July 1, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden announced on Friday that he will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom next week to 17 leaders from the worlds of politics, civil rights, sports, business, education and entertainment, including the Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, the actor Denzel Washington and the first American to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. The recipients, the first of his presidency, include a variety of barrier-breaking figures familiar to many Americans as well as prominent political veterans Mr. Biden has known over the years. The list includes three posthumous award recipients: Steve Jobs, the pioneering co-founder of Apple; John McCain, the longtime Republican senator and two-time presidential candidate; and Richard Trumka, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. president and Democratic power broker." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the list of recipients, via the White House.

Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "Toward the end of 2020..., Donald Trump began raising a new idea with aides: that he would personally lead a march to the Capitol on the following Jan. 6. Trump brought it up repeatedly with key advisers in the Oval Office, according to a person who talked with him about it. The president told others he wanted a dramatic, made-for-TV moment that could pressure Republican lawmakers to support his demand to throw out the electoral college results showing that Joe Biden had defeated him, the person said.... But ... several of his advisers doubted he meant it or didn't take the suggestion seriously.... As a result, the White House staff never turned Trump's stated desires into concrete plans.... This account of Trump's ceaseless plotting to join the mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6 is based on committee testimony and evidence as well as 15 former officials, aides, law enforcement officials and others...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What comes out from this report is that top staff considered Trump a blowhard given to braggadocio whom they could manipulate into behaving more presidenty. After the stroll to St. John's Church & the show-drive when he was deathly-ill with Covid, they should have known better. But then again, there may have been numerous other wild Trump "proposals," of which we are not aware, that they had thwarted. ~~~

~~~ Noah Gray & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "... Donald Trump angrily demanded to go to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and berated his protective detail when he didn't get his way, according to two Secret Service sources who say they heard about the incident from multiple agents, including the driver of the presidential SUV where it occurred. The sources tell CNN that stories circulated about the incident -- including details that are similar to how former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described it to the House select committee investigating January 6 -- in the months immediately afterward the US Capitol attack.... Like Hutchinson, one source, a longtime Secret Service employee, told CNN that the agents relaying the story ... that the former President said something similar to: 'I'm the f**king President of the United States, you can't tell me what to do.' The source said he originally heard that kind of language was used shortly after the incident. 'He had sort of lunged forward -- it was unclear from the conversations I had that he actually made physical contact, but he might have. I don't know,' the source said. 'Nobody said Trump assaulted him; they said he tried to lunge over the seat.'... The source added that agents often recounted stories of Trump's fits of anger, including the former President throwing and breaking things."

Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Rudy Giuliani insisted on Twitter that Cassidy Hutchinson was 'never present' when he asked ... Donald Trump when he asked for a pardon, and then deleted it."

New Zealand. Trump Supporters Designated Terrorist Group. Daniel Victor of the New York Times: "New Zealand has declared the Proud Boys, the far-right American group that played a key role in the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to be a terrorist organization, making it illegal for New Zealanders to participate in or support its activities. There was no evidence that the group was operating in New Zealand, but its activity has been observed in Australia and Canada, which designated the group a terrorist organization last year. New Zealand's prime minister can designate groups terrorist entities if they have carried out at least one terrorist act, and the government believed the Proud Boys' involvement in the Jan. 6 attack was 'consistent with the definition of a terrorist act,' it said in a statement from June 20."

Oliver O'Connell of the Independent, reprinted in Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump Jr. ... [referred] to ... Cassidy Hutchinson as a 'coffee girl'.... Mr Trump Jr posted on Truth Social: 'It's pretty surreal watching the CNNs of the world still pretending that there aren't multiple actual witnesses willing to testify that the fake bombshell hearsay testimony they're salivating over isn't demonstrably false and that their dream witness/coffee girl perjured herself!'." MB: Missed this yesterday. Please see Akhilleus' comment below, which expresses my sentiments, too. Junior is so fucking clueless that he doesn't understand that he's nothing compared to Hutchinson. Junior is so stupid he couldn't even get a job as a coffee boy in his daddy's White House, a job which Patrick points out goes to "mess boys," young men who are no doubt also smarter & more competent than Junior. Moreover, quite a few of well-known coffee boys in the White House -- like Mark Meadows, Pat Cipollone & Tony Ornato -- did enjoy confiding in Hutchinson.

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While you were getting ready to celebrate so-called "Independence Day," the Supremes stepped up their plot to take away Americans' independence.

** Supremes Join Plot to Overturn 2024 Presidential Election. AND More. Adam Liptak & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it would hear a case that could radically reshape how federal elections are conducted by giving state legislatures independent power, not subject to review by state courts, to set election rules in conflict with state constitutions. The case has the potential to affect many aspects of the 2024 election, including by giving the justices power to influence the presidential race if disputes arise over how state courts interpret state election laws. In taking up the case, the court could upend nearly every facet of the American electoral process, allowing state legislatures to set new rules, regulations and districts on federal elections with few checks against overreach, and potentially create a chaotic system with differing rules and voting eligibility for presidential elections.... Protections against partisan gerrymandering established through the state courts could essentially vanish. The ability to challenge new voting laws at the state level could be reduced. And the theory underpinning the case could open the door to state legislatures sending their own slates of electors.... Four justices have already expressed at least tentative support for the doctrine, making a decision accepting it more than plausible." Emphasis added. An NPR report is here.

Nice Lady Voluntarily Enters Den of Vipers. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Ketanji Brown Jackson took the judicial oath just after noon on Thursday, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.... She is replacing Justice Stephen G. Breyer, 83, who stepped down with the conclusion of the court's current term. Justice Jackson took both a constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and a judicial oath, administered by Justice Breyer, making her the nation's 116th justice and sixth woman to serve on the nation's highest court. The brief swearing-in ceremony took place in the West Conference Room at the Supreme Court, before a small gathering of Judge Jackson's family, including her two daughters. Her husband, Dr. Patrick G. Jackson, held the two Bibles on which she swore: a family Bible and a King James Version that is the property of the court." ~~~

     ~~~ Jacob Fischler of the Louisiana Illuminator: "Jackson's husband, Patrick, held two Bibles upon which Jackson swore her oath. One was a family edition and one had been donated to the court in 1906 by Justice John Marshall Harlan, the only justice to dissent in the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case that upheld racial segregation." ~~~

We're killing the planet. Let's see how the Supreme confederates deal with that life-threatening emergency: ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, dealing a blow to the Biden administration's efforts to address climate change.The vote was 6 to 3, with the court's three liberal justices in dissent, saying that the majority had stripped the E.P.A. of 'the power to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.' The ruling appeared to curtail the agency's ability to regulate the energy sector, limiting it to measures like emission controls at individual power plants and, unless Congress acts, ruling out more ambitious approaches like a cap-and-trade system at a time when experts are issuing increasingly dire warnings about the quickening pace of global warming." This is part of a liveblog. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) A CNN story, by Ella Nilson, discusses the impact of the ruling. ~~~

     ~~~ Patrick Parenteau in Informed Comment: "The ruling doesn't take away the EPA's power to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, but it makes federal action harder by requiring the agency to show that Congress has charged it to act -- in an area where Congress has consistently failed to act. The Clean Power Plan, the policy at the heart of the ruling, never took effect because the court blocked it in 2016, and the EPA now plans to develop a new policy instead. Nonetheless, the court went out of its way to strike it down in this case and reject the agency's interpretation of what the Clean Air Act permitted." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What I gathered from remarks Neal Katyal made on MSNBC was that Roberts' rationale for the finding was that the Clean Air Act did not make clear that the Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to, you know, protect the environment.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for the Biden administration on a controversial immigration policy, saying it had the authority to reverse a Trump-era policy that requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are reviewed in U.S. courts. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing for himself and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and the court's three liberals, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan." (Also linked yesterday.)

Thomas, Gorsuch & Alito Don't Let Facts Get in Their Way. Adam Edelman & Aria Bendix of NBC News: "In a sharply worded dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas expressed support Thursday for a debunked claim that all Covid vaccines are made with cells from 'aborted children.' His dissent came in a decision by the Supreme Court to not take up a legal challenge by New York health care workers who opposed the state's vaccine mandate on religious grounds.... Pfizer and Moderna used fetal cell lines early in their Covid vaccine development to test the efficacy of their formulas, as other vaccines have in the past. The fetal tissue used in these processes came from elective abortions that happened decades ago. But the cells have since replicated many times, so none of the original tissue is involved in the making of modern vaccines. So it is not true that Covid vaccines are manufactured using fetal cell lines, nor do they contain any aborted cells.... Writing for the three dissenters, himself and Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, Thomas nevertheless cited the debunked claim."

Ann Telnaes of the Washington Post draws a picture of the Supremes' "crisis of legitmacy."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden on Thursday said the Senate should carve out an exception to the 60-vote filibuster to codify abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. 'The most important thing to be clear about is I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,' Biden said at a press conference at the NATO summit in Spain. 'And if the filibuster gets in the way, it's like voting rights, it should be we provide an exception for this, requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision,' Biden added." MB: Not mentioned in Samuels' report, but Biden also said he thought the filibuster should be abandoned to pass legislation guaranteeing other privacy rights -- which is to say those rights that Clarence Thomas thought it would be a good idea to "revisit": gay rights, gay marriage rights, contraceptive rights. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday condemned what he called the 'outrageous behavior' of the Supreme Court in deciding to overturn Roe v. Wade and said for the first time that he supported ending the filibuster to protect a woman's right to an abortion." (Also linked yesterday.)

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "In a welcome but likely brief victory for supporters of abortion rights, a judge in Florida blocked a state law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy on Thursday, the latest in a flurry of activity in state courts and legislatures following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Florida law, scheduled to take effect on Friday, violates privacy protections in the State Constitution, ruled Judge John C. Cooper of the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Tallahassee, handing a defeat to Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, who enacted the restrictions in April."

Wisconsin. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Wisconsin -- where a law from 1849 now bans almost all abortions -- will be a revealing test case that encapsulates many of the political forces charging an explosive national debate.... [Gov. Tony] Evers [D] and Attorney General Josh Kaul (D), who is also seeking reelection, announced a lawsuit this week to block enforcement of the ban, arguing that the 173-year-old law has 'fallen into disuse' and that more recent legislation barring abortion after the point of fetal viability should take precedence..... At a GOP gubernatorial debate this week, candidates enthusiastically endorsed the state's law from the 19th century, which allows abortions only to save a mother's life and makes no exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors who perform the procedure could face up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines.: ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You have to give Republicans some credit for convincing silly people that embryos or even microscopic zygotes are "little babies" and Jesus loves them. I wonder if the best thing to do might be to ask, "How do you know this is God's will and not the Devil's?"

Trump Crime Family Pays for, Chooses Witnesses' Lawyers. Luke Broadwater, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's political organization and his allies have paid for or promised to finance the legal fees of more than a dozen witnesses called in the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack, raising legal and ethical questions about whether the former president may be influencing testimony with a direct bearing on him. The arrangement drew new scrutiny this week after Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide in his White House, made an explosive appearance before the House panel, providing damning new details about Mr. Trump's actions and statements on the day of the deadly riot. She did so after firing a lawyer who had been recommended to her by two of Mr. Trump's former aides and paid for by his political action committee, and hiring new counsel. Under the representation of the new lawyer, Jody Hunt, Ms. Hutchinson sat for a fourth interview with the committee in which she divulged more revelations and agreed to come forward publicly to testify to them.... Ms. Hutchinson has told the Jan. 6 committee that she was among the witnesses who have been contacted by people around Mr. Trump suggesting that they would be better off if they remained loyal to the former president.... Mr. Trump claimed that Ms. Hutchinson's new lawyer could have prompted her to make false statements. 'Her story totally changed!' he complained on his social media site...." ~~~

Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Evidence across multiple state, federal and congressional investigations points to a similar pattern: [Donald] Trump and his close allies privately shower potential witnesses with flattery and attention, extending vague assurances that staying loyal to Trump would be better than crossing him. Meanwhile, Trump publicly blasts those who offer testimony against him in bluntly personal terms, offering a clear example to others of the consequences of stepping out of line. 'Donald Trump never changes his playbook,' [former Trump lawyer Michael] Cohen said in an interview. 'He behaves like a mob boss, and these messages are fashioned in that style. Giving an order without giving the order. No fingerprints attached.'... At Tuesday's [January 6 committee] hearing..., [Liz] Cheney said [a witness] told the committee about receiving phone calls indicating that Trump reads transcripts and 'to keep that in mind' during interviews with the committee." The witness who received the calls was Cassidy Hutchinson. ~~~

~~~ Betsy Swan & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Jan. 6 select committee publicly pointed to two communications this week as potential evidence of Trump-world's efforts to influence witness testimony -- without revealing their origin. Both were detailed to the panel by Cassidy Hutchinson, according to a person familiar with the last of her four depositions. Hutchinson told the committee [during her final deposition], on the eve of her earlier March 7 deposition, an intermediary for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows contacted her to say that her former boss valued her loyalty.... Ben Williamson, a spokesperson for Meadows, provided the following statement to Politico: 'No one from Meadows' camp, himself or otherwise, has ever attempted to intimidate or shape Ms. Hutchinson's testimony to the committee. Any phone call or message she is describing is at best deeply misleading.'" ~~~

~~~ Ken Meyer of Mediaite: Speaking on CNN, former Trump official Alyssa Farah ... "said that [Cassidy] Hutchinson contacted her before the hearing, and she told Farah, 'there's more I want to share with the committee' than what she had before in her previous depositions. 'A couple months ago, I put her in touch with Congresswoman Cheney, Farah said. '[Hutchinson] got a new lawyer and that's how this testimony came about.'... [Farah said that] Hutchinson's original legal representative was 'someone who had been in the White House counsel's office,' and 'still aligned with Trump World' when she gave her first interviews to the committee."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "An agent who also served as Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff, Anthony M. Ornato, reportedly disputes [Cassidy] Hutchinson's testimony. The dispute has set up the unusual prospect of Secret Service agents testifying to the Jan. 6 committee.... This is hardly the first time Ornato has denied an account of a key White House conversation. It's now happened in at least three high-profile occasions. And that calls his denials into question, say former Trump aides who stand by Hutchinson. One of them flat-out said Ornato lied in one of his previous denials. But another top White House aide involved in a previously disputed conversation is vouching for Ornato." The most important dispute concerned the attempt to remove Mike Pence from the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Pence refused to leave.

Lucien Bruggeman & Josh Margolin of ABC News: "A former White House aide's stunning testimony before the House panel investigating the Capitol attack indicated that the U.S. Secret Service may have had advanced warning of the potential for violence at the Capitol, raising new questions about the agency's planning ahead of the riot and actions taken by agents on Jan. 6.... In [Cassidy] Hutchinson's telling, the agency ... was aware that among the throngs headed to Washington were some who were planning to carry a variety of weapons and military gear, and were seeking to target members of Congress and breach the Capitol building. If so, the Secret Service apparently failed to coordinate effectively with law enforcement partners, the public, or congressional leaders to strengthen the security posture -- and instead ferried a number of people under their protection [-- Mike Pence, Karen Pence & Kamala Harris --] to the Capitol complex with little more than their personal security details." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gosh, it sounds as if the Secret Service regarded the Pences & Harris as expendable, but not Donald Trump.

Brahm Resnik of 12 News Phoenix: "The FBI has subpoenaed records from the Republican leader of Arizona's state Senate as well as another GOP senator, as part of a federal investigation into ... Donald Trump's pressure campaign on state-level officials after the 2020 election. A spokeswoman for Senate President Karen Fann of Prescott confirmed the subpoena.... Public records obtained after the election show Fann had numerous contacts with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Fann told one constituent in a December 2020 email that she had 'spoken with Mayor Giuliani at least six times over the past two weeks.' Fann told another constituent she had received 'a personal call from President Trump thanking us for pushing to prove any fraud.' State Sen. Kelly Townsend of Mesa told 12 News she was complying with an FBI subpoena for copies of communications with Trump's lawyers. Townsend said her staff had gone through all her emails and was sending them in."

Marie: I'm having an Emily Litella moment. Earlier this week, I linked to a story that asserted that a million Americans had switched their voter registrations from Democratic to Republican. Never mind. ~~~

~~~ Elliott Morris in a Substack essay: "On Monday, the Associated Press reported that 'More than 1 million voters across 43 states have switched to the Republican Party over the last year, according to voter registration data... A political shift is beginning to take hold across the U.S. as tens of thousands of suburban swing voters who helped fuel the Democratic Party's gains in recent years are becoming Republicans.'... The reported shift is not actually real.... The authors [of the AP analysis] misused voter file data, conflating estimates of party ID with real changes in registration. The error was fixed by other analysts who find parity in party-switching since 2020[.]... Catalist [-- a voter file company --] writes, 'we do not find anything in this analysis that would support the conclusion that current changes in voter registrations should be a worrying sign for Democrats.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I checked the AP story just now (8:00 am ET), and the AP has issued neither a correction nor a we-stand-by-our-reporting statement. So I leave it to you to decide what that means.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. It Wasn't Slavery; It Was "Involuntary Relocation." Brian Lopez of the Texas Tribune: "A group of Texas educators have proposed to the Texas State Board of Education that slavery should be taught as 'involuntary relocation' during second grade social studies instruction, but board members have asked them to reconsider the phrasing, according to the state board's chair. 'The board -- with unanimous consent -- directed the work group to revisit that specific language,' Keven Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education said in a statement issued late Thursday. The working group of nine educators, including a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, is one of many such groups advising the state education board to make curriculum changes. This summer, the board will consider updates to social studies instruction a year after lawmakers passed a law to keep topics that make students 'feel discomfort' out of Texas classrooms. The board will have a final vote on the curriculum in November." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm certainly not an expert on children's language development skills, but somehow I don't think most seven-year-olds know what "involuntary" and "relocation" mean. "Slavery"? Yeah, probably. And that's the point, isn't it?

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 updates for Friday are here: "At least 18 people were killed and 31 injured when a Russian strike hit a residential building and a recreation center in the Odessa region, Ukrainian officials said early Friday.... U.S. officials and experts on Russia's legal system say they expect [U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner's trial] to be a show trial, with a guilty verdict all but certain.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed his country has started exporting electricity to Europe, in an effort to help the continent reduce its reliance on Russian gas."

~~~ Is It a "Show" Trial if It's Held in Secret? Robyn Dixon & Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "A Moscow court on Friday barred media from covering the trial of American WNBA star Brittney Griner on drug charges that could see her sentenced to 10 years in prison if convicted. The court did say that five journalists will be allowed into the room by the end of the hearing. Griner arrived at the courtroom in the Moscow suburb of Khimki to face charges that she was carrying vape cartridges containing 'a significant amount' of hashish oil in her baggage at a Moscow airport in February, a week before Russia's invasion of Ukraine." ~~~

~~~ Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "... the Kremlin appears interested in linking [the' fates [of American basketball star Brittney Griner & notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout], in a potential deal with the Biden administration that would free both. The vast disparity between the cases of Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout highlights the extreme difficulty President Biden would face if he sought a prisoner exchange to free Ms. Griner, the detained W.N.B.A. player, from detention in Moscow. The Biden administration, reluctant to create an incentive for the arrest or abduction of Americans abroad, would be hard-pressed to justify the release of a villainous figure like Mr. Bout," who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. for conspiring to sell arms to people planning to kill Americans.

Marc Santora & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Russian troops have withdrawn from Snake Island in the Black Sea after repeated assaults by Ukrainian forces, a move that is a setback for Moscow's forces and possibly undermines their control over vital shipping lanes for grain in the Black Sea. The retreat came after sustained Ukrainian attacks -- including with powerful, newly arrived Western weapons -- made it impossible for Russian forces to hold the island, a small speck of land 20 miles off the coast of Odesa that has played an outsized role throughout the war." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Two law enforcement officers were killed and four other officers were shot on Thursday night after a man barricaded in his home opened fire with a rifle in Allen, Ky., a rural town so small that it lacks its own police force, the authorities said. The Kentucky State Police, which is investigating the shooting, said that another person who is not an officer had also been shot during the episode and that a police dog had been struck and killed. An additional officer sustained an injury unrelated to gunfire, Capt. Paul Blanton of the Kentucky State Police said in an interview.... The police arrested Lance P. Storz, 49, who faces several charges, including murder, attempted murder, and assault on a service animal, according to an arrest citation."

June 30, 2022

Late Morning Update:

Marie: Okay, here's the page with the live feed (would seem to be video) of Judge Jackson's swearings-in. Update: At 11:53 am ET, there's a big instruction posted to "Click play button to start." Only there's no play button, as far as I can see. Maybe they'll add it, I don't know. The Supremes might think they're smart, but they're not very good at this newfangled video thing. Maybe they're using the same system the Founders wrote into the Constitution. Update: I refreshed the page at noon, and there's still no play button. Dimwits. Update: It's working at 12:01 pm ET. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Justice Jackson has taken the oaths of office. Everybody left the room & she didn't even kick Roberts in the shins. Maybe that's the meaning of "judicial restraint."

We're killing the planet. Let's see how the Supreme confederates deal with that life-threatening emergency: ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the Environmental Protection Agency/s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, dealing a blow to the Biden administration's efforts to address climate change. The vote was 6 to 3, with the court/s three liberal justices in dissent, saying that the majority had stripped the E.P.A. of 'the power to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.' The ruling appeared to curtail the agency/s ability to regulate the energy sector, limiting it to measures like emission controls at individual power plants and, unless Congress acts, ruling out more ambitious approaches like a cap-and-trade system at a time when experts are issuing increasingly dire warnings about the quickening pace of global warming." This is part of a liveblog, so likely will move down the page. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's story is here.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for the Biden administration on a controversial immigration policy, saying it had the authority to reverse a Trump-era policy that requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are reviewed in U.S. courts. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing for himself and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and the court's three liberals, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden on Thursday said the Senate should carve out an exception to the 60-vote filibuster to codify abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. 'The most important thing to be clear about is I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,' Biden said at a press conference at the NATO summit in Spain. 'And if the filibuster gets in the way, it's like voting rights, it should be we provide an exception for this, requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision,' Biden added." MB: Not mentioned in Samuels' report, but Biden also said he thought the filibuster should be abandoned to pass legislation guaranteeing other privacy rights -- which is to say those rights that Clarence Thomas thought it would be a good idea to "revisit": gay rights, gay marriage rights, contraceptive rights. ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Shear of the New York Times: “President Biden on Thursday condemned what he called the 'outrageous behavior' of the Supreme Court in deciding to overturn Roe v. Wade and said for the first time that he supported ending the filibuster to protect a woman's right to an abortion."

Marc Santora & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Russian troops have withdrawn from Snake Island in the Black Sea after repeated assaults by Ukrainian forces, a move that is a setback for Moscow's forces and possibly undermines their control over vital shipping lanes for grain in the Black Sea. The retreat came after sustained Ukrainian attacks -- including with powerful, newly arrived Western weapons -- made it impossible for Russian forces to hold the island, a small speck of land 20 miles off the coast of Odesa that has played an outsized role throughout the war."

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Luke Broadwater & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol issued a subpoena Wednesday for the testimony of Pat A. Cipollone, the White House counsel to ... Donald J. Trump who repeatedly fought back against extreme plans to overturn the 2020 election, after he resisted testifying publicly. In a statement accompanying the subpoena, the leaders of the committee said they were seeking Mr. Cipollone's deposition testimony because investigators needed to 'hear from him on the record, as other former White House counsels have done in other congressional investigations.'... The subpoena of a White House counsel, a rare step for a congressional committee, sent a clear signal of the aggressive tactics the panel is willing to use to try to force cooperation of even the White House's former top lawyer, who most likely could invoke attorney-client privilege in response to many questions.... A lawyer familiar with Mr. Cipollone's deliberations, who was not authorized to speak for the record, said that the subpoena was needed before the former White House counsel could consider transcribed testimony before the committee.... In April, Mr. Cipollone and Patrick F. Philbin, who was his deputy, met separately with the panel...." The AP's report is here.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Representative Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican and vice chairwoman of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, described... Donald J. Trump in stark terms on Wednesday night as a threat to the republic who had 'gone to war with the rule of law.... At this moment, we are confronting a domestic threat that we have never faced before -- and that is a former president who is attempting to unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic,' Ms. Cheney said in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., where her address was met with a sustained standing ovation. 'He is aided by Republican leaders and elected officials who made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man,' she said, continuing, 'Even after all we've seen, they're enabling his lies.'... 'Republicans, she said..., 'have to choose,' because they 'cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the Constitution.'" CNN's report is here.

Scott Wong & Peter Nicholas of NBC News: "Republicans and other sources are rebutting elements of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony before the Jan. 6 committee, handing Donald Trump and his allies ammunition as they seek to discredit her and portray her as an unreliable witness.... And former co-workers in the White House came to Hutchinson's defense, saying that she would have been in close proximity to the president and privy to the kind of information she testified about.... Eric Herschmann, a former Trump White House lawyer who has provided damning testimony about Trump’s plot to overturn the election, is now saying that he wrote a handwritten note as the violence unfolded at the Capitol -- not Hutchinson, as she testified.... Hutchinson ... testified publicly that she was sure she had written the note and that it featured her handwriting.... Before Herschmann's statement, Trump also criticized the handwriting on the note as 'that of a Whacko.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The pushback is without significant merit, IMO. Everything Trump says is a lie, so forget about that. Hershmann may have written such a note, but that doesn't mean Hutchinson didn't write one, too. As for exactly what happened in the SUV, Hutchinson testified that she knew only what those in the vehicle had told her. Could those people have exaggerated? Macho men working for macho Trump? Case closed. Moreover, some of those knocking her testimony are doing so anonymously, and none is speaking under oath. And there's this: ~~~

     ~~~ Jackson Richman of Mediaite: "Former Trump administration officials pushed back on Wednesday on the man who served as the head of ... Donald Trump's security detail pushing back on former administration official Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony.... Former Trump administration official Olivia Troye defended Hutchinson on CNN Wednesday morning, saying she would have no reason to lie and that Ornato should have to make his denials under oath. In tweets on Wednesday afternoon, both Troye and fellow former Trump White House official Alyssa Farah painted [Tony] Ornato [-- who Hutchinson testified told her about Trump's violent behavior in the SUV --] as repeat offending liar.... Farah retweeted Troye and added, 'Tony Ornato lied about me too. During the protests at Lafayette sq in 2020, I told Mark Meadows & Ornato they needed to warn press staged there before clearing the square. Meadows replied: "we aren't doing that." Tony later lied & said the exchange never happened. He knows it did.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Speaking on MSNBC, Carroll Leonnig of the Washington Post, who has reported extensively on the Secret Service and written a book about the agency, backed up Troye's & Farah's remarks. She added that Ornato & agent Robert Engel, who was also in the vehicle, were known to be 'in Trump's camp." She also said, as a general matter, "I've heard the Secret Service deny a lot of things that turned out to be true."

~~~ Betsy Swan, et al., of Politico: "The Jan. 6 committee didn't reach out to the Secret Service in the days before it aired explosive testimony about an alleged physical altercation between Donald Trump and his security detail on the day of the riot, according to an agency spokesperson.... Earlier this year, the committee already asked the head of Trump's detail on Jan. 6 -- who was with Trump riding from the 'Stop the Steal' rally to the White House that day -- about that car trip. That agent, Robert Engel, gave testimony at the time that appears to be consistent with Hutchinson's story but is not known to include the stunning details Hutchinson described."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Cassidy "Hutchinson's account of a chief of staff [Mark Meadows] who was at best disengaged and at worst overwhelmed by the events around him was a key part of her public appearance on Tuesday at a hastily scheduled hearing by the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot, and what led to it. Another aide to Mr. Meadows, Ben Williamson, provided a different assessment, saying in testimony to the House committee that Mr. Meadows was responsive when Mr. Williamson said there was a problem. 'Any suggestion he didn't care is ludicrous,' Mr. Williamson said in a statement on Wednesday. Lawyers for Ms. Hutchinson said on Wednesday that she stood by her testimony. Yet ... a number of Mr. Meadows's former colleagues and people who were interacting with him as the riot unfolded painted a portrait of an ineffective chief of staff as a violent scene developed at the Capitol.... Mr. Meadows [was] known among many of his colleagues as someone who spoke out of both sides of his mouth.... Mr. Meadows was often criticized by associates as terrified of Mr. Trump's temper and eager to please him."

Marie: Let's say the Justice Department gets around to indicting Trump for one or more crimes. I'm all for that. Then let's say he goes to trial. The evidence, even as we know it right now, could definitely lead to a conviction. So let's say that happens. You would find me cheering in the streets. Then let's say Trump appeals, as is his right to do, and as he certainly would. Let's say a district court rejects his appeal, then an appeals court rules against him. Yahoo! So then Trump goes to the Supreme Court. And how do you suppose the rogue Supremes would rule? I do not predict a happy (or a just) ending.

Larry Neumeister of the AP: "Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in ... Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes by a judge who said fraud had become 'a way of life' for Parnas. Parnas, 50, had sought leniency on grounds that he'd cooperated with the Congressional probe of Trump and his efforts to get Ukrainian leaders to investigate President Joe Biden's son. U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken didn't give Parnas credit for that assistance, which came only after the Soviet-born businessman was facing criminal charges. But the judge still imposed a sentence lighter than the six years sought by prosecutors. The judge also ordered Parnas to pay $2.3 million in restitution." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Say It Ain't So, Joe. Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "President Biden plans to nominate a conservative lawyer who has represented anti-abortion causes to a federal judgeship in Kentucky, according to Rep. John Yarmuth's (D-Ky.) office. Chad Meredith, the attorney, has previously served as Kentucky's solicitor general and represented a number of Kentucky's top GOP officials in cases curbing abortion access and COVID-19 public health measures. Meredith represented Kentucky's then-Gov. Matt Bevin (R) in a 2019 legal battle against an abortion clinic, saying at one point that effectively eliminating access to abortion in the state would have a negligible impact on women seeking the procedure.... The Courier-Journal reported that the nomination appears to be the result of a deal between Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to facilitate future Biden nominees. Yarmuth opposes the nomination, according to the outlet.... Meredith is listed as a contributor to the Federalist Society, a conservative and libertarian legal group." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If Biden nominates Meredith, every single Democrat (that includes you, Joe M. & Kyrsten!) should vote against his confirmation. Oh, and your move, Susan (R-Concerned).

Stefano Pitrelli & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a Catholic and vocal supporter of abortion rights, received Holy Communion on Wednesday during a papal Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.... The ceremony at the Vatican stood in marked contrast to the decision by conservative San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone to instruct the priests in his diocese to withhold Eucharist from Pelosi because of her stance on abortion. In September, Pope Francis had said, 'I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone,' although he later added that he had never knowingly encountered during Communion a politician backing abortion rights and reiterated the church position that abortion is 'murder.' But Francis had said that the decision on granting Communion to politicians who support abortion rights should be made from a pastoral point of view, not a political one." (Also linked yesterday.)

Nebraska. Marie Paúl of the Washington Post: "Jeff Fortenberry, a former Republican congressman from Nebraska, was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation after he was found guilty of lying to federal agents about illegal campaign contributions from a Nigerian billionaire. Fortenberry, who resigned this year amid the trial, was convicted in March of one count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators -- each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. But while prosecutors were seeking a six-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. sided with the defense, which had requested probation. Noting Fortenberry's 'exceptional character,' Blumenfeld also ordered the politician to pay a $25,000 fine and perform 320 hours of community service." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That's funny, because Martha Stewart was sentenced to 5 months in prison & 5 months of home detention for lying to federal investigators. Then again, she's only a girl so she couldn't possibly have had Fortenberry's "exceptional character." BTW, Stewart also lost her job as chair of her eponymous media company, so it's not as if she suffered no personal setbacks as a result of her conviction. (NYT link.)

An Historic Moment for a Court Gone Rogue. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be sworn in as the Supreme Court's first Black female justice at noon Thursday, just minutes after her mentor Justice Stephen G. Breyer makes his retirement official. Jackson, 51, was chosen for the court by President Biden after Breyer this year announced his plans to retire. She was confirmed April 7 but has been waiting for Breyer to finish out the last term of his four-decade judicial career. Breyer's work on the court will end with release of the term's remaining opinions and possibly with the announcement of some new cases accepted for next term. Jackson will be sworn in at a private ceremony at the Supreme Court that will be live-streamed on the court's website. Breyer and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will administer the oaths Jackson must take. Breyer sent a letter to Biden on Wednesday that said he planned to end his service on the high court at noon." (Also linked yesterday.) An NPR report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The Court says it will livestream Jackson's swearing-in on its homepage, and at 7 am ET Thursday there's a bubble near the top of that page devoted to Jackson's oath-taking. I'm not sure if the livestream will be audio (which the Court provides, usually after-the-fact, for hearings) or video. A linked press release says only, "The ceremony will be streamed live on the homepage of the Court's website, www.supremecourt.gov."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the sweep of its landmark 2020 decision declaring that much of eastern Oklahoma falls within Indian reservation lands, allowing state authorities to prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes against Indians on the reservations. The ruling left in place the basic holding of the 2020 decision, McGirt v. Oklahoma, which said that Native Americans who commit crimes on the reservations, which include much of the city of Tulsa, cannot be prosecuted by state or local law enforcement and must instead face justice in tribal or federal courts. The vote on Wednesday was 5 to 4, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was not on the court when the McGirt case was decided, casting the decisive vote." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "Last Thursday, the Supreme Court jettisoned a century-old New York law -- one that had pretty much banned concealed carry of weapons in the state == because[, according to Clarence Thomas's majority opinion,] 'it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.' Of all the flawed assumptions packed into that little, seemingly innocuous passage, 'ordinary self-defense' is the most alarming. The lived experience of Black people in the United States has demonstrated countless times that we are neither seen as 'law-abiding citizens' nor worthy of having 'ordinary self-defense needs' protected by the Second Amendment. The court's only African American justice (

     ~~~ Marie: Not that I have any first-hand (or second- or third-hand) knowledge on the matter, but I'm pretty such Clarence Thomas looks in the mirror and sees a very important White guy.

James Dobbins, et al., of the New York Times: "A tractor-trailer that ended up in San Antonio with more than 50 dead or dying migrants passed through a federal immigration checkpoint inside the United States without being inspected, a top Mexican official said on Wednesday. The truck crossed the checkpoint, operated by the Border Patrol, shortly before 3 p.m. on Monday as it drove north along Interstate 35 from the border region, the official, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, the head of Mexico's National Institute of Migration, said at a news conference that featured images of the truck and its driver at the checkpoint.... The truck stopped roughly three hours later along a desolate road just off the highway, with the people inside either already dead or struggling to stay alive. A young girl managed to climb out and cry for help.... Officials said on Wednesday that at least 53 of the 64 people inside, men, women and some children who came from countries including Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, died from the extreme heat inside the truck, which did not have any working cooling system on a day that temperatures topped 100 degrees.... Current and former officials said that most drivers pass through without being subjected to a thorough inspection, both because of legal limits on police searches and the sheer volume of truck traffic. Roughly 20,000 trucks pass through the corridor from Laredo to San Antonio every day." ~~~

~~~ Ramon Vargas of the Guardian: "Federal authorities have charged four men in connection with the deaths of at least 53 migrants who were left in an abandoned trailer truck Monday evening in Texas. The 45-year-old driver, Homero Zamorano Jr, faces charges of smuggling migrants into the US, leading to their deaths. A 28-year-old man whom Zamorano texted during the doomed trip, Christian Martinez, is accused of conspiring in the fatal attempt to smuggle migrants into the country. Juan Claudio D'Luna Mendez, 23, and Juan Francisco D'Luna Bilbao, 48, both Mexican nationals, were charged with illegally possessing guns after investigators found them at an address linked to the trailer truck." ~~~

~~~ Reuters, republished in Star News: "At least 51 migrants have died after being trapped inside a sweltering truck found abandoned in Texas, authorities say, as two Mexican nationals tied to the smuggling incident were charged in a US federal court. The deceased migrants, 39 men and 12 women, were discovered on Monday on the outskirts of San Antonio in one of the deadliest human trafficking tragedies in recent history. Two suspects identified as Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez, both Mexican citizens, have been charged with possessing firearms while residing in the United States illegally, according to court documents and US authorities. Investigators traced the truck's vehicle registration to a San Antonio address that they placed under surveillance, and arrested the two men separately when each was seen leaving the residence. A third suspect, described as a US citizen who drove the truck, has also been taken into custody and was expected to be charged, but he remained hospitalised as of Tuesday evening, according to a Mexican official." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jim Mustian of the AP: "The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them.... More than a dozen alleged abuse victims have been interviewed this year as part of the probe that's exploring among other charges whether predator priests can be prosecuted under the Mann Act, a more than century-old, anti-sex trafficking law that prohibits taking anyone across state lines for illicit sex. Some of the New Orleans cases under review allege abuse by clergy during trips to Mississippi camps or amusement parks in Texas and Florida. And while some claims are decades old, Mann Act violations notably have no statute of limitations." (Also linked yesterday.)

A Bad Week for Sexual Predators. Tom Hays & Bobby Calvan of the AP: "Fallen R&B superstar R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday for using his fame to subject young fans -- some just children -- to systematic sexual abuse." (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden's top medical adviser for the coronavirus pandemic, sought on Wednesday to discourage doubts about the antiviral drug Paxlovid after disclosing that he had suffered what appeared to be a 'rebound' of Covid-19 after taking a five-day course of the pills. 'Paxlovid did what it was supposed to do,' Dr. Fauci, 81, said in an interview, saying that he believed that the treatment, made by Pfizer, kept him out of the hospital when he first tested positive for the virus on June 15. He added that he thought the drug also reduced the severity of his initial symptoms." ~~~

~~~ Arielle Mitropoulos of ABC News: "After testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that he has joined a growing group of people experiencing a Paxlovid rebound, following treatment with Pfizer's antiviral." Worth reading the whole story if you're considering taking Paxlovid. Fauci tested negative for three days after undergoing the five-day Paxlovid regimen, but tested positive again on the fourth day, and he began to feel "much worse than in the first go around."

Anna Peele interviews Dr. Anthony Fauci for the Washington Post Magazine.

Beyond the Beltway

Mississippi. Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press: "Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn says abortion should be illegal even for a 12-year-old rape victim carrying her father or uncle's child. He made the remark to reporters in the hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, allowing state abortion bans to take effect.... 'No, (the [state] law) does not include an exception for incest,' Gunn said. 'I don't know that that will be changed.' 'Do you think the Legislature should revisit that?' [AP reporter Emily] Pettus asked. 'Personally, no. I do not,' Gunn said. 'I believe life begins at conception. Every life is valuable. And those are my personal beliefs.' (Child pregnancies carry significantly higher health risks than adult pregnancies.)"

** Mississippi. Jay Reeves & Emily Pettus of the AP: "A team searching a Mississippi courthouse basement for evidence about the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till has found the unserved warrant charging a white woman in his 1955 kidnapping, and relatives of the victim want authorities to finally arrest her nearly 70 years later. A warrant for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham -- identified as 'Mrs. Roy Bryant' on the document -- was discovered last week by searchers inside a file folder that had been placed in a box, Leflore County Circuit Clerk Elmus Stockstill told The Associated Press on Wednesday.... Keith Beauchamp, whose documentary film 'The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till' preceded a renewed Justice Department probe that ended without charges in 2007, was also part of the search. He said there's enough new evidence to prosecute Donham. Donham set off the case in August 1955 by accusing the 14-year-old Till of making improper advances at a family store in Money, Mississippi."

North Carolina. Lateshia Beachum of the Washington Post: "Two North Carolina workers allege they were fired for not participating in daily company prayer sessions, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday. John McGaha and Mackenzie Saunders claim that their former employer, Aurora Pro Services in Greensboro, created a hostile work environment because they refused to attend mandatory Christian-based 'prayer meetings.'... The EEOC lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Greensboro, on Monday, says Aurora Pro Services ... did not provide religious accommodation for the two non-Christian plaintiffs, discriminatorily discharged them and punitively diminished McGaha's wages."

Oklahoma Senate Race Primary Results. Couldn't Have Happened to a More Deserving Twit. Alexander Kaufman of the Huffington Post: "Despite a history of winning statewide contests and a star turn in the Trump administration, former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt badly lost his bid for a political comeback in his home state on Tuesday, coming in a distant fifth place in the Republican primary to replace retiring Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). Pruitt, who resigned from EPA amid cascading scandals in 2018, trailed in polls ahead of the primary, which resulted in a runoff between U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin and former state lawmaker T.W. Shannon." MB: May we never hear Scott Pruitt's name again unless accompanied by a photo of a perp walk.

Texas. Ken Paxton, Enemy of the People. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Shortly after the Supreme Court struck down the fundamental right to an abortion, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) appeared to express support for Justice Clarence Thomas's concurring opinion that the high court could review other precedents that may be deemed 'demonstrably erroneous,' including those affecting the LGBTQ community. One of the cases mentioned by Thomas was Lawrence v. Texas, which prevents states from banning intimate same-sex relationships. The landmark 2003 ruling struck down a 1973 Texas law that criminalized the act of sodomy. But as Roe v. Wade was overturned, Paxton said he would defend the state's defunct sodomy law if the Supreme Court were to ... eventually revisits Lawrence.... When asked [in an interview Friday] whether the Texas legislature would pass a similar sodomy law and if Paxton would defend it..., the Republican attorney general, who is running for reelection in November..., [said,] 'Yeah, look, my job is to defend state law, and I'll continue to do that.'..."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "Kyiv and Moscow have traded 144 prisoners each in an exchange that saw the return of some Ukrainian fighters who defended the Azovstal steel plant during a brutal siege before Russia seized control of Mariupol.... Russian forces are continuing their offensive around Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, where regional governor Serhiy Haidai said 15,000 civilians remain as evacuation efforts continue. 'The city itself is under constant fire,' Haidai said. NATO leaders are meeting Thursday in Madrid for a third and final day. President Biden announced at the gathering Wednesday that the United States will increase its military presence in Europe, citing Russia's invasion. The new deployments will include a permanent headquarters for the U.S. 5th Army Corps in Poland.... Russian President Vladimir Putin still intends to capture most of Ukraine and the war is likely to grind on, the top U.S. intelligence official said."

Ashley Parker & Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "Under pressure to find new ways to confront Russia as its deadly invasion of Ukraine drags into its fifth month, President Biden and his NATO allies on Wednesday announced a historic surge of forces along Europe's eastern flank and welcomed Finland and Sweden as soon-to-be members as they promised to defend 'every inch' of NATO territory. The muscular military announcements were intended to send 'an unmistakable message' that NATO remains unified against Russia's growing belligerence, said Biden, standing alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the second day of the NATO summit [in Madrid, Spain].... The United States and its allies have been looking for ways to show that their early determination to help Ukraine and confront Russia would not wane, despite Moscow's recent gains on the battlefield and the growing domestic costs of the conflict for America and other countries."

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Biden, speaking Wednesday on the second day of a NATO summit, unveiled plans for an increased U.S. military presence in Europe, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The new deployments are to include a permanent headquarters for the U.S. 5th Army Corps in Poland -- a move that ... Vladimir Putin has long resisted -- as well as the movement of two more F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the United Kingdom. Leaders of NATO member states decided Wednesday to invite Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, announcing the move a day after Turkey agreed to drop its opposition to their bids. The addition of the two Nordic countries will bring the alliance to 32 members and underscores how Russia's war in Ukraine is transforming regional security.... Bulgaria says it is expelling 70 Russian diplomats on grounds that they pose a threat to national security. The diplomats must depart by Sunday." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

June 29, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

An Historic Moment for a Court Gone Rogue. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be sworn in as the Supreme Court's first Black female justice at noon Thursday, just minutes after her mentor Justice Stephen G. Breyer makes his retirement official. Jackson, 51, was chosen for the court by President Biden after Breyer this year announced his plans to retire. She was confirmed April 7 but has been waiting for Breyer to finish out the last term of his four-decade judicial career. Breyer's work on the court will end with release of the term's remaining opinions and possibly with the announcement of some new cases accepted for next term. Jackson will be sworn in at a private ceremony at the Supreme Court that will be live-streamed on the court's website. Breyer and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will administer the oaths Jackson must take. Breyer sent a letter to Biden on Wednesday that said he planned to end his service on the high court at noon."

Stefano Pitrelli & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a Catholic and vocal supporter of abortion rights, received Holy Communion on Wednesday during a papal Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.... The ceremony at the Vatican stood in marked contrast to the decision by conservative San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone to instruct the priests in his diocese to withhold Eucharist from Pelosi because of her stance on abortion. In September, Pope Francis had said, 'I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone,' although he later added that he had never knowingly encountered during Communion a politician backing abortion rights and reiterated the church position that abortion is 'murder.' But Francis had said that the decision on granting Communion to politicians who support abortion rights should be made from a pastoral point of view, not a political one."

Larry Neumeister of the AP: "Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in ... Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes by a judge who said fraud had become 'a way of life' for Parnas. Parnas, 50, had sought leniency on grounds that he'd cooperated with the Congressional probe of Trump and his efforts to get Ukrainian leaders to investigate President Joe Biden's son. U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken didn't give Parnas credit for that assistance, which came only after the Soviet-born businessman was facing criminal charges. But the judge still imposed a sentence lighter than the six years sought by prosecutors. The judge also ordered Parnas to pay $2.3 million in restitution." The Washington Post's story is here.

A Bad Week for Sexual Predators. Tom Hays & Bobby Calvan of the AP: "Fallen R&B superstar R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday for using his fame to subject young fans -- some just children -- to systematic sexual abuse."

Jim Mustian of the AP: "The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them.... More than a dozen alleged abuse victims have been interviewed this year as part of the probe that's exploring among other charges whether predator priests can be prosecuted under the Mann Act, a more than century-old, anti-sex trafficking law that prohibits taking anyone across state lines for illicit sex. Some of the New Orleans cases under review allege abuse by clergy during trips to Mississippi camps or amusement parks in Texas and Florida. And while some claims are decades old, Mann Act violations notably have no statute of limitations."

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "President Biden, speaking Wednesday on the second day of a NATO summit, unveiled plans for an increased U.S. military presence in Europe, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The new deployments are to include a permanent headquarters for the U.S. 5th Army Corps in Poland -- a move that ... Vladimir Putin has long resisted -- as well as the movement of two more F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the United Kingdom. Leaders of NATO member states decided Wednesday to invite Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, announcing the move a day after Turkey agreed to drop its opposition to their bids. The addition of the two Nordic countries will bring the alliance to 32 members and underscores how Russia's war in Ukraine is transforming regional security.... Bulgaria says it is expelling 70 Russian diplomats on grounds that they pose a threat to national security. The diplomats must depart by Sunday." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the sweep of its landmark 2020 decision declaring that much of eastern Oklahoma falls within Indian reservation lands, allowing state authorities to prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes against Indians on the reservations. The ruling left in place the basic holding of the 2020 decision, McGirt v. Oklahoma, which said that Native Americans who commit crimes on the reservations, which include much of the city of Tulsa, cannot be prosecuted by state or local law enforcement and must instead face justice in tribal or federal courts. The vote on Wednesday was 5 to 4, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was not on the court when the McGirt case was decided, casting the decisive vote."

Nebraska. Marie Paúl of the Washington Post: "Jeff Fortenberry, a former Republican congressman from Nebraska, was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation after he was found guilty of lying to federal agents about illegal campaign contributions from a Nigerian billionaire. Fortenberry, who resigned this year amid the trial, was convicted in March of one count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators -- each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. But while prosecutors were seeking a six-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. sided with the defense, which had requested probation. Noting Fortenberry's 'exceptional character,' Blumenfeld also ordered the politician to pay a $25,000 fine and perform 320 hours of community service.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That's funny, because Martha Stewart was sentenced to 5 months in prison & 5 months of home detention for lying to federal investigators. Then again, she's only a girl so she couldn't possibly have had Fortenberry's "exceptional character." BTW, Stewart also lost her job as chair of her eponymous media company, so it's not as if she suffered no personal setbacks as a result of her conviction. (NYT link.)

Reuters, republished in Star News: "At least 51 migrants have died after being trapped inside a sweltering truck found abandoned in Texas, authorities say, as two Mexican nationals tied to the smuggling incident were charged in a US federal court. The deceased migrants, 39 men and 12 women, were discovered on Monday on the outskirts of San Antonio in one of the deadliest human trafficking tragedies in recent history. Two suspects identified as Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez, both Mexican citizens, have been charged with possessing firearms while residing in the United States illegally, according to court documents and US authorities. Investigators traced the truck's vehicle registration to a San Antonio address that they placed under surveillance, and arrested the two men separately when each was seen leaving the residence. A third suspect, described as a US citizen who drove the truck, has also been taken into custody and was expected to be charged, but he remained hospitalised as of Tuesday evening, according to a Mexican official."

~~~~~~~~~~

I don't care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me. Take the f'ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. -- Donald Trump, before his speech at the Ellipse, Jan. 6, 2021 ("mags" refer to magnetotromic metal detectors) ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "The first White House aide to testify publicly before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack provided a damning account on Tuesday of how ... Donald J. Trump, knowing his supporters were armed and threatening violence, urged them to march to the Capitol and sought to join them there, privately siding with them as they stormed the building and called for the hanging of the vice president. The testimony from the aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, was extraordinary even by the standards of Mr. Trump's norm-busting presidency and the inquiry's remarkable string of revelations this month. In fly-on-the-wall anecdotes delivered in a quiet voice, she described how frantic West Wing aides failed to stop Mr. Trump from encouraging the violence or persuade him to try to end it, and how the White House's top lawyer feared that Mr. Trump might be committing crimes as he steered the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis."

The New York Times' live updates of Cassidy Hutchinson's startling testimony are here: Luke Broadwater: "... Donald J. Trump knew the crowd he amassed in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, was armed and could turn violent, but wanted security precautions lifted because he said his supporters were not there to attack him, according to a junior White House aide who testified on Tuesday to the House committee investigating the attack. In extraordinary blow-by-blow testimony based on episodes she witnessed in the West Wing of the White House, Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff, revealed that the president had demanded to march to the Capitol with his supporters even as the riot was underway, at one point trying to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limo from a Secret Service agent when he was told he could not go.... As rioters stormed the Capitol, chanting 'Hang Mike Pence,' Mr. Trump endorsed the violence. Ms. Hutchinson testified that Mr. Meadows said of Mr. Trump, 'He doesn't want to do anything,' and 'He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they're doing anything wrong.'... Inside the White House, Mr. Trump became enraged when he learned that William P. Barr, the former attorney general, had publicly shot down his false allegations of a stolen election. He beat the table and threw dishes, splattering ketchup on the wall, Ms. Hutchinson said, adding that it was not the first time she had seen the president smash crockery in a rage." ~~~

~~~ Katie Benner: "Hutchinson provided many bombshells. The shocking description of Trump wrestling the Secret Service for control of his car on Jan. 6 so he could go to the Capitol. Portraying Meadows, her former boss, as a man who abdicated responsibility to the nation and hoped to be pardoned. And saying Trump knew that his supporters had dangerous weapons when he asked them to march on Congress.... Cheney says that Trump allies have been intimidating committee witnesses in messages that sound more like Mafia warnings than communications with a former president's aides. 'He wants me to let you know he's thinking about you. He knows you're loyal.'" ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman: "Trump, basically a one-man response team for himself, is going after Hutchinson on his social media site, Truth Social. He's using a familiar tack, that he hardly knows 'who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is.'" ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker: "To see a retired three-star general [Michael Flynn] who swore an oath to defend the country and the Constitution plead the Fifth when asked if he believed in the peaceful transfer of power in America is another stunning moment today." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here. Politico's story, by Kyle Cheney & others, is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An AP story is here.

You can watch the full hearing on this committee Webpage. If you missed the hearing, you missed a sliver of American history that, should the country eventually right itself, your grandchildren will read about. ~~~~

~~~ OR, if your busy, you can watch Stephen Colbert's recap, which ends with a stirring rendition of the national anthem, as reimagined by former general Michael Flynn, which has, to recommend it, way easier-to-remember lyrics than the old "Star-Spangled Banner":

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... the breathtaking testimony presented by his former aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, at Tuesday's House select committee hearing portrayed an unhinged commander in chief veering wildly out of control as he desperately sought to cling to power and egged on armed supporters to help make it happen. The president that emerged from her account was volatile, violent and vicious, single-minded in his quest to overturn an election he lost no matter what anyone told him, anxious to head to the Capitol to personally disrupt the constitutional process that would finalize his defeat, dismissive of warnings that his actions could lead to disaster and thoroughly unbothered by the prospect of sending to Congress a mob of supporters that he knew included people armed with deadly weapons.... Mr. Trump, who regularly accuses his critics of being 'crazy' and 'psycho,' bombarded his new social media site during the hearing on Tuesday with posts assailing Ms. Hutchinson and denying the most sensational anecdote she provided to the committee."

Alan Feuer & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Knowing that his crowd of supporters had the means to be violent when he exhorted them to march to the Capitol -- and declared that he wanted to go with them -- could nudge Mr. Trump closer to facing criminal charges, legal experts said.... The revelations in the testimony to the House select committee by Cassidy Hutchinson ... provided new evidence about Mr. Trump's activities before the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol and chipped away at any potential defense that he was merely expressing well-founded views about election fraud.... Ms. Hutchinson described how [White House Counsel Pat] Cipollone worriedly pulled her aside [January 3, 2021] after learning that Mr. Trump was considering marching with his supporters to the Capitol after his speech near the White House on Jan. 6 -- a decision, he suggested, that could have major consequences. 'We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable,' Mr. Cipollone said, by Ms. Hutchinson's account." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Knowing what he knew, Cippolone still decided weeks later it was okay to defend Trump in his second impeachment trial. As Stephen Gillers laid out in Just Security on January 27, 2021, "A legal ethics rule -- the 'advocate-witness rule' -- says that when a lawyer should be a witness at trial, she cannot also be an advocate in the courtroom. The Senate chamber is not, of course, an ordinary courtroom, but that should make no difference. The goal is the same -- to get the facts and find the truth.... If the impeachment trial were in a courtroom, Cipollone could not head, or even be part of, the defense team." It would be worthwhile to review Cippolone's assertions in the trial to see if he made assertions that contradicted his knowledge as a direct witness. It's no wonder Cippolone refuses to testify.

James Risen of the Intercept: "With her surprise testimony at Tuesday's hearing of the House Jan. 6 ;committee, former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson broke open the inside story of the coup plotting that was underway at the White House before and during the insurrection and in the process suddenly raised Donald Trump's legal jeopardy.... Hutchinson's stunning testimony, the most dramatic since the House hearings started, recalls that of Alexander Butterfield, the White House aide during Watergate who revealed to the Senate Watergate Committee that President Richard Nixon had a taping system in place in the Oval Office.... During Tuesday's hearing, Hutchinson painted a vivid picture of Trump's insane behavior as he sought to prevent Biden from assuming office."

Tim Miller of the Bulwark: "[Tuesday] afternoon a 26-year-old former assistant showed more courage and integrity than an entire administration full of grown-ass adults who were purportedly working in service to the American people, but had long ago decided to serve only their ambition and grievance.... Everything that all of us Enemies of the People had warned about concerning Donald Trump was borne out in her testimony. He was chaotic, reckless, megalomaniacal, fascistic, abusive, cowardly, petulant, anti-American.... What [Cassidy] Hutchinson revealed is something we all privately knew, but now have sworn testimony of every single person around Trump saw what we saw, firsthand. And yet they did nothing.... I hope others learn from her example." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Another person Hutchinson made look really bad was her immediate boss, Mark Meadows, who seemed from her testimony to have busied himself scrolling through his phone on Insurrection Day & did nothing to prevent or even mitigate the catastrophe he had signaled to her was coming. Then he asked Trump for a pardon.

Marie: Hutchinson, who just turned 26, is getting some well-earned praise for her bravery, especially since Liz Cheney offered evidence that Trump & allied thugs were threatening witnesses, Mafia-style & Trump himself called Cassidy's testimony "sick" & "fraudulent" during the hearing. But much praise also should go to Cheney, who appears to have questioned Cassidy in recorded interviews and who did question Cassidy during Tuesday's hearing. Cheney -- and whatever staff assisted her -- engineered the Q&A during the hearing, along with the recorded interjections, into a nearly seamless narrative that rounded out a damning portrait of the dangerous, unhinged lunatic to whom the American people had entrusted the nuclear codes.

Dumb-de-Dumb-Dumb. Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's supporters online sought to undercut stunning testimony Tuesday to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, seeking to belittle Cassidy Hutchinson's claims that she was told Trump had lunged for the steering wheel of his vehicle and attempted to throttle a member of his security detail when they refused to take him to the Capitol.... The presidential limousine, known as 'the Beast,' is so heavily fortified that they argued it would be 'physically impossible' for Trump to cross from the back cabin to the driver's seat." The problems with their theory: (1) it is possible to reach from the back of the Beast to the front seat; (2) Trump didn't take the Beast that day; "he actually rode in a Secret Service SUV." ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: I knew (2) because during this part of Hutchinson's testimony the committee rolled video of Trump in the SUV on January 6 while Cheney explained what the video depicted. But the dumbest denier is, not surprisingly, Trump himself, who claimed on social media that it ";wouldn't even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing." That is, he's so unhinged he doesn't know what vehicle he was in when he attacked the driver & tried to grab the steering wheel.

Tuesday's testimony reminded RAS of Baby Trump. ~~~

~~~ Marie: I'm down with that, but an old novelty song by the Statler Brothers kept running through my mind, though I replaced the top line of the refrain -- "counting flowers on the wall" -- with "tossing ketchup at the wall." Without a doubt, the former POTUS* is just as loony as the subject of the song. (Of course, the Statler Brothers' loon is harmless; Trump is a danger to the entire world.) It helps that in this particular performance at the Grand Old Opry, the group is introduced by a fellow named Archie, who arranged to look a lot like a fellow named Adolf:

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A lawyer for Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a supporter of ... Donald J. Trump's efforts to stay in power after the 2020 election, told the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot that he saw no reason for her to testify before the panel. The letter from her lawyer, Mark Paoletta ... came after the committee made a fresh request to secure an appearance from Ms. Thomas, who had exchanged text messages with the White House chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows, in which she urged on efforts to challenge Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory.... Mr. Paoletta allowed that if the committee revealed additional information, he could reconsider his position."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "John Eastman, an architect of Donald Trump's last-ditch bid to subvert the 2020 election, has dropped a lawsuit aimed at blocking the Jan. 6 select committee from obtaining his phone records. In a late Tuesday filing, Eastman voluntarily dismissed the suit, claiming that he'd been assured the committee was only seeking his call logs -- not the content of any messages held by his carrier, Verizon. The select committee has long contended that it lacks the authority to obtain message content."

Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Rudolph W. Giuliani has emerged as a central figure in a Georgia criminal investigation of efforts by Donald J. Trump and his allies to overturn his election loss in the state, with prosecutors questioning witnesses last week before a special grand jury about Mr. Giuliani's appearances before state legislative panels after the 2020 vote, the witnesses said. For Mr. Giuliani, the developments are the latest in a widening swath of trouble.... He also participated in a scheme to create slates of fake presidential electors in 2020 that is now the subject of an intensifying investigation by the Department of Justice.... The crux of his conduct [in Georgia] came during two hearings in December 2020, when Mr. Giuliani appeared before state legislative panels and spent hours peddling false conspiracy theories about secret suitcases of Democratic ballots and corrupted voting machines. He told members of the State House, 'You cannot possibly certify Georgia in good faith.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dana Rubenstein of the New York Times: "Two days after Rudy Giuliani claimed a worker had assaulted him at a Staten Island supermarket, the once-vaunted former mayor was spending Tuesday morning like many men his age: complaining about his aches and pains. 'My shoulder hurts like hell and I've got a big lump on the back,' he said, smiling incongruously as he spoke.... 'And I don't complain.' Despite the video that quickly emerged showing that the supermarket worker in question had merely tapped Mr. Giuliani on the back, and despite a Staten Island prosecutor's decision to reduce the charges against the man from a felony to misdemeanors, Mr. Giuliani held fast to his narrative.... Little or none of [what he said] appeared to be true." ~~~

     ~~~ Rudy -- Keeping It Classy. Carl Campanile & Jorge Fitz-Gibbon of the New York Post: New York City “Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that Rudy Giuliani should be investigated for filing a false police report over an alleged assault at a Staten Island supermarket.... 'I looked at the video and someone needs to remind former Mayor Giuliani that falsely reporting a crime is a crime,' Adams said during an unrelated press conference in East Harlem.... 'Tell Adams to go f--k himself,' he told The Post Tuesday. 'What a f--king scumbag.'"

Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: “As the Justice Department expands its criminal investigation into the efforts to keep ... Donald J. Trump in office after his 2020 election loss, the critical job of pulling together some of its disparate strands has been given to an aggressive, if little-known, federal prosecutor named Thomas P. Windom. Since late last year, when he was detailed to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, Mr. Windom, 44, has emerged as a key leader in one of the most complex, consequential and sensitive inquiries to have been taken on by the Justice Department in recent memory, and one that has kicked into higher gear over the past week with a raft of new subpoenas and other steps." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The New York Times is live-updating Tuesday's primary election results in several states. Worth scrolling through. The life-threatening slap on the back to his father Rudy did not help Andrew Giuliani, who lost New York's GOP gubernatorial primary to Rep. Lee Zeldin. Tina Peters, indicted friend of MyPillow Guy & election denier extraordinaire, came in third in a three-way race for Colorado secretary of state. Rep. Mary White-Life Miller (R-Ill.) beat out Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) in a newly-gerrymandered district. And most sadly, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) survived a challenge. More on Boebert, world-class Constitutional scholar, below. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of election results are here.

Supremes Again Rule Against Democracy, Black Americans. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated a congressional voting map in Louisiana that a federal judge had said diluted the power of Black voters. The court's three liberal members dissented. The Supreme Court's brief order, which included no reasoning, blocked the judge's order and granted a petition seeking review in the case. The justices will, the order said, hold the Louisiana case while the court decides a similar one from Alabama in its next term." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An NBC News story is here.

Chris Hedges on Substack: "The Supreme Court is relentlessly funding and empowering Christian fascism.... Fascists achieve power by creating parallel institutions -- schools, universities, media platforms and paramilitary forces -- and seizing the organs of internal security and the judiciary. They deform the law, including electoral law, to serve their ends. They are rarely in the majority." Whyte O., who recommended Hedges' essay, noted that Hedges can be over the top, but here he has the goods. I agree with Whyte. I think what has happened is not that Hedges has not been over the top but that facts on the ground have caught up with his assertions. As if to offer more evidence ... ~~~

~~~ Boebert Unaware of First Amendment. Adela Suliman & Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who faces a primary election Tuesday, says she is 'tired' of the U.S. separation of church and state, a long-standing concept stemming from a 'stinking letter' penned by one of the Founding Fathers. Speaking at a religious service Sunday in Colorado, she told worshipers: 'The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it.' She added: 'I'm tired of this separation of church and state junk that's not in the Constitution. It was in a stinking letter, and it means nothing like what they say it does.'... Gwen Calais-Haase, a political scientist at Harvard University, told The Washington Post that Boebert's interpretation of the Constitution was 'false, misleading and dangerous.' Calais-Haase said she was 'extremely worried about the environment of misinformation that extremist politicians take advantage of for their own gains.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Texas. Ariana Perez-Castells, et al., of the Texas Tribune: "Abortions up to about six weeks in pregnancy can resume at some clinics in Texas for now after a Harris County District Court judge granted a temporary restraining order that blocks an abortion ban that was in place before Roe v. Wade. In the ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Christine Weems ruled that the pre-Roe abortion ban 'is repealed and may not be enforced consistent with the due process guaranteed by the Texas constitution.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.

Hundreds of Auditors Cheated on Their Ethics Exams. Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "Ernst & Young, one of the world's largest auditing firms, has agreed to pay a $100 million fine after U.S. securities regulators found that hundreds of its auditors had cheated on various ethics exams they were required to obtain or maintain professional licenses -- and that the firm did not do enough to stop the practice. The penalty, announced Tuesday, is the largest ever imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a firm in the auditing business, which occupies a unique ethical perch in the financial world. These firms are in charge of verifying the accuracy of companies' financial statements and issuing warnings to investors if they identify dubious accounting practices." MB: I don't suppose the Ernst & Young honchos appreciate the multiple ironies here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted last year of trafficking young sexual abuse victims to financier Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade, on Tuesday was sentenced to 20 years in prison.... [Judge Alison] Nathan said she chose a prison term longer than what she believed the guidelines called for because it was 'important to note [Maxwell's] lack of acceptance of responsibility.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ted v. the Muppets, a Sequel. Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: "Young Muppet Elmo ... who has been 3½ years old since 1984 ... proudly got his coronavirus vaccine, weeks after the United States made the shots widely available for children under 5.... Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) shared the clip on Twitter -- and blasted the popular PBS/HBO children's show for allowing Elmo to 'aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5.' He added: 'You cite ZERO scientific evidence for this.'... In a statement Tuesday, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, said the public service advertisement featuring Elmo was produced in partnership with the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics." MB: I am personally upset that Elmo didn't give 3-year-olds a scientific seminar on the vaccine.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Another Extended Assault on the First Amendment. Arelis R. Hernández & Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "A month after 19 children and two educators were killed at Robb Elementary School..., journalists who have flocked to Uvalde, Tex., from across the country to tell that story have faced near-constant interference, intimidation and stonewalling from ... authorities ... [including] bikers claiming to have police sanction. Journalists have been threatened with arrest for 'trespassing' outside public buildings. They have been barred from public meetings and refused basic information about what police did during the May 24 attack. After several early, error-filled news conferences, officials have routinely turned down interview requests and refused to hold news briefings.... Harassment became so bad that the [San Antonio News-Express]'s photo director told photographers to document their treatment by police."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden is leading an effort to manipulate the oil market at a scale the world has rarely seen, embracing cartel-like tactics in an aggressive but risky attempt to undermine Russia's war effort in Ukraine. At the Group of 7 nations meeting this week in the Bavarian Alps, Mr. Biden has attempted to assemble an upside-down version of OPEC ... with the goal of soothing consumers burned at the gasoline pump and ... helping to speed the end of the war. Instead of limiting supply to maximize revenues..., as a cartel does, Mr. Biden is trying to minimize how much one particular seller -- Moscow -- reaps from each barrel. He led his Group of 7 counterparts to agree on Tuesday to a plan that would cap the price of Russian oil, as a way of driving down the revenue President Vladimir V. Putin is deriving from his most important export."

** Steven Erlanger, et al., of the New York Times: "NATO's top official said Tuesday that Turkey had dropped its objections to the membership of Sweden and Finland, two historically nonaligned nations that, alarmed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have asked to join the military alliance. Turkey's reversal is a blow to President Vladimir V. Putin, who in justifying the invasion of his neighbor bitterly protested previous expansions of NATO -- and Ukraine's efforts to join the alliance -- as a threat to his country's security. Should Finland and Sweden be formally adopted into the alliance, as is widely expected, Russia will look across 800 miles of border with Finland at one of NATO's newest members. The announcement came after Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met for four hours with Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinisto of Finland, as NATO heads of state gathered in Madrid for an annual summit. The 30-nation alliance operates by consensus, which meant that Turkey effectively held a veto over their membership applications."