The Conversation -- August 15, 2023

Reid Epstein & Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Tuesday that he would travel to Hawaii to inspect damage on Maui after deadly wildfires ripped through the island, killing at least 99 people and devastating an entire coastal town. 'My wife, Jill, and I are going to travel to Hawaii as soon as we can,' Mr. Biden said in a speech focused on the economy at a wind and electric power manufacturing plant in Milwaukee. 'That's what I've been talking to the governor about but I don't want to get in the way.'"

Michael Rothfeld of the New York Times: "The former head of counterintelligence for the F.B.I. in New York pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday to a single reduced charge of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions and laundering payments from a prominent Russian oligarch. The plea by the former agent, Charles F. McGonigal, represented a remarkable turn for a man who once occupied one of the most sensitive and trusted positions in the American intelligence community, placing him among the highest-ranking F.B.I. officials ever to be convicted of a crime.... The conspiracy charge he pleaded guilty to was newly filed by prosecutors on Tuesday, replacing the original indictment handed up by a grand jury in January that had included more serious charges of violating U.S. sanctions and laundering money.... Mr. McGonigal still faces a second indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Washington on charges that accuse him of concealing his acceptance of $225,000 from a businessman and of hiding dealings in Eastern Europe while working for the bureau. Mr. McGonigal has pleaded not guilty to those charges but is in talks to resolve them...."

Here is the New York Times' liveblog for Tuesday's developments in Georgia's Trump crime family indictment. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates are here.

Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "On Tuesday morning, [Donald] Trump announced on Truth Social that he will hold a press conference next week where he will produce a 'Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia.'... In a statement posted to X...-Twitter -- [Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp] flatly declared: 'The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen.... For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward -- under oath -- and prove anything in a court of law.'..." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, what Trump says he plans to do is exactly what Rudy did to get himself indicted in Georgia: tell big fat lies about Georgia election fraud. So, brilliant move! And, for a touch of verisimilitude, I do urge him to get the MyPillow Guy to provide charts and printouts to "back up" Trump's assertions. I can hardly wait.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: Trump is likely to try to move the Georgia case to federal court. And he could be successful.

Latest Trump Crime Family Made Man Pleads Not Guilty. Shawn Nottingham of CNN: "Carlos de Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to multiple obstruction-related offenses tied to ... Donald Trump's alleged unlawful retention of documents after leaving office, including classified material at Trump's Florida resort."

Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "Hunter Biden attorney Christopher Clark is withdrawing from representing the president's son in a Delaware probe, pointing to a continuing legal battle over a plea agreement in the tax case that dissolved before it could be approved by a judge. Clark's notice to the court indicates he could be a witness in coming challenges over the disintegration of the deal, which the Justice Department moved to withdraw minutes after Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Delaware prosecutor David Weiss to serve as a special counsel in the matter."

~~~~~~~~~~

** The Trump Crime Blotter -- Is Really, Really Long

The devil went down to Georgia,
He was lookin' for an election to steal.
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind
And he was willin' to make a deal.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A grand jury in Georgia has indicted ... Donald Trump and 18 allies on racketeering charges for a sweeping attempt to corrupt the 2020 election by subverting Joe Biden's victory in the state. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis leveled the charges Monday night after a two-year investigation that also tagged Trump with allegations that he conspired to derail the Electoral College process, marshaled the Justice Department to bolster his scheme, pressured Georgia officials to undo the election results and repeatedly lied about fraud allegations to ratchet up pressure. In addition to Trump, Willis charged former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jeff Clark, Ken Chesebro and Jenna Ellis, key figures in Trump's bid to subvert the 2020 election. The 98-page indictment tracks several well-known aspects of Trump's conduct in the chaotic weeks that followed his defeat in the Nov. 3, 2020 election, many of which were aired by the House Jan. 6 select committee and, more recently, in a federal indictment obtained by special counsel Jack Smith. But Willis' indictment was breathtaking in its scope and is the first to charge the coterie of Trump's enablers with crimes for their efforts to help facilitate his bid to remain in power despite losing the election." ~~~

     ~~~ Key components of the indictment, via Cheney:

"Trump's bid to assemble false slates of presidential electors to foment a controversy aimed at derailing the transfer of power.... A pressure campaign by Trump, Giuliani, Eastman and others aimed at Georgia officials with responsibilities for certifying the presidential election. The filing of false claims of fraud in court documents associated with a last-ditch lawsuit by Trump to upend the results in Georgia. A breach of sensitive election equipment by Trump-aligned officials in Coffee County, Ga.... A campaign of harassment and false claims against Ruby Freeman, an election worker who became the target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories about voter fraud."

The Washington Post's story, by Holly Bailey & Amy Gardner, is here.

Here is the indictment, via Politico. (The caption itself is four pages long.) The New York Times has an annotated version of the indictment here. ~~~

Trump and the other defendants charged in this indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump. -- P. 14 of the indictment

The New York Times' liveblog of developments Monday and into the morning Tuesday is here. Reporters' commentary below, in FILO order. At the top of the liveblog, there is now a summary story, which probably will morph into a stand-alone story sometime today. ~~~

~~~ Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim: "... Donald J. Trump has until no later than noon on Aug. 25 to voluntarily surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Fani T. Willis, the district attorney, said on Monday." ~~~

~~~ Fausset: "Trump's lawyers denounced the indictment in a statement, calling the day's events 'shocking and absurd.'" ~~~

~~~ James McKinley: D.A. "Willis ... said she had no political motive for bringing the indictment, as Trump has claimed." ~~~

~~~ McKinley: "The indictment spells out 161 separate acts that prosecutors say were taken to further the alleged criminal conspiracy, including events like Rudy Giuliani's false testimony about election fraud to Georgia lawmakers in early December and ... Donald Trump's telephone call in 2020 to the Georgia secretary of state in early January to urge him to 'find' about 12,000 votes." ~~~

~~~ Fausset: "The three electors charged in the indictment are David Shafer..., the former chair of the state Republican Party; State Senator Shawn Still; and Cathy Latham, who was the head of the Coffee County Republican Party at the time."

~~~ Maggie Haberman: "At the heart of this case, as in the federal one, is lying in service of using the apparatus of government to influence events."~~~

~~~ Fausset: "Prosecutors describe the 'criminal enterprise' as one that operated not only in Fulton County, Ga., but also in other states, including Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and in the District of Columbia. This underscores the power of a racketeering charge: Ms. Willis did not have to show that all of the acts took place in her jurisdiction." ~~~

~~~ Alan Feuer: "The indictment laid out eight ways the 'enterprise' obstructed the election: by lying to the Georgia state legislature, by lying to state officials, by creating fake pro-Trump electors, by harassing election workers, by soliciting Justice Department officials, by soliciting Vice President Mike Pence, by breaching voting machines and by engaging in a cover up."

~~~ Haberman: "Giuliani, who once prosecuted mobsters, has been indicted in a racketeering case."

CNN's live updates of developments Monday, and Tuesday morning, are here.

Who's Who in Georgia's (Alleged!) Criminal Elite. The New York Times has thumbnail bios of the (alleged!) perps here. The Washington Post's defendant sketches are less sketchy, than the Times'.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "A core Trump defense in the federal Jan. 6 case is the idea that he was merely exercising free speech. But that defense won't work as easily in Georgia, which has a broad prohibition against making 'a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation ... in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of state government.'... The phrase 'false statement' appear[s in the indictment] more than 100 times.... Another frequently included crime is solicitation of violation of public oath by a public officer. Essentially, this amounts to asking someone to violate their sworn duties.... Unlike the federal trials (unless the rules change), [the Georgia trial] should be televised."

Oops! Just Testing! Timothy Ahmann of Reuters: "The Fulton County, Georgia, court's website briefly posted a document on Monday listing several criminal charges against ... Donald Trump that appeared related to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the state, before taking the document down without explanation. The Fulton County District Attorney's office said in a statement that no charges had been filed against Trump. The document was dated Aug. 14 and named Trump, citing the case as 'open.'... The two-page document cites the 'Violation Of The Georgia Rico (Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations) Act,' 'Solicitation Of Violation Of Oath By Public Officer,' 'Conspiracy To Commit False Statements and Writings' and 'Conspiracy To Commit Forgery in the First Degree,' among other charges listed." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Donald Trump slammed the judge presiding over his newest criminal case early Monday, testing her three-day-old warning that he refrain from 'inflammatory' attacks against those involved in his case. In a Truth Social post just before 1 a.m., Trump assailed U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan as 'highly partisan' and 'very biased and unfair,' citing as evidence a statement she made during the sentencing of a woman who participated in the mob that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump's lawyers must have read him the riot act. The last time a judge ordered him to put a lid on it, it took Trump less than 24 hours to defy the order. This time it took him like two-and-a-half whole days! Amazing! Akhilleus suspects (as do I) that we're going to be reading, "Trump D.C. Trial to Start Next Week" sooner rather than later.~~~

     ~~~ Common Dreams: "... Donald Trump on Monday told Georgia's former lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan, not to testify before the Fulton County grand jury ... in the state's 2020 election interference case. 'I am reading reports that failed former Lt. Governor of Georgia, Jeff [sic] Duncan, will be testifying before the Fulton County Grand Jury. He shouldn't,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'I barely know him but he was, right from the beginning of this Witch Hunt, a nasty disaster for those looking into the Election Fraud that took place in Georgia.'... 'This is witness tampering and obstruction of justice,' wrote Glenn Kirschner, an NBC News legal analyst. 'Trump indicates he knows a witness is about to testify before the grand jury, and he states -- unequivocally and directly -- "he shouldn't.'... I expect we'll see these crimes charged.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Kirschner also noted on MSNBC that judges in his criminal trials have specifically warned him against tampering with witnesses, and said his engaging in witness tampering could lead to his bail's being revoked. MB: Trump does seem to want to go to jail where, with any luck, he could be taped for a campaign video clutching the bars and screaming, "Joe Biden stole my freedom of speech!"

Jamie Gangel & Jack Forrest of CNN: "Nearly a dozen Republican-appointed former judges and high-ranking federal senior legal officials on Monday endorsed the January 2, 2024, trial date proposed by special counsel Jack Smith in his 2020 election interference criminal case against Donald Trump. The amicus brief was submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as a project of the Democracy 21 Education Fund in the January 6, 2021, case against Trump. It comes as the former president and his team look to push the case until after the election, though the final decision on a trial date will come down to presiding Judge Tanya Chutkan. Her decision is likely to come by the end of this month. The brief, which stresses a speedy trial is in the American public's interest, amounts to a considerable rebuke of Trump's legal team's calls for the proceedings to be drawn out. The Republican credentials of its authors fly in the face of the former president's repeated argument that his trial's timeline is a partisan exercise against him."

Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "The New York judge [Juan Merchan] presiding over the criminal case against Donald J. Trump in Manhattan has declined to remove himself from the proceedings, a loss for the former president...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Hunter Biden told a federal judge late Sunday that the Justice Department was trying to renege on a major part of his deal with the government -- his agreement to enroll in a diversion program for gun offenders -- that he signed and granted him broad immunity from future federal prosecutions. The move, included in a court filing by Mr. Biden's lawyer, Christopher Clark, is the latest salvo in the back and forth between Mr. Biden and David C. Weiss, a Trump appointee who is leading the long-running investigation into the president's son's conduct. Shortly after Attorney General Merrick B. Garland elevated Mr. Weiss to special counsel, government lawyers said in court papers on Friday that they and Mr. Biden were at an impasse over plea negotiations and that no agreement had been reached.... But in the filing late Sunday, Mr. Biden rebutted prosecutors' claim, saying that he had signed the agreement in court last month and that he planned to abide by it.... In June..., both sides announced that they had reached a deal." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Something is weird here, and I don't think it's Hunter. Clark & Weiss are both attorneys experienced in the fields in which they're working, so I don't see how they could so royally cock this up.

The Double Life of an FBI Spy. Michael Rothfeld, et al., of the New York Times: "Apart from his outward image as a wholesome and responsible G-man..., there was another, less visible side to [Charles McGonigal], federal prosecutors and his former colleagues say. He held off-the-books meetings with foreign politicians and businessmen and accepted illicit payments while doing favors for associates, according to federal indictments filed against him in two states earlier this year.... A close look at Mr. McGonigal's life and career reveals an arc that appears ... to be a quintessentially American story about greed.... Now, Mr. McGonigal, 55, appears set to become one of the highest-ranking F.B.I. agents ever to be convicted of a crime." Reads like a "B" spy movie: sleazy Russian oligarchs, shady Albanian wheeler-dealers, Paul Manafort (of course!) extra-marital affair with a "connected," vengeful woman. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2024

He Was For It Before He Was Against It Hours Later. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Sunday that he supported a federal ban on abortion after the first trimester of pregnancy, then quickly backtracked -- underscoring both his ideologically uncomfortable position within the Democratic primary field and the deep salience of abortion in next year's election. Mr. Kennedy, who is running against President Biden, made his comments at the Iowa State Fair after an NBC News reporter asked whether he would sign a bill codifying the right to abortion once protected by Roe v. Wade." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ David Cohen of Politico: Kennedy's campaign said he "misunderstood the question." MB: That's funny, because here's his answer: "I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life.... Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child." Ali Vitali of NBC News: "So you would cap it at 15 weeks?" Kennedy: "Yes, three months." I don't think it was the question he misunderstood; I think he misunderstood Democratic voters' antipathy to a federal abortion ban, something about which his "campaign," in the form of someone living on Planet Earth, informed him. (Also linked yesterday.)

Arkansas. Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "... the Arkansas Department of Education warned schools on Monday -- the first day of classes in many districts — not to offer Advanced Placement African American Studies. Like Florida, which refused to approve the class, the department suggested that the course violated state law. In Arkansas, new legislation, passed in March, prohibits 'teaching that would indoctrinate students with ideologies' such as critical race theory. In Little Rock, students at Central High School -- the site of a battle for school desegregation in 1957 -- had already enrolled in the Advanced Placement course when the district received word from the state over the weekend that it could be offered only for 'local credit.' That appears to mean that the state will not help students at six high schools pay the $98 fee to take the end-of-course A.P. exam, which is necessary if students wish to earn college credit for the class.... In a statement, the Little Rock School District said that it would 'explore options that will allow our students to fully benefit from this course' despite the decision, and that it would 'decide the next steps within 24 to 48 hours.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We should all be stunned by the fear, hatred & bigotry at the heart of those responsible for depriving Central High students of a course on the importance of their own school to American history. They call themselves educators; they call themselves legislators; she calls herself governor. They are all dishonorable.

Kansas. Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "A lawyer for The Marion County Record, a Kansas newspaper that was raided by the police late last week, demanded that the town's Police Department not review any information on the devices it seized until a court hearing could be scheduled.... The searches were part of investigation into how a document containing information about a local restaurateur found its way to and was handled by The Record -- and whether the restaurant owner's privacy was violated in the process. A search warrant issued by a judge on Friday morning cited potential violations of laws involving identity theft and the illegal use of a computer.... A spokeswoman for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said that as of Monday the bureau was the lead law enforcement agency investigating the incidents in Marion County."

Montana Kid Power! Mike Baker of the New York Times: "A judge in Montana ruled on Monday that young people in the state have a constitutional right to a healthful environment, finding in a landmark case that the state's failure to consider climate change when evaluating new projects was causing harm. The case, brought by a group of young Montana residents ranging in age from 5 to 22, is the first of its kind to go to trial in the United States.... In her ruling, Kathy Seeley, a district court judge, found that the state's emissions 'have been proven to be a substantial factor' in affecting the climate." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: How do you suppose Clarence, Sam & Neil feel about that? And will John Roberts write a deciding opinion arguing that, "The way to stop climate change is to stop talking about climate change"?

In yesterday's Comments, RAS has some good news for Oregon voters: ~~~

~~~ Oregon. Sharon Zhang of TruthOut: "For years, Oregon Republicans have been blocking bill after bill in the state legislature through a drastic tactic: skipping town to break quorum. Now, Oregon officials are saying that the Republicans who have obstructed votes this way at least 10 times are going to be barred from running for re-election in 2024. This week, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade confirmed that she intends to enforce Measure 113, which disqualifies lawmakers with more than 10 unexcused absences from serving in office next term. The measure passed in 2022 by a landslide, with nearly 70 percent of voters in favor." (Also linked in yesterday's Comments.)

Tennessee. Kyle Melnick of the Washington Post: "A former Tennessee state senator was sentenced Friday to nearly two years in prison for violating campaign finance laws while running for Congress -- charges the Republican once described as a 'witch hunt' before he pleaded guilty to them. Brian Kelsey, who unsuccessfully tried in March to take back his guilty plea, was sentenced to 21 months in prison after a hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. He was accused of concealing the transfer of $91,000 to a national political organization that supported Kelsey's 2016 congressional campaign. The 45-year-old can no longer run for state office, according to his attorney." (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Oh, my stars! Whoevah would think a lovely Christian Representative of the People would use foul language & show disrespect for the law? ~~~

~~~ Texas. Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune: "Newly released video shows U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, being slammed to the ground by police and angrily confronting a state trooper with profanity during a hectic altercation late last month at a rodeo outside Amarillo. 'You are a fucking full-on dick!' Jackson told the trooper after being brought off the ground, according to bodycam footage provided by the Department of Public Safety. 'You better recalculate, motherfucker!'... Jackson tweeted Monday night that he was 'glad' the video was out and criticized the authorities for 'incompetence,' singling out the Carson County sheriff, Tam Terry.... His office has emphasized he was 'not drinking,' though the sheriff's report challenges that assertion." Includes short video & link to longer video. The audio is mostly missing from the video the Texas Tribune obtained in an FOIA request. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Of course I'm not a doctor, but I'm damned sure this is not how I would react if I were trying to convince someone I was a competent medical professional qualified to help a person in distress. My interpersonal skills are somewhat wanting, but I'm pretty sure that screaming "You are a fucking full-on dick!" is not persuasive. It's hardly surprising that the sheriff isn't convinced Ronny was sober. Ronny has a history; this was not his first rodeo.

The Conversation -- August 14, 2023

Montana Kid Power! Mike Baker of the New York Times: "A judge in Montana ruled on Monday that young people in the state have a constitutional right to a healthful environment, finding in a landmark case that the state's failure to consider climate change when evaluating new projects was causing harm. The case, brought by a group of young Montana residents ranging in age from 5 to 22, is the first of its kind to go to trial in the United States.... In her ruling, Kathy Seeley, a district court judge, found that the state's emissions 'have been proven to be a substantial factor' in affecting the climate." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: How do you suppose Clarence, Sam & Neil feel about that? And will John Roberts write a deciding opinion arguing that, "The way to stop climate change is to stop talking about climate change"?

In today's Comments, RAS has some good news for Oregon voters.

Tennessee. Kyle Melnick of the Washington Post: "A former Tennessee state senator was sentenced Friday to nearly two years in prison for violating campaign finance laws while running for Congress -- charges the Republican once described as a 'witch hunt' before he pleaded guilty to them. Brian Kelsey, who unsuccessfully tried in March to take back his guilty plea, was sentenced to 21 months in prison after a hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. He was accused of concealing the transfer of $91,000 to a national political organization that supported Kelsey's 2016 congressional campaign. The 45-year-old can no longer run for state office, according to his attorney."

Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "The New York judge [Juan Merchan] presiding over the criminal case against Donald J. Trump in Manhattan has declined to remove himself from the proceedings, a loss for the former president...."

Oops! Just Testing! Timothy Ahmann of Reuters: "The Fulton County, Georgia, court's website briefly posted a document on Monday listing several criminal charges against ... Donald Trump that appeared related to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the state, before taking the document down without explanation. The Fulton County District Attorney's office said in a statement that no charges had been filed against Trump. The document was dated Aug. 14 and named Trump, citing the case as 'open.'... The two-page document cites the 'Violation Of The Georgia Rico (Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations) Act,' 'Solicitation Of Violation Of Oath By Public Officer,' 'Conspiracy To Commit False Statements and Writings' and 'Conspiracy To Commit Forgery in the First Degree,' among other charges listed." ~~~

~~~ A Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury is hearing the Trumpty-Dumpty election interference case, and the New York Times is liveblogging developments, something that's challenging to do since the grand jury is secret and reporters don't know nuthin'.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Donald Trump slammed the judge presiding over his newest criminal case early Monday, testing her three-day-old warning that he refrain from 'inflammatory' attacks against those involved in his case. In a Truth Social post just before 1 a.m., Trump assailed U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan as 'highly partisan' and 'very biased and unfair,' citing as evidence a statement she made during the sentencing of a woman who participated in the mob that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump's lawyers must have read him the riot act. The last time a judge ordered him to put a lid on it, it took Trump less than 24 hours to defy the order. This time it took him like two-and-a-half whole days! Amazing! Akhilleus suspects (as do I) that we're going to be reading, "Trump D.C. Trial to Start Next Week" sooner rather than later.

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Hunter Biden told a federal judge late Sunday that the Justice Department was trying to renege on a major part of his deal with the government -- his agreement to enroll in a diversion program for gun offenders -- that he signed and granted him broad immunity from future federal prosecutions. The move, included in a court filing by Mr. Biden's lawyer, Christopher Clark, is the latest salvo in the back and forth between Mr. Biden and David C. Weiss, a Trump appointee who is leading the long-running investigation into the president's son's conduct. Shortly after Attorney General Merrick B. Garland elevated Mr. Weiss to special counsel, government lawyers said in court papers on Friday that they and Mr. Biden were at an impasse over plea negotiations and that no agreement had been reached.... But in the filing late Sunday, Mr. Biden rebutted prosecutors' claim, saying that he had signed the agreement in court last month and that he planned to abide by it.... In June..., both sides announced that they had reached a deal." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Something is weird here, and I don't think it's Hunter. Clark & Weiss are both attorneys experienced in the fields in which they're working, so I don't see how they could so royally cock this up.

The Double Life of an FBI Spy. Michael Rothfeld, et al., of the New York Times: "Apart from his outward image as a wholesome and responsible G-man..., there was another, less visible side to [Charles McGonigal], federal prosecutors and his former colleagues say. He held off-the-books meetings with foreign politicians and businessmen and accepted illicit payments while doing favors for associates, according to federal indictments filed against him in two states earlier this year.... A close look at Mr. McGonigal's life and career reveals an arc that appears ... to be a quintessentially American story about greed.... Now, Mr. McGonigal, 55, appears set to become one of the highest-ranking F.B.I. agents ever to be convicted of a crime." Reads like a "B" spy movie: sleazy Russian oligarchs, shady Albanian wheeler-dealers, Paul Manafort (of course!) extra-marital affair with a "connected," vengeful woman.

He Was For It Before He Was Against It Hours Later. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Sunday that he supported a federal ban on abortion after the first trimester of pregnancy, then quickly backtracked -- underscoring both his ideologically uncomfortable position within the Democratic primary field and the deep salience of abortion in next year's election. Mr. Kennedy, who is running against President Biden, made his comments at the Iowa State Fair after an NBC News reporter asked whether he would sign a bill codifying the right to abortion once protected by Roe v. Wade." ~~~

     ~~~ David Cohen of Politico: Kennedy's campaign said he "misunderstood the question." MB: That's funny, because here's his answer: "I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life.... Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child." Ali Vitali of NBC News: "So you would cap it at 15 weeks?" Kennedy: "Yes, three months." I don't think it was the question he misunderstood; I think he misunderstood Democratic voters' antipathy to a federal abortion ban, something about which his "campaign," in the form of someone living on Planet Earth, informed him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Louis DeJoy, the Amazing Flexible Man. Hailey Fuchs of Politico: "During the summer of 2020, there were few bigger Democratic super villains than Louis DeJoy.... When Joe Biden won [the presidency], it was generally assumed that [DeJoy's] days were numbered. Now, nearly three years later, DeJoy ... [has] become a critical player in Biden's environmental agenda, striking a partnership with the president's green guru, John Podesta, as USPS considers an environmental renaissance of its fleet. It's a remarkable change of script for one of the more memorable side characters of the Trump years.... The pair's partnership centers around an effort to introduce 66,000 electric vehicles to the USPS by 2028, itself part of a broader initiative to add 106,000 new vehicles to USPS fleet. The initiative was buoyed by $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act...."

Trump Crime Blotter

Zachary Cohen & Sara Murray of CNN: "Atlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Donald Trump's legal team to the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County, sources tell CNN.... New evidence has slowly been uncovered about the role of Trump's attorneys, the operatives they hired and how the breach, as well as others like it in other key states, factored into broader plans for overturning the election.... Last year, a former Trump official testified under oath to the House January 6 select committee that plans to access voting systems in Georgia were discussed in meetings at the White House, including during an Oval Office meeting on December 18, 2020,  that included Trump.... The messages and documents appear to link [Rudy] Giuliani to the Coffee County breach, while shedding light on another channel of communication between pro-Trump attorneys and the battleground state operatives who worked together to provide unauthorized individuals access to sensitive voting equipment." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

                     The devil went down to Georgia,

                     He was lookin' for an election to steal.
                     He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind
                     And he was willin' to make a deal. ~~~

~~~ Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: During the two months following the November 2020 election, "a vast effort unfolded on behalf of the lame-duck president to overturn the election results in swing states across the country. But perhaps nowhere were there as many attempts to intervene as in Georgia, where Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, is now poised to bring an indictment for a series of brazen moves made on behalf of [Donald] Trump in the state after his loss and for lies that the president and his allies circulated about the election there." This is a long story that rehashes the publicly-known details of Trump's efforts to overturn the Georgia results.

Ian Millhiser of Vox: The right-wing Supreme Court majority has nearly obliterated the First Amendment establishment clause. MB: It seems to me that they are doing to the First Amendment what they did to the Second: take advantage of the ambiguity in the language to undo decades of established jurisprudence. "Freedom of religion," after all, is not expressed in the First Amendment as "separation of church and state," but as a prohibition against the "establishment of religion." Pretty vague. Lots of wiggle room! Millhiser elaborates.

~~~~~~~~~~

In today's local stories, we learn what really happens to ordinary people in the U.S. if officials who have signed an oath to the Constitution don't like them because of their business, their color, or their ethnicity. You can publish a story that upsets some local poobahs and have your business shut down & your property confiscated. You can be sitting around the house minding your own business, but if you do that while Black, you may be repeatedly & extensively tortured. You can be a three-year old child, but if your parents are fleeing Latin America, you may die.

Kansas. Jon Passantino of CNN: "Dozens of news organizations on Sunday condemned a police raid on a Kansas newspaper and its publisher's home, sending a letter to the local police department's chief urging him to immediately return all seized materials. The four-page letter, sent by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, was signed by 34 news and press freedom organizations, including CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and others." The sheriff claimed he had an excuse, but he wouldn't say what it was because "ongoing investigation." Uh-huh.

Mississippi Is Still Mississippi. Emma Tucker of CNN: Four white Rankin County sheriff's deputies, an investigating officer and a local town police officer broke into a home without a warrant and tortured two Black men staying there. The officers shot one of the residents in the mouth, and he has suffered permanent injuries. The officers preplanned the January 2023 torture session. According to the DOJ press release, all six officers have pleaded guilty to 16 federal felony charges. MB: You need read only the federal press release, which is an anodyne document, to be sick. You want to think racists are more like Ron DeSantis, who probably doesn't torture or physically harm anyone but just gins up racial animus for fun & profit. But they're not. They're like the officers in Mississippi.

Texas. David Goodman & Edgar Sandoval of the New York Times: "A 3-year-old child died while traveling on a bus chartered by the state of Texas as it transported asylum seekers from the border city of Brownsville to Chicago as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's program to send migrants from Texas to Democratic-run cities in other states, officials said." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Conversation -- August 13, 2023

David Goodman & Edgar Sandoval of the New York Times: "A 3-year-old child died while traveling on a bus chartered by the state of Texas as it transported asylum seekers from the border city of Brownsville to Chicago as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's program to send migrants from Texas to Democratic-run cities in other states, officials said."

Zachary Cohen & Sara Murray of CNN: "Atlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Donald Trump's legal team to the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County, sources tell CNN.... New evidence has slowly been uncovered about the role of Trump's attorneys, the operatives they hired and how the breach, as well as others like it in other key states, factored into broader plans for overturning the election.... Last year, a former Trump official testified under oath to the House January 6 select committee that plans to access voting systems in Georgia were discussed in meetings at the White House, including during an Oval Office meeting on December 18, 2020,  that included Trump.... The messages and documents appear to link [Rudy] Giuliani to the Coffee County breach, while shedding light on another channel of communication between pro-Trump attorneys and the battleground state operatives who worked together to provide unauthorized individuals access to sensitive voting equipment."

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Trump Crime Blotter

Sara Murray, et al., of CNN: "An Atlanta-area prosecutor has notified at least two witnesses to appear before a grand jury early next week, the most significant indication of her intention to seek indictments in the investigation of how Donald Trump and others tried to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. Former Georgia Lt. Gov Geoff Duncan, a Republican, said Saturday on CNN that he has been told to appear Tuesday before a Fulton County grand jury to testify about the efforts by Trump and his allies. Independent journalist George Chidi posted on social media later Saturday that he'd been told to appear before the grand jury on Tuesday, too. The upcoming appearances signal that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is moving forward with a grand jury presentation where she's expected to seek charges against more than a dozen people stemming from her investigation into the efforts to overturn the 2020 election." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Last week I learned on the teevee that a criminal felon convicted in Georgia has no chance for a pardon before serving his sentence. Saturday I learned on the teevee that Georgia RICO charges, which Fani Willis may bring, have a minimum mandatory sentence of five years. So let's just assume that Trump is found guilty (yeah, I know that's so wrong, but I heard Trump on the phone muscling Brad Raffensperger, and I know Mark Meadows was on the call; ergo, a conspiracy -- so innocent, my ass), and loses his appeals. There are still a lot of "ifs," but I'd say the SOB has a better chance of being fitted for an orange jumpsuit in Georgia than anywhere else. Again, I'll bet the Georgia jails suck.

Giselle Ewing of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Saturday blamed his political enemies for legal fees he's incurred over the course of three recent indictments. Trump's Save America PAC shrank from over $100 million at the beginning of last year to $3.6 million after bankrolling legal fees for the former president and his allies.... 'The Lunatic Left, working closely with Crooked Joe Biden and his corrupt DOJ, is not only focusing on Election Interference, but on getting the Trump Campaign to spend vast amounts of money on legal fees, thereby having less to spend on ads showing that Crooked Joe is the WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY!' Trump wrote Saturday on the way to the Iowa State Fair." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump is right. If Joe Biden had not beat him by 302 - 232 in the Electoral College & 7MM votes in 2020, Trump and his mob might not have had to break so many laws. It's all Biden's fault.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... Richard Hanania [is] a rising star among conservative writers and intellectuals. For years before appearing in the pages of newspapers and publications like this one, Hanania wrote articles for white supremacist publications under a pseudonym.... Hanania no longer writes for those publications.... [But] he still makes explicitly racist statements and arguments, now under his own name.... More interesting than either Hanania ... or his rancid views are his backers." They include Harlan Crow and Silicon Valley billionaires Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel & David Sacks, a close associate of Elon Musk.

Presidential Race 2024

What Can the Matter Be? Ronnie's So Long at the Fair! Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "It's been said that a bad day at the fair is always better than a good day at work. For Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, those two ideas collided on Saturday in Iowa.... Ahead of the Florida governor's appearance with Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa at a "fair-side chat," a plane flew overhead with a banner that read 'Be likable, Ron!'... The joke was a reference to advice given to Mr. DeSantis before a 2018 debate during his first run for Florida governor. Then, during the interview, a small group of liberal protesters with cowbells and whistles sought to interrupt the conversation with Ms. Reynolds.... Mr. DeSantis was trailed for much of the day by Trump supporters with placards trumpeting Mr. Trump as a 'back-to-back Iowa champ' in 2016 and 2020. Mr. Trump ... did not win the 2016 Iowa caucuses.... He never conceded defeat.... As Mr. DeSantis finished flipping pork chops [at the fair], [Donald] Trump's plane appeared overhead, circling the fairgrounds ... and prompting chants of 'We love Trump' from supporters in the crowd.... [Some fairgoers] jeered him with cries of 'Loser!' 'Fascist!' or 'DeSanctimonious (a favored insult of Mr. Trump's), which Mr. DeSantis ignored. One woman hurled an expletive at him...." A Politico story is here.

Alabama. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A man accused of using a chair to attack others during a brawl in Montgomery, Ala., last weekend turned himself in to the police on Friday, the authorities said, becoming the fifth person charged in a fight that captured national attention largely because of the racial overtones."

     ~~~ Marie: Here's the story behind the brawl, according to the Times article: "The altercation began at [Mongomery]'s popular Riverfront Park after a pontoon boat docked in a space designated for the Harriott II, a riverboat cruise that was returning from a trip on the Alabama River. For 45 minutes, the captain of the Harriott II instructed the pontoon boat via the public announcement system to move out of the way, to no avail. Instead, the white boaters responded with gestures, cursing and taunting, the police said." The dock appears to be in the heart of a major city. The jerks in the pontoon boat seemed to be docked in a spot reserved for the riverboat. So why is it that in 45 minutes, the riverboat captain didn't call the police? Something is wrong with this picture.

Kansas. Freedom of the Press? Nah. Noah Lanard of Mother Jones: "Local law enforcement in Marion, Kansas, seized cell phones, computers, and other material from the office of the Marion County Record, its reporters, and the home of its publisher, according to reporting from the Kansas Reflector, a nonprofit newsroom. Eric Meyer, the Record's publisher and owner, said the raid came after an anonymous source leaked information about a local restaurant owner to the paper.... All five officers from the city police force, along with two sheriff's deputies, took 'everything we have,' Meyer said. According to the Reflector, the search may have violated federal protections for journalists: 'The search warrant, signed by Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, appears to violate federal law that provides protections against searching and seizing materials from journalists.'" Weirdly, law enforcement seized the paper's assets -- including ads & legal notices meant to be published this week -- because of a story the paper did not publish because the editor had concerns about the source.

Wisconsin. How to Neuter (and Remove) an Elected Supreme Court Justice. Daily Kos: "... when liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz trounced her conservative opponent in the state Supreme Court election in April, it was a big win -- not just for those who care about reestablishing their reproductive rights, but for anyone who genuinely cares about representative democracy.... Fair legislative maps looked achievable for the first time in more than a decade.... On Friday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos [R] hinted that impeachment could be on the table if Protasiewicz votes to disrupt the GOP's plans for a permanent white minority rule [in Wisconsin].... As The Journal Sentinel points out, Republicans now have the power to hold impeachment trials after having attained a supermajority in the state Senate -- largely thanks to gerrymandered maps. And if they do, they could theoretically sideline Protasiewicz in order to protect those same maps." MB: This story is poorly-written, but the Journal Sentinel story is firewalled, so this is the best I can access.

Marie: Here's something to cheer you up. Or bring you to tears. Thanks to RAS for the link. See also dog stories at the end of yesterday's thread.

News Lede

AP: "As the death toll from a wildfire that razed a historic Maui town reached 93, authorities warned Saturday that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. It's already the deadliest U.S. wildfire for over a century.Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said." New York Times live updates are here.