Marie: There are quite a few interesting links in today's Comments.
Peter Weber of the Week: "Locals and lawmakers have started getting a closer look at wrecking ball-size orange buoys Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) had installed -- illegally, Mexico and the federal government say -- along 1,000 feet of the Rio Grande river between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Mexico. The controversial buoys are chained to the shallow bottom of the river with a net of cables, and you can't climb over them because they spin freely. To make sure would-be asylum seekers don't climb between them, Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reported after a kayak trip to the barrier, 'there are also serrated metal plates that look like circular saw blades between each buoy.'" Thanks to RAS for the lead. This from Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas):
~~~ Marie: The feds need to get down there right now and remove -- and destroy -- every one of those death traps; then send the bill to Texas. One of the border sheriffs should arrest Greg Abbott. The DOJ and International Court of Justice should investigate him for torture. I'm serious. What with Abbott's giant saw blades, DeSantolini's campaign promise to slit the throats of federal bureaucrats and Trump's violent January 6 coup (not to mention his other threats), the GOP is beginning to look like a slasher movie, with sequels. We are living in a horror movie.
Josh Margolin, et al., of ABC News: "A Utah man was shot and killed during an FBI raid early Wednesday morning, the FBI confirmed to ABC News. The raid was in connection with an investigation into alleged threats against President Joe Biden and others.... [One official] told ABC News that the investigation began in April and the U.S. Secret Service was notified by the FBI in June. In addition to threatening posts, the official said, the man under investigation suggested online he was making plans to take physical action. The threats had been deemed 'credible,' the official said.
It's time, Diane, to bid farewell -- just say 'yea' and rest on your laurels. -- P.D. Pepe, in today's Comments ~~~
~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was taken to the hospital Tuesday after falling at her home in San Francisco, her office said, and has since returned home. 'Senator Feinstein briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home. All of her scans were clear and she returned home,' Feinstein's office said in a statement." The NBC News report is here.
Yan Zhuang of the New York Times: "It was among the most traumatic days in the F.B.I.'s history: On Feb. 2, 2021, two agents were killed when a suspect in a child abuse case opened fire on them as they tried to search his Florida apartment. This week, the bureau announced the outcome of the investigation the agents were part of -- which had grown into an international operation following their deaths -- saying it had resulted in 98 arrests and 45 convictions of members of an online pedophile ring in the United States and Australia."
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Special Counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for Donald Trump's Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, earlier this year, according to newly revealed court documents. Twitter's initial resistance to complying with the Jan. 17 warrant resulted in a federal judge holding the company, now called X, in contempt and levying a $350,000 fine. A federal court of appeals upheld that fine last month in a sealed opinion. On Wednesday, the court unsealed a redacted version of that opinion, revealing details of the secret battle for the first time." ~~~
~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "... the [court] papers indicate that prosecutors got permission from the judge not to tell Mr. Trump for months that they had obtained the warrant for his account. The prosecutors feared that if Mr. Trump learned about the warrant, it 'would seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation' by giving him 'an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, [or] notify confederates,' the papers said."
Marie: Videos of Donald Trump's "bullshit" speech in New Hampshire Monday show Trump sweating profusely. While much of the country is sweltering in extraordinary climate-changed-induced high temps, it's been relatively cool in New Hampshire. The high in Windham, N.H., where Trump held his rally Monday, was 80 degrees. It certainly could have been hotter in a crammed auditorium. But in the videos I saw (saw, didn't hear because I put the audio on mute) of the event, the audience did not appear to be sweating, so I doubt it was the 110 degrees Trump claimed it was. So, gosh, maybe there's something wrong with him.
Arizona. The Thermometers Are Rigged! Hank Stephenson in Politico Magazine: "When Arizona lawmakers returned to the state Capitol here earlier this month, they started their day with a prayer to ease the scorching heat.... Meanwhile, the air conditioning was out in the state House of Representatives. Heat seeped through the western-facing wall as the state's 60 representatives piled into the squat cinderblock building. Fans set up to cool the hallways were too loud for staff to work, so they were on only intermittently.... With the Arizona GOP taken over by its fringe elements in recent years and largely refusing to acknowledge the issue [of climate-change-induced heat] at all. Democrats, meanwhile, lament that their leaders aren't doing nearly enough to address the heat -- even as heat-related deaths are climbing.... Heat-tolerant Republicans argue that the heat isn't unusual.... Some conservatives suggest thermometers, like past vote counts, are rigged because they're placed at the sun-scorched asphalt airport."
Florida. Lori Rozsa & Tim Craig of the Washington Post: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suspended the Orlando-area state attorney Wednesday, saying she was 'clearly and fundamentally derelict' in her duty. DeSantis removed Monique Worrell, a Democrat, from her job as the chief prosecutor for Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit Court at a brief news conference in Tallahassee. It's the second time in a year that the governor ... suspended an elected Democrat from office.... The action by the governor, who has largely been absent from Florida as he campaigns in early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, came five days after two Orlando police officers were shot and injured during a traffic stop. The suspected shooter was later killed by SWAT officers.... The suspect, Daton Viel, 28, had a long criminal history and had been arrested in March for sexual assault against a child but was released on bond. 'Bond is something that individuals are entitled to as a matter of law. In this case, the court determined that this individual was entitled to bond,' Worrell said at a news conference earlier this week defending her office. 'I don't determine who gets out of jail. All I do is uphold the law.'" Emphasis added. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his comment in today's thread. The Florida Politics report is here. ~~~
Ohio. Campbell Robertson, et al., of the New York Times: "For months, it had been apparent that [Ohio Ballot] Issue 1, advertised as a measure to safeguard the State Constitution from wealthy out-of-state interests, was primarily about blocking an abortion-rights amendment that will be on the November ballot. Supporters of the measure hardly kept this a secret, and campaign donors lined up accordingly: Much of the money in support came from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a Washington-based anti-abortion advocacy group.... For many Ohioans, this barely concealed political strategizing is what clinched their decision to come out and vote against the measure -- and come out they did, in a turnout that nearly doubled that of last year's primary election for Congress and the governor's office."
Haiti. Simon Romero & Emiliano Mega of the New York Times: "Abductors have freed an American nurse working for a humanitarian organization in Haiti and her child, the aid group said Wednesday, after their kidnapping in late July drew international attention to a wave of anarchic violence gripping the capital, Port-au-Prince. El Roi Haiti, a faith-based humanitarian organization, said in a brief statement that Alix Dorsainvil, the group's community nurse and the wife of the group"s director, was released along with her child after they were held in Port-au-Prince."
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** Ohio. Democracy: 1. Republicans: 0. Julie Smyth & Samantha Hendrickson of the AP: "Ohio voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state's constitution, setting up a fall campaign that will become the nation's latest referendum on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide protections last year. The defeat of Issue 1 keeps in place a simple majority threshold for passing future constitutional amendments. It would have raised that to a 60% supermajority, which supporters said would protect the state's foundational document from outside interest groups. While abortion was not directly on the special election ballot, the result marks the latest setback for Republicans in a conservative-leaning state who favor imposing tough restrictions on the procedure. Ohio Republicans placed the question on the summer ballot in hopes of undercutting a citizen initiative voters will decide in November that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state." The New York Times story is here.
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "A lawyer allied with ... Donald J. Trump first laid out a plot to use false slates of electors to subvert the 2020 election in a previously unknown internal campaign memo that prosecutors are portraying as a crucial link in how the Trump team's efforts evolved into a criminal conspiracy. The existence of the Dec. 6, 2020, memo came to light in last week's indictment of Mr. Trump, though its details remained unclear. But a copy obtained by The New York Times shows for the first time that the lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, acknowledged from the start that he was proposing 'a bold, controversial strategy' that the Supreme Court 'likely' would reject in the end.... The memo had been a missing link in the public record of how Mr. Trump's allies developed their strategy to overturn Mr. Biden's victory. I mid-December, the false Trump electors could go through the motions of voting as if they had the authority to do so. Then, on Jan. 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally count those slates of votes, rather than the official and certified ones for Joseph R. Biden Jr.... Three days later, Mr. Chesebro drew up specific instructions to create fraudulent electors in multiple states...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The idea behind this plot had been around at least since the day after the election, albeit in an inchoate text-message formulation. The January 6 committee obtained a text message to Mark Meadows from former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. (Perry denies sending the message, but it came from his phone.) The memo, dated November 4, 2020, reads, "HERE's an AGRESSIVE (sic) STRATEGY: Why can t (sic) the states of GA NC PENN and other R controlled state houses declare this is BS (where conflicts and election not called that night) and just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the SCOTUS." If Perry -- not the sharpest tack in the box -- was voicing this plan, it's unlikely to have been his own idea; the idea of just ignoring the popular vote must have been making the rounds among Trump supporters. The Times story makes it seem the plot originated -- like Athena from the brain of Zeus -- with Cheseboro. It didn't.
Michelle Price & Holly Ramer of the AP: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday kept up his attacks on special counsel Jack Smith and vowed to continue talking about his criminal cases even as prosecutors sought a protective order to limit the evidence that Trump and his team could share. In the early voting state of New Hampshire, Trump assailed Smith as a 'thug prosecutor' and a 'deranged guy' a week after being indicted on felony charges for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021." ~~~
~~~ Kelly Garrity of Politico: "'They don't want me to speak about a rigged election. They don't want me to speak about it. Whereas I have freedom of speech, First Amendment,' Trump said [at the New Hampshire rally]. Biden, Trump claimed, is 'forcing me nevertheless to spend time and money away from the campaign trial in order to fight bogus, made-up accusations and charges.... I'm sorry I won't be able to go to Iowa today, I won't be able to go to New Hampshire today because I'm sitting in a courtroom on bullshit,' Trump said to the crowd, eliciting cheers and chants of 'bullshit.'"
~~~ Marie: Garrity doesn't bother to mention that most of Trump's claims are, as he would say, bullshit. The proposed protective order, which is SOP, does not curb Trump's right to lie about a rigged election. It does not curb his First Amendment rights except insofar as he cannot reveal any information gleaned in discovery documents. Joe Biden has nothing to do with it. On occasion, he will have to sit in a courtroom. What is that saying that's on the tip of my tongue? Something like (but not exactly): "If you don't have the time, don't do the crime."
~~~ Tierney Sneed & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "US District Judge Tanya Chutkan scheduled a hearing for Friday at 10 a.m. ET on the scope of a protective order -- the rules imposed for the handling of evidence -- in the special counsel's election subversion case against ... Donald Trump.... Her move to schedule it for Friday morning comes after Trump's attorneys -- pointing to his busy legal calendar, which includes a Thursday court hearing in Florida in the separate classified documents case -- had asked for the elections case hearing in Washington, DC, to be scheduled early next week. Special counsel Jack Smith's team said they were available at any time Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Trump is not required to be present at the Friday hearing in DC, Chutkan said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The second graf of this story, which I elided above, is "This would be the first hearing before Chutkan, a judge who has already come under criticism from Trump supporters and received increased security." As is typical in many stories that mention criticism leveled against Judge Chutkan, the reporters do not push back on the criticism or even put it in context. Much of the criticism -- at least the criticism that isn't overtly racist -- centers on Chutkan's ruling against Trump's bid to claim executive privilege and prevent the House January 6 committee from accessing Trump-era White House documents. Chutkan famously wrote in her ruling that "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President." But as Marcy Wheeler pointed out recently, "the DC Circuit upheld Chutkan's ruling.... [About a month later,] the Supreme Court upheld Chutkan's ruling. With only Clarence Thomas dissenting, Justice Kavanaugh noted that the DC Circuit's ruling that Trump's appeal would have failed even under more stringent standards made any review of this decision unnecessary." So anyone who criticizes Chutkan's ruling should knock the appeals court judges and the Supremes, too -- or at least the ones who haven't gotten quite enough swag from right-wing billionaires.
Nick Corasaniti & Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "As lawyers for Donald J. Trump float various legal arguments to defend him in court against an onslaught of criminal charges, the former president has settled on a political defense: 'I'm being indicted for you.' In speeches, social media posts and ads, Mr. Trump has repeatedly declared the prosecutions a political witch hunt, and he has cast himself as a martyr who is taking hits from Democrats and the government on their behalf. 'They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom,' Mr. Trump told the crowd at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Tuesday. 'They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you.'... There is evidence that the message is resonating." ~~~
~~~ Marie: As Donell Harvin wrote in a Politico Magazine article I linked yesterday, Trump's "exhortations that the left or the 'Deep State' is coming after you or trying to take your country away provides the type of existential threat to his followers that is essential for the pathway to violence." As Harvin said in an MSNBC interview, would-be dictators and dictators commonly assert that they themselves are victims who are suffering slings and arrows on behalf of the hoi polloi, and that only they, the dictators, are standing between the forces of evil and ordinary people. MB: If this sounds familiar, perhaps it's because you've heard of Christianity, where the belief system is based on the premise that Jesus sacrificed himself for us on the cross, that he bore the weight of our sins so that we might be saved. Many religions, including the Judaism from which Christianity arose, taught that their gods demanded sacrifices as expressions of atonement. Particularly in early Christiany, Jesus was portrayed in iconography as the sacrificial "Lamb of God." Donald Trump may not be a Christian, but he sure knows how to play the Jesus card.
Betsy Swan & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Special counsel Jack Smith's probe of efforts by Donald Trump and others to subvert the 2020 election remains ongoing -- with at least one interview this week that focused on fundraising and spending by Trump's political action committee. Meanwhile, the grand jury that indicted Trump last week was spotted meeting Tuesday in the federal courthouse in Washington. In a closed-door interview on Monday with Bernard Kerik, investigators asked multiple questions about the Save America PAC's enormous fundraising haul in the weeks between Election Day and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to Kerik's lawyer, Tim Parlatore...." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
In an X-Twitter thread, Andrew Weissmann suggests Aileen Cannon gets her judicial acumen from watching Trump lawyers on Fox "News": "If you are wondering why Judge Cannon issued on 8/7, without the defense requesting it, an Order directing the government why it was using a non-FLA grand jury, here is an answer: on 8/6 former Trump lawyer [James Trusty] was on Fox raising that entirely bogus issue.... You really had to wonder what gave her the idea for the Order, since she raised it on her own, and there was nothing about the known litigation record that raised the issue she flagged, which is so wrong legally."
Presidential Race 2024
Nicholas Nehamas, et al., of the New York Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is shaking up his presidential campaign -- again. For the third time in less than a month, Mr. DeSantis's campaign announced a major restructuring, this time removing his embattled campaign manager, Generra Peck, and replacing her with a loyalist from his governor's office, as he continues to search for a campaign team and a political message that can compete with ... Donald J. Trump. The reorganization -- in which a top official at the main pro-DeSantis super PAC will also take on an influential role inside the campaign -- caps a turbulent period of layoffs, financial worries and a shift in strategy for the Florida governor, who is increasingly banking on an Iowa-or-bust approach." MB: DeSantolini doesn't need a new campaign manager; he needs a new personality and a moral character implant. (Also linked yesterday.)
Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "The Biden administration plans on Wednesday to issue new restrictions on American investments in certain advanced industries in China, according to people familiar with the deliberations, a move that supporters have described as necessary to protect national security but that will undoubtedly rankle Beijing. The measure would be one of the first significant steps the United States has taken amid an economic clash with China to clamp down on outgoing financial flows." A CBS News story is here.
Melanie Hicken of CNN: “The then-leader of the US Coast Guard covered up an explosive investigation four years ago into rapes and sexual assaults at the agency's academy despite prior plans by top officials to come clean about the inquiry, a CNN investigation found. Commandant Karl L. Schultz took charge of the agency in June of 2018 as the secret investigation, dubbed Operation Fouled Anchor, was concluding. The inquiry revealed a dark history of sexual misconduct at the prestigious academy, substantiating dozens of rapes and assaults from the late 1980s to 2006.... The [Department of Homeland Security] said in a statement that '[current commandant Linda] Fagan was not included in the group of senior leaders who oversaw closing the operation, nor was she consulted when it was closed regarding disclosure in or outside the Coast Guard." (Also linked yesterday.)
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily revived the Biden administration's regulation of 'ghost guns' — kits that ca be bought online and assembled into untraceable homemade firearms. In defending the rule, a key part of President Biden's broader effort to address gun violence, administration officials said such weapons had soared in popularity in recent years, particularly among criminals barred from buying ordinary guns. The court's brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. The order was provisional, leaving the regulation in place while a challenge moves forward in the courts. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the court's three liberal members -- Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson -- to form a majority." The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Alabama Is Still Alabama. Remy Tumin & Chang Che of the New York Times: "Police in Montgomery, Ala., detained several people over the weekend after a brawl broke out at the city's popular Riverfront Park when a group of white boaters appeared to attack a Black security guard. The violent scene, captured on video by bystanders, has stoked memories of the city's racist history." (Also linked yesterday.)
Florida. Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo? Gabriella Ferrigine in Salon: "School district officials in Hillsborough County, Fla., have implemented a newly designed curriculum guide for English teachers that will see students reading only selections from William Shakespeare plays, The Tampa Bay Times reported. The change comes as a result of amended state teaching standards and new state exams endorsed and inked by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Parental Rights in Education Act. DeSantis, who has decried anything deemed to be sexual in nature, has taken his culture war crusades to schools with various book bans and curriculum revisions. Now, rather than read titles like 'Romeo and Juliet' or 'Macbeth' in full, students will be assigned excerpts from the works. District officials stated that students seeking to read the classics in full may do so if they obtain copies; however, teachers have been cautioned to heed the excerpt-only guidelines, as they could face parent complaints or disciplinary action for going against them.The decision was made 'in consideration of the law,' according to school district spokeswoman Tanya Arja." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary below. ~~~
~~~ Marie: It's a wonder that the U.S. is "the greatest country in the world" when most living high-school grads have been forced to read "MacBeth" or sit through a performance of "Romeo & Juliet," and, my God, may have been less interested in iambic pentameter than in the content of some of those sexy sonnets.
News Lede
AP: "A wildfire tore through the heart of the Hawaiian island of Maui in darkness Wednesday, reducing much of a historic town to ash and forcing people to jump into the ocean to flee the flames. At least six people died, dozens were wounded and 271 structures were damaged or destroyed." The New York Times is liveblogging developments.
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