The Conversation -- March 16, 2024

The Trials of Trump & the Trump Gang

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "After revelations of Fani T. Willis's romance with a subordinate sent the Georgia criminal case against Donald J. Trump down a two-month detour worthy of a soap opera, a judge's ruling on Friday resolved a major cliffhanger. Ms. Willis could continue prosecuting the case, so long as her ex-boyfriend withdrew from it. But the resignation hours later of the former boyfriend, Nathan J. Wade, whom Ms. Willis hired as a special prosector, only settled so much. A fresh and complicated array of problems lies ahead for Ms. Willis, and for one of the most significant state criminal cases in American history.... The G.O.P. lawmakers who dominate Georgia politics have created new ways to investigate Ms. Willis, which could potentially lead to her removal from office. And last week, a young lawyer named Courtney Kramer, a former intern in the Trump White House, announced that she would run against Ms. Willis in this year's race for district attorney." The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Judge Scott McAfee's decision, via CNN, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ The New York Times live-updates of the ruling, backstory & developments were also linked yesterday. ~~~

     ~~~ Wade's resignation letter is here, via CNN. Willis' acceptance letter is here, via CNN. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Weissmann, speaking on MSNBC, says Willis should recuse herself. One of the NBC legal analysts -- maybe Danny Cevallos -- said the Fulton County line prosecutors must be furious because some of them will have to continue working on various aspects of the fallout from the Willis-Wade affair instead of on the case-in-chief they signed up for.

Erica Orden of Politico: "Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan will be delayed by at least three weeks after the judge overseeing the matter agreed Friday that the former president and the district attorney's office need additional time to review records from federal prosecutors that are related to the case. Even with the delay, the Manhattan case, which concerns a hush money payment Trump allegedly orchestrated during the 2016 election to silence a porn star who claimed she had a sexual encounter with him, will likely remain the first to proceed to trial." The New York Times story is here.

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "A senior aide to ... Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to keep him out of prison while he appeals his conviction for refusing to testify before Congress about his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Peter Navarro, a 74-year-old economist, is required to report to a prison in Miami by Tuesday, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said this week that he 'has not shown that his appeal presents substantial questions of law or fact likely' to undo his conviction or four-month sentence. Navarro's attorneys told the Supreme Court on Friday that Navarro is 'indisputably neither a flight risk nor a danger to public safety should he be released pending appeal.'" CNN's report is here.

The Trump Kleptocracy, Ctd. Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald J. Trump, confirmed on Friday that he was closing in on major real estate deals in Albania and Serbia, the latest example of the former president's family doing business abroad even as Mr. Trump seeks to return to the White House. Mr. Kushner's plans in the Balkans appear to have come about in part through relationships built while Mr. Trump was in office. Mr. Kushner, who was a senior White House official, said he had been working on the deals with Richard Grenell, who served briefly as acting director of national intelligence under Mr. Trump and also as ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the Balkans....

"Two [major] projects ... involve land now controlled by the governments, meaning a deal would have to be finalized with foreign governments.... Mr. Kushner's participation would be through his investment firm, Affinity Partners, which has $2 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, among other foreign investors.... Mr. Kushner set up his investment company after he left his White House job as a senior adviser. He capitalized on relationships he had built in government negotiating in the Middle East, which included a close relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.... Mr. Grenell also made valuable connections while in government, including some that appear to have given the Kushner team an inside track for investments in the Balkans." MB: Hey, Jim Comer, you might want to investigate! Hold some Congressional hearings! How 'bout asking Miss Margie to whip up some large poster boards featuring some dick pics for the hearings!

Presidential Race

digby republishes a big chunk of Susan Glasser's New Yorker article about watching a Trump stump speech. Marie: I highly recommend your reading it. In the meantime, I continue to wonder if Glasser wakes up most mornings next to her husband Peter Baker and asks herself, "Oh why, oh why did I marry Mr. Both Sides?" (They do have a lovely child.) Many thanks to Charles B. for the link. ~~~

~~~ Although both digby & Glasser recommend subjecting yourself to an entire Trump speech, Glasser does recommend this mash-up of Trump's recent rally speech in Georgia:

Mush-mouthed and gaffes galore. Brace yourselves as Trump mumbles and slurs repeatedly, and often makes no sense at all, during speech in Rome, Georgia. Compare this performance to President Biden’s State of the Union address. (Video: RSBN) pic.twitter.com/ysUqaUtEml

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 11, 2024

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "When asked whether he would endorse Mr. Trump now that the former president had clinched the party's nomination, [Mike] Pence said on Fox News that he 'could not in good conscience' support him. 'It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,' he told Martha MacCallum.... The former vice president declined to say whether he would vote for Mr. Trump in the November election, but answered, 'I would never vote for Joe Biden.' He also ruled out running as a third-party or independent candidate for president, saying he remained a Republican." The AP's story is here. MB: It's not exactly a profile in courage to decline to endorse someone who was happy to see you hanged, but not as lily-livered as, say, Ron DeSantolini, either. (Also linked yesterday.)

It Depends on What the Meaning of "And" Is. Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court sided with the government on Friday, narrowly interpreting a provision of a landmark criminal justice law in a decision likely to limit the number of federal prisoners who are eligible for reduced sentences for nonviolent drug crimes. The decision, by a vote of 6 to 3, did not split along ideological lines. The majority opinion, written by Justice Elena Kagan, concluded that a criminal defendant must meet a series of criminal history conditions to qualify for relief. A failure to meet any of the criteria, she wrote, would render a prisoner ineligible. The case focused on who is eligible for shorter prison sentences under the First Step Act, bipartisan legislation passed in 2018 to address the human and financial costs of the country's booming prison population. Under a provision known as the 'safety valve,' judges can disregard federal mandatory minimum sentences for people with limited criminal history convicted of certain nonviolent drug offenses. The law lists three types of criminal history among its criteria for eligibility. The justices were asked to decide whether just one type of criminal history disqualifies a person from a lighter sentence, or whether all three must be present for a disqualification." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You'll have to read the full article -- carefully -- to get what the dispute is about: "Like the arguments, which were focused on grammar -- basically, what does 'and' mean in a list -- Justice Kagan's opinion adopted the tone of an English teacher." Sadly, the Oxford comma is not at issue. Anyway, it looks like the U.S. will remain one of the top lock-'em-up countries on the world. ~~~

     ~~~ The NBC News report is here.

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Friday set new ground rules for when public officials can block critical voices from their social media accounts, ruling in two of several tech-focused cases this term that will shape the future of online interactions between the government and its citizens. In a pair of unanimous decisions, the court acknowledged the challenge of determining when public employees are acting in an official capacity on social media -- and therefore must adhere to First Amendment restrictions on censorship -- and when they are acting as private citizens with their own constitutional rights. Writing for the court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said: 'The distinction between private conduct and state action turns on substance, not labels: Private parties can act with the authority of the State, and state officials have private lives and their own constitutional rights. Categorizing conduct, therefore, can require a close look.' Public officials can be sued for blocking or deleting critical commentary, the opinion said, if a public employee has the 'actual authority to speak on the state's behalf' and 'purported to exercise that authority' in the social media post at issue." Politico's report, by Josh Gerstein, is here.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request from an L.G.B.T.Q. student group at a public university in Texas to let it put on a drag show on campus over the objections of the university's president, who had refused to allow it. In an emergency application, the students said the president's action violated the First Amendment. As is the court's custom when ruling on emergency matters, the justices' brief order gave no reasons. There were no noted dissents." MB: I guess the applicants should have known that First Amendment rights are reserved for Christian extremists who oppose LGBTQ+ people, definitely not for LGBTQ+ people themselves. Some are more equal than others, kids.

Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "A federal court on Friday temporarily halted new rules from the Securities Exchange Commission that require public companies to disclose more about the business risks they face from climate change, siding with two oil and gas companies that criticized the requirements as costly and arbitrary. Approved by the S.E.C. this month, the rules require some publicly traded companies to disclose their climate risks, and how much greenhouse gas emissions they produce. Industry groups, as well as their political allies, have filed numerous lawsuits challenging the regulation."

W.T.F.??? Minho Kim of the New York Times: "When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of liberal causes whose advocacy of women's rights catapulted her to pop culture fame, helped establish a leadership award in 2019, she said she intended to celebrate 'women who exemplify human qualities of empathy and humility.' But this year, four of the recipients are men, including Elon Musk, the tech entrepreneur who frequently lobs tirades at perceived critics; Rupert Murdoch, the business magnate whose empire gave rise to conservative media; and Michael Milken, the face of corporate greed in the 1980s who served nearly two years in prison. It has prompted family members and close colleagues of Justice Ginsburg to demand that her name be removed from the honor, commonly called the R.B.G. Award. In a statement, her daughter, Jane C. Ginsburg, a law professor at Columbia University, said the choice of winners this year was 'an affront to the memory of our mother.'" MB: These awards are way past where ironic turns into outrageous. ~~~

     ~~~ Ah, the Explanation. David Corn & Ali Breland of Mother Jones: "Veteran corporate lawyer Brendan Sullivan, who was Oliver North's attorney during the Iran-contra scandal and who now chairs the RBG Award, noted, 'The honorees reflect the integrity and achievement that defined Justice Ginsburg's career and legend.' And the chair of the foundation, Julie Opperman, a big Republican donor and the widow of publishing titan Dwight Opperman, who once was CEO of Thomson Reuters, remarked that the award embraces 'the fullness of Justice Ginsburg's legacy.'" MB: There is no mention whatsoever of the right-wingerly affiliations of Sullivan & Julie Opperman in the NYT story. So call that half a story. BTW, you old folks may remember Sullivan for his famous remark during the North hearings: "I'm not a potted plant." Evidently, he's trying to prove that anew.

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Maine. Jenna Russell of the New York Times: "A commission investigating the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, concluded on Friday that local law enforcement officers should have taken the gunman into custody and seized his weapons before he killed 18 people on Oct. 25. The decision to instead give the shooter's family responsibility for removing his weapons was 'an abdication of law enforcement's responsibility,' the commission wrote in its 30-page interim report, intended to provide early findings to legislators who are weighing several proposals for changes to the state's laws, spurred by the events.... The seven-member Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston has held seven public meetings since last November, collecting testimony from Mr. Card's Army Reserve supervisors, local and state police officers, as well as survivors and family members of the victims. The panel has pressed witnesses for details of their actions in the months leading up to the shooting, when the gunman displayed increasingly erratic and paranoid behavior...."

South Dakota. The Strange Infomercial Career of Kristi Noem. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) ... posted a video on X ... promoting Fit My Feet, [a South Dakota company,] who built her custom insoles for tennis shoes and cowboy boots. She wrote online that it does 'amazing work to make custom insoles.' Noem previously posted a nearly five-minute video promoting a cosmetic dentistry company in Texas. She is being sued by the consumer advocacy group Travelers United, which accused Noem of breaking Washington, D.C., consumer protection laws. Her video was filmed in a commercial-like style that includes close-ups of her teeth, before and after shots of her smile and a dentist working with a patient. The group claims Noem's video was an undisclosed advertisement for the dentistry firm Smile Texas. The lawsuit alleges Noem, a potential running mate for former President Trump, is acting like a social media influencer."

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

David Sanger & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday praised Senator Chuck Schumer's address lashing out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, calling it 'a good speech' that raised concerns 'shared not only by him but by many Americans.' Even though Mr. Biden did not explicitly endorse any of the specific criticisms in the speech, or Mr. Schumer's call for elections to replace Mr. Netanyahu, the president's comments were the latest step in his escalating public critique of the Israeli prime minister.... In an interview on Friday, Mr. Schumer said he delivered the speech because 'I thought it was important to show even if you strongly disagree with Netanyahu, you can still be a strong ally of Israel.'" (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I've never been a big fan of Schumer's, but I should re-evaluate my dislike of his sometimes calculating & seemingly cynical political decisions. That speech took guts, and it must have been gut-wrenching for him to give it.

Raja Abdulrahim & Anushka Patil of the New York Times: "For at least the second time in just over two weeks, a convoy bringing aid to hunger-stricken northern Gaza ended in bloodshed late Thursday when Palestinians were killed and wounded in an attack surrounding the trucks, according to Gazan health officials and the Israeli military, which offered divergent accounts of what happened. The Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 20 people had been killed and more than 150 injured, and it accused Israeli forces of carrying out a 'targeted' attack against 'a gathering of civilians waiting for humanitarian aid' near the Kuwait traffic circle in Gaza City. The Israeli military denied the allegation in a statement on Friday, blaming Palestinian gunmen and saying that an 'intensive preliminary review' had determined 'that no tank fire, airstrike or gunfire was carried out toward the Gazan civilians at the aid convoy.' It did not say whether Israeli forces had opened fire at all." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ukraine, et al. Nick Cumming-Bruce of the New York Times: "Two years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, United Nations investigators say they have uncovered new evidence of systematic and widespread torture of Ukrainian prisoners held by Russian security forces. A United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Friday detailed a range of what it described as Russian war crimes, including summary executions, sexual violence and forced transfer of Ukrainian children into Russia. The commission paid special attention to 'horrific' treatment of Ukrainian prisoners by Russian security services at detention centers in Russia and occupied Ukraine. The commission will deliver a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next week, detailing accounts of torture from four locations in Russia and seven in occupied Ukraine, strengthening previous findings that the use of torture had become widespread and systematic." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: These are the folks Donald Trump wants us to make friends with and award with half of Ukraine.

Ides of March 2024

David Sanger & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday praised Senator Chuck Schumer's address lashing out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, calling it 'a good speech' that raised concerns 'shared not only by him but by many Americans.' Even though Mr. Biden did not explicitly endorse any of the specific criticisms in the speech, or Mr. Schumer's call for elections to replace Mr. Netanyahu, the president's comments were the latest step in his escalating public critique of the Israeli prime minister.... In an interview on Friday, Mr. Schumer said he delivered the speech because 'I thought it was important to show even if you strongly disagree with Netanyahu, you can still be a strong ally of Israel.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I've never been a big fan of Schumer's, but I should re-evaluate my dislike of his sometimes calculating & seemingly cynical political decisions. That speech took guts, and it must have been gut-wrenching for him to give it.

Raja Abdulrahim & Anushka Patil of the New York Times: "For at least the second time in just over two weeks, a convoy bringing aid to hunger-stricken northern Gaza ended in bloodshed late Thursday when Palestinians were killed and wounded in an attack surrounding the trucks, according to Gazan health officials and the Israeli military, which offered divergent accounts of what happened. The Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 20 people had been killed and more than 150 injured, and it accused Israeli forces of carrying out a 'targeted' attack against 'a gathering of civilians waiting for humanitarian aid' near the Kuwait traffic circle in Gaza City. The Israeli military denied the allegation in a statement on Friday, blaming Palestinian gunmen and saying that an 'intensive preliminary review' had determined 'that no tank fire, airstrike or gunfire was carried out toward the Gazan civilians at the aid convoy.' It did not say whether Israeli forces had opened fire at all."

Erica Orden of Politico: "Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan will be delayed by at least three weeks after the judge overseeing the matter agreed Friday that the former president and the district attorney's office need additional time to review records from federal prosecutors that are related to the case. Even with the delay, the Manhattan case, which concerns a hush money payment Trump allegedly orchestrated during the 2016 election to silence a porn star who claimed she had a sexual encounter with him, will likely remain the first to proceed to trial."

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "When asked whether he would endorse Mr. Trump now that the former president had clinched the party's nomination, [Mike] Pence said on Fox News that he 'could not in good conscience' support him. 'It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,' he told Martha MacCallum.... The former vice president declined to say whether he would vote for Mr. Trump in the November election, but answered, 'I would never vote for Joe Biden.' He also ruled out running as a third-party or independent candidate for president, saying he remained a Republican." The AP's story is here. MB: It's not exactly a profile in courage to decline to endorse someone who was happy to see you hanged, but not as lily-livered as, say, Ron DeSantolini, either.

Jason Morris, et al., of CNN: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on and prosecute the Georgia 2020 election interference racketeering case against ... Donald Trump and 14 of his co-defendants, Judge Scott McAfee ruled Friday, but only if she removes the special prosecutor with whom she engaged in a romantic relationship." At 9:15 am ET, this is a breaking news story & will be updated. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story, by Betsy Swan & Kyle Cheney, is here.

     ~~~ Judge Scott McAfee's decision, via CNN, is here.

~~~ Kate Brumback & Alanna Richer of the AP: "A special prosecutor who had a romantic relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis formally withdrew Friday from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump after a judge ruled he had to leave or Willis couldn't continue to pursue the charges. Attorney Nathan Wade's resignation allows Willis to remain on the most sprawling of four criminal cases against the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election." ~~~

     ~~~ Wade's resignation letter is here, via CNN. Willis' acceptance letter is here, also via CNN.

     ~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments. ~~~

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim: "Judge McAfee said that no 'disqualification of a constitutional officer necessary when a less drastic and sufficiently remedial option is available.' But he concluded 'that the prosecution of this case cannot proceed until the State selects one of two options.' Either 'the District Attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office' or 'Wade can withdraw' allowing the case to proceed without further distraction.... Mr. Trump and his co-defendants could appeal the judge's ruling, as could Ms. Willis, further delaying the proceedings and leaving the matter unresolved indefinitely. The state's Republican-led Senate is also reviewing the conflict-of-interest accusations, and lawmakers have empowered a new oversight commission to investigate and potentially remove prosecutors."

Hakim: "In his ruling, Judge McAfee was critical of recent public comments about the Trump case by Fani Willis, the district attorney, and wrote that 'the time may well have arrived for an order preventing the State from mentioning the case in any public forum to prevent prejudicial pretrial publicity, but that is not the motion presently before the Court.'"

Hakim: "Scott McAfee ... said in his ruling on whether the former romantic relationship between prosecutors creates a conflict of interest that there was an 'appearance of impropriety' that needs to be remedied.... The judge did not find enough evidence to disqualify Fani Willis ... from the case, however. McAfee said 'the allegations and evidence' were 'legally insufficient to support a finding of an actual conflict of interest.'"

Fausset: "Though the judge's order gives Fani Willis a way to keep the most important case of her career -- a big win for her -- he also levels some harsh words for Willis and her former lover, referring to their actions as a 'tremendous lapse in judgment.' And he says that Ms. Willis, who had a fiery turn on the stand last month, behaved in an 'unprofessional manner.' All the more notable because the judge once worked under Willis in the D.A.'s office."

Fausset: "This ruling, from a 34-year-old rookie judge, is remarkable for its clarity and plain language. Explaining the essence of the problem Ms. Willis has created by taking trips with a romantic partner who was working for her, Judge McAfee writes that 'an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influence.'"

Hakim: "McAfee also references what he calls Fani Willis's 'unorthodox decision to make on-the-record comments' to the authors of a recent book, 'Find Me the Votes,' by the journalists Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, noting they took place 'during the pendency of this case.' He says 'such decisions may have ancillary prejudicial effects yet to be realized, but the comments do not rise to the level of disqualification.'"

Hakim: "A key contention of the defense has been that Fani Willis had a financial interest in extending the case, since her romantic partner was being paid to run it. Judge McAfee rejected that, noting that Willis brought charges against far fewer people than a special grand jury had recommended for indictment. 'The District Attorney has not in any way acted in conformance with the theory that she arranged a financial scheme to enrich herself,' the judge wrote."

Hakim & Fausset: "A special committee of the Georgia State Senate held a hearing last week into accusations of misconduct by the Fulton County district attorney, Fani T. Willis, making it clear that the effort to disqualify her from the prosecution of Donald J. Trump is not the only threat to her case against the former president. Ms. Willis faces a series of inquiries that could perpetuate questions about her character and uncertainty around the Trump case for months to come.... Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a Trump ally and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has used the conflict-of-interest allegations to seek more records as part of the committee's ongoing investigation of the district attorney's office.... Georgia Republicans are in the process of empowering a prosecutorial oversight commission that is also likely to review the matter The commission is expected to have the authority to remove district attorneys. The Republican-controlled Georgia Senate created its special committee to investigate Ms. Willis soon after defense attorneys filed a motion to disqualify her. The committee has no power to punish the district attorney. But with the ability to issue subpoenas, it can embarrass her."

Fausset: "Steve Sadow, Donald Trump's main lawyer on the Georgia case, said in a statement that he and his team think the judge 'did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade.' He said they would 'use all legal options available' to continue to fight the case, strongly suggesting they would try to appeal the order."

** Hakim: "Nathan J. Wade has resigned from his role leading the investigation of Donald J. Trump, and Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, has accepted it, according to letters from the two prosecutors just released by the D.A.'s office."

     ~~~ Andrew Weissmann, speaking on MSNBC, says Willis should recuse herself. One of the NBC legal analysts -- maybe Danny Cevallos -- said the Fulton County line prosecutors must be furious because some of them will have to continue working on various aspects of the fallout from the Willis-Wade affair instead of on the case-in-chief they signed up for.

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Lisa Lerer & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris described the flood of laws restricting abortion access as a 'health care crisis' as she visited with abortion providers and staff members on Thursday at a clinic in St. Paul, Minn. The stop by Ms. Harris at the Planned Parenthood clinic was believed to be the first official visit by a vice president to an abortion clinic. No presidents are known to have made such visits, either. Speaking to reporters in the lobby of the clinic, which was open and seeing patients, Ms. Harris assailed conservative 'extremists' for passing laws that restrict abortion, resulting in the denial of emergency care for pregnant women and the shuttering of clinics that provide reproductive health care beyond abortion." The Guardian's story is here.

Marianna Sotomayor, et al., of the Washington Post: "Pressure is mounting for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to address aiding foreign allies as House Democrats and Republicans tee up opposing measures that would supersede House GOP leadership and trigger votes on bills funding Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the U.S. border. Democrats and a separate bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday began gathering signatures for competing discharge petitions, a mechanism that moves legislation out of committees and forces a House floor vote without support from leadership if it has the backing of 218 lawmakers. The Democratic measure, led by Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), had amassed nearly 180 signatures from the caucus as of Wednesday evening and would advance a national security package the Senate overwhelmingly approved over a month ago that allots $95.3 billion to assist foreign democracies.... The bipartisan petition extends funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan for one year. But unlike the Democratic petition, it also extends Trump-era border security measures used to mitigate the flow of migrants at the U.S. southern border...." It has received fewer than 15 signatures. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Republican senators Wednesday to expect the House to send them legislation to help Ukraine, but cautioned that what comes out of the House will look substantially different than the $95 billion foreign aid package the Senate passed last month. Johnson tried to reassure frustrated GOP senators who asked him about funding for Ukraine during a question-and-answer session at the annual Senate Republican retreat, which was held at the Library of Congress." MB: Maybe the most startling part of this story is that Republicans found a library -- with books! (My vague recollection is that there's a tunnel between the Capitol building & the Library of Congress, so maybe the GOP members thought they were "retreating" via a secret tunnel and wouldn't get caught in the vicinity of books.) (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mitch Is Not Amused. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Thursday again pressed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to take up the Senate-passed national security spending package, which includes $60 billion for Ukraine, despite Johnson's message to GOP senators this week that he's moving in a different direction. McConnell didn't express much interest in waiting weeks or maybe months for the House to come up with an alternative proposal to help Ukraine [which would be some kind of lend-lease arrangement]. 'I want to encourage the Speaker again to allow a vote, a vote. Let the House speak on the supplemental that we sent over to them several weeks ago,' he said." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Trials of Trump -- Delay, Delay, Delay

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The federal judge overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's prosecution on charges of mishandling classified documents on Thursday rejected one of his motions seeking to have the case dismissed, the first time she has denied a legal attack on the indictment. In a two-page order, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, rebuffed arguments by Mr. Trump's lawyers that the central statute in the indictment, the Espionage Act, was impermissibly vague and should be struck down entirely. The decision by Judge Cannon followed a nearly daylong hearing in Federal District Court in Fort Pierce, Fla., where she entertained arguments from Mr. Trump's legal team and from prosecutors in the office of the special counsel Jack Smith about the Espionage Act.... In her order, Judge Cannon acknowledged that Mr. Trump's lawyers had raised 'various arguments warranting serious consideration,' but she added that their concerns about the Espionage Act were better made in 'connection with jury-instruction briefing.'...

"Mr. Trump's lawyers raised another attack on the case during the hearing in Fort Pierce, asserting that under a law known as the Presidential Records Act, Mr. Trump designated the documents he took with him from the White House as his own personal property and so he could not be charged with possessing them without authorization. Judge Cannon expressed deep reservations about that claim, too, noting that while Mr. Trump was free to argue at trial that the documents he was charged with holding on to actually belonged to him, it was 'difficult to see' how the argument warranted tossing out the entire case before it went to a jury." Read on. The AP report is here.

     ~~~ Marie: Neal Katyal and others, appearing on MSNBC, opined that the kinds of motions Trump's attorneys are introducing in the documents case are ones that a "normal" judge would throw out without wasting all day on hearing arguments on the motions. Moreover, Cannon dismissed the motion "without prejudice," meaning that Trump's lawyers could make the case during the jury trial, at which point Cannon could agree, thus dismissing the case against Trump in its entirety. AND, if she buys Trump's argument during the trial -- rather than in an appealable pretrial motion -- the case would be over because double jeopardy would kick in. Andrew Weissmann said Cannon's ruling was "the worst possible outcome for the government." ~~~

     ~~~ Of course the main purpose of Trump's frivolous motions is to delay the trial, and Judge Aileen is absolutely on board with that program. As a number of experts & other commentators have pointed out, the plan seems to be that Cannon will schedule her trial for July or August. That would leave no time for Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the election interference case is D.C., to hold that trial before the November election. For their part, the confederate "justices" have chosen to delay for as long as possible hearing & deciding on Trump's ridiculous immunity appeal in the D.C. case. THEN, having set a late summer date for the documents trial, Cannon will -- at the last minute -- delay that trial, too, and oh gosh it will be too late to hold it before the election. If you think this is all some coordinated corrupt plot among the kleptocrats, you're right. The final step in the plot, of course, is that Trump becomes president* again, and throws out all the federal cases against him. So the only way for the plot to ultimately fail (maybe!) is to re-elect Joe Biden & a Democratic majority to the Congress, so the House cannot declare Trump president*.

MEANWHILE, in Manhattan. Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "Less than two weeks before Donald J. Trump is set to go on trial on criminal charges in Manhattan, the prosecutors who brought the case proposed a delay of up to 30 days, a startling development in the first prosecution of a former American president. The Manhattan district attorney's office, which accused Mr. Trump of covering up a sex scandal during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, said the delay would give Mr. Trump's lawyers time to review a new batch of records. The office sought the records more than a year ago, but only recently received them from federal prosecutors, who years ago investigated the hush-money payments at the center of the case. In response to the records -- tens of thousands of pages of them -- Mr. Trump's lawyers requested that the trial be delayed 90 days.... In January, Mr. Trump's lawyers subpoenaed the records from the federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. And, according to [Manhattan D.A. Alvin] Bragg's office, the former president 'consented to repeated extensions of the deadline' for the federal prosecutors.... It is unclear why the Southern District failed to provide the records earlier to Mr. Bragg...." In his motion, Bragg blamed Trump for the delay. The ABC News story is here.

MEANWHILE in Georgia. Olivia Rubin of ABC News: "Judge Scott McAfee said his long-awaited ruling on the effort to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis 'should' come out Friday.... McAfee has been weighing motions to disqualify Willis, primarily over accusations from Ashley Merchant's client, Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, that Willis benefited financially from a "personal, romantic relationship" with Nathan Wade, who she hired for the case, through Wade's 'paying for vacations across the world with money he is being paid by the Fulton County taxpayers and authorized solely by Willis.'" MB: Should Trump become president*, he would not be tried in Willis' case during his presidency, giving him further incentive not to leave office after the end of his second term, as required under the Constitution as we know it.

Lindsay Whitehurst of the AP: "An appeals court denied Trump White House official Peter Navarro's bid to stave off his jail sentence on contempt of Congress charges Thursday. Navarro has been ordered to report to a federal prison by March 19. He argued he should stay free as he appeals his conviction for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But a three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. disagreed, finding his appeal wasn't likely to reverse his conviction."

Benjamin Weiser & Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "A Manhattan judge refused on Thursday to dismiss bribery and other charges against Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, rejecting an argument that they violated constitutional protections afforded to members of Congress. Mr. Menendez could appeal the judge's decision, which might end up delaying his trial for months. It currently is scheduled to begin on May 6."

Will Steakin of ABC News: "Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz on Thursday was served a subpoena to sit for a deposition in a civil lawsuit that involves allegations he had sex with a 17-year old-girl..., as part of a suit brought by a friend of the congressman against the young woman and others. Gaetz was issued the subpoena ... by attorneys representing the woman who is now in her 20s and was at the center of a years-long investigation by the Justice Department into allegations that the Florida congressman had sex with her when she was a minor.... The congressman's deposition is slated for April 5, according to sources, and is part of a sprawling defamation and racketeering lawsuit brought by Gaetz's longtime friend, former Florida House member and lobbyist Chris Dorworth, against the woman and others. The deposition could see Gaetz asked under oath about his alleged sexual activity with the woman when she was a minor."

Presidential Race

Michael Scherer & Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "The centrist group No Labels announced a committee of 12 people Thursday who will decide in the coming weeks who should appear on the group's potential third-party presidential ticket.... The committee will then take its recommendation to a separate group of No Labels supporters that is prepared to formally nominate the ticket on 48 hours' notice.... The announcement comes a day after the resignation of another co-chair of the group, former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory (R), for reasons that have not been fully explained in public.... In a sharp contrast with 2016, Democrats and party allies are taking third-party and independent candidates seriously this election cycle. These efforts have included hiring staff members at the Democratic National Committee, filing federal and state complaints about ballot access moves by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and forming a super PAC called Clear Choice aimed at blocking candidates from gaining traction." The NBC News story is here.

Confused, Elderly Man Still Claiming Clinton Bleached (or Something) Her Emails. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: During an interview with Newsmax this week, "Trump claimed that Hillary Clinton had destroyed some emails with acid -- an assertion that is not only untrue but has also been debunked countless times over the past eight years. 'She used, uh, all sorts of acid testing and everything else. They call it, uh, BleachBit, but it's essentially acid that will destroy everything within 10 miles -- I mean, what she did was unbelievable. Nothing happens to her.'" Originally, Trump claimed Hillary bleached her emails, but that bleach morphed into acid over the years. MB: Now, I guess he's asserting she used an acid bleach. Bleach, as Bump notes, is a base, not an acid. But Trump has a very good brain so he definitely does not need something as lame as grade-school-level sciencey stuff to make his repeated absurd claims. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ja'han Jones of MSNBC: "In a victory for the extremist wing of the Republican Party, it looks like Donald Trump's hand-picked leadership team at the Republican National Committee has officially scrapped the GOP's plan to encourage early voting this election cycle. Instead, the party is taking steps to prioritize legal challenges to voting systems ahead of November.... The significance, of course, is that Trump has pushed false claims that mail-in voting is rife with voter fraud since 2020, months before he lost the election to Joe Biden. Ever since the election, Trump has continued to spread conspiracy theories that mail-in voter fraud cost him that race." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: In case you were wondering how a kleptocracy works, the Trumps continue to provide previews. Here's one that involves multiple high-stakes business schemes (one of which led to RICO charges), personal associations, international intrigue, a dirty spy and fake attacks on the political opposition. IOW, it's got everything but sex (as far as we know): ~~~

~~~ ** Jacqueline Sweet of the Guardian: "An American company [-- Economic Transformation Technologies (ETT) --] that paid the now indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov in 2020 is connected to a UK company owned by Trump business associates in Dubai, according to business filings and court documents. Smirnov is now accused of lying to the FBI about Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, alleging that they engaged in a bribery scheme with executives at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Smirnov's accounts to the FBI, beginning in 2020, that federal prosecutors now say are fabrications, served as a major justification of the House impeachment investigation into the Bidens." Sweet elaborates on the complicated business and personal ties to Trump, which go back a decade. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marcy Wheeler points to other ties among Smirnov & Trump enablers & affiliates.

~~~ AND worth noting: the Trump Congressional Gang, foiled by the DOJ's investigation & indictment of Smirknov, continues on its merry way: ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Facing the prospect that they may never be able to impeach President Biden, House Republicans are exploring a pivot to ... issuing criminal referrals against him and those close to him.... The move would be largely symbolic, but it would allow Republicans in Congress to save face while ending their so far struggling impeachment inquiry. It has the added appeal for the G.O.P. of aligning with ... Donald J. Trump's vow to prosecute Mr. Biden if he wins the election.... On Thursday, Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that Republican leaders were discussing the possibility of criminal referrals." (Also linked yesterday.)

Then There's This. Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is putting together a group of investors to buy TikTok, he said Thursday.... Mnuchin was part of a 2020 effort to force a TikTok sale or ban when he led the Treasury Department under ... Donald Trump.... Several other investors have expressed interest in buying TikTok, although it's unclear how advanced those efforts are." A CNBC story is here. MB: It works like this: (1) You use your high-profile government job to try to force the sale of a foreign O&O company to a U.S. company. (2) If you succeed, you buy the company, maybe at a bargain price because it's a forced sale. (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Michigan. Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "A Michigan jury found James Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter late Thursday over his failure to prevent his teenaged son from carrying out a school shooting that killed four fellow students and wounded seven others. Mr. Crumbley's wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of identical charges last month in the same Pontiac, Mich., courtroom, after a jury deliberated for roughly the same amount of time. The trials became a lightning rod for issues of parental responsibility at a time of high-profile gun violence by minors." The NBC News story is here.

North Carolina. Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "The Republican nominee for superintendent overseeing North Carolina's public schools and its $11 billion budget has a history marked by extreme and controversial comments, including sharing baseless conspiracy theories and frequent calls for the execution of prominent Democrats. Michele Morrow, a conservative activist who last week upset the incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Carolina's Republican primary, expressed support in 2020 for the televised execution of former President Barack Obama and suggested killing then-President-elect Joe Biden. In other comments on social media between 2019 and 2021 reviewed by CNN's KFile, Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.... Morrow has in the past called public schools 'socialism centers' and 'indoctrination centers.'... Morrow also promoted QAnon slogans." Read on. ~~~

Oklahoma. Marie: I have found it impossible to find a straight news story on this: Judd Blevins successfully ran for the Enid, Oklahoma, city council. Blevins was elected in February 2023, even after some local residents -- and later the local newspaper -- outted him as a white nationalist who had participated in the Neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. He was also, from 2017 till at least 2019 an active leader of the alt-right Neo-Nazi group Identity Evropa and a Hitler admirer. After activists obtained the requisite number of signatures, the city council set a recall election in December 2023. The election will be held April 2. Here's the background story by Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News. (Also linked yesterday.)

South Dakota. Jack Dura & Josh Funk of the AP: "A Democratic legislator on Wednesday called for an inquiry into South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem's trip to Texas for dental work and a promotional video in which she praises the doctors for giving her 'a smile I can be proud of and confident in.' State Sen. Reynold Nesiba ... said he wonders whether Noem used a state airplane or public funds for the Texas trip and whether the governor paid for the dental procedure or if it was discounted because of her video.... [In the video, Noem] identifies herself as the governor of South Dakota and includes clips of her speaking at a Republican Party event with Trump signs in the background.... Noem's video ... comes at a time when South Dakota has spent $5 million on a workforce recruitment ad campaign in which she stars in TV spots portraying herself as [various workers, including] ... a dentist.... Nesiba said the dental promotion 'just undermines the millions of dollars that we have invested in her as being a spokesperson for South Dakota.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Okay, Kristi, looks like you win the Trump veepstakes or at least take first in the "Best Grifter" category.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hungary. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Viktor Orban is jeopardizing Hungary's position as a trusted NATO ally, the U.S. ambassador to Budapest warned on Thursday, with 'its close and expanding relationship with Russia,' and with 'dangerously unhinged anti-American messaging' in state-controlled media. The ambassador, David Pressman, has for months criticized Mr. Orban for effectively siding with President of Russia over the war in Ukraine, but his latest remarks sharply ratcheted up tensions and indicated that trust in Hungary among NATO allies had collapsed. Hungary is 'an ally that behaves unlike any other' and is 'alone on the defining issue of European security of the last quarter century, Russia's war in Ukraine,' Mr. Pressman said in a speech in Budapest marking the 25th anniversary of Hungary's admission to the Western military alliance.... The ambassador detailed a catalog of complaints of the ways in which Hungary had not lived up to its obligations as an ally." MB: Not helpful: that little tête-à-tête with Donald Trump last week, where the two authoritarians conspired against Ukraine and NATO allies and for Russia.

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel's government warned Hamas 'is continuing to hold to unrealistic demands' as it prepared to review the latest cease-fire proposal Friday. A ship carrying 200 tons of food -- the first attempt to deliver aid by way of a maritime corridor -- was spotted just off the Gaza coast on Friday. The boat left Cyprus earlier this week, dispatched by the U.S. nonprofit World Central Kitchen, founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, and the Spanish search-and-rescue group Open Arms.... Australia will resume funding to UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. Canada and Sweden resumed their funding last week, after more than a dozen countries paused payments in the wake of Israel's allegations that some UNRWA staff members participated in Hamas's Oct. 7 attack."

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

** Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, on Thursday delivered a pointed speech on the Senate floor excoriating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East and calling for new leadership in Israel, five months into the war. Many Democratic lawmakers have condemned Mr. Netanyahu's leadership and his right-wing governing coalition, and President Biden has even criticized the Israeli military's offensive in Gaza as 'over the top.' But Mr. Schumer's speech amounted to the sharpest critique yet from a senior American elected official -- effectively urging Israelis to replace Mr. Netanyahu. 'I believe in his heart, his highest priority is the security of Israel,' said Mr. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States. 'However, I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.... He has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Barak Ravid in Axios: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) speech calling for a new government in Israel landed like an earthquake Thursday, delivering a huge shock to the already tense U.S.-Israel relationship.... In addition to being the most senior Jewish elected official [MB: ever!] in the country, Schumer has had one of the longest and closest relationships with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of any U.S. politician. Schumer's speech stunned officials and observers in both Washington and Jerusalem because he has been -- and still is -- the Democratic Party's most avid supporter of Israel in decades."

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel's military intends to direct a 'significant' portion of Rafah's population of 1.4 million toward 'humanitarian islands' in central Gaza ahead of Israel's planned ground offensive, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said.... The humanitarian zones 'that we will create with the international community' would house the displaced and provide food, water and other necessities, Hagari said at a news briefing Wednesday. The Biden administration announced sanctions on two West Bank settlements Thursday, marking the first time economic restrictions have been placed on entire Israeli outposts in the Palestinian territory. The move coincided with a scathing speech by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) calling for new elections in Israel." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Conversation -- March 14, 2024

Oklahoma. Marie: I have found it impossible to find a straight news story on this: Judd Blevins successfully ran for the Enid, Oklahoma, city council. Blevins was elected in February 2023, even after some local residents -- and later the local newspaper -- outted him as a white nationalist who had participated in the Neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. He was also, from 2017 till at least 2019 an active leader of the alt-right Neo-Nazi group Identity Evropa and a Hitler admirer. After activists obtained the requisite number of signatures, the city council set a recall election in December 2023. The election will be held April 2. Here's the background story by Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, on Thursday delivered a pointed speech on the Senate floor excoriating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East and calling for new leadership in Israel, five months into the war. Many Democratic lawmakers have condemned Mr. Netanyahu's leadership and his right-wing governing coalition, and President Biden has even criticized the Israeli military's offensive in Gaza as 'over the top.' But Mr. Schumer's speech amounted to the sharpest critique yet from a senior American elected official -- effectively urging Israelis to replace Mr. Netanyahu. 'I believe in his heart, his highest priority is the security of Israel,' said Mr. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States. 'However, I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.... He has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.'" ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel's military intends to direct a 'significant' portion of Rafah's population of 1.4 million toward 'humanitarian islands' in central Gaza ahead of Israel's planned ground offensive, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said.... The humanitarian zones 'that we will create with the international community' would house the displaced and provide food, water and other necessities, Hagari said at a news briefing Wednesday. The Biden administration announced sanctions on two West Bank settlements Thursday, marking the first time economic restrictions have been placed on entire Israeli outposts in the Palestinian territory. The move coincided with a scathing speech by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) calling for new elections in Israel." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here.

Marianna Sotomayor, et al., of the Washington Post: "Pressure is mounting for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to address aiding foreign allies as House Democrats and Republicans tee up opposing measures that would supersede House GOP leadership and trigger votes on bills funding Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the U.S. border. Democrats and a separate bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday began gathering signatures for competing discharge petitions, a mechanism that moves legislation out of committees and forces a House floor vote without support from leadership if it has the backing of 218 lawmakers. The Democratic measure, led by Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), had amassed nearly 180 signatures from the caucus as of Wednesday evening and would advance a national security package the Senate overwhelmingly approved over a month ago that allots $95.3 billion to assist foreign democracies.... The bipartisan petition extends funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan for one year. But unlike the Democratic petition, it also extends Trump-era border security measures used to mitigate the flow of migrants at the U.S. southern border...." It has received fewer than 15 signatures. ~~~

~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Republican senators Wednesday to expect the House to send them legislation to help Ukraine, but cautioned that what comes out of the House will look substantially different than the $95 billion foreign aid package the Senate passed last month. Johnson tried to reassure frustrated GOP senators who asked him about funding for Ukraine during a question-and-answer session at the annual Senate Republican retreat, which was held at the Library of Congress." MB: Maybe the most startling part of this story is that Republicans found a library -- with books! (My vague recollection is that there's a tunnel between the Capitol building & the Library of Congress, so maybe the GOP members thought they were "retreating" via a secret tunnel and wouldn't get caught in the vicinity of books.) ~~~

~~~ Mitch Is Not Amused. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Thursday again pressed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to take up the Senate-passed national security spending package, which includes $60 billion for Ukraine, despite Johnson's message to GOP senators this week that he's moving in a different direction. McConnell didn't express much interest in waiting weeks or maybe months for the House to come up with an alternative proposal to help Ukraine [which reportedly would be some kind of lend-lease arrangement]. 'I want to encourage the Speaker again to allow a vote, a vote. Let the House speak on the supplemental that we sent over to them several weeks ago,' he said."

Marie: In case you were wondering how a kleptocracy works, the Trumps continue to provide previews. Here's one that involves multiple high-stakes business schemes (one of which led to RICO charges), personal associations, international intrigue, a dirty spy and fake attacks on the political opposition. IOW, it's got everything but sex (as far as we know): ~~~

~~~ ** Jacqueline Sweet of the Guardian: "An American company [-- Economic Transformation Technologies (ETT) --] that paid the now indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov in 2020 is connected to a UK company owned by Trump business associates in Dubai, according to business filings and court documents. Smirnov is now accused of lying to the FBI about Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, alleging that they engaged in a bribery scheme with executives at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Smirnov's accounts to the FBI, beginning in 2020, that federal prosecutors now say are fabrications, served as a major justification of the House impeachment investigation into the Bidens." Sweet elaborates on the complicated business and personal ties to Trump, which go back a decade. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

~~~ AND worth noting: the Trump Congressional Gang, foiled by the DOJ's investigation & indictment of Smirknov, continues on its merry way: ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Facing the prospect that they may never be able to impeach President Biden, House Republicans are exploring a pivot to ... issuing criminal referrals against him and those close to him.... The move would be largely symbolic, but it would allow Republicans in Congress to save face while ending their so far struggling impeachment inquiry. It has the added appeal for the G.O.P. of aligning with ... Donald J. Trump's vow to prosecute Mr. Biden if he wins the election.... On Thursday, Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that Republican leaders were discussing the possibility of criminal referrals."

Then There's This. Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is putting together a group of investors to buy TikTok, he said Thursday.... Mnuchin was part of a 2020 effort to force a TikTok sale or ban when he led the Treasury Department under ... Donald Trump.... Several other investors have expressed interest in buying TikTok, although it's unclear how advanced those efforts are." A CNBC story is here. MB: It works like this: (1) You use your high-profile government job to try to force the sale of a foreign O&O company to a U.S. company. (2) If you succeed, you buy the company, maybe at a bargain price because it's a forced sale.

Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump is attending a court hearing Thursday where his lawyers are trying to persuade a federal judge to throw out charges against him for allegedly mishandling highly classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home and private club in Florida. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon is hearing from prosecutors and defense lawyers about Trump's claim that he is protected from prosecution by the Presidential Records Act, and what his legal team says is the unfairly vague language of the federal law on national defense secrets. National security law experts say Trump's arguments about the records act misstate the law.... Jason R. Baron, former director of litigation at the National Archives, called Trump's reading of the PRA 'absurd.'... Legal experts have said multiple federal laws protect national security information -- and whether Trump considers the materials classified or personal property is irrelevant if they contain some of the nation's secrets."

Confused, Elderly Man Still Claiming Clinton Bleached (or Something) Her Emails. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: During an interview with Newsmax this week, "Trump claimed that Hillary Clinton had destroyed some emails with acid -- an assertion that is not only untrue but has also been debunked countless times over the past eight years. 'She used, uh, all sorts of acid testing and everything else. They call it, uh, BleachBit, but it's essentially acid that will destroy everything within 10 miles -- I mean, what she did was unbelievable. Nothing happens to her.'" Originally, Trump claimed Hillary bleached her emails, but that bleach morphed into acid over the years. MB: Now, I guess he's asserting she used an acid bleach. Bleach, as Bump notes, is a base, not an acid. But Trump has a very good brain so he definitely does not need something as lame as grade-school-level sciencey stuff to make his repeated absurd claims.

Ja'han Jones of MSNBC: "In a victory for the extremist wing of the Republican Party, it looks like Donald Trump's hand-picked leadership team at the Republican National Committee has officially scrapped the GOP's plan to encourage early voting this election cycle. Instead, the party is taking steps to prioritize legal challenges to voting systems ahead of November.... The significance, of course, is that Trump has pushed false claims that mail-in voting is rife with voter fraud since 2020, months before he lost the election to Joe Biden. Ever since the election, Trump has continued to spread conspiracy theories that mail-in voter fraud cost him that race."

~~~~~~~~~~

David Lynch & Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "President Biden, speaking Wednesday in a community that he cited as a painful example of racist urban policy, highlighted a new economic strategy aimed at revitalizing places that for decades have been cut off from the nation's growing prosperity. Biden spoke at a Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee in a largely Black and Latino neighborhood where 17,000 homes and 1,000 businesses were destroyed in the 1960s to make way for an interstate highway. The president's trip, which includes a stop in Michigan Thursday, is part of an effort to court minority voters in states that are key to his political future. In conjunction with the Midwestern swing, the White House unveiled $3.3 billion in federal grants to remove or retrofit highways that separate minority neighborhoods in many cities from jobs, entertainment centers, hospitals and other services."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "He has a large storehouse of stories, this president, and he shared them freely during interviews with prosecutors last fall. Mr. Biden described giving an oration in law school on a case he had not read and lying his way into an exclusive club in Delaware. He recounted his time with President Barack Obama and trying to 'save his ass' from manipulative generals. He boasted of building a solar facility in Angola. What any of that had to do with Mr. Biden's handling of secret papers was not always clear, but transcripts of his five hours with the special counsel Robert K. Hur released this week opened a window into a president not often seen by the public lately. He was funny and folksy, chatty and charming, quick and quirky." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: That's exactly what I thought when I read part of the transcript, and Biden's generosity to Hur made me even madder that Hur didn't have the decency to show any respect to the President. But then many Republicans aren't long on traits like common decency. Hur saw his job as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to nail a Democratic president. Bring him up on charges! Failing that, he would have to find another way to disparage Biden. It must have been disconcerting for Hur, then, when he had to sit through a long conversation in which it was obvious who the better person was. ~~~

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "Special counsel Robert K. Hur was even more unfair to President Biden than we originally knew.... We now have the transcript of the president's interview with Hur, and ... it turns out that the special counsel mischaracterized and overstated Biden's alleged memory lapses. He consistently adopted an interpretation that is as uncharitable and damaging to Biden as possible. Gratuitous is bad enough. This was gratuitous and misleading."

Sapna Magesgwaru, et al., of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday passed a bill with broad bipartisan support that would force TikTok's Chinese owner to sell the hugely popular video app or be banned in the United States. The move escalates a showdown between Beijing and Washington over the control of technologies that could affect national security, free speech and the social media industry. Republican leaders fast-tracked the bill through the House with limited debate, and it passed on a lopsided vote of 352-65, reflecting widespread backing for legislation that would take direct aim at China in an election year. The action came despite TikTok's efforts to mobilize its 170 million U.S. users against the measure, and amid the Biden administration's push to persuade lawmakers that Chinese ownership of the platform poses grave national security risks to the United States. The result was a bipartisan coalition behind the measure that included Republicans, who defied ... Donald J. Trump in supporting it, and Democrats, who also fell in line behind a bill that President Biden has said he would sign. The bill faces a difficult road to passage in the Senate...." The AP report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ David Sanger of the New York Times: "In the four years [the] battle [over TikTok] has gone on, it has become clear that the security threat posed by TikTok has far less to do with who owns it than it does with who writes the code and algorithms that make TikTok tick. Those algorithms ... are the magic sauce of an app that 170 million Americans now have on their phones. That's half the country. But TikTok doesn't own those algorithms; they are developed by engineers who work for its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, which assembles the code in great secrecy in its software labs, in Beijing, Singapore and Mountain View, Calif. But China has issued regulations that appear designed to require government review before any of ByteDance's algorithms could be licensed to outsiders. Few expect those licenses to be issued.... So [a] new, American-based company would have to develop its own, made-in-America algorithm."

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Hunter Biden has declined an invitation to testify next week in a public hearing before the House Oversight Committee, according to a letter from Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, sent to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the panel's chairman.... In the letter to [Rep. Jim] Comer, Lowell argued that the younger Biden had answered every question Republicans had for him in the deposition, and he said the public hearing 'is not a serious oversight proceeding.... It is your attempt to resuscitate your Conference's moribund inquiry with a made-for-right-wing-media, circus act.'..."

Marie: I meant to look for this earlier. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) played a short video at Tuesday's Hur hearing, featuring elderly, confused & forgetful Donald Trump:

The Hur Report was revealed today! A disaster for Biden, a two tiered standard of justice. Artificial Intelligence was used by them against me in their videos of me. Can't do that Joe! -- Donald Trump on his social media platform, Tuesday night ~~~

~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: Donald Trump "could've simply ignored all of this and hoped that the clips went unnoticed. Instead, he drew fresh attention to the video montage and claimed that Democrats relied on 'artificial intelligence.' By pushing this defense, Trump is simultaneously (a) lying, (b) drawing attention to videos he should hope voters don't see; and (c) implicitly suggesting that the clips are so humiliating that they couldn't possibly be real, except they are, in fact, genuine and unaltered." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kathleen Culliton of the Raw Story: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Tuesday shared with her X followers a photograph of herself smiling directly into the camera next to an announcement for ... '... a hearing on investigating the black market of baby organ harvesting.'... Greene adds, 'Join me and special guests.' The hearing, slated for March 19 at 2 p.m., will include testimony from David Daleiden and Terrisa Bukovinac, according to the announcement.... Daleiden is an anti-abortion activist ordered to pay $2 million in damages to Planned Parenthood over accusations of conspiracy and eavesdropping, according to a Reuters report from October. Bukovinac is an anti-abortion activist who appears in a 2022 feature from New York Magazine about Lauren Handy, a fellow activist who reportedly stored baby fetuses in her refrigerator until they were removed by police." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This announcement is weird on so many levels. Besides the beaming smile, MTG is wearing a dress that looks like just the thing to flounce around in at a lawn party. The announcement itself looks like a party invitation. And with "special guests"?? Witnesses called to a Congressional hearing on a serious subject are not "guests." They're supposed to be "experts," not that Miss Margie's crackpot "guests" are experts on anything. The whole thing just screams, "Wow, I'm having fun partying in Washington, D.C.! Join me!" It's not exactly breaking news that Miss Georgia Peach 1993 is not a serious member of Congress, but this is an offensive misuse of her office.

Kate Santaliz of NBC News: "Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., has come under fire in recent days over allegations that she misrepresented the story of a sex trafficking victim in the Republican response to the State of the Union last week. An NBC News review of her remarks over the last year shows it's an anecdote she's used often to criticize the Biden administration's border policies, though the victim she references was trafficked through Mexico roughly two decades ago."

Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "The presiding judge in the Georgia criminal case against Donald Trump and his allies has thrown out some of the charges against the former president and several of his co-defendants. The partial dismissal by Georgia Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee leaves most of the sprawling racketeering indictment intact. McAfee ruled that six charges in the 41-count indictment related to Trump and some co-defendants allegedly soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer lacked the required detail about what underlying crime the defendants were soliciting.... 'As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited,' McAfee [wrote]. 'They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitutions and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways.'... The new ruling did not address the ethics allegations brought against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis by the defendants. McAfee has pledged to issue a ruling on that issue by the end of the week." (Also linked yesterday.) Related story linked under "Georgia" below.

Presidential Race

Confused, Elderly Man Still Begs to Debate President Biden. Amelia Neath of the Independent: Donald Trump "called himself 'Honest Don' in a recent Truth Social post in which he called on President Joe Biden to have a 'full-scale debate' with him. 'For the good of our now failing Nation, and in order to inform the American people of what is going on in our Country, we must immediately have a full-scale debate between Crooked Joe and Honest Don. I'm ready to go, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE!' Mr Trump posted on Tuesday.... [An X user [wrote]: 'Trump calling himself Honest Don is like Jeffrey Dahmer calling himself Vegan Jeff.'" Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maya King & Michael Bender of the New York Times: "The Republican National Committee, days after electing new [MB: Trump-aligned] leadership and overhauling its presidential campaign operation, is shuttering all of the community centers it established for minority outreach nationwide and laying off their staffs.... The community centers ... were part of a yearslong effort to encourage Black, Latino, Asian and Native American voters to join the party. Republicans closed several minority outreach centers in battleground states more than a year ago and did not retain their minority media outreach directors.... Republicans have widely promoted the community centers, which were established largely within the racial and ethnic communities they aimed to court." MB: C'mon. These centers were totally superfluous. "The Blacks," et al., already love Trump. Just ask him.

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Georgia. Jeff Amy of the AP: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law Wednesday that lets a state commission begin operating with powers to discipline and remove prosecutors, potentially disrupting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' prosecution of ... Donald Trump.... Though Kemp signed legislation last year creating the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, it was unable to begin operating after the state Supreme Court in November refused to approve rules governing its conduct. The justices said they had 'grave doubts' about their ability to regulate the duties of district attorneys beyond the practice of law. Tuesday's measure removes the requirement for Supreme Court approval."

News Lede

New York Times: "The third try turned out to be closer to the charm for Elon Musk and SpaceX, as his company's mammoth Starship rocket launched on Thursday and traveled about halfway around the Earth before it was lost as it re-entered the atmosphere. The test flight achieved several key milestones in the development of the vehicle, which could alter the future of space transportation and help NASA return astronauts to the moon." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It really irritates me that we live in a country with a tax structure that allows a private citizen to be rich enough to run his own space program.