Trump is running for the presidency on a platform of lawlessness, promising to wield the power of the state against his enemies — real or imagined.” Read on. ~~~

** "Fear Factor." Mona Charen of the Bulwark: "On at least 24 occasions, [Donald Trump] has accused critics of treason.... Now Trump has upped the ante by including a reference to the death penalty, which is in fact a punishment available in cases of treason.... Trump knows full well that some of his more rabid followers may interpret this as an invitation to assassination.... The stench of political violence has attached to Trump from the start.... If some critical mass of Republicans had demonstrated the requisite political courage in 2016, it would never have come to this — that in the United States, political and other figures must think about their physical safety before deciding how to speak or vote.... It’s a mistake, in my judgment, to minimize the role that fear now plays in assisting and enabling Trump’s continued dominance.... After January 6th, the Capitol Police estimated that there were more than 10,000 threats of violence or death against members [of Congress].... A survey of mayors found that one in three had considered resigning due to death threats and 70 percent reported knowing of someone who chose not to run for office out of fear for their personal security.... We cannot have a viable political system that relies on extraordinarily brave people...."

Marie: Sorry, forgot this one earlier: ~~~

~~~ Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: “Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner, tried to persuade the publisher of the Washington Post to fire its editor over coverage of the Russia investigation, that editor, Marty Baron, writes in a new book.... 'In December 2019, Kushner would lean on [publisher Fred] Ryan to withdraw support for me and our Russia investigation.... “He aims to get me fired,” I told Ryan.'... Kushner, Baron now writes, 'suggested the Post issue an apology and there be a “reckoning of some sort” – as he advised that he himself had made a huge mistake in once standing by a former editor of the New York Observer and one of its stories when he owned the publication.... The Post won a Pulitzer prize (shared with the New York Times) for its coverage of the investigation of Russian election interference in 2016 and links between Trump and Moscow.... [When special counsel Robert Mueller did not indict Trump himself,] Trump claimed exoneration – which Mueller did not offer – and called for prizes awarded for Russia reporting to be rescinded; calls rejected by the Pulitzer board.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: “Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey made a defiant and impassioned speech to his fellow Senate Democrats on Thursday, maintaining his innocence and repeating that he had no intention of stepping down after being indicted on bribery charges, despite calls from many of his colleagues to do so. Mr. Menendez’s obstinate address at a closed-door luncheon in the Capitol followed appeals by more than half of the Senate Democrats, including the head of their campaign arm, for him to resign. It prompted one of his Democratic colleagues, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, to float the idea of forcing him to leave office.... Any senator can file a resolution to expel a member of the body, but two-thirds of the Senate — 67 votes — is required to eject any member.... Thus far, it does not appear there would be enough votes in the Senate to support a measure to oust him.... Senators Chris Coons of Delaware, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the three Democratic members of the Senate Ethics Committee, voluntarily left the room before Mr. Menendez spoke, according to Mr. Coons.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ One Senator missed the whole lunch: ~~~

Unless Senator Menendez is coming today to resign, I am not interested in hearing his 'explanation' for gold bars stashed in a mattress.

We’re past the point of his tough talk and defiance, given the scope and scale of his alleged corruption.

— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) September 28, 2023

Presidential Race 2024

Isaac Arndorf of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump sharpened a stridently nationalist pitch for a general election rematch against President Biden, trading the GOP primary debate stage for a factory floor where he demanded union support for his vision of more aggressive state intervention in industrial policy.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: “Even before the debate officially wrapped up, Trump's campaign issued a statement ... [that] urged the Republican National Committee to 'immediately put an end to any further primary debates' to focus on beating President Biden. Translation: We want a coronation for Trump. In September. Of the year before the election.... [This] certainly align[s] with his various other undemocratic moves and impulses.... Fewer than half of those Trump supporters — and fewer than one-fourth of potential Republican primary voters overall — said they were locked in.... It seems unlikely the GOP will do what he asks yet, but consider it Trump’s opening bid in his latest attempt to cast aside the will of the voters in the service of empowering himself.”

A President* DeSantis Would Sign a 15-Week Federal Abortion Ban. Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: “In the chaos of Wednesday night’s noisy Republican presidential debate, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina interrupted Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to pose a question on abortion that Mr. DeSantis had dodged directly answering for months. Would the Florida governor sign a '15-week limit' on abortion as president, Mr. Scott asked, talking over both Mr. DeSantis and Dana Perino, one of the moderators, in a way that made his full remarks difficult to hear. 'Yes, I will,' Mr. DeSantis replied.... Mr. DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban in Florida this year, but had not clearly committed to supporting federal legislation restricting the termination of pregnancies.Mr. DeSantis is using abortion to attack ... Donald J. Trump, particularly in socially conservative states like Iowa....”

The Manufactured Attack on LGBTQ+ Rights. Jon Swaine & Beth Reinhard of the Washington Post: “Before this summer’s landmark Supreme Court ruling that a Christian web designer in Colorado had the right to refuse to work on same-sex weddings, the legal advocacy group behind the case had spent nearly a decade laying the groundwork through similar lawsuits filed around the country. Among the wedding vendors represented by the Christian nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF] were a photographer from Kentucky, videographers from Minnesota and a pair of Arizona artists who created stationery.... But an examination by The Washington Post of court filings, company records and other materials found that two of the three vendors cited in ADF’s September 2021 petition had stopped working on weddings, and the other did not photograph any weddings for two years.... ADF also had a hand in formally establishing companies for some of its clients, The Post found.” Read on. MB: For supposedly pious Christians, these people are remarkably devious, sleazy & bigoted.

The Conversation -- September 28, 2023

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden issued a broad and blistering attack against ... Donald J. Trump on Thursday, accusing his predecessor and would-be successor of inciting violence, seeking unfettered power and plotting to undermine the Constitution if he returns to office in next year's elections. In his most direct condemnation of his leading Republican challenger in many months, [in a speech in Tempe, Arizona,] Mr. Biden portrayed Mr. Trump as a budding autocrat with no fidelity to the tenets of American democracy and who is motivated by hatred and a desire for retribution. While he usually avoids referring to Mr. Trump by name, Mr. Biden this time held nothing back as he offered a dire warning about the consequences of a new Trump term.... 'Seizing power, concentrating power, attempting to abuse power, purging and packing key institutions, spewing conspiracy theories, spreading lies for profit and power to divide America in every way, inciting violence against those who risk their lives to keep Americans safe, weaponizing against the very soul of who we are as Americans,' Mr. Biden said. 'This MAGA threat is a threat to the brick and mortar of our democratic institutions. It's also a threat to the character of our nation.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Here are excerpts of President Biden's prepared remarks, via the White House.

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey made a defiant and impassioned speech to his fellow Senate Democrats on Thursday, maintaining his innocence and repeating that he had no intention of stepping down after being indicted on bribery charges, despite calls from many of his colleagues to do so. Mr. Menendez's obstinate address at a closed-door luncheon in the Capitol followed appeals by more than half of the Senate Democrats, including the head of their campaign arm, for him to resign. It prompted one of his Democratic colleagues, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, to float the idea of forcing him to leave office.... Any senator can file a resolution to expel a member of the body, but two-thirds of the Senate -- 67 votes -- is required to eject any member.... Thus far, it does not appear there would be enough votes in the Senate to support a measure to oust him.... Senators Chris Coons of Delaware, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the three Democratic members of the Senate Ethics Committee, voluntarily left the room before Mr. Menendez spoke, according to Mr. Coons."

Olivia Rubin of ABC News: "Attorneys for Donald Trump have notified a Fulton County court that the former president will not seek to have his Georgia election interference case removed to federal court. The move comes three weeks after a judge denied a bid by co-defendant Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, to have his case moved.... Trump last month notified the court that he may file to remove, which the new filing says was done 'in an abundance of caution.'" MB: Probably not because he realizes an attempt to remove the case to federal court is a lost cause but because he wants the trial to be televised, which is unlikely in his federal trials. Just saying. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's civil fraud trial over accusations that he inflated the value of his properties by billions of dollars could begin as soon as Monday after a New York appeals court rejected the former president's attempt to delay it. The appeals court, in a terse two-page order Thursday, effectively turned aside for now a lawsuit Mr. Trump filed against the trial judge, Arthur F. Engoron. The lawsuit had sought to delay the trial, and ultimately throw out many of the accusations against the former president. Thursday's ruling came two days after Justice Engoron issued an order that struck a major blow to Mr. Trump, finding him liable for having committed fraud by persistently overvaluing his assets and stripping him of control over his New York properties." ~~~

~~~ Rukmini Callimachi of the New York Times: "A New York judge ... determin[ed] in a ruling that [Donald Trump] had inflated the value of his properties by considerable sums to gain favorable terms on loans and insurance. If the ruling stands, Mr. Trump could lose control over some of his most well-known New York real estate -- an outcome the state's attorney general, Letitia James, sought when she filed a lawsuit last year that accused him of fraud and called for the cancellation of his business certificates for any entities in the state that benefited from deceitful practices." The article lists the main New York properties that could be transferred to the control of an independent receiver.

Marie: Sorry, forgot this one earlier: ~~~

~~~ Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner, tried to persuade the publisher of the Washington Post to fire its editor over coverage of the Russia investigation, that editor, Marty Baron, writes in a new book.... 'In December 2019, Kushner would lean on [publisher Fred] Ryan to withdraw support for me and our Russia investigation.... "He aims to get me fired," I told Ryan.'... Kushner, Baron now writes, 'suggested the Post issue an apology and there be a "reckoning of some sort" -- as he advised that he himself had made a huge mistake in once standing by a former editor of the New York Observer and one of its stories when he owned the publication.... The Post won a Pulitzer prize (shared with the New York Times) for its coverage of the investigation of Russian election interference in 2016 and links between Trump and Moscow.... [When special counsel Robert Mueller did not indict Trump himself,] Trump claimed exoneration -- which Mueller did not offer -- and called for prizes awarded for Russia reporting to be rescinded; calls rejected by the Pulitzer board."

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government started notifying federal workers on Thursday that a shutdown appears imminent, as a Republican-led standoff on Capitol Hill forced the Biden administration to embark on the formal, methodical process of preparing much of Washington to come to a halt. The messages acknowledged the growing risk that millions of employees and military service members may stop receiving pay in just three days, unless lawmakers in Congress can clinch a last-minute -- and increasingly unlikely -- deal that would extend government funding beyond Saturday."

Jacqueline Alemany & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "House Republicans are holding their first hearing Thursday as part of an inquiry into whether to impeach President Biden, which House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has said will lay out the basis for a probe that has so far shown no evidence of wrongdoing by the president.... In his opening statement, Comer alleged Biden has for years 'lied to the American people about his knowledge of and participation in his family's corrupt business schemes.'... Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, hit back in his opening statement.... Raskin concluded his fiery remarks by saying that the inquiry all boils down to a 'thoroughly demolished lie' that Rudy Giuliani and [Donald] Trump launched years ago regarding Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine.... [The GOP's own star witness Jonathan] Turley said that he supported an impeachment inquiry but that the current evidence did not warrant articles of impeachment." The story has been updated. MB: I heard a clip of Raskin's saying, "No gun. No smoke." ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The first hearing in House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Biden featured their star witnesses testifying that they lacked proof that he committed impeachable offenses, multiple procedural skirmishes the G.O.P. majority nearly lost and, at times, nearly a dozen empty Republican seats. What it did not include was any new information about Mr. Biden's conduct -- or any support for Republicans' accusations that he had entered into corrupt overseas business deals.... 'I am not here today to even suggest that there was corruption, fraud or any wrongdoing,' said Bruce G. Dubinsky, a forensic accountant [and a GOP witness]. 'In my opinion, more information needs to be gathered and assessed before I would make such an assessment.'... As the hearing ended, [Oversight Committee chair Rep. James] Comer [R-Ky.] said he was authorizing subpoenas for the personal bank records of Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president's brother, and their affiliated companies.

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors on Thursday accused ... Donald J. Trump's lawyers of trying to employ an arcane law governing the use of classified material to 'intentionally derail' the timing of his trial on charges of mishandling national security documents and obstructing efforts to retrieve them.... In court papers filed to Judge Aileen M. Cannon..., the prosecutors accused Mr. Trump's legal team of seeking to delay by at least three months a crucial step in how the government intends to prepare the classified documents at the heart of the proceeding for review by the defense. That request for a delay, wrote one of the prosecutors, Jay I. Bratt, 'threatens to upend the entire schedule established by the court' and 'amounts to a motion to continue the May 20, 2024, trial date.'... In their filing, prosecutors said there were at least nine documents that were so sensitive they were not allowed to be stored in the SCIF in Florida and would be made available to Mr. Trump's lawyers only in Washington." The Guardian's story is here.

Isaac Arndorf of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump sharpened a stridently nationalist pitch for a general election rematch against President Biden, trading the GOP primary debate stage for a factory floor where he demanded union support for his vision of more aggressive state intervention in industrial policy."

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "With a government shutdown as few as four days away, the Biden administration has started to ration federal disaster aid, delaying the delivery of about $2.8 billion in grants so the money is available in the event of a crisis, according to state and federal officials and budget documents.... The last-minute move has allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to shore up its rapidly dwindling budget against the immediate threat of wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters as they arise, according to a senior agency official.... Over the past month, FEMA has paused at least $555 million for long-term recovery projects in Florida, including those related to Hurricane Ian last year. It has held back $101 million from Louisiana and another $74 million in California, according to the federal records, which reflect delays through Sept. 18." MB: Thanks, Kevin! Funny how your (probably very short-term) disaster relief comes before everybody else's. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jacob Bogage, et al., of the Washington Post: "... the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies Wednesday to be prepared to notify their employees of the status of government funding.... Those updates will occur Thursday morning, as part of the government's mandatory contingency process.... House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) rejected [the Senate's stopgap] measure, telling his conference in a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning that he would not put the Senate bill on the floor in its current form." The Hill's story on McCarthy's rejection of the Senate stopgap is here. ~~~

~~~ So House Wastes Time on Toothless Vituperative Measures. Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Republican-led House voted on Wednesday to reduce the salary of Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to $1, as right-wing lawmakers tried to transform a Pentagon spending bill and a series of other funding measures into weapons to take aim at President Biden, his agenda and his top officials. There is little chance that Mr. Austin, the first Black defense secretary, will actually see his pay cut. The military spending bill is all but certain to die in the Senate, where it is expected to meet with bipartisan opposition. Three days before a government shutdown, House Republican leaders spent Wednesday adding the salary cut -- and a slew of other far-right proposals to handcuff the Biden administration -- to spending bills that have little chance of enactment. It was akin to a legislative tantrum driven by the hard right, whose members are helping push Congress toward a spending crisis." A related Politico story is here.

Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) appeared unable to answer questions Wednesday when he was pressed repeatedly about how his new 'evidence' in his probe of President Biden proved any actual wrongdoing. In a tense exchange during a press conference purporting to reveal 'new evidence' of Biden's alleged use of political influence to help his son, Hunter, NBC correspondent Ryan Nobles asked Smith how the evidence, dated in August 2017, could prove Biden used any political influence when he was not a public official at the time.... The exchange came as House GOP members are preparing for the first hearing Thursday into the Biden impeachment inquiry. Smith, as head of the Ways and Means Committee, is in charge of one of the three committees spearheading the investigations." MB: Worth reading. Smith's ignorance + bluster is hilarious. Maybe they're having an impeachment inquiry because they want to ask what impeachment is. ~~~

~~~ Taking Care of (Trump's) Business. Stephen Collinson of CNN: "Republicans are about to deliver on the driving purpose of their House majority -- enacting Donald Trump's retribution. Trump's lieutenants will on Thursday formally open an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden that his supporters, smarting from their leader's own double impeachment, have been demanding since the current president took office. The first hearing is taking place with just three days to reach a spending deal to keep the government open. Rather than try to solve the crisis, hardline House Republicans are driving the country toward a shutdown that Trump ordered up on social media, insisting it will damage Biden, his potential general election rival.... Impeachment and a shutdown brinkmanship are separate issues, but they spring from the same causes. Both are bound up in the Republican House majority's devotion to Trump and his manipulation of the party to advance his ends. Trump thinks that Biden, rather than the GOP majority...." ~~~

     ~~~ The Impeachment Show Must Go On. Marie: BTW, the House Administration Committee (controlled by Republicans, of course) has declared that impeachment staff are "essential workers" and therefore will not be furloughed or go unpaid, whereas "non-essential" government workers, like, say, soldiers will not get their paychecks.

Tracey Tully, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to bribery charges, standing before a magistrate judge in Manhattan federal court, his wife, Nadine, seated nearby. About three hours earlier, the Menendezes had held hands as they pushed through a crowd of journalists and entered the courthouse without answering questions. A lone protester shouted 'Resign!' Ms. Menendez, 56, also entered a not-guilty plea for her role in the bribery conspiracy, which prosecutors said involved weapons sales and aid to the government of Egypt." MB: The number of Democratic senators who have called for Menendez to resign stands at 30 as of early Wednesday afternoon, according to on-air reporting. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Ken Dilanian & Frank Thorp of NBC News: "Sen. Robert Menendez ... singlehandedly blocked passage of bipartisan legislation in 2020 that would have strengthened the law regulating foreign influence and lobbying in Washington, Senate records show. The proposed Foreign Agents Disclosure and Registration Enhancement Act grew out of widespread concerns that the current law regulating foreign lobbying had seldom been enforced, and that foreign influence campaigns had successfully infiltrated American politics. Strengthening the law had drawn support from Democrats and Republicans on key committees. In December 2020, after a Republican senator asked for unanimous consent to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote, Menendez stood and objected.... The bill had significant support from key Democrats.... Three years later, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA, has not been updated." (Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Jimison of the New York Times: "After a brief departure from tradition that was tailored for Senator John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat who pressed to vote and preside in shorts and a hoodie rather than a business suit, the Senate on Wednesday formalized a longstanding -- but previously unofficial -- requirement that members show up to the chamber in business attire. The Senate late Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution that for the first time codified the suit-and-tie uniform. The action came a week and a half after Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat and the majority leader, announced a relaxing of the decades-old dress policy, prompting some senators including Mr. Fetterman to loosen their ties while others clutched their pearls. The new, enforceable standards, put forth by Senators Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, and Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, assert that 'business attire' is required for all members, specifying that men are expected to don a coat, tie and slacks or other long pants." A CBS News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Marie: This is all stupid, but at least the Senate postponed enacting the frivolous until after it had passed stopgap spending measures to keep the government open, unlike the House which -- when it isn't taking time off -- fritters away valuable time on debating & passing DOA spending bills.

Aliza Chasen of CBS News/"60 Minutes": "Outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has 'appropriate measures' to ensure his safety, he said this week in his first public response to shocking comments made by ... Donald Trump suggesting that the Army general is a traitor who deserves execution. Trump last week accused Milley of going behind his back to communicate with China during the final months of the Trump administration.... The chairman's spokesperson in 2021 said the general's calls to China were part of his regular communications with defense chiefs worldwide. The spokesperson described the calls as being crucial to reducing tensions between nations, as well as 'avoiding unintended consequences or conflict.... His calls with the Chinese and others in October and January were in keeping with these duties and responsibilities...," the spokesperson said in a written statement at the time. 'All calls from the chairman to his counterparts, including those reported, are staffed, coordinated and communicated with the Department of Defense and the interagency.'"

The Trials of Trump

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A federal judge overseeing ... Donald Trump's election interference case in Washington, D.C., had denied his request that she recuse herself from the case due to her prior comments in criminal cases against other Jan. 6 defendants. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in her opinion that her comments in other Jan. 6 cases, which Trump's team took issue with, 'reflect the information and arguments presented by the defense in each case.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "In a strongly worded order..., Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of Federal District Court in Washington, rejected claims by Mr. Trump's lawyers that she had shown bias against the former president in statements she made from the bench in two cases related to the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021. In the order, Judge Chutkan not only chided Mr. Trump's lawyers for putting words in her mouth, but she also asserted that the remarks did not betray any animus or unfairness toward Mr. Trump that would warrant the extraordinary step of removing her from the election interference case.... She also noted that an attempt to disqualify a judge from a case could be 'wrongfully deployed as a form of "judge shopping"' or used as 'a procedural weapon to harass opponents and delay proceedings.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Akhilleus put the ruling more succinctly: "Oh Donald ... message for you from Judge Chutkan ... 🖕"

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: Donald "Trump could lose his grip on all three [of his New York City flagship] buildings after a state judge on Tuesday ruled that he had persistently committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets. The judge sided with New York's attorney general, Letitia James, who had brought a civil case against the former president. As a punishment, the judge, Arthur F. Engoron, effectively revoked Mr. Trump's licenses to operate those properties -- and potentially an even broader swath of the family business that Mr. Trump built over the last half-century. The ruling left much of his New York operation hanging in the balance. Mr. Trump is expected to appeal and has already sued Justice Engoron himself, who has been a thorn in the side of the Trump lawyers for more than a year.... In a Wednesday hearing, Mr. Trump's lawyers pleaded for clarity, asking Justice Engoron to explain exactly what the effect of his ruling would be."

Alex Henderson of AlterNet, republished by the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump has maintained that he did nothing wrong during his now-infamous early January 2021 phone conversation with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger -- a conservative Republican who has pushed back against Trump's false claims of a stolen election. Publicly, Trump has stuck with his claim that the call was 'perfect' and that he broke no laws when he asked Raffensperger to 'find' him votes. But ... privately..., Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng in an article published by Rolling Stone..., Trump has been furious with Raffensperger for making a recording of their call publicly available. And he wants to see his 'perfect' call excluded from being used as evidence. [He is] 'asking his attorneys to draw up proposals for how to suppress its use in the [Georgia] criminal case against him.... At Trump's urging, some of the former president's legal advisers have prepared arguments to try and suppress the call...,' [Rolling Stone reports]." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Since I can't access the Rolling Stone article, I don't know if the reporters cover this: "Georgia's wiretapping law is a 'one-party consent' law for purposes of making audio recordings of conversations." IOW, only one of the parties to the call must be aware of and consent to the call's being recorded. Same for Washington, D.C. Since Raffensperger was in Georgia and Trump was in D.C. when the call took place, it seems unlikely to me that a judge would disallow the call being played for a jury. Moreover, since Trump was aware that multiple people participated in or listening in on the call, I don't see how he could argue he had an "expectation of privacy."

Presidential Race 2024

Much Ado About Nothing: the Seven Dwarfs Debate. Maeve Reston, et al.,of the Washington Post: "Seven Republican presidential hopefuls, clamoring for attention as their time to overtake ... Donald Trump grows shorter, showed a new level of combativeness as they interrupted, disputed and at times insulted one another on the debate stage Wednesday night.... The debate descended into a shouting match at times, where it was impossible to hear what any one candidate was saying.... The GOP candidates spent far more of their time going after each other than the figure who holds a commanding lead in the polls." South Carolinians Tim Scott & Nikki Haley squabbled over curtains the Obama administration bought in 2016 for the official U.N. ambassador's residence. ~~~

     ~~~ Mike Pence Talks about Sex. Alexandra Ulmer of Reuters: "... former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie used a question about education to mention that Democratic President Joe Biden was 'sleeping with a member of the teachers' union' - a reference to his wife Jill Biden, a teacher. Building on that comment, Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, said he had to admit that 'I've been sleeping with a teacher for 38 years' - a reference to his own wife, Karen Pence." MB: Okay, so a debate about curtains and men having sex with their wives. Riveting. ~~~

~~~ Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "It's probably time to acknowledge that presidential debates are pointless when the front-runner repeatedly refuses to show up.... The seven candidates on the stage [at the Reagan Presidential Library] talking over each other and repeating shopworn lines from their stump speeches. For most of the night, there was little by way of substantive engagement with each other or -- more important -- any explanation of why any of them would be a better alternative than the former president, who currently leads all of them by more than 40 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls.... The Trump campaign sent out an email blast declaring the debate to be 'boring and inconsequential,' and calling upon the Republican National Committee to 'immediately put an end' to any further ones so the party can train its energy on defeating Biden."

Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: &"Seeking more of the voters who paved his way to the White House in 2016..., Donald J. Trump rallied at a Michigan auto parts factory on Wednesday night, vying for the support of blue-collar workers one day after President Biden appeared on a picket line with striking United Automobile Workers. Mr. Biden on Tuesday affirmed his support for U.A.W. strikers' demands for a 40 percent pay raise. In his appearance at a nonunion factory on Wednesday, Mr. Trump repeatedly asked for the endorsement of the U.A.W. president, Shawn Fain -- calling him 'Shawn' -- but did not back any of the union's contract demands. 'Your head man, Shawn, he's a good man,' Mr. Trump told the crowd, though it was unclear if there were more than a handful of U.A.W. members present. 'But he's got to endorse Trump.'... Mr. Fain has been clear that the U.A.W. would never support Mr. Trump, who pursued many anti-union policies in office.... Mr. Trump was seeking to drive a wedge between rank-and-file workers and their leaders over the issue of electric vehicles, which he repeatedly attacked as an existential threat to American car companies and workers.... 'Get your union leaders to endorse me, and I'll take care of the rest,' Mr. Trump said.'...

"Before the former president took the stage, a few hundred people were seated on the floor of the factory, and at least one man in a red U.A.W T-shirt said he was a union member and voiced support for the strike. Two people holding 'Union Members for Trump' signs said they were not union members.... On Tuesday, as Mr. Biden became the first president of modern times to join a picket line, Mr. Trump issued a statement predicting that 'in three years there will be no autoworker jobs' if Mr. Biden's policies prevail. He hammered that same message in his address on Wednesday, accusing Mr. Biden of 'economic treason.'" MB: It's about time. Trump has been accusing all kinds of real patriots -- like Gen. Mark Milley, President Obama & former FBI Director Jim Comey -- of treason or of committing treasonous acts. I was beginning to think it was damned odd he didn't label President Biden treasonous. A CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "President Biden's reelection campaign called former President Trump's speech in Michigan 'incoherent' and said that workers aren't buying his attempts to woo them. 'Donald Trump's low-energy, incoherent "speech" at a non-union factory in Michigan was a pathetic, recycled attempt to feign support for working Americans. Americans have seen him try this before and they aren't buying it," Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said."

Marie: Hey, I found a doctor who says Trump is nuts. Okay, a Ph.D. kind of doctor, but still a doctor? No? ~~~

     ~~~ Robert Reich in AlterNet: "Seeking to balance Trump's criminal indictments against Biden's age is the ultimate false equivalence. Biden is old. But so is Trump. They're just three years apart. If Trump wins the presidency next year, he'll be the oldest person ever elected to the White House. But Trump is not facing nearly the same scrutiny for his age as is Biden. Yet Trump should be.... Biden is sane. Trump is nuts -- and his condition seems to be getting worse.... This should be the comparison, rather than the false equivalence of Biden's age with Trump's alleged criminality." MB: This is more-or-less what I wrote in a comment yesterday on the media's coverage of Trump's insane rants. ~~~

     ~~~ Trump Says He Won Every Presidential Race in the 21st Century. Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "To be sure, Trump was never playing with a full deck.... Lately, however, his brain functioning, as impossible as it may be to believe, seems even worse. He appears to believe he's won every presidential election in the last two decades, instead of that one electoral college-based win against Hillary Clinton in 2016. During a campaign stop in South Carolina, Trump spun out a whole story about defeating a famous military leader named 'Bush.' 'When I came here, everyone thought Bush was going to win,' he rambled, saying it was 'because Bush supposedly was a military person.... He got us into the, uh, he got us into the Middle East. How did that work out, right?'... Before bragging about besting two-term winner George W. Bush, Trump gave another speech boasting about his imaginary win against another two-termer, President Barack Obama. 'With Obama, we won an election that everyone said couldn't be won," he prattled on in a speech in Washington, D.C. last week.'" MB: And probably no one can count how many times Trump says he beat Joe Biden in 2020. Some may argue that Trump did not claim to win the 2000 presidential election, but just you wait and he'll soon tell you he beat Al Gore. Besides, technically, 2000 is the last year of the 20th century. ~~~

~~~ WSJ Warns Against Trump "Lunacy." Alex Henderson of AlterNet: "The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board aren't full-fledged Never Trumpers and have defended Trump in the past. But in a September 26 editorial, the board cite Trump's rants against [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark] Milley and NBC as prime examples of why he shouldn't receive the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. 'Donald Trump suggested the other day that Gen. Mark Milley, the nation's highest military officer, deserves execution -- as in death,' the WSJ board writes. 'He said NBC should be investigated for treason and that the FBI should raid the homes of Senate Democrats. Then, he accused President Biden of being manipulated by "the Fascists in the White House."' The board warns that these 'unhinged posts' are the type of 'lunacy' Republicans can expect to deal with if they nominate Trump in 2024." ~~~

~~~ Oh, as if you needed any more proof that Trump's voters are delusional ~~~

     ~~~ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "A new poll released this week by the Deseret News found that former President Donald Trump [is] more identified as a 'person of faith' by Republican voters than any of his 2024 GOP rivals or even Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).... "Only 23% of Republicans said Biden is a person of faith...,'..." MB: I should check with the Two Corinthians to see if they have any opinions on Trump's faith.

Choe Sang-Hun & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Pvt. Travis T. King, the American soldier who crossed into North Korea on July 18, was released into U.S. custody on Wednesday following weeks of diplomacy mediated by the Swedish government, according to senior U.S. administration officials. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the details of Private King's release as he was in transit to a U.S. military base, said he would be reunited with his family in the United States and given physical and mental health support after being held by the North Koreans for 70 days. His first stop after leaving North Korea was China, where U.S. officials were waiting for him. Private King then was put on a plane and flown to a U.S. military facility, though the officials declined identify it." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: "US Army Private Travis King arrived back on United States soil Thursday after being returned to American custody weeks after he crossed into North Korea, a Defense Department official said. King flew in on a US military flight, landing at Kelly Field at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston around 1:30 a.m. ET, the official said."

Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "Elon Musk, the owner of X...-Twitter, said Wednesday he has made cuts to X's election integrity team, which seeks to prevent election interference and manipulation on the platform. Responding to reports of the cuts, Musk wrote on X, 'Oh you mean the "Election Integrity" Team that was undermining election integrity? Yeah, they're gone.' It was not immediately clear how many people were slashed from team.... The cuts come less than a month after X said it was expanding its safety and elections team to 'focus on combating manipulation, surfacing inauthentic accounts and closeby monitoring the platform for emerging threats.'" ~~~

~~~ Byron Kaye of Reuters: "Elon Musk's X...-Twitter, disabled a feature that let users report misinformation about elections, a research organisation said on Wednesday, throwing fresh concern about false claims spreading just before major U.S. and Australian votes. After introducing a feature in 2022 for users to report a post they considered misleading about politics, X in the past week removed the 'politics' category from its drop-down menu in every jurisdiction but the European Union, said the researcher Reset.Tech Australia."

Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Target said Tuesday that it will close nine stores in urban areas across four states, citing increased violence related to theft and organized retail crime. By Oct. 21, three stores in Portland, Ore., two in Seattle, one in New York and three in the San Francisco-Oakland area will shut down. Retail crime at those locations has reached a level that threatens safety and 'business performance,' Target said.... Shoplifting, organized crime and violence have become significant concerns for regional and national retailers."

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Armenia. The Little Country that Couldn't. Francesca Abel of the Washington Post: "The leader of the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh signed a decree Thursday to officially dissolve the breakaway state on Jan. 1, confirming its surrender to Azerbaijan following a failed 32-year quest for independence and international recognition.... A lightening military offensive by Azerbaijan last week forced the self-declared government of Nagorno-Karabakh to capitulate and agree to dismantle its armed forces. The advance of Azerbaijani forces also set off a mass exodus of the mountainous region's ethnic Armenian residents who say they fear genocide and, in any case, are unwilling to live under Azerbaijani rule."

Canada/Poland. Ellen Francis of the Washington Post: "A Polish government minister said this week he had 'taken steps' toward the possible extradition of Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian veteran of a Waffen-SS unit who drew applause during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Canada's Parliament. Anthony Rota, the speaker of the House of Commons, invited Hunka, a constituent in his Ontario legislative district, to the joint session of Parliament last week.... But Jewish groups later said Hunka had served with the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, a unit of the Waffen-SS made up of ethnic Ukrainians.... Rota apologized for inviting Hunka to the event ... before announcing his resignation.... Poland's ambassador to Canada said a government minister launched a preliminary bid to establish whether Hunka is responsible for crimes committed in Poland as a basis for extraditing him."

News Ledes

New York Times: "A NASA astronaut safely returned to Earth on Wednesday after spending 371 days in space, a record in spaceflight for American astronauts. Frank Rubio of NASA and his crewmates, the Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, made a safe, parachute-assisted landing southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 7:17 a.m. Eastern time.... Mr. Rubio had expected to be gone only six months when he first embarked on his journey on the Russian Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last September. His return was upended in December, after mission control found a coolant leak in the Soyuz spacecraft. The leak could have created dangerously hot temperatures for the crew on their return to Earth, so a different spacecraft had to be sent to the space station, delaying Mr. Rubio's return."

Maryland. CNN: "A convicted felon suspected of killing tech executive Pava LaPere in Baltimore this week has been arrested, ending a dayslong manhunt across the city, police said early Thursday. Jason Dean Billingsley was wanted on first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the death of LaPere, the 26-year-old CEO of Baltimore-based startup EcoMap Technologies, according to the >Baltimore Police Department."