May 21, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Paul Kane, et al., of the Washington Post: "A day after partisan acrimony disrupted talks around the debt ceiling, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to restart negotiations Sunday, sending a newly hopeful signal that the two parties might avoid an economic catastrophe as few as 11 days away. The two leaders spoke by phone Sunday and agreed to dispatch their chief emissaries for further staff talks at 6 p.m. before Biden and McCarthy (R-Calif.) connect again in Washington on Monday.... The call with McCarthy took place as Biden was returning from the Group of Seven summit in Japan.... On Sunday, during an appearance on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned that some bills would have to go unpaid if the government breaches the June 1 deadline."

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Biden Lectures GOP Toddlers Having Temper Tantrum. Zeke Miller & Josh Boak of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Sunday that Republicans in the U.S. House must move off their 'extreme positions' on the now-stalled talks over raising America's debt limit and that there would be no agreement to avert a catastrophic default only on their terms. 'It's time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms,' Biden said in Hiroshima, Japan, where he attended the Group of Seven summit." ~~~

~~~ Josh Boak & Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden tried to reassure world leaders on Saturday that the United States would not default as he consulted with the heads of Australia, Japan and India in a meeting of the so-called Quad partnership that had been hastily rescheduled because of the debt limit standoff back in Washington.... The Quad members originally had planned to meet in Sydney next week, but got together instead on the sidelines of the G7 so Biden could return to Washington earlier on Sunday in hopes of finalizing a deal to increase the U.S. borrowing limit before the government runs out of cash to pay its bills." ~~~

~~~ Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Republican negotiators rejected a White House offer to limit spending next year on both the military and a wide range of critical domestic programs as part of high-stakes negotiations over the federal debt ceiling.... Republicans are pushing instead for higher defense spending and more significant domestic spending reductions.... House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ... said it would be difficult for talks to resume before President Biden returns Sunday from his trip to Asia." Politico's story is here.

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A conflict inside ... Donald J. Trump's legal team erupted into public view on Saturday as one of his former lawyers went on television to attack one of his current lawyers, who has been the focus of ire from others on the team. The former lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, withdrew this past week from representing Mr. Trump.... Appearing on CNN on Saturday, Mr. Parlatore disclosed that his departure had been spurred by irreconcilable differences with Boris Epshteyn, another lawyer who has been working as something akin to an in-house counsel for the former president.... Mr. Parlatore described how Mr. Epshteyn had hindered him and other lawyers from getting information to Mr. Trump.... Most notably, Mr. Parlatore singled out Mr. Epshteyn as trying to keep the team from conducting additional searches of Mr. Trump's properties after the F.B.I. executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago...." CNN's report is here.

Florida Travel Warning. Julia Shapero of the Hill: "The NAACP issued a formal travel advisory for Florida on Saturday, saying the state has become 'hostile to Black Americans' under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R) leadership. 'On a seeming quest to silence African-American voices, the Governor and the State of Florida have shown that African Americans are not welcome in the State of Florida,' the travel advisory reads.... The advisory points to several of DeSantis's controversial policies, including legislation he signed on Monday to prohibit colleges from spending public funds on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Sunday is here: "Speaking ahead of a bilateral meeting with President Biden at the Group of Seven summit in Japan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sparked speculation over whether Ukraine had lost control of the fiercely contested city of Bakhmut.... Bakhmut is 'just dead and a lot of dead Russians,' Zelensky told reporters in Hiroshima. 'They came to us. Our defenders in Bakhmut, they did strong work, and of course we appreciate them' for their effort, he said. Russia claimed control of the eastern Ukrainian city on Saturday, but earlier Sunday, the Ukrainian military had said battles were continuing there.... Zelensky and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had their first face-to-face meeting since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. India is one of the few countries that has been reluctant to join the Western coalition against the Russian invasion. Zelensky also met the heads of state of Italy, France and Germany, he said in his nightly address, adding that his focus at the summit is to press for more weapons for Ukraine.... President Biden announced a new tranche of military assistance for Ukraine, including ammunition, artillery and vehicles." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Zeke Miller, et al., of the AP: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russian forces weren't occupying Bakhmut, casting doubt on Moscow's claims that the eastern Ukrainian city had fallen. Responding to a reporter's question about the status of the city at the Group of Seven meeting in Japan, Zelenskyy said: 'Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today.'... Zelenskyy's response in English to a question earlier at the summit about the status of Bakhmut was interpreted by many as saying the city had fallen to Russian forces. When asked if the city was in Ukraine's hands, Zelenskyy said: 'I think no, but you have to -- to understand that there is nothing, They've destroyed everything. There are no buildings. It's a pity. It's tragedy.'"

Adam Schreck of the AP: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy huddled with some of his biggest backers in Hiroshima on Sunday, building momentum for his country's war effort even as Russia claimed a symbolic victory on the battlefield. The Ukrainian leader's in-person appearance in his trademark olive drab during the final day of the Group of Seven summit underscored the centrality of the war for the bloc of rich democracies. It also stole much of the limelight from other priorities, including security challenges in Asia and outreach to the developing world, that the leaders focused on at the three-day gathering."

Comrade Donald, I Presume. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Russia has expanded its list of sanctioned Americans in a tit-for-tat retaliation for the latest curbs imposed by the United States. But what is particularly striking is how much President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is adopting perceived enemies of ... Donald J. Trump as his own. Among the 500 people singled out for travel and financial restrictions on Friday were Americans seen as adversaries by Mr. Trump, including Letitia James, the state attorney general of New York who has investigated and sued him. Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia who rebuffed Mr. Trump's pressure to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election, also made the list. And Lt. Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot the pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, 2021, was another notable name."

Mali/Russia. Jason Burke of the Observer/Guardian: "Over ... five days, hundreds ... would die in the village of Moura in the Mopti region of Mali at the hands of troops overseen by Russian mercenaries, according to a new United Nations report. All but a small fraction were unarmed civilians. Published last week after an extensive human rights fact-finding mission conducted over several months by UN staff in Mali, the report gives an hour by hour account of events during a five-day military operation in Moura in March 2022, giving details of the worst single atrocity associated with the Kremlin-linked Wagner group outside Ukraine."

News Lede

CNN: "A SpaceX rocket carrying a decorated former NASA astronaut and three paying customers took off from Florida Sunday afternoon. The crew is embarking on a weeklong stay aboard the International Space Station. Their journey, put together by the Houston-based company Axiom Space, marks the second all-private mission to the orbiting outpost. Called AX-2, the mission is making history as stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi becomes the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to space."

May 20, 2023

Marie: If every American voter were forced to read this Washington Post story about Baby Milo before going to the ballot box, none would ever vote for a Republican. Please let us not hold just Gov. Ron DeSantis and his mostly-captive state legislature, who are more than willing to cause death & incalculable pain in service of DeSantis' national ambitions. Let us start with Sadistic Sam & the Supremes. Here's a video version of the story:

     ~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "All across the country, Republicans have passed laws to ... ban, limit or restrict the right to bodily autonomy, whether abortion or gender-affirming health care for transgender people..., regardless of public opinion.... The war on bodily autonomy is a critical project for nearly the entire G.O.P., pursued with dedication by Republicans from the lowliest state legislator to the party's powerful functionaries on the Supreme Court.... There is the push to free business from the suffocating grasp of child labor laws.... Republican-led legislatures are placing harsh limits on what teachers and other educators can say in the classroom about American history or the existence of L.G.B.T.Q. people.... Last but certainly not least is the Republican effort to make civil society a shooting gallery.... Famously, [President Franklin Roosevelt named four] freedoms: ... the 'freedom of speech and expression,' the 'freedom of every person to worship God in his own way,' the 'freedom from want' and the 'freedom from fear.'... There are, I think, four freedoms we can glean from the Republican program.... The freedom to control..., the freedom to exploit..., the freedom to censor..., and there is the freedom to menace...."

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Bipartisan talks between top White House and Republican congressional officials over a deal to raise the debt limit ended without a breakthrough on Friday, capping a day of whiplash as negotiators seeking to avoid the first default in the nation's history repeatedly started and ended discussions amid growing G.O.P. frustration. Negotiations came to a halt on Friday morning after Republicans vented anger about discussions on spending caps, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy declared a 'pause' to the talks. Just hours later, he announced Republicans' return to the negotiating table, but the discussions ended after an hour on Friday night, and it was unclear when negotiators planned to meet again." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.) The AP's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Every failure is an opportunity. Quit messing with these deadbeat hostage-takers, Joe. It's Fourteenth Amendment time! ~~~

     ~~~ BUT. Adam Cancryn of Politico: "Progressive lawmakers renewed their call for President Joe Biden to bypass Congress to avert a default after the abrupt cancellation of debt ceiling talks on Friday. But the White House remains resistant. It issued a subdued statement indicating it sees no reason to pull the plug on talks. And privately, its message has been even blunter. Senior Biden officials have told progressive activists and lawmakers in recent days that they do not see the 14th Amendment -- which says the 'validity of the public debt' cannot be questioned -- as a viable means of circumventing debt ceiling negotiations.... The White House has studied the issue for months, with some aides concluding that Biden would likely have the authority to declare the debt limit unconstitutional.... But Biden advisers have told progressives that they see it as a poor option overall, fearing such a move would trigger a pitched legal battle, undermine global faith in U.S. creditworthiness and damage the economy. Officials have warned that even the appearance of more seriously considering the 14th Amendment could blow up talks that are already quite delicate."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "F.B.I. analysts improperly used a warrantless surveillance program to search for information about hundreds of Americans who came under scrutiny in connection with two politically charged episodes of civil unrest: the protests after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, a newly declassified court ruling shows. While the F.B.I. has tightened restrictions since then, the disclosure of the misuses is likely to provide fodder to critics of the program as the Biden administration seeks to persuade Congress to renew it. The surveillance program, known as Section 702, empowers the government to collect, without a warrant and from American companies like Google and AT&T, the communications of foreigners abroad who are targeted for intelligenc purposes -- even when they are talking with or about Americans." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Meet Your Congressman. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "... [Rep. Jamaal] Bowman, a media-savvy democratic socialist from the Bronx, has rapidly made a name for himself this spring by going where most of them have not: up to his opponents' actual faces.... Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of African American studies at Vanderbilt University, said that Mr. Bowman was part of a younger generation of Black politicians who have been shaped by hip-hop culture and who bring 'unvarnished gutbucket speech to bear on American politics,' with no desire to coddle those who disagree with them."

Alicia Napierkowski & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Air Force National Guardsman accused of posting a trove of secret documents online, will remain in prison pending his trial because he poses a continuing threat to national security and public safety, a federal magistrate judge ruled on Friday. The judge, David H. Hennessy, cited Airman Teixeira's history of seeking out and posting classified intelligence materials in defiance of his superiors at an Air Force base on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, in denying his request to be released on bond into the custody of his father."

Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch on Thursday slammed the use of emergency power during the pandemic as a mass intrusion on civil liberties. The high court on Thursday dismissed as moot a case seeking to preserve Title 42 after the pandemic emergency expired last week. The public health authority had allowed for the swift expulsion of migrants without allowing them to seek asylum. Gorsuch, in an attached statement to the court's unsigned order, more broadly railed against the use of emergency powers since COVID-19 shut down normal life, referencing among other things, lockdown orders, a federal ban on evictions and vaccine mandates. 'Since March 2020, we may have experienced the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country. Executive officials across the country issued emergency decrees on a breathtaking scale,' Gorsuch wrote." MB: Yeah, Neil, you arrogant prick, because when you voted in Dobbs to overturn Roe v. Wade, nobody who matters (to you) lost her civil rights. But you had to wear a mask?! Oh, horrors.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant who supervised the intelligence branch of the Washington, D.C., police was indicted this week, charged with tipping off former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio about a pending warrant for his arrest just ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... Shane Lamond, 47, was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said Friday. A federal grand jury charged Lamond with obstructing the investigation into the burning of [a Black Lives Matter] banner Dec. 12, 2020, when the Proud Boys were roaming the streets of Washington for a pro-Trump event. Between July 2019 and January 2021, Tarrio and Lamond communicated 'at least 500 times using cloud-based messaging services...," the indictment said. They sent approximately 145 messages using a secret chat function on Telegram that causes messages to disappear, the indictment charged, adding 'at least 101 of these messages were destroyed.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Rudy's Legal Woes. (1) Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge has ordered Rudy Giuliani to provide a detailed accounting of his finances and net worth in connection with a lawsuit filed by two Georgia poll workers who contend the Trump lawyer defamed them by publicly accusing them of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell issued the order during an unusual hearing Friday on ongoing disputes about access to Giuliani's evidence related to the suit brought by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss two years ago.... After the hearing, Giuliani declined to speak to reporters about the document fight.... However, outside the courthouse, he held forth on a series of other subjects. He portrayed himself as a victim of a 'fascist state' seeking to punish anyone who provided legal counsel to ... Donald Trump." ~~~

~~~ (2) Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "Former Montgomery County district attorney Bruce Castor, who recently represented Rudy Giuliani in a civil suit, filed a motion in court this Tuesday to be removed as Giuliani's lawyer in the case, The Inquirer reported. 'He's not cooperating, and he's not paying me,' Castor explained. Giuliani was named in a lawsuit by a Delaware County voting-machine supervisor who says conspiracy theories about the 2020 election made him a target of hatred."~~~

~~~ (3) Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "Two days after a woman filed a salacious lawsuit accusing Rudy Giuliani of rape, The Gateway Pundit ran the former mayor's raw and 'EXCLUSIVE' reaction to her sexual abuse claims. Law&Crime has learned that Giuliani's supposed comment was quietly airbrushed.... Within hours of publication, the right-wing website -- known for propagating fake news and conspiracy theories -- quietly deleted some of the most incendiary claims about Giuliani's accuser: Noelle Dunphy." In his original statement, Giuliani accused Dunphy of being a professional sex worker who scammed elderly men, a woman whom he never employed & who illegally taped him & accessed his emails. The massaged statement omitted those claims.

Emma Brown & Chris Dehghanpoor of the Washington Post: "A Nevada computer scientist has gone to federal court to pursue the $5 million prize he is owed by MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell following a ruling by private arbitrators last month. The arbitrators found that Robert Zeidman deserved the money because he had successfully challenged data related to Lindell's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen -- and had thus won a contest Lindell had dubbed: 'Prove Mike Wrong.' In their April 19 decision, they gave Lindell's firm, Lindell Management, 30 days to pay. Since then, Lindell has not turned over any money, and on Thursday he asked a state court in Minnesota to vacate the award on the grounds that the arbitration panel had 'exceeded its powers.'" A CBS News story is here.

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "The New York Post dropped a bombshell report last week: amid a nationwide influx of migrants, nearly two-dozen homeless veterans were kicked out of hotels where they were being temporarily housed in order to make room for migrants in upstate New York. The story, which was based on a claim by a veterans advocate, got the front page treatment: 'VETS KICKED OUT FOR MIGRANTS,' bellowed the Post last Saturday.... Naturally, Fox News covered the story enthusiastically, treating it as gospel on nearly every program. Hosts pinned blame for the very local story on [President] Biden.... Then, the story fell apart. First, the hotels that veterans were supposedly booted from told Mid-Hudson News they had no idea what the advocate, YIT Foundation Executive Director Sharon Finch, was talking about. Then, a local Republican New York lawmaker dug into her claims and concluded that she lied.... But wait, it gets worse. The Mid-Hudson News -- kudos to this local paper for some tremendous coverage on this story, by the way -- reported on Friday morning that seven homeless men had come forward to reveal that Finch approached them at a shelter this week, offering to pay them in cash, food, and alcohol to pretend that they were veterans who had been kicked out of the hotels to make way for migrants. [The New York Post printed a correction and a report on their story being false.] Fox News has yet to issue any correction over the story." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race 2024. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The bipartisan political group No Labels is stepping up a well-funded effort to field a 'unity ticket' for the 2024 presidential race, prompting fierce resistance from even some of its closest allies who fear handing the White House back to Donald J. Trump. At the top of the list of potential candidates is Senator Joe Manchin III, the conservative West Virginia Democrat who has been a headache to his party and could bleed support from President Biden in areas crucial to his re-election." MB: These people make me sick. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Nebraska. Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Washington Post: "Conservatives in the Nebraska legislature won just enough votes Friday to pass a combined ban on abortion at 12 weeks and gender-affirming treatment for minors, amid continuing protests at the state Capitol.... Friday's vote followed the 49-member Republican-dominated legislature's interim approval of the measure Tuesday. Gov. Jim Pillen (R) has said he will sign the bill and released a statement applauding its passage." The AP story is here.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Saturday is here: "President Biden is likely to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Japan for the Group of Seven summit this weekend, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.... The Ukrainian president has been on a whirlwind diplomatic tour in recent days, visiting Western European capitals and Saudi Arabia.... Zelensky urged Arab countries to help secure the release of Ukrainians in Russian detention in a Friday speech at the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia."

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden told U.S. allies on Friday that he would allow Ukrainian pilots to be trained on American-made F-16 fighter jets, moving toward letting other countries give the planes to Ukraine -- a major upgrade of the Ukrainian military and a sharp reversal.... Mr. Biden told other leaders of the Group of 7 nations, the world's wealthiest democracies, of his decision on pilot training, opening a path to supplying Ukraine with fighter jets, at their summit meeting in Hiroshima, Japan."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Martin Amis, whose caustic, erudite and bleakly comic novels redefined British fiction in the 1980s and '90s with their sharp appraisal of tabloid culture and consumer excess, and whose private life made him tabloid fodder himself, died on Friday at his home in Lake Worth, Fla. He was 73."/p>

New York Times: "Jim Brown, the Cleveland Browns fullback who was acclaimed as one of the greatest players in pro football history, and who remained in the public eye as a Hollywood action hero and a civil rights activist, though his name was later tarnished by accusations of violent conduct against women, died on Thursday night at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87."

May 19, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Negotiations between top White House and Republican congressional officials over a deal to raise the debt limit hit a snag on Friday when a G.O.P. leader in the talks said it was time to 'press pause,' complaining that President Biden's team was being unreasonable and that no progress could be made. It was a setback in the effort to avert a debt default before a June 1 deadline, though it was not clear whether the delay was a tactical retreat or a lasting blow to chances of getting an agreement. The halt came one day after the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus declared that Republicans should cease negotiations with Mr. Biden and insist on their debt limit legislation, which demanded steep spending cuts in exchange for raising the federal borrowing cap and is a dead letter in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The abrupt announcement of a pause also came just a day after Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, told reporters that he believed negotiators could reach a deal in principle as early as the weekend." CNBC's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Every snag is an opportunity. It's Fourteenth Amendment time, Joe!

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "F.B.I. analysts improperly used a warrantless surveillance program to search for information about hundreds of Americans who came under scrutiny in connection with two politically charged episodes of civil unrest: the protests after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, a newly declassified court ruling shows. While the F.B.I. has tightened restrictions since then, the disclosure of the misuses is likely to provide fodder to critics of the program as the Biden administration seeks to persuade Congress to renew it. The surveillance program, known as Section 702, empowers the government to collect, without a warrant and from American companies like Google and AT&T, the communications of foreigners abroad who are targeted for intelligence purposes -- even when they are talking with or about Americans."

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant who supervised the intelligence branch of the Washington, D.C., police was indicted this week, charged with tipping off former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio about a pending warrant for his arrest just ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... Shane Lamond, 47, was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said Friday. A federal grand jury charged Lamond with obstructing the investigation into the burning of [a Black Lives Matter] banner Dec. 12, 2020, when the Proud Boys were roaming the streets of Washington for a pro-Trump event. Between July 2019 and January 2021, Tarrio and Lamond communicated 'at least 500 times using cloud-based messaging services...," the indictment said. They sent approximately 145 messages using a secret chat function on Telegram that causes messages to disappear, the indictment charged, adding 'at least 101 of these messages were destroyed.'"

Presidential Race 2024. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The bipartisan political group No Labels is stepping up a well-funded effort to field a 'unity ticket' for the 2024 presidential race, prompting fierce resistance from even some of its closest allies who fear handing the White House back to Donald J. Trump. At the top of the list of potential candidates is Senator Joe Manchin III, the conservative West Virginia Democrat who has been a headache to his party and could bleed support from President Biden in areas crucial to his re-election." MB: These people make me sick.

New York. Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "The New York Post dropped a bombshell report last week: amid a nationwide influx of migrants, nearly two-dozen homeless veterans were kicked out of hotels where they were being temporarily housed in order to make room for migrants in upstate New York. The story, which was based on a claim by a veterans advocate, got the front page treatment: 'VETS KICKED OUT FOR MIGRANTS,' bellowed the Post last Saturday.... Naturally, Fox News covered the story enthusiastically, treating it as gospel on nearly every program. Hosts pinned blame for the very local story on [President] Biden.... Then, the story fell apart. First, the hotels that veterans were supposedly booted from told Mid-Hudson News they had no idea what the advocate, YIT Foundation Executive Director Sharon Finch, was talking about. Then, a local Republican New York lawmaker dug into her claims and concluded that she lied.... But wait, it gets worse. The Mid-Hudson News -- kudos to this local paper for some tremendous coverage on this story, by the way -- reported on Friday morning that seven homeless men had come forward to reveal that Finch approached them at a shelter this week, offering to pay them in cash, food, and alcohol to pretend that they were veterans who had been kicked out of the hotels to make way for migrants. [The New York Post printed a correction and a report on their story being false.] Fox News has yet to issue any correction over the story."

On the matter of the federal budget, contributor RAS offers this suggestion:

This is Bob. Bob gets $1,500 a year in food stamps to help feed his family. This is Shell. Shell gets 2 billion a year in subsidies, granted by the government, because it has excellent lobbyists and bribes. pic.twitter.com/KxiLgdCphc

— Amy (she, her) (@DrawingsbyAmy) September 7, 2022

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On the Left.... Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Speaker Kevin McCarthy's demand that any deal to raise the debt limit must include stricter work requirements for social safety net programs -- and President Biden's hints that he might be willing to accept such a bargain -- has drawn a backlash from liberal Democrats in Congress, underscoring the tricky politics at play in bipartisan talks to avert a default.... Talk of ... a compromise has set off a wave of anger among liberals on Capitol Hill, who have begun openly fretting that the president might agree to a deal they cannot accept. 'I cannot in good conscience support a debt ceiling proposal that pushes people into poverty,' said Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania."~~~

~~~ On the Far Right. Mariana Alfaro & Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "The House Freedom Caucus said it's calling on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend his negotiation on raising the debt limit with the White House and instead focus on getting the House-passed 'Limit, Save, Grow Act' through the Senate. 'There should be no further discussion until the Senate passes the legislation,' a statement from the Republican group said." Mediaite has an item here.

U.S. Kills Shepherd Keeping Watch Over His Flocks. Omar Nezhat, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. military officials are walking back claims that a recent strike in Syria killed an influential al-Qaeda figure, following assertions by the dead man's family that he had no ties to terrorists but was a father of 10 tending to his sheep when he was slain by an American missile. Lotfi Hassan Misto, 56, whose family identified him as the victim of a Hellfire missile attack on May 3, was a former bricklayer who lived quietly in this town in northwest Syria, according to interviews with his brother, son and six others who knew him.... The operation was overseen by U.S. Central Command, which claimed hours after the strike, without citing evidence or naming a suspect, that the Predator drone strike had targeted a 'senior Al Qaeda leader.' But now there is doubt inside the Pentagon about who was killed, two U.S. defense officials told The Washington Post. 'We are no longer confident we killed a senior AQ official,' one official said. The other, offering a slightly different view, said 'though we believe the strike did not kill the original target, we believe the person to be al-Qaeda.'"

Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "One of President Biden's nominees for a federal appeals court position withdrew from consideration on Thursday after months of rare resistance from Democrats in the Senate, who saw the candidate as controversial. Biden nominated former New Hampshire attorney general Michael Delaney to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January. But the nomination languished as Congress members from both sides of the aisle raised concerns about Delaney's legal record. Delaney came under criticism from Democrats and Republicans over his controversial stances defending a parental notification law for abortion and representing a private school amid a sexual assault scandal. Democrats who control the Senate Judiciary Committee held the nomination over several times and never brought it up for a vote.... In a letter to the president..., [Delaney] also noted that he was 'deeply indebted' to New Hampshire Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan for continuing to support his nomination...."

Gym Jordan Holds a Show Hearing Featuring Discredited Witnesses. Lindsay Whitehurst & Farnoush Amiri of the AP: "Former FBI employees accused the bureau of politicization in congressional testimony Thursday, a day after the agency disclosed that two of the men had seen their security clearances revoked over concerns about how their views of the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, affected their work.... Former FBI employees Marcus Allen and Steve Friend testified to the panel just hours after the FBI informed [subcommittee chair Jim] Jordan in a letter Wednesday -- obtained by The Associated Press -- that both men had been stripped of security clearances after either attending the Capitol riot in 2021 or espousing alternate theories about the attack.... Democrats dismissed the testimony, calling the hearing another attempt by Republicans on the committee to help ... Donald Trump. 'This select committee is a clearinghouse for testing conspiracy theories for Donald Trump to use in his 2024 presidential campaign,' [top Democrat Del. Stacey] Plaskett [said]." ~~~

     ~~~ Annie Grayer, et al., of CNN: "Three self-described FBI whistleblowers, [two of whom have had their security clearances revoked,] who are key to the Republican narrative that the FBI is weaponized against conservatives, testified at a House hearing Thursday, the latest escalation of Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan's investigation into allegations of discrimination and bias within the FBI.... Democrats ... raised concerns about their access to information about some of those claims and questioned the credibility of the individuals testifying. Del. Stacey Plaskett, the top Democrat on the weaponization subcommittee, pressed Jordan during the hearing on whether Democrats can get access to the testimony from [former agent Marcus] Allen's interview with GOP members of the committee. But much to the dismay of Democrats, Jordan would not budge on providing the interview transcript or video. Jordan said Allen wasn't comfortable including Democrats in his interview and said Democrats aren't entitled to all the evidence collected when it comes to whistleblowers.... 'I find it incredible that evidence that one side has garnered is not going to be shared with the other side,' said Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez. 'That's now how committees work.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post highlights some key remarks made during the hearing.

Foghorn Leghorn Smears Anti-Corruption Judge. Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: Senior Judge "Mark L. Wolf has spent his career fighting against corruption and for the rule of law -- as a public corruption prosecutor, as a federal judge, as a crusader against international kleptocracy. For that, at a hearing on judicial ethics this week, he was rewarded with some of the most shameful treatment in memory by a pair of Republican senators ... -- John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana and Mike Lee of Utah -- ... seemingly more intent on smearing the messenger and defending Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas than on exercising their constitutional oversight responsibilities."

Miss Margie Profiles Black Male Colleague. Jared Gans of the Hill: "Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) criticized Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Thursday for 'reckless' and 'dangerous' remarks after she said she felt 'threatened' following an encounter the two had the day before on the steps of the Capitol. Bowman mentioned the lynching of Emmett Till in 1955 and the killing by police in Ferguson, Mo., of Michael Brown in 2014 in criticizing Greene, saying she was putting him in danger with her remarks and playing on racist tropes that demonized Black men.... 'Throughout history, Black men have continually been characterized as aggressive because, one, of our skin color, but two, because we happen to be outspoken and passionate about certain issues,' Bowman said. Greene at a press conference earlier in the day had said that Bowman has a 'history of aggression' toward her and others that she is 'very concerned' about. 'Yelling, shouting, raising his voice. He has aggressive -- his physical mannerisms are aggressive,' she said.... '...I feel threatened by him.'... Bowman said he never invaded Greene's personal space during their interaction and was laughing during the exchange." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I guess this is Miss Margie showing how fearful she is:

~~~ Marie: Fortunately, she is not at all askeert of Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), a big ex-cop who forcibly removed a heckler from a sidewalk "press conference" a few of Margie's friends were holding earlier this week. Yesterday, when I linked to an item about the Higgins incident, I wrote that Higgins reactions might have been justified as a reasonable person might have found the heckler's actions to be threatening. I still think that's true, but there's a mitigating factor I didn't know yesterday: Higgins resigned from a Louisiana force in 2004 after using excessive force against an innocent Black bystander, then lied about it. According to a Times-Picayune report (July 2020), "Without justification, Higgins struck [Andre] Richard, grabbed him by the neck and may have kicked him as he lay handcuffed, face-down. Higgins then lied about it to his superiors and falsely accused Richard of battery, records show. He quit the force soon after, as the department was about to impose hefty discipline on Higgins for his misconduct, says Perry Gallow, then chief of the Opelousas Police Department." So that tells you a lot about what you need to know about Higgins' judgment and, in my mind, calls into question his decision to use force against a protester this week.

Annie Karni & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "When she arrived at the Capitol last week after a more than two-month absence recovering from shingles, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, 89, appeared shockingly diminished. Using a wheelchair, with the left side of her face frozen and one eye nearly shut, she seemed disoriented.... Ms. Feinstein's frail appearance was a result of several complications after she was hospitalized for shingles in February, some of which she has not publicly disclosed. The shingles spread to her face and neck, causing vision and balance impairments and facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. The virus also brought on a previously unreported case of encephalitis, a rare but potentially debilitating complication of shingles, according to two people familiar with the senator's diagnosis.... And even before this latest illness, Ms. Feinstein had already suffered substantial memory issues that had raised questions about her mental capacity.” Feinstein continues to refuse to retire. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Democrats' failure to politely force Feinstein into retirement is elder abuse.

Robert Barnes & Cat Zackrzewski of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court ruled for Google and Twitter in a pair of closely watched liability cases Thursday, saying families of terrorism victims had not shown the companies helped foster attacks on their loved ones. 'Plaintiffs' allegations are insufficient to establish that these defendants aided and abetted ISIS in carrying out the relevant attack,' Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a unanimous decision in the Twitter case. The court adopted similar reasoning in the claim against Google. The court's narrowly focused rulings sidestepped requests to limit a law that protects social media platforms from lawsuits over content posted by their users, even if the platform's algorithms promote videos that laud terrorist groups. That law, Section 230, has emerged as a lightning rod in the politically polarized debate over the future of online speech, as tech companies come under increased pressure to police offensive, harmful and violent posts on their platforms." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Andy Warhol was not entitled to draw on a prominent photographer's portrait of Prince for an image of the musician that his estate licensed to a magazine, limiting the scope of the fair-use defense to copyright infringement in the realm of visual art. The vote was 7 to 2 Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the majority, said the photographer&'s 'original works, like those of other photographers, are entitled to copyright protection, even against famous artists.' She focused on the fact that Warhol and Lynn Goldsmith, the photographer whose work he altered, were both engaged in the commercial enterprise of licensing images of Prince to magazines.... In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., wrote that the decision 'will stifle creativity of every sort.'" MB: Copyright lawyers must be thrilled by the ruling. ~~~

     ~~~ "You're a Drama Queen!" "You're a Philistine!" Sotormayor & Kagan had a spat, reflected in their opinions: Liptak writes, "Justice Kagan's opinion, Justice Sotomayor wrote, was made up of 'a series of misstatements and exaggerations, from the dissent's very first sentence to its very last.' Justice Kagan responded that Justice Sotomayor wholly failed to appreciate Warhol's art. 'The majority does not see it,' Justice Kagan wrote. 'And I mean that literally. There is precious little evidence in today's opinion that the majority has actually looked at these images, much less that it has engaged with expert views of their aesthetics and meaning.'"

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "The Georgia prosecutor leading an investigation into ... Donald J. Trump and his allies has taken the unusual step of announcing remote work days for most of her staff during the first three weeks of August, asking judges in a downtown Atlanta courthouse not to schedule trials for part of that time as she prepares to bring charges in the inquiry. The moves suggest that Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, is expecting a grand jury to unseal indictments during that time period. Ms. Willis outlined the remote work plan and made the request to judges in a letter sent on Thursday to 21 Fulton County officials...."

~~~ Book Reviews. Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Sen. Josh Hawley's (R-Mo.) book on manhood ― called, of course, 'Manhood' ― is finally out, and the reviews have not been very kind. Mazza provides excerpts from some reviews." MB: Not surprisingly, the reviews are a lot funnier than what reviewers found to be a humorless book. And apparently Hawley fails to address his famously manly flight away from the mob of marauders he had hours before given a solidarity air-fist pump.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida Mouse Poop. Brooks Barnes of the New York Times: After warning there could be a price for Gov. Ron DeSantis' retaliation against Disney for the company's criticism of DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" law, Disney CEO Robert "Iger and Josh D'Amaro, Disney's theme park and consumer products chairman, showed that they were not bluffing, pulling the plug on a nearly $1 billion office complex that was scheduled for construction in Orlando. It would have brought more than 2,000 jobs to the region, with $120,000 as the average salary, according to an estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.... The company's battle with Mr. DeSantis and his allies in the Florida Legislature figured prominently into Disney's decision to cancel the Lake Nona project, according to two people briefed on the matter...." The AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Montana. Sapna Maheshwari & David McCabe of the New York Times: "A court battle over First Amendment rights kicked off in Montana on Thursday after a group of TikTok users challenged the state's new TikTok ban, which is set to take effect Jan. 1 and is the first of its kind in the nation. The TikTok users said in a lawsuit that the law violated their First Amendment rights and claimed that the ban, which Gov. Greg Gianforte [R] signed on Wednesday, far outstripped Montana's legal authority as a state. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court but was added to a public court records system on Thursday. The ban has also set off an outcry from TikTok and civil liberty and digital rights groups."

Texas/Colorado. Olafimihan Oshin of the Hill: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) confirmed Thursday that the first bus of migrants has arrived in Colorado.... Abbott [noted] in a news release ... that the migrants were dropped off near the Civic Center Park in Denver." MB: Colorado's governor and U.S. senators are Democrats, as is the mayor of Denver.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Friday is here: "The Biden administration has informed European allies that Washington will not block their export of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, a person familiar with the decision told The Washington Post. President Biden has said previously that he opposes the United States sending F-16s to Ukraine. President Biden is in Japan to attend the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, where the Russian invasion of Ukraine is one of the top items on the agenda. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to attend the meeting in person.... The United States will roll out a 'substantial package' of sanctions that will make it 'even harder for Russia to sustain its war machine,' a senior Biden administration official said Thursday. This involves restricting categories of goods essential to battle and cutting off dozens of Russian and third-country entities from receiving U.S. exports, among other measures, the official said."

COMMUNITY CHEST CARD -- Accounting Error In Your Favor. Collect $3 Billion. Karoon Demirjian, et al., of the New York Times: "The Pentagon has significantly reduced its estimate of the value of weapons it has sent to Ukraine, freeing up at least $3 billion to keep Ukrainian troops supplied in their war against Russia over the next several months. The Biden administration has faced intensifying pressure to explain how it intended to continue supporting Ukraine without asking Congress to replenish its budget. On Thursday, Pentagon and State Department officials told congressional staff members that they had discovered an accounting issue that could make more resources available.... Administration officials said their mistake was one of improper valuation, explaining that they had been calculating the price of each item based on how much it would cost to replace it with new equipment, instead of its sale value.... But instead of placating Congress's concerns, the revelation was met with frustration and anger, as some lawmakers criticized the Biden administration for what they said was an extremely troublesome error."

Nigeria. Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post (May 17): "Assailants attacked a two-vehicle U.S. government convoy in Nigeria on Tuesday, killing four people and leaving some members of the convoy 'unaccounted for,' Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Wednesday statement. No U.S. citizens were involved, National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby said in a Tuesday briefing."

News Lede

Washington Post: "Sam Zell, the proudly foul-mouthed real estate tycoon whose daring buyout of the Tribune Co., the publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, was riddled by mismanagement, allegations of sexual harassment and financial calamity that ultimately sent the company into bankruptcy, died May 18 at 81."