February 8, 2023

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden challenged the new House Republican majority on Tuesday night to work together with him to 'finish the job' of repairing America's unsettled economy and fragile democracy even as the emboldened opposition geared up to try to force him to change course. In the first State of the Union address of a new era of divided government that at times turned strikingly rowdy, Mr. Biden vowed to cooperate with the other party but offered no concessions to it. Instead, he called on Republicans to embrace his program of raising taxes on the wealthy and extending social aid to the needy, citing bipartisan legislation passed when Democrats were in charge." This is an update of a story linked yesterday, before President Biden delivered his SOTU address. The Guardian's report is here.

The White House has released the transcript of the speech, as prepared. (So it leaves out some of the good stuff.)

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden was about midway through a speech of about 7,218-words on Tuesday when ... Republican lawmaker [Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia] tried to shut him down with a single one: 'Liar!'... Later in the speech, when Mr. Biden called for an end to the fentanyl crisis in the United States..., [-- Andy Ogles of Tennessee (R) --] yelled out, 'It's your fault!' -- a reference to the amount of drugs that are smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border. Another lawmaker yelled out an expletive. His second State of the Union address was punctuated by outbursts, jeers and peels of mocking laughter, but Mr. Biden turned the tables on his Republican opponents and argued in real time with the insurgents. It appeared to be the start of his re-election campaign.... The president had a shaky start on the teleprompter as he raced through his remarks and mangled some lines, although he had plenty of energy. He got an even bigger burst once the Republicans heckles and boos began, and was most animated when he veered off the teleprompter and addressed them directly before a live television audience of millions. At times, the House floor seemed like the British Parliament, where catcalls and shouted insults from the opposing party are tradition.

"In 2009, it was considered a travesty when Representative Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, shouted 'you lie' at President Barack Obama during a joint address to Congress. Back then, Mr. Wilson was formally rebuked by the whole House. Times have changed. Republican lawmakers shouted both 'liar' and 'bullshit' at parts of Mr. Biden's speech, and no one appeared shocked.... Some lawmakers even prepared to mock Mr. Biden in advance: Ms. Greene carried a white helium balloon around the Capitol, mocking Mr. Biden's response to a giant Chinese spy balloon.... When the president returned to the White House late Tuesday night, the staff stood and applauded him." ~~~

~~~ Matt Viser & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Midway through the State of the Union address, the room turned feisty as some Republican lawmakers began booing President Biden. Some pointed fingers toward his position at the center of the House chamber. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) stood and yelled at him: 'Liar!'... Hours before the speech, [Speaker Kevin] McCarthy (Calif.) and other Republican leaders had told lawmakers during their weekly conference meeting that all eyes would be on them as Biden delivered his remarks.... Halfway through a speech that was by turns folksy and feisty -- and contained more than a hint of swagger -- [Biden] looked to the Republicans sitting in the chamber to his left, chiding them for a lack of specificity in their approach to cutting the budget. Their decisions under Trump, he said, added more to the national debt than any president, triggering boos from Republicans. 'They're the facts!' Biden responded. 'Check it out. Check it out!' It was one of a number of moments in which he was heckled in the chamber, and he seemed to relish the open exchanges that broke out in the House chamber and played on national television. McCarthy, sitting directly behind Biden and in view of the cameras, several times appeared to shush his colleagues.

"As Biden mentioned potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare — and how some Republican-backed proposals could lead to cuts in the entitlement programs — it triggered one of the most disruptive moments of the night, and loud protests that had been kept at bay for much of the speech were unleashed.... 'I enjoy conversion,' Biden quipped, suggesting that minds in the room had changed on the topic. After some of the commotion had died down, Biden said that everyone in the room apparently agreed that 'Social Security and Medicare is off the books! We got unanimity!... So tonight, let's all agree -- and apparently we are -- and stand up for seniors,' Biden added, after which most in the chamber stood up. 'Stand up and show them! We will not cut Social Security! We will not cut Medicare! Those benefits belong to the American people. They earned it. ... If anyone tries to cut Medicare, I'll stop them. I'll veto it ... But apparently it's not going to be a problem.'" A Huffington Post story, by Arthur Delaney, is here. ~~~

Marie: Why, it's almost as if those who predicted yesterday that Republicans would behave badly were right.

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: President "Biden came prepared for catcalls from far-right members of the new House majority.... Rather than being rattled or angered by GOP outbursts, Biden seemed to relish them -- at times, even to provoke them. And he tossed out an ample supply of folksy Bidenisms in response.... While he was touting the benefits of the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that he signed into law in 2021, he noted that some Republican members of Congress had voted against it. Nevertheless, he said, 'I'll see you at the groundbreaking.'... Biden used the august occasion -- and used undisciplined Republicans as foils -- to display his own vigor, sense of humor and aura of command.... There is ... great peril for the slim Republican majority, in spending the next two years saying no to everything that Biden and the Democrats propose, while passing 'statement' bills that have no chance of making it through the Senate. Republicans might believe their planned kangaroo-court investigations of Hunter Biden and other manufactured villains will win them support, but I am skeptical."

Amy Wang & Leigh Ann Caldwell of the Washington Post: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) exchanged harsh words on the House floor Tuesday night before the State of the Union began, with the Republican senator telling the freshman GOP lawmaker that he should not be in Congress.... Romney glared at Santos, who smiled slightly, nodded and seemed to dismiss Romney before continuing to greet others.... 'I didn't expect that he'd be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States,' Romney told reporters after Biden's speech concluded Tuesday night, when asked why he had confronted Santos. 'Given the fact that [Santos is] under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room,' Romney added.... [MB: Santos reportedly arrived early to grab a prime seat near the aisle where dignitaries entered the chamber.] After the State of the Union concluded, Santos lashed out at Romney on social media. 'Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!' he posted to Twitter.... Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) later defended Santos, describing Romney's words as 'the rudest I've ever seen a human being be to another human being.'" MB: Because yelling "liar" and "bullshit" at the POTUS is polite. CNN's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Manu Raju of CNN: "New York Republican Rep. George Santos is expected to face an investigation from the House Ethics Committee, a probe that could derail his already imperiled political career depending on the secretive panel's findings. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy initially told CNN 'yes' on Tuesday when asked if the embattled freshman is under investigation by the committee, something that even Republicans acknowledge could lead to his expulsion from Congress if the panel turns up serious evidence of wrongdoing. But McCarthy later clarified his remarks and said that he meant that Santos is the subject of ethics committee complaints.... 'Ethics is moving through, and if ethics finds something, we'll take action,' McCarthy told CNN on Tuesday when asked about calls for his resignation. 'Right now, we're not allowing him to be on committees from the standpoint of the questions that have arisen.'" MB: Gee, Kevin, George Anthony said he initiated the decision to step away from his committee assignments.

The Washington Post captures photo & video highlights & lowlights here.

Melissa Quinn of CBS News: "Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday sought to draw distinctions between her fellow Republicans and President Biden following his State of the Union address, characterizing the differences between the GOP and Democrats as extending beyond policies, but rather a choice between 'normal and crazy.'... Sanders focused her response on many of the "culture war" issues that have motivated conservatives, and largely bucked the message of unity and bipartisanship that wound through Mr. Biden's address. Instead, she attacked the president as the 'first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can't even tell you what a woman is.'... Declaring Mr. Biden 'unfit' to serve, Sanders sought to contrast Republicans' agenda with that of Democrats, and vowed the GOP will resist political correctness to 'do what's right.'... 'It's time for a new generation to lead...,' she said." MB: Hmmm, doesn't sound like she's advocating for her old boss, the aged Trump.

CBS Boston News: "Former Boston mayor Marty Walsh is leaving the White House for the NHL. Walsh, who is the current US labor secretary under President Joe Biden, is set to become the next executive director of the NHL Players' Association. He'll be formally installed in his new gig in the coming days, according to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. The league's executive board will still have to vote on Walsh's appointment, and 18 of the 32 player reps will have to vote in favor of Walsh for him to become the next executive director. But the Daily Faceoff is reporting that Walsh is expected to be unanimously approved." (Also linked yesterday.) Update: A Washington Post story is here.

Ellen Nakashima, et al., of the Washington Post: "The U.S. intelligence community has linked the Chinese spy balloon shot down on Saturday to a vast surveillance program run by the People's Liberation Army, and U.S. officials have begun to brief allies and partners who have been similarly targeted. The surveillance balloon effort, which has operated for several years partly out of Hainan province off China's south coast, has collected information on military assets in countries and areas of emerging strategic interest to China including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines, according to several U.S. officials.... Officials have said these surveillance airships, operated in part by the PLA air force, have been spotted over five continents." ~~~

~~~ Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "U.S. service members have recovered substantial remnants of the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down over the Atlantic on Saturday, according to newly released photos that provided the closest glimpse yet of the craft. Photos from the Sunday recovery show Navy sailors dragging the deflated balloon and parts of its structure onto inflatable boats off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C.... While officials said it is too early to tell how much of the craft would be intact, the photos provide a sense that some material has survived the encounter with a fighter jet's missile. The balloon itself is about 200 feet tall and carrying equipment measuring roughly the size of a regional jetliner, [Gen. Glen] VanHerck said, estimating its weight at about 2,000 pounds."

Eileen Sullivan & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, federal border officials began testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. The hearing is the latest piece of an aggressive push to scrutinize [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas that some Republicans have said should result in his impeachment. The panel is led by Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, who has already made up his mind that Mr. Mayorkas, 63, should be removed for his handling of the record number of unauthorized crossings at the southern border since President Biden has been in office. Even though the spike in illegal entries is part of a global migration trend, Mr. Mayorkas has become the face of the intractable problem, particularly for Republicans who see failures at the border as a winning political strategy...." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Marie: In the few snippets I've seen of Comer speaking, he strikes me as the pre-Alpha version of a Gym Jordan clone: as nasty as Jordan, but dumber and uglier.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has subpoenaed top Justice Department officials, supposedly to investigate the department's suppression of information about the persecution of conservative parents.... Democrats should make these hearings about what Republicans did. This entails using spectacle to show what happened to educators as a result of Republicans systematically smearing them with hateful propaganda.... The country deserves a real debate about the real consequences of our culture wars, not one that unfolds strictly in the information universe Republicans are manufacturing." MB: I get the idea from Sargent's post that Democrats on the committee have not organized any kind of response. They need to get their act together. (Also linked yesterday.)

A Stealth Committee Assignment. Scott Wong of NBC News: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has quietly appointed Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who led the unsuccessful push to derail McCarthy's bid for speaker, to the select committee investigating the so-called weaponization of the federal government. There was no announcement of Gaetz's appointment by either McCarthy, R-Calif., or Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who chairs both the Judiciary Committee and the weaponization subcommittee. Instead, McCarthy's appointments to the special committee, including Gaetz, were read into the Congressional Record a week ago and only noticed by reporters on Tuesday. Gaetz, who had been under FBI investigation of allegations of underage sex trafficking, was not part of the original slate of names McCarthy rolled out for the panel two weeks ago. According to the select panel's roster on its website, Gaetz replaced Rep. Chip Roy of Texas.... A member of the weaponization panel said Roy asked for the change because he will serve on three demanding committees...."

News You Can Use. Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "The Internal Revenue Service is telling taxpayers -- including more than 16 million in California -- to hold off filing their taxes until the agency can issue guidance on state-issued inflation payments. Dozens of states distributed stimulus-like payments or tax rebates in 2022 to counter inflation, which reached a 40-year high in 2022. The IRS on Tuesday said it needed more time to determine which of those payments are federally taxable and told taxpayers not to submit returns until it finalizes those rules.... Nearly two dozen states issued payments to combat inflation over the summer."

>Beyond the Beltway

Pennsylvania. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Democrats swept three special elections in solidly blue House districts in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, putting the party in the majority by a single seat and breaking a Republican legislative monopoly that has recently focused on election restrictions and anti-abortion bills. All three races were in Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh.... Control of the Pennsylvania House had been shrouded by uncertainty since the midterms in November, grinding legislative business to a halt while the parties clashed over ground rules and the timing of the special elections. Democrats had appeared to flip the chamber in the fall for the first time in a dozen years, but one lawmakers death and the election of two others to higher offices delayed the final outcome."

Tennessee. Alexander Cardia, et al., of the New York Times: "Tyre Nichols faced an onslaught of impossible demands and brutal beatings at the hands of Memphis police officers on Jan. 7 -- much of which was caught on three police body cameras and a street camera.... The New York Times analyzed the available footage and radio traffic to identify and track which of the six officers threatened, chased and beat Mr. Nichols after he was pulled over for alleged reckless driving. The videos do not show what initially prompted the traffic stop. The Times found no verbal communications or actions by officers during the encounter that signaled Mr. Nichols posed a potential threat or was even acting aggressively. Yet each of the six officers immediately used physical force. The analysis also found the officers' actions lacked coordination and served no clear tactical purpose. They continued to escalate their use of force even as Mr. Nichols became increasingly incapacitated and incoherent." The analysis goes into detail about who did what when. ~~~<

Jessica Jaglois, et al., of the New York Times: "As Tyre Nichols sat propped against a police car, bloodied, dazed and handcuffed after being beaten by a group of Memphis police officers, one of those officers took a picture of him and sent it to at least five people, the Memphis Police Department said in documents released by the state on Tuesday. The documents painted a picture of repeated misconduct by the officers, starting in the first moments after Mr. Nichols was pulled over for a traffic stop, through an arrest carried out with excessive force and continuing on through the many minutes when Mr. Nichols lay on the street in dire need of medical help. Sending the photograph to acquaintances, including at least one outside of the Police Department, violated policies about keeping information confidential, according to the documents. But police officials said it was also part of a pattern of mocking, abusive and 'blatantly unprofessional' behavior by the officers that also included shouting profanities at Mr. Nichols, laughing after the beating and 'bragging' about their involvement."

Way Beyond

France. They Paved Paradise to Put Up a Solar Plant. Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "French parking lots could soon generate as much electricity as 10 nuclear power plants, after a law is expected to win final passage on Tuesday requiring canopies of solar panels to be built atop all substantial lots in the country. The plan makes France a world leader in efforts to cover as many surfaces as possible with solar panels, a step advocates say will be crucial in broader plans to phase out fossil fuels in the coming years. The expansion could add as much as 8 percent to France's current electrical capacity." (Also linked yesterday.)

New Zealand. Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "New Zealand authorities have seized more than three tons of cocaine that was wrapped into 81 bales and cached at a floating transit point in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in the single largest drug bust in the nation's history. The cache, estimated to be worth $315 million, is large enough to supply the Australian market for a year, and New Zealand's for three decades, New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster told reporters Wednesday. The cocaine -- which weighed 3.2 metric tons, or 3.5 tons in the United States -- came from South America and was destined for Australia, police said."

Switzerland. Catherine Hickley of the New York Times: "Bruno Stefanini, a Swiss real estate magnate who died in 2018, spent his life collecting huge numbers of buildings, fine art and historic memorabilia, everything from castles to paintings to the toothbrush Napoleon is said to have used at Waterloo.... But Stefanini was better at collecting things than caring for them.... Items in his collection became contaminated with mildew, woodworm or worse -- asbestos, mercury and radioactivity.... Now Stefanini's Foundation for Art, Culture and History, led by his daughter, is trying to clean things up, not just of grunge, but of any taint of Nazi-era looting.... Last month, Bettina Stefanini ... announced that an independent panel of experts would evaluate the research and make binding decisions on whether to return items originally owned by Jews and deemed lost due to Nazi persecution."

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit the United Kingdom on Wednesday to meet with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and address Parliament, Downing Street said in a statement.... The trip will be Zelensky's second out of Ukraine and first to Britain since Russia's invasion nearly a year ago. He spoke to Congress in Washington in December. Britain has recently pledged to increase its support for Ukraine and help train fighter pilots and marines.... President Biden reiterated U.S. support for Ukraine during his State of the Union address Tuesday, calling Russia's invasion 'a test for America' and the world. Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, was present at the event, representing 'not just her nation, but the courage of her people,' Biden said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet with senior Biden administration officials in Washington on Wednesday, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.... The [U.S.] State Department has 'made a determination approving' the potential sale of $10 billion in artillery rocket systems to Poland, a NATO ally that shares a border with Ukraine."

News Lede

New York Times: "Transporting international aid and rescue workers to the quake-stricken areas of Turkey and Syria has become a huge logistical hurdle as time is running out to find survivors, two days after an earthquake hit the two countries and left more than 9,600 dead.Crews have rescued more than 8,000 people in Turkey alone. But the chances of unearthing people still alive in the heaps of rubble dropped quickly as the third day of rescue efforts dawned on Wednesday." This is a liveblog.

February 7, 2023

President Biden will make his State of the Union address at 9:00 pm ET.

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

CBS Boston News: "Former Boston mayor Marty Walsh is leaving the White House for the NHL. Walsh, who is the current US labor secretary under President Joe Biden, is set to become the next executive director of the NHL Players' Association. He'll be formally installed in his new gig in the coming days, according to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. The league's executive board will still have to vote on Walsh's appointment, and 18 of the 32 player reps will have to vote in favor of Walsh for him to become the next executive director. But the Daily Faceoff is reporting that Walsh is expected to be unanimously approved."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden plans to challenge the new House Republican majority on Tuesday night to raise taxes on the wealthy, extend more social aid to the needy and rule out cuts to Social Security and Medicare as he opens an era of divided government. In his first State of the Union address since his fellow Democrats lost control of the House, aides said Mr. Biden would call on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to rally around his economic agenda, even as the newly empowered opposition gears up to try to force him to change direction. No one expects the Republicans now running the House to embrace Mr. Biden's legislative program, nor is the president likely to agree anytime soon to the other side's demands for deep spending cuts in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling. But the speech and the G.O.P. response will frame the terms of debate heading into the coming year, even as Mr. Biden prepares to announce a campaign for re-election this spring." ~~~

~~~ The White House announces the First Lady's guests at the State of the Union address. ~~~

~~~ SNL Alert! Marie: I plumb forgot about this: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Ark.) will deliver the Republican rebuttals to the SOTU speech. David Siders of Politico writes about that.

Eileen Sullivan & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, federal border officials began testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. The hearing is the latest piece of an aggressive push to scrutinize [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas that some Republicans have said should result in his impeachment. The panel is led by Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, who has already made up his mind that Mr. Mayorkas, 63, should be removed for his handling of the record number of unauthorized crossings at the southern border since President Biden has been in office. Even though the spike in illegal entries is part of a global migration trend, Mr. Mayorkas has become the face of the intractable problem, particularly for Republicans who see failures at the border as a winning political strategy...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In the few snippets I've seen of Comer speaking, he strikes me as the pre-Alpha version of a Gym Jordan clone: as nasty as Jordan, but dumber and uglier.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has subpoenaed top Justice Department officials, supposedly to investigate the department's suppression of information about the persecution of conservative parents.... Democrats should make these hearings about what Republicans did. This entails using spectacle to show what happened to educators as a result of Republicans systematically smearing them with hateful propaganda.... The country deserves a real debate about the real consequences of our culture wars, not one that unfolds strictly in the information universe Republicans are manufacturing." MB: I get the idea from Sargent's post that Democrats on the committee have not organized any kind of response. They need to get their act together.

France. They Paved Paradise to Put Up a Solar Plant. Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "French parking lots could soon generate as much electricity as 10 nuclear power plants, after a law is expected to win final passage on Tuesday requiring canopies of solar panels to be built atop all substantial lots in the country. The plan makes France a world leader in efforts to cover as many surfaces as possible with solar panels, a step advocates say will be crucial in broader plans to phase out fossil fuels in the coming years. The expansion could add as much as 8 percent to France’s current electrical capacity."

~~~~~~~~~~

Trump's Team Was Asleep at the Wheel. Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "The top military commander overseeing North American airspace said Monday that some previous incursions by Chinese spy balloons during the Trump administration were not detected in real time, and the Pentagon learned of them only later. 'I will tell you that we did not detect those threats, and that's a domain awareness gap,' said Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of the Pentagon's Northern Command. One explanation, multiple U.S. officials said, is that some previous incursions were initially classified as 'unidentified aerial phenomena,' Pentagon speak for U.F.O.s. As the Pentagon and intelligence agencies stepped up efforts over the past two years to find explanations for many of those incidents, officials reclassified some events as Chinese spy balloons.... In 2021, the intelligence agencies announced an intensified effort to collect more and better data on unexplained incidents near military bases and exercises.... 'We enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect,' said [White House National Security Advisor Jake] Sullivan, speaking at an event hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.... Mr. Trump, on his social media site..., called the claims of intrusions during his administration 'fake disinformation,' and his last director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, has also denied it." The article includes more administration remarks about U.S.-China diplomatic relations. ~~~

     ~~~ Zachary Cohen of CNN: "White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said on Monday that past surveillance balloons were discovered at the beginning of the Biden administration because [President] Biden directed the intelligence community 'to increase both our vigilance and the assets that we were deploying to be able to detect Chinese efforts to spy against the United States.' 'Because the intelligence community made this a priority at the direction of President Biden, we enhanced our surveillance of our territorial airspace, we enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect,' Sullivan said. 'And were also able to go back and look at the historical patterns. And that led us to come to understand that during the Trump administration..., there were multiple instances where the surveillance balloons traversed American airspace and American territory,' he added." ~~~

     ~~~ Biden to Offer Remedial Classes to Trumpies. The Washington Post story, by Alex Horton & others, is here: "The Biden administration has 'reached out to key officials from the previous administration and offered them briefings on the forensics we did' on Chinese balloon flights that took place when Trump was in office, John Kirby, the National Security Council strategic communications coordinator, said earlier Monday." MB: I wonder if they "reached out" to Fake Disinformation Guy. As Akhilleus pointed out the other day, "fake disinformation," translated, is "real information." Apparently Trump doesn't understand the concept of double negatives.

Note to Gym Jordan. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "A Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that Americans, by and large, don't think the ... purpose [of Republicans' subcommittee on weaponization of the government] is legitimate. Americans say, by a margin of 56 percent to 36 percent, that the committee is 'just an attempt to score political points,' according to the poll."

The Day George Santos Told the Truth. Beth Harpaz & Jacob Kornbluh of the Forward: "When Rep. George Santos marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on the House floor by saying that the grandmother of one of his staff members had survived Auschwitz, some were skeptical.... But the unnamed woman Santos saluted in Congress on Jan. 27 is real. And her story deserves to be known -- not only to counter those who deny that the Holocaust happened, but also to honor a woman who was deported to Nazi death camps at age 14, then rebuilt her life after the war with fortitude and joy. Her name is Eva Lipsky. She's 92, was born in Hungary, and survived both the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. Her granddaughter Gabrielle Lipsky was press secretary for Santos' campaign and now works in his Washington office. In a two-hour testimony recorded in 1997 by the USC Shoah Foundation, the organization founded by Steven Spielberg, Eva Lipsky told of being forced out of her home in 1944 with her mother and four siblings. (Her father, a Hungarian soldier, had disappeared earlier in the war.)"

About that Pet Charity. Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: George "Santos ran a pet charity that he claimed saved 2,500 animals. But several people questioned the way he handled funds that were raised to benefit the pets.... Few public records exist to corroborate [Mr. Santos' claims], and Friends of Pets United's operations appear to have centered on a Facebook group that is now defunct. Only traces of the organization remain on public social media posts and GoFundMe campaigns, and Mr. Santos's campaign biography no longer mentions it.... Several people said Mr. Santos assured them he was operating a registered nonprofit, but no records exist to confirm that.... They said the group rescued far fewer pets than the more than 2,500 animals that Mr. Santos claimed it saved. The group was not registered as a rescue organization in New York State, and there was no record that it was authorized to take dogs from New York City shelters. And several people took issue with how Mr. Santos handled his group's funds,saying they never received the thousands of dollars he raised on their behalf, often through GoFundMe." GoFundMe eventually kicked Mr. Santos off the site. (Also linked yesterday.)

Rachel Weiner & Jasmine Hilton of the Washington Post: "A neo-Nazi leader recently released from prison has been arrested again and accused of plotting an attack on the Maryland power grid with a woman he met while incarcerated.Brandon Russell, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, are expected to make their first appearance Monday in Baltimore and Florida federal courts on a charge of conspiring to destroy an energy facility, which carries up to 20 years in prison.... According to prosecutors, their plan was to attack with gunfire five substations that serve the Baltimore area. The charges come after similar attacks on the power grid in North Carolina and Oregon that remain unsolved...." An ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge in Washington, D.C., suggested Monday that there may be a constitutional right to abortion baked into the 13th Amendment -- an area she said went unexplored by the Supreme Court in its momentous decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade. In a pending criminal case against several anti-abortion activists, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization concluded only that the 14th Amendment included no right to abortion but stopped short of definitively ruling out other aspects of the Constitution that might apply.... Kollar-Kotelly noted that there is some legal scholarship suggesting that the 13th Amendment -- which was ratified at the end of the Civil War and sought to ban slavery and 'involuntary servitude' -- provides just such a right. She is asking the parties in the criminal case, which involves charges of blocking access to abortion clinics, to present arguments by mid-March." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Don't get your hopes up. According to Wikipedia, in 1975 and 1993, the Supreme Court rejected the involuntary servitude argument applied to unwanted pregnancies. The Wiki article references the cases.

Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "Eric Trump has been touring with antisemitic conspiracy theorist Scott McKay, who claims that many Jewish people are working 'under the cover of this religion called Judaism' to carry out a massive and evil conspiracy. In McKay's telling, these fraudulent Jewish people have perpetrated 9/11; set up banking systems 'in exchange for the child blood sacrifices'; and engineered presidential assassinations, among many other crimes. McKay has also praised Hitler as a like-minded ally. In his narrative, Jewish people supposedly 'created' and 'built' Hitler to profit from war, but 'Hitler broke away' from his Jewish creators and their evil banks by trying to create 'a banking system for the people and the free world.... Hitler was actually fighting the same people that we're trying to take down today,' McKay claimed last year.... McKay, who is also a QAnon conspiracy theorist, has begun to gain more prominence because of his featured speaking role on the ReAwaken America tour, which was founded by Clay Clark and Michael Flynn.... In addition to McKay, its 'featured speakers' include Charlie Kirk, Kash Patel, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Peter Navarro, Mike Lindell, and Alex Jones.... Donald Trump Jr. has also spoken on the tour." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post: "Harry Whittington, the prominent Texas lawyer and Republican operative whom Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot with a 28-gauge shotgun during a 2006 quail hunting trip, leaving over two dozen birdshot pellets lodged in his body, died Feb. 4 at his home in Austin. He was 95." ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Harry Whittington didn't want to be known as The Man Dick Cheney Shot.... Whittington ... never blamed Cheney for nearly killing him, nor the White House for distorting the events of that late afternoon in 2006.... It was nearly five years after the fact that he opened up about what happened that day. He didn't assign blame but he did sketch out circumstances that clearly suggested Cheney had been careless, at best. His account suggested that much of what had been reported -- and much of what the White House wanted reported -- was wrong, or at least shaded in terms favorable to the vice president.... Though Whittington wouldn't say so explicitly [in an interview with Farhi], his description suggested that Cheney had violated two fundamental safety protocols. First, in wheeling on a bird winging from the scrub, Cheney had fired without checking if his line of fire was clear. Second, he'd aimed downward, ignoring a rule obliging bird hunters to observe 'blue sky' before firing.... The injuries he'd suffered were far worse than initially reported." We are left to assume Cheney never apologized.

Presidential Race 2024

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: Joe "Biden has been a great president. He's made good on an uncommon number of campaign promises. He should be celebrated on Tuesday. But he should not run again.... The arguments for sticking with Biden are not trivial. In addition to his successful record, he has the benefit of incumbency.... It's hard to ignore the toll of Biden's years, no matter how hard elected Democrats try. In some ways, the more sympathetic you are to Biden, the harder it can be to watch him stumble over his words, a tendency that can't be entirely explained by his stutter.... Chances are good that Biden's competitor will be someone much younger [than Donald Trump], like Ron DeSantis, who will be 46 in 2024.... Barring some radical shift in the national mood, the candidates will be vying for leadership of a deeply dissatisfied country desperate for change. For Democrats, the visual contrast alone could be devastating.... But Democrats have a deep bench, including politicians who've won in important purple states, like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As someone who is near Biden's age, I agree with Goldberg. I am constantly amazed at the things I can't do. Things I didn't even think about several years ago I now do with difficulty. Or don't do at all. Obviously, not everyone suffers the same effects of age, and my limitations are different from Biden's. He is a great president, and I think he should be on Mount Rushmore, if only for putting up with Republican lies. Goldberg points out many of his accomplishments. But Americans are ready for a younger generation to take the helm, and heaven forbid it be anyone in the GOP lineup, and that includes the less rabid potential candidates like Larry Hogan & Chris Sununu, both of whom said they would vote for Trump if he were the nominee. That's disqualify, all by itself. And that doesn't begin to speak to the authoritarians any Republican president would put on the bench. As for Biden, he should keep pretending he will run again to avoid being a lame duck while encouraging candidates he likes to get into the game.

Michael Bender of the New York Times: "The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group that spent nearly $150 million in the past two election cycles, has invited a half-dozen potential Republican presidential candidates to its annual donor retreat next month -- but not Donald J. Trump. In a meeting with reporters on Monday, David McIntosh, president of the group, said that Republican chances of winning back the White House next year would be diminished if Mr. Trump were once again at the top of the ticket and that he hoped to introduce Republican donors to other possibilities."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. I'm Going to DeSantis World! Steve Contorno of CNN: Florida's "Republican lawmakers on Monday unveiled a bill to turn over control of Disney's special taxing district, called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, to a five-member board chosen by [Gov. Ron] DeSantis. The proposal also comes with a rebrand; Reedy Creek would become the 'Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.' The move to take over Reedy Creek is the latest step in a yearlong spat between DeSantis and Disney over a bill to restrict certain classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity. DeSantis signed the bill into law over the objections of Disney's then-CEO Bob Chapek.... Democrats criticized the legislation, which was introduced in a special session called in part to address Reedy Creek's future, while stopping short of endorsing Disney's unique arrangement in Central Florida.... State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, said of the bill: 'Disney still gets perks but they're now a political prisoner of the governor.'" One purpose of the bill is to get around a "debt bomb" to local taxpayers who might have been liable to pay Reedy Creek's $1BB debt under DeSantis' plan last year to dissolve Reedy Creek altogether.

Mississippi. If Only They Had a "Coloreds Only" Playground. Kristin Hunt of the Washington Post: In April 1970, Mississippi's "all-White [State Commission for Educational Television] ... decided Mississippi was 'not yet ready for it,' according to one member, because 'Sesame Street' showed Black and White kids playing together. In a 3-2 vote, the commission banned 'Sesame Street' from broadcasting on the state-run ETV network.... None of the board's members would speak on the record about the ban.... In the aftermath of the Mississippi decision, letters poured into ETV, protesting the ban.... WDAM, a local station based in Laurel, Miss., urged the commission to reverse the vote and offered to air 'Sesame Street' itself if ETV wouldn't.... ETV scrambled to lift the ban, promising viewers on May 23 that 'Sesame Street' would air in a matter of weeks. The show appeared on local TV listings by June 8, and that fall, the board sponsored a special episode."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Tuesday is here: "Ukrainian forces still hold the city of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address, days after telling the world that the battlefield situation was 'very difficult' in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces are still trying to surround the city, he said Monday evening, but Ukraine is 'countering them.'... U.N. Secretary General António Guterres expressed concern that the war in Ukraine could escalate into a broader global conflict in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday. 'The Russian invasion of Ukraine is inflicting untold suffering on the Ukrainian people, with profound global implications,' he said. 'I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open.'"

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Charles Silverstein, a psychologist who helped achieve one of the most significant victories of the gay rights movement by persuading the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness, died Jan. 30 at his home in New York City. He was 87." Read on.

Ohio. New York Times: "A rail operator on Monday released toxic fumes from several derailed train cars that it said were at risk of exploding in East Palestine, Ohio, after the authorities ordered residents on both sides of the state's border with Pennsylvania to evacuate to avoid a deadly threat. The train derailed on Friday night, with 50 of its 100 cars running off the tracks, igniting a fire that left much of the town in smoke and prompted repeated calls for evacuation. 'We are ordering you to leave,' Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio said on Monday at a news conference. 'This is a matter of life and death.' He added that there was 'grave danger' of inhaling fumes from chemicals produced by the release, which the authorities identified as phosgene and hydrogen chloride. In high concentrations, both chemicals can cause severe and life-threatening respiratory issues."

Turkey. New York Times: "Rescue teams hunted for survivors in freezing temperatures on Tuesday as the deat toll in a pair of earthquakes rose above 4,800 in Turkey and Syria, one of the deadliest natural disasters this century. The death toll is almost certain to rise significantly. Almost 50 countries offered to send aid to the region already burdened by a refugee crisis, war and the skyrocketing cost of living. In Turkey, many survivors sought shelter in cars while others stayed outdoors and lit bonfires to keep warm, refusing to go indoors because they feared buildings still standing could collapse any minute. In Syria, some people scarred by the civil war first thought they were under attack again.... The cold weather, with snow in the forecast, threatened to complicate rescue efforts, which were already hindered by power cuts and blocked roads. More than 9,000 search and rescue personnel have been deployed in Turkey, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with foreign teams expected to join in." This is a liveblog.

February 6, 2023

Afternoon Update:

MSNBC reported on-air that according to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the reason the Trump administration didn't know about Chinese balloons floating all over the place is that they weren't bothering to look for them. When Biden became president, he ordered the national security apparatus to get a handle on foreign government surveillance of the U.S.

About that Pet Charity. Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: George "Santos ran a pet charity that he claimed saved 2,500 animals. But several people questioned the way he handled funds that were raised to benefit the pets.... Few public records exist to corroborate [Mr. Santos' claims], and Friends of Pets United's operations appear to have centered on a Facebook group that is now defunct. Only traces of the organization remain on public social media posts and GoFundMe campaigns, and Mr. Santos's campaign biography no longer mentions it.... Several people said Mr. Santos assured them he was operating a registered nonprofit, but no records exist to confirm that.... They said the group rescued far fewer pets than the more than 2,500 animals that Mr. Santos claimed it saved. The group was not registered as a rescue organization in New York State, and there was no record that it was authorized to take dogs from New York City shelters. And several people took issue with how Mr. Santos handled his group's funds, saying they never received the thousands of dollars he raised on their behalf, often through GoFundMe." GoFundMe eventually kicked Mr. Santos off the site.

Rachel Weiner & Jasmine Hilton of the Washington Post: "A neo-Nazi leader recently released from prison has been arrested again and accused of plotting an attack on the Maryland power grid with a woman he met while incarcerated.Brandon Russell, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, are expected to make their first appearance Monday in Baltimore and Florida federal courts on a charge of conspiring to destroy an energy facility, which carries up to 20 years in prison.... According to prosecutors, their plan was to attack with gunfire five substations that serve the Baltimore area. The charges come after similar attacks on the power grid in North Carolina and Oregon that remain unsolved...." An ABC News story is here.

Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "Eric Trump has been touring with antisemitic conspiracy theorist Scott McKay, who claims that many Jewish people are working 'under the cover of this religion called Judaism' to carry out a massive and evil conspiracy. In McKay's telling, these fraudulent Jewish people have perpetrated 9/11; set up banking systems 'in exchange for the child blood sacrifices'; and engineered presidential assassinations, among many other crimes. McKay has also praised Hitler as a like-minded ally. In his narrative, Jewish people supposedly 'created' and 'built' Hitler to profit from war, but 'Hitler broke away' from his Jewish creators and their evil banks by trying to create 'a banking system for the people and the free world.... Hitler was actually fighting the same people that we're trying to take down today,' McKay claimed last year.... McKay, who is also a QAnon conspiracy theorist, has begun to gain more prominence because of his featured speaking role on the ReAwaken America tour, which was founded by Clay Clark and Michael Flynn.... In addition to McKay, its 'featured speakers' include Charlie Kirk, Kash Patel, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Peter Navarro, Mike Lindell, and Alex Jones.... Donald Trump Jr. has also spoken on the tour."

~~~~~~~~~~

Helene Cooper & Edward Wong of the New York Times: "Navy divers were searching for debris from the Chinese spy balloon that a U.S. fighter jet shot down off the coast of South Carolina, defense officials said on Sunday.... The recovery effort, which is expected to take days, began not long after debris from the balloon hit the water on Saturday, a defense official said. He added that a Navy ship had arrived on the scene, and that other Navy and Coast Guard ships, which had been put on alert, had also been dispatched. The shooting down of the balloon, occurring at the end of a remarkable week of high-stakes international drama playing out in the open skies and behind closed doors, introduced a new phase in the increasingly tempestuous relationship between the United States and China...." ~~~

~~~ Dan Lamothe & Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "The Defense Department has notified Congress of several previous incursions of U.S. airspace by Chinese surveillance balloons, with earlier sightings near Texas, Florida, Hawaii and Guam, U.S. officials said Sunday, as Republicans criticized the Biden administration for allowing a suspected surveillance balloon to track across much of the United States over the last week. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview that defense officials identified the locations in a discussion with lawmakers and staff on Saturday.... The defense officials said that several of those events occurred during the Trump administration, Waltz said. Officials had also said that during a news briefing with reporters on Saturday.... The administration official briefing [the members of Congress] said the other incidents had mostly been along or off the coast of the United States.... A senior administration official ... said Sunday that the previous occurrences were discovered after the Trump administration left office." A related CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ Christian Shepherd of the Washington Post: "Chinese authorities have confirmed that an 'unmanned aircraft' currently flying over Latin America also originated in China, even as Beijing stepped up its protests against the U.S. military decision to shoot down another suspected spy balloon that traversed mainland United States last week. At a regular news briefing on Monday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said that the second balloon came also from China but claimed that it was used for civilian flight tests. 'Due to the impact of weather and limited self-steering ability, this aircraft seriously deviated from its scheduled course,' Mao said.... Separately on Monday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng lodged 'solemn representations' with the United States Embassy in Beijing over the use of an F-22 Raptor to shoot down the balloon that had slowly drifted across U.S. continental airspace over multiple days." ~~~

     ~~~ Emily Fujiyama of the AP: "'... the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against the civilian airship that was about to leave the United States airspace, obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice,' Xie [Feng] said."

A Booby Prize for Congressional Republicans. Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "US officials have offered to provide a closed-door briefing to congressional leaders about their review of about 300 classified-marked documents retrieved from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort last year, sources familiar with the matter said. The precise nature of the briefing remains unclear. The offer from the justice department and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence (ODNI) was described as unofficial on Sunday and no date had yet been set, though the briefing could come as soon as this week.... Republicans in Congress have seized on the presence of marked documents at [President] Biden's home in Delaware and a private office space in Washington, and have sought briefings as a means to pressure the president and draw inaccurate parallels with the Trump case." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. According to this AP report, by Nomaan Merchant and others, "U.S. officials have offered to brief congressional leaders on their investigation into the classified documents found at ... Donald Trump's Florida residence as well as President Joe Biden's "MB: What a disappointment. I was wanting Republican MOCs to have to sit through hours of a Trump vetting: "This one describes how to get around U.S. sub radar: Now, this one contains the nuclear codes; and so forth. Instead, they'll also get to listen to what Biden retained: Here's the recipe for Xi's favorite chicken potstickers."

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to limit US senators to two terms in office, thereby removing from Washington what he calls 'permanently entrenched politicians … totally unaccountable to the American people' On Sunday, however, he said he saw no problem with running for a third term himself. 'I've never said I'm going to unilaterally comply,' the Texas senator said.... Congressional term limits are a popular policy offering on the American right."

The Pandemic, Ctd. Ali Swenson & Angelo Fichera of the AP: There is "a growing list of hundreds of children, teens, athletes and celebrities whose unexpected deaths and injuries have been incorrectly blamed on COVID-19 shots. Using the hashtag #diedsuddenly, online conspiracy theorists have flooded social media with news reports, obituaries and GoFundMe pages in recent months, leaving grieving families to wrestle with the lies.... The campaign causes harm beyond just the internet, epidemiologist Dr. Katelyn Jetelina said. 'The real danger is that it ultimately leads to real world actions such as not vaccinating,' said Jetelina...."

Beyond the Beltway

North Carolina. GOP Justices Tee Up Voter Suppression All Over Again. Michael Wines of the New York Times: "An extraordinary pair of orders by North Carolina's Republican-controlled Supreme Court is highlighting how the partisan tug of war has pervaded the state's courts and, by extension, the nation's. On Friday, the court moved to rehear two major voting rights cases that it had previously decided, one striking down a gerrymandered map of State Senate districts and another nullifying new voter identification requirements. Such rehearings by the court are exceedingly rare. In fact, North Carolina's Supreme Court ordered as many rehearings on Friday as it has in the past three decades. What also made the rehearings exceptional was that the cases had been decided less than two months ago -- by a court that, at the time, contained four Democratic and three Republican justices. The court that voted to rehear the cases has a 5-to-2 Republican majority, courtesy of the party's sweep of state Supreme Court races in November. And the potential beneficiary of those reviews is the Republican leadership of the state General Assembly, which had both drawn the political map and enacted the voter ID law that the court struck down in December." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: They may each hold the title of "justice," but we're about to find out if "thug" and "racist" are more apt titles.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.

News Ledes

Ohio. AP: "Officials monitoring the smoldering, tangled wreckage of a train derailment in northeastern Ohio urgently warned hundreds of nearby residents who had declined to evacuate to do so Sunday night, saying a rail car was at risk of a potential explosion that could launch deadly shrapnel as far as a mile. They warned of 'the potential of a catastrophic tanker failure' after a 'drastic temperature change' was observed in that rail car, according to a statement from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's office that said teams were working to prevent an explosion at the scene in East Palestine. It did not specify what was in that car or whether it was among those that had been carrying hazardous materials."

Turkey. New York Times: "Millions of people in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel were jolted from their beds early Monday after a deadly earthquake hit the region, collapsing buildings and raising the specter of a humanitarian crisis. More than 1,200 deaths were reported in Turkey and Syria, and the toll was expected to increase. The epicenter of the earthquake was near the city of Gaziantep in south central Turkey. Some survivors there fled their homes in the rain and took shelter in cars as the temperature hovered near freezing and the extent of the destruction became apparent."This is a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here.