The Conversation -- September 10, 2023

Matt Viser & Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "President Biden gathered with some of the world's top leaders Sunday morning at a memorial site [in New Delhi] for Mohandas K. Gandhi, one of history's foremost independence figures known for espousing nonviolent resistance, at a time when the world's richest nations are consumed by debate over Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.... Afterward, Biden departed for Hanoi for a 24-hour stop aimed at upgrading the diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and the United States in a way that could continue reorienting parts of the Asia-Pacific region as a counterbalance to China. It will be the first time that Biden, who has visited dozens of nations and whose generation was engulfed by the Vietnam War, sets foot in the country."

A Declaration Signifying Nothing (or at Least Not Much). Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "A painstakingly negotiated declaration Saturday evening at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi omitted any condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine or its brutal conduct of the war, instead lamenting the 'suffering' of the Ukrainian people. It was an eye opening departure from a similar document agreed to less than a year ago in Bali, when leaders acknowledged different views over the invasion but still issued a strong condemnation of the Russian invasion and called on Moscow to withdraw its troops.... [President] Biden and his advisers focused on what the new declaration had achieved: It included new language on the issue of global debt and on overhauling institutions like the World Bank to address the growing strains on poorer countries; an invitation to the African Union to join the G20; and a push for more financing to help vulnerable nations deal with the costs of dealing with climate change. The declaration also underscored the potential of digital technologies to increase inclusion in global economies."

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "One day in June of last year..., Yuscil Taveras..., who ran Mar-a-Lago's technology department from a cramped work space in the [resort's] basement..., confided in an office mate that another colleague had just asked him, at [Donald] Trump's request, to delete the [security] footage that [federal] investigators were seeking.... Before long, the story had ricocheted around the grounds ... and up the chain of command at Trump Tower in Manhattan, prompting Mr. Taveras's superiors in New York to warn against deleting the tapes.... Looking to steer clear of the investigation..., , when he was summoned before a grand jury this spring, Mr. Taveras did not fully recount the incident. Only after prosecutors subsequently threatened to charge him for failing to tell all that he knew did Mr. Taveras shift course to become a potentially important witness in the case.... This account of Mr. Taveras's turnabout ... reveals new details of the critical ... he played in helping investigators develop evidence that Mr. Trump and two aides allegedly plotted to destroy security footage showing boxes of classified materials being shuttled in and out of a storage room at Mar-a-Lago." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm happy to report that this is a Trump mob story in which a character is named Matt the Squids Junior. All Trump Crime Family stories should have more characters with names like that. I mean, "Mark Meadows" and "Jeffrey Clark" are so plain-vanilla borrr-ing. Rudy the Ghoul & Kenny the Cheese are much more in keeping with what I had in mind.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "The man who federal authorities say set off a brutal battle with police at the lower west tunnel of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was arrested Friday, nearly two years after he was identified by online sleuths. Gregory Mijares was identified by online 'Sedition Hunters' in 2021. An FBI affidavit said the bureau received a tip in October 2021, and then interviewed Mijares in March 2023. Mijares was arrested in Crown Point, Indiana, on Friday, according to court records, and charged with felony civil disorder along with two misdemeanor charges. Video footage shows Mijares was the first rioter to enter the Capitol through the lower west terrace doors on Jan. 6, 2021. The lower west terrace was the site of some of the worst violence at the Capitol that day. Several police officers sustained major injuries, and rioter Rosanne Boyland died amid the chaos.... Online sleuths were able to identify Mijares with the help of a photo posted by a journalist that shows him posing near the Capitol after the attack when he was not wearing his mask." MB: There's no indication in the story as to why it took authorities almost two years to arrest a guy who was believed to be such a prominent insurrectionist. P.S. Shouldn't the Sedition Hunters get some kind of award/reward for finding these perps?

A New Wrinkle in the Mystery of the 20th Century. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Now, 60 years later, Paul Landis, one of the Secret Service agents just feet away from President John F. Kennedy on that fateful day in Dallas, is telling his story in full for the first time. And in at least one key respect, his account differs from the official version in a way that may change the understanding of what happened in Dealey Plaza.... Mr. Landis's account, included in a forthcoming memoir, would rewrite the narrative of one of modern American history's most earth-shattering days in an important way.... It could ... encourage those who have long suspected that there was more than one gunman in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, adding new grist to one of the nation's enduring mysteries.... [The single-bullet theory, embraced by the Warren Commission, rests on the assumption that] ... the bullet was found on a stretcher believed to have held [Texas Gov. John] Connally at Parkland Memorial Hospital.... But Mr. Landis, who was never interviewed by the Warren Commission, said that ... he was the one who found the bullet -- and he found it ... in the presidential limousine lodged in the back of the seat behind where Kennedy was sitting."

Elizabeth Spiers of the New York Times: "When Luis Rubiales, the president of Spain's soccer federation, faced global backlash for kissing Jenni Hermoso, a member of the Spanish team that won the Women's World Cup..., he executed a play that has proved to be a winner: He doubled down, insisting that he'd done nothing wrong, that it was mutual and that he was the victim of a 'witch hunt.'... There are ... many species of misogynists..., but Mr. Rubiales -- like Donald Trump, who did a similar maneuver when E. Jean Carroll accused him of rape -- represents a particularly insidious breed. These men cannot be shamed for their behavior..., because they fundamentally believe it is acceptable. They don't seem to understand that their victim is as human and complex as they are and has a will of her own. That's why they find it so hard to understand that anything short of rape can really be assault. 'He wasn't raping her,' Woody Allen recently said in Mr. Rubiales's dubious defense. 'It was just a kiss, and she was a friend. What's wrong with that?'"

Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times: "Wunderkind founders are revered [in Silicon Valley], [link fixed] growing old is considered a disease in need of a cure, and ageism is barely concealed. In 2007, a year before he became, at 23, the world's youngest self-made billionaire, [Mark] Zuckerberg said the quiet part out loud. 'Young people,' he told an audience at Stanford, 'are just smarter.' They arent, actually. The tech industry's hostility to aging 'continues to violate common sense,' Joseph Coughlin, the director of M.I.T.'s AgeLab, told me.... He said that companies in the auto industry, financial services, retail and other sectors are coming around to the emerging opportunities of the 'longevity economy,' the 1.6 billion people around the world who will be 65 or older by the year 2050. Silicon Valley remains a glaring exception." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll tell you who else suffers from ageism: whoever picked out the photo that accompanies this opinion piece: a scraggly-haired grizzled old man wearing a flannel shirt while sitting at a dated desktop computer in what looks like a dark & cluttered basement. The photo is insulting.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times writes about her friendship with Jimmy Buffett. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

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New Mexico. Morgan Lee of the AP: "New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days in response to a spate of gun violence. The Democratic governor said she expects legal challenges but was compelled to act because of recent shootings, including the death of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium this week. Lujan Grisham said state police would be responsible for enforcing what amount to civil violations. Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina said he won't enforce it, and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he's uneasy about it because it raises too many questions about constitutional rights." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Might be a good idea if somebody told that sheriff-turned-Constitutional-scholar that there is no Second Amendment right to open carry.

Texas. Chuck Lindell of the Texas Tribune summarizes what-all happened this week at the state senate trial of suspended Texas attorney general Ken Paxton. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Rescuers in Morocco raced to reach remote areas in the mountains outside Marrakesh on Sunday after the worst earthquake to hit the area in a century flattened homes across central and southern parts of the country, killing more than 2,000 people. The extent of the damage and number of casualties after the magnitude-6.8 earthquake late Friday night remained unclear because the hardest-hit communities were in the High Atlas Mountains, where the few roads appeared to be blocked by debris, and where phone service and electricity had been knocked out. Many homes in that area are made of mud bricks, a traditional construction method that is highly vulnerable to earthquakes and heavy rains." This is a liveblog.

The Conversation -- September 9, 2023

New Mexico. Morgan Lee of the AP: "New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days in response to a spate of gun violence. The Democratic governor said she expects legal challenges but was compelled to act because of recent shootings, including the death of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium this week. Lujan Grisham said state police would be responsible for enforcing what amount to civil violations. Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina said he won't enforce it, and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he's uneasy about it because it raises too many questions about constitutional rights."

Texas. Chuck Lindell of the Texas Tribune summarizes what-all happened this week at the state senate trial of suspended Texas attorney general Ken Paxton.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times writes about her friendship with Jimmy Buffett.

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The New York Times is liveblogging developments at the G-20 summit: "Leaders of the world's largest economies gathered on Saturday to discuss ways to eas burdens on poorer nations, opening a Group of 20 summit whose Indian hosts hope will advance a global economic agenda even as it is overshadowed by Russia's war in Ukraine and the absence of the Russian and Chinese leaders. India, a growing diplomatic and economic power that has stuck to neutrality over the Ukraine conflict, has painstakingly tried to limit discussions about the war to the economic distress it has caused, with energy and food prices rising around the world. Atop the G20 economic agenda in New Delhi is the issue of global debt and reforming institutions such as the World Bank to address the growing strains on poorer countries; a push for more financing to help vulnerable nations deal with the costs of mitigating threats from climate change; and the potential of digital technologies to increase inclusion in global economies."

Fifth Circuit: The First Amendment Protects Dangerous Lies. Steven Myers of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the Biden administration most likely overstepped the First Amendment by urging the major social media platforms to remove misleading or false content about the Covid-19 pandemic, partly upholding a lower court's preliminary injunction in a victory for conservatives. The ruling, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, was another twist in a First Amendment case that has challenged the government's ability to combat false and misleading narratives about the pandemic, voting rights and other issues that spread on social media." ~~~

     ~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A federal appeals court on Friday said the Biden administration likely violated the First Amendment in some of its communications with social media companies, but also narrowed a lower court judge's order on the matter. The US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that certain administration officials -- namely in the White House, the surgeon general, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- likely 'coerced or significantly encouraged social media platforms to moderate content' in violation of the First Amendment in its efforts to combat Covid-19 disinformation. But the three-judge panel said the preliminary injunction issued by US District Judge Terry Doughty in July, which ordered some Biden administration agencies and top officials not to communicate with social media companies about certain content, was 'both vague and broader than necessary to remedy the Plaintiffs' injuries, as shown at this preliminary juncture.'" Donald Trump appointed Doughty.

Trump Family Crime Blotter

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "... a judge rejected an effort by Mark Meadows, [Donald] Trump's former White House chief of staff, to move his case from state court to federal court.... The ruling, by Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, does not bode well for [other Georgia defendants who are expected to attempt to have their cases moved to federal court]." Meadows appealed the ruling Friday night. (An earlier version of this report was linked yesterday.) CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So despite what we all may have assumed, even in a Trump administration, criminal activity is not a part of the written job description for chief-of-staff. (Okay, Judge Jones' actual rationale was more along the lines of -- working for a presidential campaign is not a part of the job description for chief-of-staff.)

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A special grand jury that investigated election interference allegations in Georgia recommended indicting a number of Trump allies who were not charged, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, and Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser. In its final report, which a judge unsealed on Friday, the panel also recommended charges against Boris Epshteyn, one of ... Donald J. Trump's main lawyers, as well as a number of other Trump-aligned lawyers, including Cleta Mitchell and Lin Wood." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ CNN: "A Georgia judge has released the full final report from the special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump and his allies' attempts to overturn the 2020 election in the state. The panel recommended charges against GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not charge them in the indictment last month against Trump and 18 other co-defendants." The linked page is a CNN liveblog that covers this & other matters related to the Georgia RICO case. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

"The Georgia special grand jury had recommended charges against 39 people as part of their 2020 election interference probe. Ultimately, 21 people on the list were not charged. One other person -- Michael Roman, whose name did not appear in the report -- was also charged by the Fulton County district attorney." This entry lists all the people the special grand jury recommended for indictment. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story is here. You can read the full special grand jury report here, via Politico. (CNN also has republished the report on its liveblog, but you'll have to scroll down to find it. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Family that Rebels Together Gets Jail Time Together. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A Tennessee man and his mother were sentenced to prison on Friday for seeking to intimidate lawmakers by marching with matching tactical vests and carrying zip tie-style handcuffs during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors said. The man, Eric Munchel, 32, of Nashville, who became known on social media as 'Zip Tie Guy,' was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, the Justice Department said. His mother, Lisa Marie Eisenhart, 59, of Woodstock, Ga., was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, the department said. They were fined $2,000 each, and their prison terms will be followed by two and a half years of supervised release." The NBC News story is here. MB: Such a sweet family-values kinda story. I mean, how can you jail a mom-and-son couple who wore matching outfits to the revolution?

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Last October, a few months before he went to trial on sedition charges linked to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, got an invitation: [to meet with his lawyers and federal prosecutors].... During that meeting, Mr. Tarrio recounted on Friday in a phone interview from jail, the prosecutors told him that they believed he had communicated in the run-up to the riot with ... Donald J. Trump through at least three intermediaries. The prosecutors, Mr. Tarrio said, offered him leniency if he could corroborate their theory. Mr. Tarrio said he told them they were wrong. And the discussion with prosecutors -- which took place in Miami, Mr. Tarrio's hometown -- apparently went nowhere. Mr. Tarrio was later convicted of seditious conspiracy in federal court in Washington and was sentenced on Tuesday to 22 years in prison.... 'There is absolutely no connection between me and President Trump,' Mr. Tarrio said.... During the sedition trial, prosecutors introduced a text message ... suggesting that he had coordinated some rallies the Proud Boys were involved in with Mr. Trump's campaign."

Presidential Race 2024

Dareh Gregorian, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump is seeking to have a Colorado lawsuit aimed at kicking him off the 2024 ballot in the state moved to federal court. In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers for Trump argued the suit brought earlier this week by a group of six voters should be moved from state court to federal court because it centers on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which holds that no person shall hold any office if they 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion' after having taken an oath to support the Constitution." (Also linked yesterday.)

Nicholas Nehamas & Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "During his 2018 run for governor, Ron DeSantis not only pledged to protect Florida's Everglades and waterways, he also acknowledged that humans played a role in exacerbating the climate change that threatened them.... Now running for president..., the Florida governor no longer repeats his previous view that humans affect the climate, even as scientists say that the hurricanes battering his state are being intensified by man-made global warming.... Instead, Mr. DeSantis has seemingly reverted to an old Republican Party line that climate change is happening naturally, without being accelerated by human behavior like the burning of fossil fuels. Decades of scientific research contradict that position. And it is also out of step with what polling shows many Americans believe. On the 2024 campaign trail, Mr. DeSantis has promised to ramp up domestic oil and gas production and fight against mandates on the introduction of electric vehicles -- the kinds of steps that could worsen the sea-level rise that is flooding coastal cities in Florida and around the world." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Ron DeSantolini is the best living American specimen of how blind ambition corrupts. What a pathetic little clown.

Justice Alito's decision to dress up some misguided views of his ethical obligations as a formal Court opinion doesn't make the missive any more correct or any less imperious. -- Gabe Roth of Fix the Courts ~~~

~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sharply rejected calls from Democratic senators that he not participate in an upcoming tax case where one of the lawyers involved also participated in recent Wall Street Journal interviews of the conservative jurist. Alito, in a court filing Friday, said the argument for him to recuse was 'unsound' and that there was 'no valid reason' for him not to participate in the case. 'When Mr. Rivkin participated in the interviews and co-authored the articles, he did so as a journalist, not an advocate,' Alito wrote, referring to David B. Rivkin, the opinion journalist in question who is representing one of the parties in the tax case.... Alito on Friday contended that Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Chairman who led the calls for Alito to sit out in the case, was apparently pushing a theory for recusal that 'fundamentally misunderstands the circumstances under which Supreme Court Justices must work.'" MB: I don't know why all you little people can't see that Sam is the reincarnation of Caesar's wife. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Excellent commentary in yesterday's thread, particularly in regard to the Supreme's ruling on the poor, mistreated praying football coach (well, one-time football coach). Also see Patrick's commentary on Donald the Sun King; it turns out Trump & Louis have more in common than their affinity for the rococo.

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California. Paul Kane & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she will run for reelection in 2024 for her San Francisco-area House seat, ending speculation about her political future after she decided last year she would step down as the leader of the House Democratic caucus." (Also linked yesterday.)

Texas. So Much for Minimally Humane Treatment. Zoe Richards of NBC News: "A federal appeals court Thursday put on hold a judge's order from earlier this week requiring Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to remove a floating barrier from the middle of the Rio Grande. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowed Abbott, a Republican, to leave in place for now the 1,000-foot barrier the state installed to deter illegal migrant crossings. The order was issued by a three-judge panel of two Democratic appointees and a Republican appointee." (Also linked yesterday.)

My name is Yon Yonson,
I come from Wisconsin,
We have no democracy there. ~~~

~~~ ** Wisconsin. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "No matter how much Wisconsin voters might want to elect a Democratic Legislature, the Republican gerrymander won't allow them to. The gerrymandering alone undermines Wisconsin's status as a democracy. If a majority of the people cannot, under any realistic circumstances, elect a legislative majority of their choosing, then it's hard to say whether they actually govern themselves.... In 2018, for example, Wisconsin voters put Tony Evers, a Democrat, in the governor's mansion, sweeping the incumbent, Scott Walker [R], out of office. Almost immediately, Wisconsin Republicans introduced legislation to weaken the state's executive branch....

"Earlier this year, Wisconsin voters ... elect[ed] Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal Milwaukee county judge, to the State Supreme Court.... Wisconsin Republicans can't strip a judicial officer of her power. But they can remove her, which is what they intend to do. [Further, they plan to make it impossible for Evers to appoint a replacement.]... It's that breathtaking contempt for the people of Wisconsin -- who have voted, since 2018, for a more liberal State Legislature and a more liberal State Supreme Court and a more liberal governor, with the full powers of his office available to him -- that makes the Wisconsin Republican Party the most openly authoritarian in the country.... In the absence of national regulation -- and against the backdrop of a federal Supreme Court that is, at best, apathetic on issues of voting rights -- states are as liable to become laboratories of autocracy as they are to serve as laboratories of democracy."

News Lede

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in Morocco following a deadly earthquake: "As dawn broke over Morocco on Saturday, a frantic effort was taking shape over mountainous terrain to rescue survivors of a powerful earthquake that had struck about 50 miles from the city of Marrakesh late Friday, killing at least 632 people. Morocco's Interior Ministry said early Saturday that the victims had died after the quake struck in the High Atlas Mountains shortly after 11 p.m. and that at least 329 others had been transported to hospitals with injuries."

The Conversation -- September 8, 2023

Marie: Excellent commentary in today's thread, particularly in regard to the Supreme's ruling on the poor, mistreated praying football coach (well, one-time football coach). Also see Patrick's commentary on Donald the Sun King; it turns out Trump & Louis have more in common than their affinity for the rococo.

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "... a judge rejected an effort by Mark Meadows, [Donald] Trump's former White House chief of staff, to move his case from state court to federal court.... The ruling, by Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, does not bode well for [other Georgia defendants who are expected to attempt to have their cases moved to federal court]" Meadows is likely to appeal the ruling. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So despite what we all may have assumed, even in a Trump administration, criminal activity is not a part of the written job description for chief-of-staff.

Dareh Gregorian, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump is seeking to have a Colorado lawsuit aimed at kicking him off the 2024 ballot in the state moved to federal court. In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers for Trump argued the suit brought earlier this week by a group of six voters should be moved from state court to federal court because it centers on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which holds that no person shall hold any office if they 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion' after having taken an oath to support the Constitution."

Justice Alito's decision to dress up some misguided views of his ethical obligations as a formal Court opinion doesn't make the missive any more correct or any less imperious. -- Gabe Roth of Fix the Courts ~~~

~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sharply rejected calls from Democratic senators that he not participate in an upcoming tax case where one of the lawyers involved also participated in recent Wall Street Journal interviews of the conservative jurist. Alito, in a court filing Friday, said the argument for him to recuse was 'unsound' and that there was 'no valid reason' for him not to participate in the case. 'When Mr. Rivkin participated in the interviews and co-authored the articles, he did so as a journalist, not an advocate,' Alito wrote, referring to David B. Rivkin, the opinion journalist in question who is representing one of the parties in the tax case.... Alito on Friday contended that Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Chairman who led the calls for Alito to sit out in the case, was apparently pushing a theory for recusal that 'fundamentally misunderstands the circumstances under which Supreme Court Justices must work.'" MB: I don't know why all you little people can't see that Sam is the reincarnation of Caesar's wife.

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A special grand jury that investigated election interference allegations in Georgia recommended indicting a number of Trump allies who were not charged, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, and Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser. In its final report, which a judge unsealed on Friday, the panel also recommended charges against Boris Epshteyn, one of ... Donald J. Trump's main lawyers, as well as a number of other Trump-aligned lawyers, including Cleta Mitchell and Lin Wood. ~~~

~~~ CNN: "A Georgia judge has released the full final report from the special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump and his allies' attempts to overturn the 2020 election in the state. The panel recommended charges against GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not charge them in the indictment last month against Trump and 18 other co-defendants." The linked page is a CNN liveblog that covers this & other matters related to the Georgia RICO case. ~~~

"The Georgia special grand jury had recommended charges against 39 people as part of their 2020 election interference probe. Ultimately, 21 people on the list were not charged. One other person -- Michael Roman, whose name did not appear in the report -- was also charged by the Fulton County district attorney." This entry lists all the people the special grand jury recommended for indictment. ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's story is here. You can read the full special grand jury report here, via Politico. (CNN also has republished the report on its liveblog, but you'll have to scroll down to find it.

Paul Kane & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she will run for reelection in 2024 for her San Francisco-area House seat, ending speculation about her political future after she decided last year she would step down as the leader of the House Democratic caucus."

Texas. So Much for Minimally Humane Treatment. Zoe Richards of NBC News: "A federal appeals court Thursday put on hold a judge's order from earlier this week requiring Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to remove a floating barrier from the middle of the Rio Grande. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowed Abbott, a Republican, to leave in place for now the 1,000-foot barrier the state installed to deter illegal migrant crossings. The order was issued by a three-judge panel of two Democratic appointees and a Republican appointee."

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Katie Rogers & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden is set to arrive in New Delhi on Friday for a global summit meeting where he will present the United States as an economic and strategic counterweight to China and Russia, taking advantage of the absence of leaders from those two countries, who are skipping the gathering. Mr. Biden is bringing with him the promise of up to $200 billion in new development funds for climate change, food security, public health and other infrastructure needs in less developed countries through revamped international financing institutions like the World Bank, leveraged by a relatively small investment by the United States."

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President Biden's decision on Wednesday to block drilling on millions of acres of Alaskan tundra was the latest in a series of aggressive actions recently taken by the administration to curtail fossil fuel extraction on public land and in federal waters. Over the past several months, the administration has moved to bar drilling on 1.8 million acres of sagebrush steppe in Wyoming and on more than a million acres of public land in Colorado. It insulated more than 336,400 acres of public land around Chaco Culture National Historical Park from new oil and gas leasing and mining claims for the next two decades. And last month, it said it would remove about six million acres of potentially oil-rich areas from an upcoming federal lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico that is required by law.... Several people close to the administration said Mr. Biden was personally stung by the outraged response in March from climate voters, particularly young environmentalists, after he approved the enormous Willow oil project in Alaska and that he is eager to win them back.... It's a strategy that comes with political risks as oil prices rise and Republicans and at least one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, seek to paint Mr. Biden as a radical environmentalist."

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Jill Biden, the first lady, tested negative for the coronavirus on Thursday, the White House said, putting an apparent end to a minor health scare that had threatened to upend President Biden's trip to a Group of 20 summit in India. The announcement came shortly before Mr. Biden departed the White House for his trip to New Delhi, where he plans to lobby world leaders on matters that include condemning Russia's war with Ukraine and curbing China's financial influence over poorer countries. The president also tested negative for the virus on Thursday, as he had throughout the week."

Lauren Feiner of CNBC: "The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Democrat Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission, breaking the deadlock at the agency that has lasted the entirety of the Biden presidency. The vote in favor was 55-43. Gomez's confirmation comes after a protracted battle to confirm [President] Biden's initial pick for the commissioner seat, Gigi Sohn. As senators remained split on her confirmation, the FCC was left in a 2-2 deadlock of Republican and Democratic commissioners, limiting its agenda to items that both sides could agree on. With the arrival of Gomez, a telecom attorney who's previously worked in several positions at the FCC and in the private sector, the agency has the opportunity to pursue actions without the support of the Republican commissioners. That could include a push to return to net neutrality rules...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Cockeyed Optimist David Brooks of the New York Times: "Two megatrends have shaped American life since the 1980s: The rise of China and the hollowing out of American industry.... But it's beginning to look as if those two megatrends are reversing.... As the Chinese economy deflates, American industry is looking less hollow.... There's a lot of resilience and dynamism in America's brand of broadly free market capitalism.... Bidenomics is working -- big time. President Biden promised to help America outcompete authoritarian China and to heal some of the economic divides at home. Both those goals are being achieved.... Right-wing populists are hopelessly outdated." ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "If President Biden loses his bid for re-election, a key factor will be the widespread perception that the economy is doing badly on his watch.... The strange thing is that these bad ratings are persisting even as the economy, by any normal measure, has been doing extremely well.... While most Americans feel that they're doing OK, they believe that the economy is doing badly, where 'the economy' presumably means other people.... What explains negativity about a good economy? Partisanship is surely a factor: Republicans' assessment of the current economy roughly matches what it was in June 1980, when unemployment was twice as high and inflation four times as high as they are now."

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu Thursday criticized special counsel David Weiss' planned gun charge against Hunter Biden in an article for The Daily Beast, accusing him and the DOJ of 'casting about' for any excuse to make an indictment stick to the president's son amid political pressure. 'Special Counsel Weiss' plan to indict Hunter Biden now over the gun charges is both ill-timed and ill-advised. It's ill-timed because it comes in the wake of a federal court of appeals striking down as unconstitutional the very gun federal law that Biden may be charged with violating -- a decision that was pending at the time of the failed plea deal in July, but which has since been decided,' wrote Wu.... 'Now, however, Biden's defense team is likely to challenge the constitutionality of the charges.' Additionally, Wu argued, the new gun indictment 'is also ill-advised because the defense has a colorable argument that DOJ cannot renege on the diversion agreement.'"

Trump Crime Family Blotter

Marie: I'm leaving the links to the stories about Peter Navarro just as I came upon the reports yesterday afternoon because the bottom line brought me so much pleasure. So I apologize for the prequel. Sort of: ~~~

     ~~~ Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal jury in Washington began deliberating on Thursday in the criminal trial of Peter Navarro, a top aide to ... Donald J. Trump, who is charged with contempt of Congress after he ignored a subpoena last year from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. In delivering closing arguments, prosecutors and defense lawyers largely agreed on the facts in the case: that Mr. Navarro balked when ordered to cooperate with the panel. But in contention was whether that act amounted to a willful defiance of Congress, or a simple misunderstanding between Mr. Navarro and the committee's staff.... 'The defendant chose allegiance to President Trump over compliance with the subpoena,' [prosecutor Elizabeth Aloi] said. 'That is contempt. That is a crime.' Stanley Woodward Jr., a lawyer for Mr. Navarro, countered that the government had simply failed to show that Mr. Navarro's decision not to comply was anything other than 'inadvertence, accident or mistake.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What? He "accidentally" failed to comply with a lawful subpoena? Well, oopsies. ~~~

     ~~~ Later That Same Afternoon. Oh look, the story has been updated: "Peter Navarro ... was convicted on Thursday of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress over his defiance of a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The verdict, coming after nearly four hours of deliberation in Federal District Court in Washington, made Mr. Navarro the second top adviser of Mr. Trump's to be found guilty of contempt for defying the committee's inquiry. Stephen K. Bannon, a former strategist for Mr. Trump who was convicted of the same offense last summer, faces four months in prison and is appealing his conviction, as Mr. Navarro has also vowed to do." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Navarro's loser lawyer here is the ubiquitous Trump-approved attorney Stanley Woodward. If I were, for instance, Walt Nauta, whose lawyer also is Stanley Woodward, I'd be a'wondering if I should follow in the footsteps of fellow Mar-a-Lardo employee Yuscil Taveras who flipped when he switched lawyers -- from Woodward to a public defender -- and cut a cooperation deal with Jack Smith that spares Taveras prosecution. As far as we know, Taveras did not have direct contact with Trump about the scheme to obstruction justice in the classified documents case. But Nauta did get instructions directly from Trump, so he has something significant to sell to Smith.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "John Eastman, testifying at his own disbarment trial, sidestepped a question Wednesday about whether he and others in ... Donald Trump's orbit discussed the possibility that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- rather than Mike Pence -- would preside over the Jan. 6, 2021, session of Congress. During several hours of sworn testimony in a California disbarment proceeding, Eastman said discussions on that topic were protected by attorney-client privilege. When pressed about which client of his he was referring to, Eastman replied: 'President Trump.'... Despite his criminal risk, Eastman fielded dozens of questions for hours on Wednesday, declining to assert his Fifth Amendment rights and only occasionally asserting attorney-client privilege.... The exchange [about Grassley] underscores that there are still significant unknown details about the behind-the-scenes planning by Trump and his allies ahead of Jan. 6. Grassley started a furor on Jan. 5, 2021, when he told reporters of Pence 'we don't expect him to be there, I will be presiding over the Senate.' His comments prompted an urgent rush by Pence's staff to correct the record, eventually resulting in a statement from Grassley's office indicating the senator had been 'misinterpreted' and was merely saying he might fill in for Pence during some portions of the proceedings that day." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~  Marie: Worth reading if, like me, you forgot or never knew of how deeply Grassley may have been in on the insurrection plot. I was aware there was "talk" about Grassley's replacing pence as President of the Senate but not about Grassley's accidentally sharing his plans to preside over the Electoral College count.

With Due Respect, You Ignorant Nitwit, Up Yours. Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Soon after the [Fulton County, Georgia,] district attorney, Fani T. Willis, a Democrat, announced last month that she was bringing a racketeering case against [Donald] Trump and 18 other defendants for their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, [Rep. Jim] Jordan, a Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that he was going to investigate Ms. Willis over whether her prosecution of Mr. Trump was politically motivated. In [a] letter [to Mr. Jordan], Ms. Willis accused Mr. Jordan of trying 'to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations,' and of not understanding how the state's racketeering law works. 'Your attempt to invoke congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution,' she added. 'The defendants in this case have been charged under state law with committing state crimes. There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution.'" A CNBC story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Willis's letter to Jordan appears in the CNBC story; it's easier to read here, via CNBC. And it's a doozy, nearly every sentence dripping with contempt for Jungle Gym. Marie: I heard a sober former prosecutor fault Willis for her tone. I don't fault her at all. She, her family and her staff have been harassed & threatened by the Trump Crime Family, and she has a right to be furious with the whole criminal enterprise, from Trump to Jordan to the crybaby Proud Boys. ~~~

~~~ Marie: I wonder if Willis's withering letter taught Gym Jordan a lesson. Hahahahahaha. ~~~

     ~~~ Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday asked special counsel Jack Smith to turn over information relating to attorney Stanley Woodward, who has represented numerous Mar-a-Lago employees in dealings with prosecutors. Woodward is in the midst of a battle with the Justice Department as it seeks a so-called Garcia hearing to review potential conflicts as Woodward represents Walt Nauta, former President Trump's co-defendant in the classified records case.... Woodward railed against prosecutors in a late Tuesday filing, complaining the cooperation agreement was only offered to Taveras once he spoke with outside counsel."

Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "In a December 2020 radio interview..., Meshawn Maddock, one of the 16 fake electors in Michigan charged by the state attorney general for the alleged scheme [to overturn the Electoral College results], detailed the Trump campaign-directed plan and said the crucial decision on which electors to use would ultimately rest with a constitutional attorney and Vice President Mike Pence and Congress. The newly uncovered interview reveals Maddock's detailed knowledge of the Trump campaign's involvement in the plot and undermines her more recent comments claiming only a 'vague' recollection of [the plot].... Her newly uncovered comments about Pence show her understanding that the slate of fake electors could eventually usurp the legitimate elector votes on January 6, 2021. Despite Trump losing the state by more than 150,000 votes, Maddock and 15 others signed phony certificates claiming to be the legitimate electors from the state just days before the interview and attempted to enter their state capitol to deliver the votes." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024

Mike Memoli of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's reelection campaign is highlighting the most high-stakes journey of his presidency -- a surprise visit to Ukraine in February -- to make the case for what it calls the 'quiet strength of a true leader' while drawing a major foreign policy contrast with the GOP. The new, 60-second advertisement will air in battleground states this weekend during the prime-time broadcast of '60 Minutes' while Biden is due to attend the G-20 Summit here, a gathering of leaders of the world's largest economies that won't include two geopolitical rivals, Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Joe v. the Biggest Liar. Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "'Manchurian candidate.' 'Stone-cold thief.' 'Dumb son of a b----.'... Donald Trump is, by his own admission, attacking President Biden in increasingly vicious terms. The attacks on Biden center on allegations that are exaggerated or unfounded, frequently drawing on right-wing media reports about the foreign business dealings of Biden's son Hunter Biden. The president has denied any involvement in his son's affairs, and no evidence has emerged proving otherwise."

Trumpettes Say Leading a Violent Attempt to Overturn a U.S. Presidential Election Is Not So Bad. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "At least two Republican presidential candidates [-- Ron Desantis & Vivek Ramaswamy --] are criticizing as excessive recent prison sentences for members of the far-right Proud Boys involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, casting the defendants as victims of an unfair justice system rather than leading participants in an effort to disrupt the peaceful transition of power."

Nnamdi Egwuonwu of NBC News: "Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Republican presidential candidate, suggested at a Thursday campaign stop in New Hampshire that recent headlines about his relationship status were the result of his opponents' planting stories." MB: Tim, nearly every elected official in your party -- including you -- is a corrupt liar, so of course your opponents are "planting" stories. It's how you-all roll.

Katherine Rosman of the New York Times: "At Columbia University..., former secretary of state [Hillary Clinton] is teaching a class and starting an institute on global decision-making."

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Pennsylvania. Campbell Robertson, et al., of the New York Times: "With [convicted murderer Danelo] Cavalcante eluding authorities for more than a week now, scrutiny has turned to the jailbreaks at Chester County Prison. The key failing in last week's escape was that an officer in the tower, charged with watching over the inmates in the exercise yard, did not appear to notice Mr. Cavalcante.... The officer who was in the watchtower at the time of the escape had been placed on administrative leave, [acting warden Howard] Holland said.... In a country full of jails and prisons, staffing issues are the central challenge facing corrections facilities, experts say, and prison officials have cited them as a primary factor in some escapes.... In Pennsylvania, the number of escapes from county jails seems to have ticked up this year."

Kate McGee & Robert Downen of the Texas Tribune: "Ryan Bangert did not want to report his boss, Attorney General Ken Paxton, to the FBI. A bona fide ultraconservative and former Paxton donor, the onetime deputy first assistant attorney general believed in Paxton and the office, calling it a national 'beacon' of the conservative legal movement. But, as Bangert detailed in crisp, riveting testimony during Thursday's impeachment trial proceedings, he reluctantly concluded that Paxton's repeated and escalating use of the office to help his friend and political donor Nate Paul left him and other senior staff with no option but to report the behavior to the FBI.... Over two days of testimony, Bangert walked senators through nine months of Paxton's 'alarming' 2020 behavior, saying he repeatedly expressed concerns with Paxton over his demands to work on Paul's behalf."

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** Elon Musk Is a Horrible Human Being, Episode 287. Christian Davenport & Joseph Menn of the Washington Post: "SpaceX cut off Starlink satellite internet service to Ukrainian submarine drones last year just as they were launching an attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, according to a new biography of SpaceX founder Elon Musk.... Ukrainian and American officials scrambled to get service restored, according to the report, appealing to Musk directly. Musk eventually agreed.... The new details of the previously reported incident underscore how dependent multiple governments have become on a man who controls both a dominant means of high-speed communication and a major platform for public discourse, X.

News Lede

Washington Post: "Hurricane Lee intensified with breakneck speed Thursday over record-warm Atlantic waters, its peak winds catapulting from 80 to 160 mph in just 18 hours. Lee is now a top tier Category 5 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center, and will probably strengthen even more. The Hurricane Center described Lee's intensification as 'exceptional' and predicted the storm's peak winds will close in on 180 mph by Friday morning -- joining some of the most infamously strong hurricanes on record in the Atlantic.... Lee's long-term forecast track is uncomfortably close to eastern New England, which should continue monitoring the storm as shifts in its course are probable." The Weather Channel's report is here.