June 25, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Kelly Garrity of Politico: "President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, a day after Russian mercenary forces reversed their plans to march on Moscow, Zelenskky said. The White House confirmed the call on Sunday afternoon. Zelenskyy and Biden discussed 'the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia,' Zelenskyy said in a post on Twitter."

Ret. Judge Michael Luttig (Very-R) in a New York Times op-ed: Republicans' "fawning support since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has given Mr. Trump every reason to believe that he can ride these [espionage] charges and any others not just to the Republican nomination, but also to the White House in 2024.... As only the Republicans can do, they are already turning this ignominious moment into an even more ignominious moment -- and a self-immolating one at that -- by rushing to crown Mr. Trump their nominee before the primary season even begins.... It's finally time for [Republicans] to put the country before their party and pull back from the brink -- for the good of the party, as well as the nation."

Jesse Eisenger & Stephen Engelberg of Propublica examine Justice Sam Alito's Wall Street Journal "prebuttal" to their report on the gift of a luxury Alaska vacation by hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer, who would soon have business before the Court. "It does not appear that the editors at the Journal made much of an effort to fact-check Alito's assertions.... Journalists [including former WSJ reporters] were ... sharply critical of the decision to help the subject of another news organization's investigation 'pre-but' the findings[,] especially since some of Alito's assertions didn't make much sense to the public who had not read ProPublica's report]." Moreover, Patricia McCabe, the Supreme Court's spokesperson, was cagey in her contacts with ProPublica, such as when she asked the reporters to tell her when their story would go to print. MB: Clearly, Alito has brought more shame upon a court that already was in trouble. How now, John Roberts? ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has been arguing for years that a flood of 'dark money' flowing through right-wing front groups has corrupted the Supreme Court. Never has there been more evidence to bolster his claim.... [In a phone conversation with me,] the senator ticked off the problems with Alito's [WSJ] argument: factual omissions (e.g., the standard for exempt gifts does not include transportation); Alito's lame effort to turn an airplane into a 'facility' to jam it into an exempt-gift category ('It doesn't pass the laugh test,' Whitehouse said); Alito's plea that he couldn't possibly have known Singer had a financial stake ($2 billion) in the outcome of a case before the court (although it was widely reported in the media); and the insistence that yet another billionaire was a 'friend,' which somehow absolved him from his obligation to report gifts of 'hospitality.' And, Whitehouse argued, it strains credulity that Alito (like Justice Clarence Thomas) could be confused about reporting requirements when there is a Financial Disclosure Committee expressly set up to help judges navigate these issues.... The best argument for court reform comes from Alito, whose arrogant, slipshod and unconvincing defense makes him the poster boy for serious court reform."

Steve Contorno of CNN: "In his early outreach to Republican voters as a presidential candidate, [Gov. Ron] DeSantis [R-Fla.] has portrayed himself as a fighter and, crucially, a winner in the cultural battles increasingly important to conservatives. If elected to the White House, he'll take those fights to Washington, he has said.... But back in Florida, the agenda at the centerpiece of his pitch remains unsettled. Still ongoing are more than a dozen legal battles testing the constitutionality of many of the victories DeSantis has touted on the campaign trail. Critics say DeSantis has built his governorship around enacting laws that appeal to his conservative base but that, as a Harvard-trained lawyer, he knows are unconstitutional and not likely to take effect."

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The New York Times has a tick-tock of how the shortest revolution went. ~~~

~~~ Here's the New York Times liveblog for today on the shortlived insurrection of Yevgeny Prigozhin: "The strongest challenge to President Vladimir V. Putin's rule was defused, but there were new questions about his authority and the country's war in Ukraine. In many ways, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the Wagner chief who led an armed uprising against the military's leadership for nearly 24 hours, punctured Mr. Putin's strongman authority and aura of infallibility. His blistering criticism and brazen actions called into question Russia's justifications for its war in Ukraine and the competency of its military leadership.... Both Mr. Putin's and Mr. Prigozhin's current locations remain unknown.... The future of the Wagner group and Mr. Prigozhin's continued role in it remains unclear." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for today are here: "Some 12 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin described the rebellion by Wagner mercenaries as 'a stab in the back' for Russia and a 'betrayal,' promising to crush them, group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin left the southern town of Rostov-on-Don with a column of tanks and armored vehicles to cheering crowds.... On Saturday night, people dashed forward to shake Prigozhin's hand as he departed the city or clamored for selfies, an upwelling of what appeared to be spontaneous support of a kind rarely seen in Russia after more than 20 years of Putin's authoritarian rule.... Video also emerged of the return of Russian police to the streets of Rostov early Sunday to restore control after Wagner's departure. A crowd chanted 'Shame! Shame!' and some yelled that the police were 'Traitors!'" ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's liveblog for Sunday is here. The Guardian's main story is here. ~~~

~~~ From Saturday's the New York Times liveblog on the shortest Russian revolution, a skirmish which seems not to have lasted long: "The Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin announced that his troops marching toward Moscow would turn around, minutes after the leader of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, said he had successfully negotiated with the Wagner boss. The statements offered the possibility that the rapidly evolving security crisis embroiling President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia's government could be resolved without armed fighting between Russian authorities and Mr. Prigozhin's forces. But Mr. Prigozhin did not say whether his forces were leaving the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, a Russian military hub he has seized. In an audio statement posted to Telegram, Mr. Prigozhin said his forces were within 200 kilometers, or about 125 miles, of Moscow, and had reached that point without any bloodshed among his fighters. 'Now the moment has come when blood could be shed,' Mr. Prigozhin said. 'So, understanding all responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be spilled, on one side, we are turning around our column and are leaving in the opposite direction to field camps in accordance with the plan.'" The liveblog includes a map that shows how far the Wagner troops had got on the road to Moscow before the stand-down. It appears they were more than half-way there. The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ NYT liveblog update: "... Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters that under an agreement brokered by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, Mr. Prigozhin would go to Belarus and the criminal case opened against him for organizing an armed insurrection would be dropped. The Wagner fighters who didn't participate in the uprising would be given the option of signing Russian Defense Ministry contracts, Mr. Peskov said, and the rest would avoid prosecution, considering their 'heroic deeds on the front.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

David Sanger & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "American intelligence officials briefed senior military and administration officials on Wednesday that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, was preparing to take military action against senior Russian defense officials, according to officials familiar with the matter. U.S. spy agencies had indications days earlier that Mr. Prigozhin was planning something and worked to refine that material into a finished assessment, officials said.... The information that the long-running feud between Mr. Prigozhin, who got his start as 'Putin's chef' in St. Petersburg, and Russian defense officials was about to devolve into conflict was considered both solid and alarming. Mr. Prigozhin is known for his brutality, and had he succeeded in ousting the officials, he would likely have been an unpredictable leader. And the possibility that a major nuclear-armed rival of the United States could descend into internal chaos carried with it a new set of risks." CNN's story is here.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... even with the apparent end to the immediate threat posed by Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellious mercenary army, the short-lived uprising suggested that Mr. Putin's hold on power is more tenuous than at any time since he took office more than two decades ago. The aftermath of the mutiny leaves President Biden and American policymakers with both opportunity and danger in perhaps the most volatile moment since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine. Disarray in Russia could lead to a breakdown of its war effort just as Ukrainian forces are mounting their long-awaited counteroffensive, but officials in Washington remained nervous about an unpredictable, nuclear-armed Mr. Putin feeling vulnerable.... The armed standoff on the road to Moscow, brief as it was, represented the most dramatic struggle for power in Russia since the 1991 failed hard-liner coup against Mikhail Gorbachev and the 1993 showdown between Boris Yeltsin and parliament....

"[President] Biden responded to the crisis by not responding, opting for caution rather than speaking out, which would risk giving Mr. Putin ammunition to claim this was all a foreign plot.... Mr. Biden delayed his departure for Camp David to convene a secure video briefing with top advisers in the Ward Room of the White House -- a makeshift Situation Room while the real one is being renovated -- and also spoke with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany."

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Appearing at a Faith & Freedom Coalition gala in Washington on Saturday night, [Donald Trump] cited his appointment of three of the six justices who voted to strike down the law as a capstone of his presidency. And he cast himself as an unflinching crusader for the Christian right in a meandering speech that lasted nearly 90 minutes. 'No president has ever fought for Christians as hard as I have,' he said, adding, 'I got it done, and nobody thought it was even a possibility.'... Several times in his speech on Saturday night, Mr. Trump sought to align himself with the faith community and said that it was under attack, much like he was. 'Together, we're warriors in a righteous crusade to stop the arsonists, the atheists, globalists and the Marxists,' he said. In a speech at the gathering a day earlier, [Mike] Pence called on the entire 2024 Republican presidential field to pledge support for a national abortion ban at 15 weeks -- a ban more extreme than what Mr. Trump has backed so far." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump characterizes himself as "fighting for Christians," but a significant number of Christians oppose the repeal of Roe.

Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "At least seven cars from a freight train tumbled into the Yellowstone River in Montana on Saturday after a derailment and a bridge collapse, causing asphalt and molten sulfur cargo to spill into the water, the authorities said. Officials were investigating whether the derailment or the bridge collapse happened first, as well as how much of the cargo had spread into the river." The ABC News story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Colbi Edmonds of the New York Times: "Three San Antonio police officers were charged with murder on Friday after police shot and killed a 46-year-old woman, who swung a hammer in their direction and appeared to be in distress, in her home, officials said. The three officers, Sgt. Alfred Flores, Officer Eleazar Alejandro and Officer Nathaniel Villalobos, have been suspended without pay and were taken into custody on Friday. They have been with the San Antonio Police Department for 14, five and two years."

Way Beyond

Louisa Loveluck, et al., of the Washington Post: "The story of how as many as 750 migrants came to board a rickety blue fishing trawler and end up in one of the Mediterranean's deadliest shipwrecks is bigger than any one of the victims.... About half the passengers are believed to have been from Pakistan. The country's interior minister said Friday that an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board, and that many may have died.... This account of what pushed them to risk a notoriously dangerous crossing is based on interviews with survivors in Greece and relatives of the dead in Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

June 24, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Here's the latest news from the New York Times liveblog (also linked below) on the latest Russian revolution, a skirmish which seems not to have lasted long: "The Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin announced that his troops marching toward Moscow would turn around, minutes after the leader of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, said he had successfully negotiated with the Wagner boss. The statements offered the possibility that the rapidly evolving security crisis embroiling President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia's government could be resolved without armed fighting between Russian authorities and Mr. Prigozhin's forces. But Mr. Prigozhin did not say whether his forces were leaving the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, a Russian military hub he has seized. In an audio statement posted to Telegram, Mr. Prigozhin said his forces were within 200 kilometers, or about 125 miles, of Moscow, and had reached that point without any bloodshed among his fighters. 'Now the moment has come when blood could be shed,' Mr. Prigozhin said. 'So, understanding all responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be spilled, on one side, we are turning around our column and are leaving in the opposite direction to field camps in accordance with the plan.'" The liveblog includes a map that shows how far the Wagner troops had got on the road to Moscow before the stand-down. It appears they were more than half-way there. The AP's story is here. ~~~

~~~ NYT liveblog update: "... Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters that under an agreement brokered by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, Mr. Prigozhin would go to Belarus and the criminal case opened against him for organizing an armed insurrection would be dropped. The Wagner fighters who didn't participate in the uprising would be given the option of signing Russian Defense Ministry contracts, Mr. Peskov said, and the rest would avoid prosecution, considering their 'heroic deeds on the front.'"

Louisa Loveluck, et al., of the Washington Post: "The story of how as many as 750 migrants came to board a rickety blue fishing trawler and end up in one of the Mediterranean's deadliest shipwrecks is bigger than any one of the victims.... About half the passengers are believed to have been from Pakistan. The country's interior minister said Friday that an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board, and that many may have died.... This account of what pushed them to risk a notoriously dangerous crossing is based on interviews with survivors in Greece and relatives of the dead in Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt...."

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Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden denounced on Friday new restrictions on abortion imposed in Republican-led states in the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and warned that the right to privacy, which has been the foundation for other rights like same-sex marriage and access to birth control, could be at risk next if Democrats do not win next year's elections. Marking Saturday's anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision eliminating a national right to abortion for women, Mr. Biden decried its 'devastating effects,' telling an abortion rights rally that women had been deprived of basic health care and noting that some leading Republicans, not content to leave the issue to the states as they had long advocated, are now seeking a national ban on the procedure. 'They're not stopping here,' said Mr. Biden, who was joined at the rally by his wife, Jill Biden, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff. 'Make no mistake, this election is about freedom on the ballot.' The president collected the endorsement of the nation's leading abortion rights groups, Emily's List, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL Pro-Choice America. While the endorsement was hardly a surprise, the early timing underscored the role that Democrats believe abortion rights will play in next year's election." More on the effects of Dobbs linked below.

Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland defended the Justice Department's five-year investigation of Hunter Biden on Friday, forcefully rebutting claims promoted by House Republicans that he blocked federal prosecutors in Delaware from expanding the inquiry to encompass a greater range of crimes. On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee released testimony from two I.R.S. officials who said that David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware who has overseen the inquiry, told them that Justice Department officials prevented him from bringing cases in Washington, D.C., and California. The I.R.S. officials also claimed in their testimony that Mr. Weiss told them that he was rebuffed in his request to be appointed a special counsel.... Mr. Garland denied both assertions during a news conference at the department's headquarters, saying he had given Mr. Weiss 'complete authority' to 'continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to.'... Mr. Garland and Mr. Weiss have both made public statements that Mr. Weiss had full authority over the case." Read on for more details. (Also linked yesterday.)

Niall Stanage of the Hill: "A quixotic push by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) to impeach President Biden was placed on the back burner Thursday. But even some Republican insiders fear the damage might already have been done. Boebert, one of the fiercest among the GOP's right-wing firebrands, surprised many of her colleagues by introducing an impeachment resolution earlier this week. The move caused disarray in the House Republican conference and the furor was only defused with a deal to send the resolution for consideration by committees.... But [Boebert] is insistent that, if it becomes clear the gambit is solely about delay, she will bring up her resolution 'every day for the rest of my time here in Congress.'... Democrats are ... convinced that the politics of the matter will play to their advantage." (Also linked yesterday.)

Everybody Is Fed Up with Sen. Potato Head. Al Weaver of the Hill: "The chance that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) will lift his hold on military promotions over the Pentagon's abortion policy anytime soon has dimmed drastically as Senate Republicans struggle to make a deal with him to end the months-long saga.... As of this week, Tuberville is holding up 250 promotions for general and flag officers that are normally approved on the Senate floor via unanimous consent, and the anger among Democrats has not dissipated.... President Biden and the Pentagon also heaped more pressure on Tuberville this week. The president referred to the 'former football coach from Alabama' during a fundraiser in Los Gatos, Calif., earlier this week, calling his hold 'bizarre.'" MB: Maybe if the Senate dining room served baked potato heads, Tuberville would take the hint. (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Michael Roman, a top official in ... Donald J. Trump's 2020 campaign, is in discussions with the office of the special counsel Jack Smith that could soon lead to Mr. Roman voluntarily answering questions about a plan to create slates of pro-Trump electors in key swing states that were won by Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a person familiar with the matter. If Mr. Roman ends up giving the interview -- known as a proffer -- to prosecutors working for Mr. Smith, it would be the first known instance of cooperation by someone with direct knowledge of the so-called fake elector plan. That plan has long been at the center of Mr. Smith's investigation into Mr. Trump's wide-ranging efforts to overturn the 2020 election."

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Special counsel Jack Smith has compelled at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity, part of a current push by federal prosecutors to swiftly nail down evidence in the sprawling criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.... A parade of related witnesses are being told to appear before the grand jury with no chance for delay.... Prosecutors have played hardball with some of the witnesses in recent weeks, refusing to grant extensions to grand jury subpoenas for testimony and demanding they comply before the end of this month, sources said. In the situations where prosecutors have given witnesses immunity, the special counsel's office arrived at the courthouse in Washington ready to compel their testimony after the witnesses indicated they would decline to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment, the sources added.... The two Nevada Trump electors who were given the limited immunity -- the state's Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald and another Nevada GOP official, Jim DeGraffenreid -- both testified before the grand jury last week." (Also linked yesterday.)

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: Attorney John "Eastman faces 11 charges from the California State Bar, most concerning his lawyerly lies about election fraud. Importantly, the bar also accused Eastman of advising Vice President Mike Pence that a fabricated legal rationale empowered him to reverse or delay the presidential electoral count in Congress.... If Eastman is disbarred for that charge, it would be genuinely novel.... In a dramatic moment, lawyer Greg Jacob -- who advised Pence to resist pressure from Trump to halt the electoral count -- testified that Eastman's invented legal theory had inspired the Jan. 6 rioters.... Trump's coup-plotters carried out all manner of other corrupt acts, yet none has faced serious professional discomfort."

David McAfee of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump's ally and attorney Sidney Powell is among those who Friday largely lost their bid to overturn sanctions related to frivolous claims made in election fraud lawsuits challenging the 2020 results in Michigan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that a lower court mostly got it right when it sanctioned Powell and other attorneys in connection with false claims made in an attempt to reverse the election in favor of Trump. The news comes a month after Powell and other attorneys were hit with a lawsuit by a Michigan attorney regulations agency alleging they committed professional misconduct."

Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "Infowars host Owen Shroyer, who promoted baseless claims of 2020 election fraud on the far-right internet platform, pleaded guilty on Friday to joining the mob of Donald Trump supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol. Shroyer, who didn't enter the Capitol but led rioters in chants near the top of the building's steps, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering a restricted area.... U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly scheduled a Sept. 12 sentencing hearing for the 33-year-old Shroyer, who has hosted a daily show called 'The War Room With Owen Shroyer' for the website operated by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones."

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Jack Smith, the special counsel, has asked a federal judge to move back the start of the trial of ... Donald J. Trump and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, in the classified documents case from August to Dec. 11, according to a Justice Department filing made public late Friday. The Justice Department proposal still calls for a relatively speedy timetable; Judge Aileen M. Cannon's earlier ruling set the initial trial date at Aug. 14, but it was considered something of an administrative place holder, with both sides anticipating significant procedural delays.... Mr. Smith and his team argued in the filing that the trial should still be fast-tracked despite its enormous political implications, because it 'involves straightforward theories of liability, and does not present novel questions of fact or law,' nor is it particularly 'unusual or complex' from a legal perspective."

Vaughn Hillyard & Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Former President Trump spoke on Thursday at a fundraiser on behalf of people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... 'I'm going to make a contribution,' Trump told the gathering hosted at his own private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The group, Patriot Freedom Project, included at least one actual defendant along with multiple family members of those charged in the attack. An attendee of the fundraiser verified a video posted online of Trump's remarks. The former president heralded the defendants.... Trump said ... that 'BLM and antifa' were behind the Capitol attack." MB: Don't hold your breaths, you reprobates, waiting for the contribution. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Mangan of CNBC: “Donald Trump put up $5.6 million as security while the former president appeals a civil verdict that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and defamed her decades later, a court filing Friday revealed. If Trump loses the appeal, Carroll will collect the $5 million a jury awarded her in the case in May, or any adjusted judgment, according to a joint stipulation submitted by his lawyers and attorneys for Carroll.... Judge Lewis Kaplan approved the arrangement later Friday afternoon. After news of the deal broke, the attorney George Conway, a harsh critic of Trump, tweeted 'He. Couldn't. Get. A. Bond.'... Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina ... said Trump 'didn't want to waste the money on securing a bond,' which would have required Trump to pay the bond guarantor a premium for the service, which typically is 1% of the value of the bond."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday boosted President Biden's authority to focus the government's immigration enforcement policies on those who are a threat or recently entered the country, and said states generally lacked the legal standing to challenge the federal government's priorities on whom to arrest or prosecute. It was the court's second decision in a year that affirmed the executive branch's power in matters of immigration. In this case, the justices said the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to focus on arresting recent border crossers and those who commit violent crimes, rather than the millions of other noncitizens who have lived here for years. The Biden administration policy is a departure from that of the Trump administration, which said anyone in the country illegally could be targeted for deportation.... Friday's decision was 8-1, with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. the lone dissenter." Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion. CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court avoided a difficult First Amendment question on Friday, ruling that an unusual 1986 federal law that makes it a crime to 'encourage' or 'induce' unauthorized immigrants to come to or stay in the United States should be read narrowly to require complicity in a criminal conduct. A broader interpretation of the law would give rise to constitutional concerns, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority in the 7-to-2 decision. She added that the law's key words were terms of art used in a 'specialized, criminal-law sense' and mean something different than they do in ordinary usage. For purposes of the law, she wrote, the terms require proof of solicitation or facilitation of a crime.... In dissent on Friday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor, rejected the majority's approach and said the court should have struck down the law on First Amendment grounds. She gave ... examples of the law's sweep if its words bore their ordinary meaning."

Confederate Supremes Knock Down Part of the Sixth Amendment. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction of an American who participated in a plot to assassinate a real estate agent in the Philippines in 2012, rejecting his claim that his constitutional rights had been violated in allowing testimony about a confession from an accomplice.... The vote was 6 to 3, with the court's Republican appointees in the majority and its Democratic appointees in dissent." Thomas wrote the majority opinion.... 'Now, defendants in joint trials will not have the chance to confront some of the most damaging witnesses against them. And a constitutional right once guaranteeing that opportunity will no longer. It will become, in joint trials, a shell of its former self,' [Justice Kagan wrote.]"

Allison McCann & Amy Walker of the New York Times: "In the year since Roe fell, 20 states enacted laws banning or restricting abortion, forcing a rapid shift in the country's patchwork of abortion access. Clinic owners scrambled to adjust, canceling appointments and helping patients travel elsewhere. Some clinics relocated, while others stayed open to provide the services they still could. Many simply closed, leaving behind empty buildings.... At least 61 clinics, Planned Parenthood facilities and doctors' offices stopped offering abortions in the last year. Most were in the 14 states that banned abortion outright. But the uncertainty surrounding laws in several other states also caused providers there to shut down. Physicians said the laws in some states were unclear. Others pointed to the possibility of criminal penalties, including prison time, making the prospect of offering abortion services risky. About half of the clinics have shifted their focus to other services, such as birth control and prenatal care.... At least a dozen providers moved and opened new clinics in friendlier states." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Alito Five Don't Care about Truth OR Consequences. Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "The crisis in reproductive health care that Dobbs propelled is acute and growing. There have been, in other words, alarming consequences.... And so the question: A year after sowing so much chaos and misery, are any of the five members in Justice Samuel Alito's Dobbs majority sorry? Even a little?... Valuing fetal life over the lives of women and girls was no doubt a feature, not a bug, in the majority's view; that was, after all, the point of Dobbs.... So, no, I don't think the Dobbs justices are sorry. They did what they were put there to do, what they wanted to do, and they were quite explicit in washing their hands of the consequences." (Also linked yesterday.)

Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "Earlier this week, ProPublica, which had previously exposed the bottomless corruption of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, scored another big hit on Justice Samuel Alito, who is best known for citing a medieval witch-burner as a legal authority in his Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.... The details are infuriating, but not surprising because Alito tried to get ahead of the story by writing a 'prebuttal' for the Wall Street Journal's editorial page, which ended up reading as a confession to deep and long-standing corruption.... What was really remarkable to me was just how whiny Alito's op-ed read.... Alito expects women to stoically undergo forced childbirth as penance for the sin of fornication, but when asked to be a little less greedy, he reacts like he just got framed for murder.... But while Alito is an especially comical example, the grim truth is that 'petulant crybaby' is the dominant personality trait of the conservative justices, now a majority." Marcotte points out how Leonard Leo is acting as matchmaker between confederate justices and billionaires. "Slate's Dahlia Lithwick concurs: 'It's like the oligarch Big Brothers program for underprivileged jurists who just want to live large on the hog.'... Well-heeled puffery makes it much easier to buy your own hype. The side effect, of course, is a dramatically weakened ability to handle criticism."

** Richard Pérez-Peña of the New York Times: "On one vessel, five people died on a very expensive excursion that was supposed to return them to the lives they knew. On the other, perhaps 500 people died just days earlier on a squalid and perilous voyage, fleeing poverty and violence in search of new lives. After contact was lost with the five inside a submersible descending to the Titanic, multiple countries and private entities sent ships, planes and underwater drones to pursue a faint hope of rescue. That was far more effort than was made on behalf of the hundreds aboard a dangerously overcrowded, disabled fishing trawler off the Greek coast while there were still ample chances for rescue. And it was the lost submersible, the Titan, that drew enormous attention from news organizations worldwide and their audiences, far more than the boat that sank in the Mediterranean and the Greek Coast Guard's failure to help before it capsized.... The contrast between the two disasters, and how they were handled, has fueled a discussion around the world in which some see harsh realities about class and ethnicity." ~~~

~~~ Ben Brasch, et al., of the Washington Post: "The catastrophic implosion that killed all five people aboard a submersible vessel is likely to intensify calls for stronger regulations and oversight of an industry that has long operated in a legal gray area, experts say.... Maritime regulation experts and experienced mariners say the material and shape of the vessel gave them concern. They also said OceanGate shouldn't have eschewed the typical inspection process by independent agencies, which is not legally mandated but routinely followed by others in the submersible community. Past lawsuits also raised questions about OceanGate's safety standards.... The company's missions fell outside any single country's jurisdiction, said Salvatore Mercogliano, a maritime historian with Campbell University. The American-made Titan was diving into international waters after launching from the Canadian-flagged vessel Polar Prince. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Friday that it had dispatched a team to investigate the Canadian ship's involvement." ~~~

Alex Horton & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "It appears ... that the Canadian government deployed more assets to the search area than the United States did, a function of Canada's proximity to the site and the time required to dispatch vessels.... The complete costs, and who ultimately pays them, are unknown and depend on several factors. The search employed private companies and research vessels carrying remote operated vehicles, including the one that ultimately found the Titan. It is unclear if the U.S. government will pay those entities, but it is possible if the Defense Department put them under contract..."

Okay, Class, Give Us an Example of “Dripping with Irony.” Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: “Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School ... [has been accused of fabricating] results in multiple studies, including at least one purporting to show how to elicit honest behavior.... Maurice Schweitzer, a behavioral scientist at the Wharton School..., said that he was now going through the eight papers on which he collaborated with Dr. Gino for indications of fraud, and that many other scholars were doing so as well.”

Presidential Race 2024. Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s supporters created a super PAC last month called 'Heal the Divide,' touting the 2024 presidential candidate as the only one who can 'unite the Nation to start healing America.' But, while RFK Jr. is running as a Democratic, the PAC's founders have deep ties' to far-right Trump-supporting Republicans, Rolling Stone reported.... Rolling Stone reports that other MAGA figures are backing RFK Jr.'s run against [President] Biden. 'MAGA influencers and longtime Trump associates such as Roger Stone have praised Kennedy's candidacy as a way to "soften Joe Biden up,'" Rolling Stone's report stated. 'Former top Trump political adviser and campaign strategist Steve Bannon also reportedly spent 'months' encouraging Kennedy to run...."

The Pandemic, Ctd. Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Freshly declassified U.S. government intelligence about the origins of the covid-19 pandemic reveals some new insights into China's virus research but no additional clarity about how the global outbreak began and is unlikely to settle that debate, which has exacerbated tensions between Washington and Beijing and fueled a heated dispute among scientists, lawmakers and government officials."

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Gov. Katie Hobbs of Arizona on Friday stripped local prosecutors of the power to criminally charge abortion providers, a move aimed at protecting abortion rights in a narrowly divided political battleground. An executive order signed by Ms. Hobbs, a Democrat, would take authority away from elected county attorneys, a largely Republican group, and transfer it to Arizona's attorney general, a Democrat who has vowed not to prosecute abortion providers. Abortion-rights groups applauded the governor's move as a 'promising and welcome' measure in a state with a law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy." The Hill's report is here.

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Florida temporarily blocked a new law allowing the state to penalize businesses that admit children to 'adult live performances' such as drag shows.... Judge Gregory A. Presnell of the Federal District Court in Orlando issued a preliminary injunction blocking the new law, which went into effect last month.... The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the measure in April. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is running for president and has made anti-L.G.B.T.Q. policies central to his agenda, signed the legislation in late May.... Judge Presnell's ruling ... on Friday found that existing obscenity laws already gave the state the authority necessary to protect children. In the 24-page ruling, he also found that the state failed to narrowly tailor the law, and that its broad attempt to regulate content would very likely violate the First Amendment's free speech protections." An NBC News story is here.

New York. Jonah Bromwich & Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "Amid a suicide crisis in New York City's jails, a correction officer falsified records to show that scores of her peers had taken a suicide prevention course that they had not actually completed, Bronx prosecutors and the Department of Investigation said on Friday. The Rikers Island officer, Vinette Tucker-Frederick, was said by the Bronx district attorney's office to have awarded credit for the course to 74 officers who were on leave in 2021. She gave their login information to colleagues and told them to take the digital training in the place of the absent officers, prosecutors said.... A nine-year veteran of the Department of Correction, Ms. Tucker-Frederick, 41, was charged with tampering with public records and identity theft and has been suspended indefinitely without pay." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: “President Vladimir V. Putin vowed 'decisive actions' early Saturday to quell what he called an armed rebellion by the outspoken mercenary tycoon Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, whose forces had claimed control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and were threatening to march to Moscow. In a five-minute address to the nation, Mr. Putin called the rebellion by Mr. Prigozhin treasonous and 'a stab in the back of our country and our people.' Mr. Putin said that Rostov's military and civilian functions had 'essentially been blocked,' appearing to acknowledge some success by Mr. Prigozhin.... Security forces were scrambled across western Russia as regional governors urged residents to stay off the roads, and a 'counterterrorist operation regime' was declared in Moscow, giving the authorities expanded legal powers." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Saturday is here: "... Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin .... told the country's military commanders that he would march on Moscow unless he could confront his enemies in Russia's Ministry of Defense.... The U.K.'s defense ministry said Saturday that Wagner units were 'moving north'..., 'almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow.'... Minutes after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his five-minute urgent address..., scores of officials began posting videos and messages pledging support to the country's leader.... At 7.30 a.m. Saturday..., Prigozhin recorded an astonishing video from within Russia's Southern Military District headquarters, a key command center, claiming to have everything under control -- something he has repeatedly accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, of failing to manage.... Russian forces launched one of their biggest overnight missile barrages in weeks against Ukrainian cities early Saturday morning, firing some 51 cruise missiles and two self-destructing drones, the Ukraine's air force said in a Telegram post.... Three people were killed when a rocket fragment struck a high-rise apartment building in Kyiv early Saturday, as Russian forces targeted the capital and several other cities with air strikes, Ukrainian officials said. Fourteen others were injured."

Mike Ives of the New York Times tries to summarize what-all is happening.

Robyn Dixon & Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "Russia's Federal Security Service late Friday announced a criminal case against Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin, accusing him of 'incitement to armed rebellion' after he declared an open conflict with Russia's military leadership and called on Russians to join 25,000 Wagner fighters against Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other top commanders.... At least one senior general, Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of Russia's military intelligence, accused Prigozhin of attempting a 'state coup' but there was no evidence of an attempted overthrow of the government.... Security was tightened in Moscow at government facilities and key infrastructure, and the Russian National Guard and security forces were on alert, Tass, the state-owned news agency, reported." MB: What began as what looked like Prigozhin -- a/k/a "Putin's chef" -- is now looking rather serious. NBC News is airing unconfirmed reports that Prigozhin has led a column of troops from Ukraine into Russia in the direction of Moscow. ~~~

~~~ Gabriel Gavin, et al., of Politico: "Vladimir Putin is facing a major military crisis after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin declared war on Moscow's own defense ministry, claiming Kremlin officials had killed thousands of his soldiers. In a statement issued Friday night, the FSB security agency said it had 'legally and reasonably begun criminal proceedings' against the Wagner Group warlord 'for the organization of armed insurrection.' Prigozhin, meanwhile, claimed he had pulled his troops back from Ukraine and into Russia's Rostov, and vowed: 'If anyone gets in our way, we will destroy everything!'" ~~~

~~~ Tara John, et al., of CNN: "Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of private military group Wagner, has vowed to retaliate after accusing Russia's military leadership of killing a 'huge amount' of his forces in strikes -- prompting Russia's domestic intelligence service to open a criminal case against him. In a series of Telegram posts on Friday, Prigozhin -- who has frequently criticized Russia's traditional military hierarchy – ... said strikes were launched 'on our camps' and that 'a huge amount of our fighters were killed, our comrades in arms. We will make a decision about how to respond to these atrocities. The next step is ours.' Russia's Ministry of Defense has denied the claims, calling it an 'informational provocation.' The mercenary then warned that retribution would be meted out." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Patrick Reevell of ABC News: "The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the Kremlin's justifications for its invasion of Ukraine are based on lies, in another extraordinary attack on the country's military and political leadership. Prigozhin, a key ally of Putin, in a video posted Friday, contradicted the public explanations for the war, including the central claim made by Putin that the 2022 invasion was necessary to prevent an attack from Ukraine.... But in his video address, Prigozhin, whose fighters have played a leading role in the war, said that was not true and there had been no imminent risk of attack from Ukraine.... He blamed [Sergey] Shoigu, the defense ministry and a 'clan of oligarchs' for starting the war. He accused Shoigu of seeking glory and wanting 'to rob' Ukraine and divide up its assets." (Also linked yesterday.)

U.S./Syria. Raja Abdulrahim of the New York Times: "The Rukban [refugee] camp, a few miles from the United States base at al-Tanf in southeastern Syria, ended up almost cut off from aid largely because of closed borders and a Syrian government policy to block almost all relief efforts for areas outside its control. That has left many of its 8,000 residents, who live in tents or mud homes, struggling to survive without sufficient food and health care. One Syrian-American aid group worked for years to find a way to ease their plight. In recent days, the group has sent a first wave of critically needed supplies with the help of an obscure United States military provision known as the Denton Program. It lets American aid groups use available space on U.S. military cargo planes to transport humanitarian goods such as food and medical supplies to approved countries."

June 23, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Allison McCann & Amy Walker of the New York Times: "In the year since Roe fell, 20 states enacted laws banning or restricting abortion, forcing a rapid shift in the country;s patchwork of abortion access. Clinic owners scrambled to adjust, canceling appointments and helping patients travel elsewhere. Some clinics relocated, while others stayed open to provide the services they still could. Many simply closed, leaving behind empty buildings.... At least 61 clinics, Planned Parenthood facilities and doctors' offices stopped offering abortions in the last year. Most were in the 14 states that banned abortion outright. But the uncertainty surrounding laws in several other states also caused providers there to shut down. Physicians said the laws in some states were unclear. Others pointed to the possibility of criminal penalties, including prison time, making the prospect of offering abortion services risky. About half of the clinics have shifted their focus to other services, such as birth control and prenatal care.... At least a dozen providers moved and opened new clinics in friendlier states." ~~~

~~~ The Alito Five Don't Care about Truth OR Consequences. Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "The crisis in reproductive health care that Dobbs propelled is acute and growing. There have been, in other words, alarming consequences.... And so the question: A year after sowing so much chaos and misery, are any of the five members in Justice Samuel Alito's Dobbs majority sorry? Even a little?... Valuing fetal life over the lives of women and girls was no doubt a feature, not a bug, in the majority's view; that was, after all, the point of Dobbs.... So, no, I don't think the Dobbs justices are sorry. They did what they were put there to do, what they wanted to do, and they were quite explicit in washing their hands of the consequences."

Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "Special counsel Jack Smith has compelled at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity, part of a current push by federal prosecutors to swiftly nail down evidence in the sprawling criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.... A parade of related witnesses are being told to appear before the grand jury with no chance for delay.... Prosecutors have played hardball with some of the witnesses in recent weeks, refusing to grant extensions to grand jury subpoenas for testimony and demanding they comply before the end of this month, sources said. In the situations where prosecutors have given witnesses immunity, the special counsel's office arrived at the courthouse in Washington ready to compel their testimony after the witnesses indicated they would decline to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment, the sources added.... The two Nevada Trump electors who were given the limited immunity -- the state's Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald and another Nevada GOP official, Jim DeGraffenreid -- both testified before the grand jury last week."

Vaughn Hillyard & Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Former President Trump spoke on Thursday at a fundraiser on behalf of people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... 'I'm going to make a contribution,' Trump told the gathering hosted at his own private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The group, Patriot Freedom Project, included at least one actual defendant along with multiple family members of those charged in the attack. An attendee of the fundraiser verified a video posted online of Trump's remarks. The former president heralded the defendants.... Trump said ... that 'BLM and antifa' were behind the Capitol attack." MB: Don't hold your breaths, suckers, waiting for the contribution.

Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: “Attorney General Merrick B. Garland defended the Justice Department's five-year investigation of Hunter Biden on Friday, forcefully rebutting claims promoted by House Republicans that he blocked federal prosecutors in Delaware from expanding the inquiry to encompass a greater range of crimes. On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee released testimony from two I.R.S. officials who said that David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware who has overseen the inquiry, told them that Justice Department officials prevented him from bringing cases in Washington, D.C., and California. The I.R.S. officials also claimed in their testimony that Mr. Weiss told them that he was rebuffed in his request to be appointed a special counsel.... Mr. Garland denied both assertions during a news conference at the department's headquarters, saying he had given Mr. Weiss 'complete authority' to 'continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to.'... Mr. Garland and Mr. Weiss have both made public statements that Mr. Weiss had full authority over the case." Read on for more details.

New York. Jonah Bromwich & Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "Amid a suicide crisis in New York City's jails, a correction officer falsified records to show that scores of her peers had taken a suicide prevention course that they had not actually completed, Bronx prosecutors and the Department of Investigation said on Friday. The Rikers Island officer, Vinette Tucker-Frederick, was said by the Bronx district attorney's office to have awarded credit for the course to 74 officers who were on leave in 2021. She gave their login information to colleagues and told them to take the digital training in the place of the absent officers, prosecutors said.... A nine-year veteran of the Department of Correction, Ms. Tucker-Frederick, 41, was charged with tampering with public records and identity theft and has been suspended indefinitely without pay."

Ukraine, et al. Tara John, et al., of CNN: "Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of private military group Wagner, has vowed to retaliate after accusing Russia's military leadership of killing a 'huge amount' of his forces in strikes -- prompting Russia's domestic intelligence service to open a criminal case against him. In a series of Telegram posts on Friday, Prigozhin -- who has frequently criticized Russia's traditional military hierarchy -- ... said strikes were launched 'on our camps' and that 'a huge amount of our fighters were killed, our comrades in arms. We will make a decision about how to respond to these atrocities. The next step is ours.' Russia's Ministry of Defense has denied the claims, calling it an 'informational provocation.' The mercenary then warned that retribution would be meted out." ~~~

~~~ Patrick Reevell of ABC News: "The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the Kremlin's justifications for its invasion of Ukraine are based on lies, in another extraordinary attack on the country's military and political leadership. Prigozhin, a key ally of Putin, in a video posted Friday, contradicted the public explanations for the war, including the central claim made by Putin that the 2022 invasion was necessary to prevent an attack from Ukraine.... But in his video address, Prigozhin, whose fighters have played a leading role in the war, said that was not true and there had been no imminent risk of attack from Ukraine.... He blamed [Sergey] Shoigu, the defense ministry and a 'clan of oligarchs' for starting the war. He accused Shoigu of seeking glory and wanting 'to rob' Ukraine and divide up its assets."

Ariane de Vogue of CNN: "The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling, revived the Biden administration's immigration guidelines that prioritize which noncitizens to deport, dismissing a challenge from two Republican state attorneys general who argued the policies conflicted with immigration law. The court said the states did not have the 'standing,' or the legal right, to sue in the first place in a decision that will further clarify when a state can challenge a federal policy in court going forward." At 10:30 am ET, this is a developing story. The Washington Post's story, by Robert Barnes, is here. Kavanaugh wrote the opinion. Lone dissenter: Insufferable Sam.

Niall Stanage of the Hill: "A quixotic push by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) to impeach President Biden was placed on the back burner Thursday. But even some Republican insiders fear the damage might already have been done. Boebert, one of the fiercest among the GOP's right-wing firebrands, surprised many of her colleagues by introducing an impeachment resolution earlier this week. The move caused disarray in the House Republican conference and the furor was only defused with a deal to send the resolution for consideration by committees.... But [Boebert] is insistent that, if it becomes clear the gambit is solely about delay, she will bring up her resolution 'every day for the rest of my time here in Congress.'... Democrats are ... convinced that the politics of the matter will play to their advantage."

Everybody Is Fed Up with Sen. Potato Head. Al Weaver of the Hill: "The chance that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) will lift his hold on military promotions over the Pentagon's abortion policy anytime soon has dimmed drastically as Senate Republicans struggle to make a deal with him to end the months-long saga.... As of this week, Tuberville is holding up 250 promotions for general and flag officers that are normally approved on the Senate floor via unanimous consent, and the anger among Democrats has not dissipated.... President Biden and the Pentagon also heaped more pressure on Tuberville this week. The president referred to the 'former football coach from Alabama' during a fundraiser in Los Gatos, Calif., earlier this week, calling his hold 'bizarre.'" MB: Maybe if the Senate dining room started serving cute baked potato heads, Tuberville would take the hint.

~~~~~~~~~~

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden emphasized common ground with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India during a lavish state visit on Thursday, publicly skirting points of friction over the government's crackdown on human rights in India and Russia's war in Ukraine in hopes of bolstering economic and geopolitical ties with the world's most populous nation. The president treated Mr. Modi to a day of red-carpet pageantry and showered him with expansive flattery as he sought to draw India closer at a time when the United States finds itself locked in open conflict with Moscow and in an uneasy standoff with China. But even as the leaders announced a range of initiatives, they made no evident progress resolving the disagreements that have strained the relationship in recent months. The visit's most surprising breakthrough was a modest if notable one as Mr. Biden coaxed Mr. Modi into taking questions from reporters at a joint news conference, one of the rare times the nationalist prime minister has done so in his nearly decade-long tenure. Challenged on his record on human rights and religious freedom, Mr. Modi insisted that democracy is 'in India's DNA' and denied that his government has fostered prejudice in serving its people." MB: Yeah, show me an authoritarian who isn't a lying SOS. See related story linked under "Way Beyond the Beltway" below. ~~~

     ~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "The mix of political adversaries and Biden family members created a dinner scene so dissonant that no amount of glass clinking could have drowned out the partisan undercurrents.... By the end of the dinner, the prime minister was one of the few guests who had publicly waded into politics. 'You are soft-spoken,' Mr. Modi told the president, 'but when it comes to action, you are very strong.'" Marie: Anyway, lots of glam photos. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the official guest list, via the New York Times. Woe be the person who had to make up the seating arrangements.

Lisa Mascaro of the AP: "Eager to impeach President Joe Biden, hard-right House Republicans forced a vote Thursday that sent the matter to congressional committees in a clear demonstration of the challenge that Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces in controlling the majority party.... Rep. Lauren Boebert, backed by allies, was able to use House rules to force a snap vote on such a grave constitutional matter. The 219-208 party-line vote sent her resolution to committees for possible consideration, like any other bill. They are under no obligation to do anything.... During Thursday's debate, Republicans were admonished multiple times by the presiding officer to tone down their remarks.... In a private meeting Wednesday, McCarthy encouraged lawmakers to consider the traditional process for bringing such consequential legislation forward. Boebert had used what is called a privileged resolution to force the vote.... Rank-and-file Republicans were angry at being forced into the position of having to vote on a resolution to impeach Biden even though they had not gone through the traditional process of an impeachment inquiry. They resented a single lawmaker jumping the queue of priorities." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie's Note to Rank-and-File Members: Nobody "forced" you sheeples to vote "yay." ~~~

~~~ Al Weaver of the Hill: "Senate Republicans are questioning the push by House conservatives to impeach President Biden and other administration officials, arguing the moves are a waste of time and futile efforts that likely lack an impeachable offense. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) surprised even her own GOP colleagues Tuesday when she filed a privileged motion that would force a vote on a resolution to impeach Biden." MB: Yeah, well, I'm mighty upset Boebert (allegedly!) plagiarized MTG's impeachment filing against Chris Wray. (Related ridiculous story linked below.) (Also linked yesterday.)

Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "The House Ethics Committee announced an expanded investigation into Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in a letter Thursday, to include allegations that he fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits, marking a departure from the panel's typical practice of staying out of matters that coincide with federal charges against lawmakers. The move comes a month after the freshman congressman was indicted on federal charges, which allege that he defrauded his donors, used their money for his personal benefit and wrongfully claimed unemployment benefits. Santos faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of lying to the House of Representatives on financial forms. The congressman pleaded not guilty in May...." The Hill's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "... the names of the two guarantors [of Rep. George Santos' $500,000 bond] were unsealed [Thursday] and revealed to be two of his relatives: his father, Gercino dos Santos Jr., and his aunt Elma Preven. The disclosure put an end to weeks of speculation that was heightened by Mr. Santos's vehement opposition to making his guarantors' names public, as they are in most cases.... They did not have to put up cash or property to secure his release, but they told a magistrate judge they would be 'personally responsible' for ensuring that he appeared in court and followed the conditions of his bond. If he did not, the guarantors would be on the hook for the entirety of the $500,000 bond." The ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Nick Visser of the Huffington Post: Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) thinks maybe Joe Biden is at fault for the deaths of five people on the privately owned-and-operated submersible craft Titan. "You know, we've got to look into it, see what's true and what isn't.... What appears to be the case is epic failure in leadership. Where exactly that leadership failure is, I don't know. Is it the White House, Coast Guard, Navy? I'm not sure," Crenshaw said in a statement. MB: Yeah, I'm not sure, either, Danny Boy.

Seen at the Courthouse. Ryan Reilly, et al., of NBC News: "The deputy director of Election Day operations for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign appeared before a federal grand jury Thursday as part of special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Jan. 6 and efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of presidential power. Gary Michael Brown, who has been accused of being involved in the so-called fake electors scheme after the 2020 election, was seen headed into the third-floor grand jury space at a courthouse in Washington where a grand jury has been hearing testimony about efforts to stop the transfer of power to President Joe Biden. Stanley Woodward -- an attorney who is representing several Trump aides, including Walt Nauta, who was indicted along with Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents case -- accompanied Brown in court Thursday." ~~~

~~~ Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Federal prosecutors investigating Donald Trump's retention of national security material were examining evidence within weeks of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago last year that he might have handled classified documents at his Bedminster club in New Jersey, according to two people close to the matter. The indications of classified documents at Bedminster so alarmed prosecutors that they focused part of the investigation on whether Trump might have transported the materials or disclosed their contents there in addition to refusing to return them to the government, the people said.... Within weeks of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, the justice department sought to act on the indications of classified documents at Bedminster when it told the Trump legal team that prosecutors believed the former president still possessed classified materials, the people said. The message in the letter, which became a formal court motion filed under seal weeks later, was clear: arrange for new searches of all of the Trump properties because, as of that time, the only place that had been combed for classified documents was the Mar-a-Lago resort.... [Trump's] legal team ultimately decided on working with the justice department.... But when the new searches of the Trump properties by contractors took place, they found no classified documents at Bedminster, according to people familiar with what they certified...." (Also linked yesterday.)

MEANWHILE on Hollywood Blvd. Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~~

Someone did this to Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. pic.twitter.com/hYODCOfZBq

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 22, 2023

L'État, C'est Moi. As Trump's Pathologies Go, So Goes the GOP. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Donald Trump did not -- and does not -- recognize any distinction between himself and the office of the presidency.... This view is as close a fundamental rejection of American constitutionalism as you can imagine -- and it helps explain much of the former president's behavior in and out of office.... For Trump, he is the president. He is the government. The documents, in his mind, belonged to him.... In addition to covering for the former president in the face of federal charges, the other Republicans vying for the nomination have adopted his view that the independence of federal law enforcement violates his (and potentially their) authority as president.... There is the recent enthusiasm among so-called nationalist or populist conservatives for using the state to enforce a particular social order.... As the Republican Party has come to shape itself around [Trump's] person, it has also adopted his worldview, which is to say, the worldview and ideology of the boss. No longer content to run government for business, the Republican Party now hopes to run government as a business.... The next Republican president, in short, will almost certainly be the worst boss you, and American democracy, have ever had."

Marie: Forgot to say: several MSNBC commentators, not to mention Adam Schiff during the hearing itself, remarked on how John Durham, during his sworn testimony yesterday, couldn't remember much of anything about the Mueller report -- like about how Trump said publicly, "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing." Then, as the New York Times reported in July 2018, "As it turns out, that same day, the Russians -- whether they had tuned in or not -- made their first effort to break into the servers used by Mrs. Clinton's personal office, according to a sweeping 29-page indictment unsealed Friday by the special counsel's office that charged 12 Russians with election hacking." But Durham had no idea. If he read the Mueller report, he had to have read it quite selectively.

Luke Broadwater & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "The lead I.R.S. agent investigating whether Hunter Biden committed tax crimes told Congress his team uncovered evidence that Mr. Biden had invoked his father, who was then out of office, while pressing a potential Chinese business partner in 2017 to move ahead with a proposed energy deal, House Republicans said. In testimony made public on Thursday, Gary Shapley, an I.R.S. agent since 2009 who supervised the tax agency's investigation into Hunter Biden, said his team used a search warrant to obtain a July 30, 2017, WhatsApp message from Mr. Biden to Henry Zhao, a Chinese businessman. In a summary of the message, provided to the House Ways and Means Committee by Mr. Shapley, Mr. Biden told Mr. Zhao that he was sitting with his father and that 'we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled.... And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.'... But it was not immediately clear whether Hunter Biden had been with his father when he sent the message or what his father ... knew about his son's negotiations with his potential Chinese partners." A Washington Post story is here. An NBC News story is here.

Presidential Race 2024. Will Weissert of the AP: "Former Texas congressman Will Hurd, a onetime CIA officer and fierce critic of Donald Trump, announced Thursday that he's running for president, hoping to build momentum as a more moderate alternative to the Republican front-runner Hurd, 45, served three terms in the House through January 2021, becoming the chamber's only Black Republican during his final two years in office." (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's story is here.

"Friend-of-the-Court." Devan Cole & Audrey Ash of CNN: "Last July, [Supreme Court Justice Samuel] Alito was feted in Rome by Notre Dame's Religious Liberty Initiative, which has in recent years joined the growing ranks of conservative legal activists who are finding new favor at the Supreme Court -- and forging ties with the justices. The group's legal clinic has filed a series of 'friend-of-the-court' briefs in religious liberty cases before the Supreme Court since its founding in 2020. After the high court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, the group paid for Alito's trip to Rome to deliver a keynote address at a gala hosted at a palace in the heart of the city.... At the start of his speech, he thanked the group for the 'warm hospitality' it provided to him and his wife, which, he later said, included a stay at a hotel that 'looks out over the Roman Forum.' During various parts of the address, he gleefully mocked critics of his ruling overturning the constitutional right to abortion....

"Alito stressed in a statement to CNN that his invitation to speak in Rome was not specifically from the initiative's clinic, which submits the briefs to the court. 'My understanding is that Notre Dame Law School's Religious Liberty Initiative has a number of components, only one of which is a clinic that, like the legal clinics at many other law schools, files amicus briefs in the Supreme Court,' the statement said. 'I was not invited to speak in Rome by the clinic.'...

"A few months after Justice Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in at the Supreme Court in 2020..., she sold her private residence to a recently hired professor who was taking on a leadership position at the [Religious Liberty Initiative].... Neither Barrett's real estate deal nor Alito's appearance in Italy appear to violate any of the court's ethics rules, according to several experts interviewed by CNN."

Jesse Wegman of the New York Times: "For someone who wields unimaginable power and exudes utter confidence in his own moral rectitude, Justice Samuel Alito is an exceptionally touchy guy. Exhibit A: His decision to devote time and energy to a newspaper essay defending himself against charges of ethical and legal violations that had not yet been published, and which he considered invalid in the first place. The essay, in both form and substance, epitomizes the bitterness and superciliousness that he has demonstrated in regular doses throughout his years on the Supreme Court.... For most of his 17 years on the court, he has appeared to relish playing the role of bare-knuckled partisan soldier, standing athwart history in loyal service to a vengeful, theocratic right-wing movement that elevates religious liberty for some over basic freedoms for all....It is this odor of impunity, this mockery of legitimate critique, this disregard for the rights and freedoms of millions of Americans-- this 'stench' of politicization, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor put it during oral arguments in the case that eventually overturned Roe v. Wade == that defines today's Supreme Court." ~~~

     ~~~ They Who Shall Not Be Questioned. Marie: See also Jamelle Bouie's column, linked above, on Trump's hubris. Alito shares that same pathology, IMO. Just as Trump told Bret Baier recently that he didn't plan to debate other GOP presidential candidates because it was "unfair" for candidates with lower poll numbers to criticize him, Alito argues that's it's unfair for low-paid reporters at a nonprofit news organization to dig into his luxury vacations and implicitly criticize him for neither reporting the gifts nor recusing himself from opining on the giftor's case that came before the court.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "The rightwing billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow is facing a possible showdown with Senate investigators looking into the financial arrangement behind lavish vacations, private flights and other perks that were given to the conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas but never publicly disclosed. At the centre of the Senate investigation are questions about the tax treatment of the gifts -- which could be worth millions of dollars -- and what Crow's financial treatment of those expenses might reveal about the true nature of his relationship with Thomas.... [Sen. Ron] Wyden [D-Ore.] has accused Crow of 'stonewalling' basic questions about his gifts to Thomas and his family.... He has also said he is discussing next steps to compel Crow to respond fully to his questions, including by subpoena."

John Flesher of the AP: "Chemical manufacturer 3M Co. will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and a host of consumer products, the company said Thursday. The deal would compensate water providers for pollution with per- and polyfluorinated substances, known collectively as PFAS -- a broad class of chemicals used in nonstick, water- and grease-resistant products such as clothing and cookware. Described as 'forever chemicals' because they don't degrade naturally in the environment, PFAS have been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers." The New York Times story is here.

Michael Mitsanas of NBC News: "A local Indiana chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national conservative parents organization, apologized on Thursday for quoting Adolf Hitler in a newsletter. The Hamilton County chapter of Moms for Liberty quoted Hitler's remarks at a 1935 rally on the front page of its new newsletter on Wednesday. The quote, placed directly below the masthead, read: 'He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future.' After the Indianapolis Star first reported this story on Wednesday, the local chapter of Moms for Liberty added additional 'context' to the original newsletter, saying the quote from this horrific leader should put parents on alert.... If the government has control over our children today, they control our country's future,' the note read." MB: So, ah, first Hitler was giving good advice, then he was giving bad advice? P.S. Lose the comma after "alone."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Mia Gingerich of Media Matters: "In an abhorrent bid to further its demonization of trans people and the medical professionals who provide medically necessary care, Fox News' website is altering articles from The Associated Press and Reuters to replace the phrase 'gender-affirming care' with the terms 'sex change' or 'sex reassignment' -- phrases that the AP, trans journalists, and LGBTQ rights advocates deem outdated -- and frequently removing or replacing references to 'care' or 'medical care.' In one of the most recent examples, Fox fabricated a quote from an Oregon state senator, putting words in the mouth of an elected official. In changing the text of AP articles without disclosing the edits to its readers, Fox News is obscuring the true impact of legislation that removes a broad range of lifesaving treatment options for trans youth. Both the AP and Reuters confirmed that altering their content to change the meaning or accuracy of the reporting violates their rules."

Beyond the Beltway

Kentucky. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Kentucky's GOP governor hopeful and Attorney General Daniel Cameron has been accused of taking cash from officials his office was investigating. The Daily Beast uncovered donations of $6,900 made to Cameron's office in March and April from people who run an addiction recovery center that was being investigated by the state, it reported. The donations came at the end of an investigation by his office, which began in 2022, but it wasn't until an open records request by the Beast that he recused himself from the investigation.... Edgewater Recovery Center is being investigated by the Kentucky Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse, which is under Cameron's office. He scored cash from the owner of the recovery center, the company's lawyer, directors of the medical unit, workers in HR and the clinical practices.... To make matters worse, Cameron attacked a local judge for doing the exact same thing at the same time."

New Mexico. Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "The original armorer on the film 'Rust,' who was charged with involuntary manslaughter after a gun that was loaded with live ammunition fired on the set and killed the cinematographer, will face an additional charge of evidence tampering related to narcotics, a special prosecutor in the case said Thursday. The new charge against the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 'relates to the transfer of narcotics to another person' on Oct. 21, 2021, the day of the shooting, 'with the intent to prevent criminal prosecution,' the prosecutor, Kari T. Morrissey, said in a statement. A lawyer for Ms. Gutierrez-Reed said that she intended to plead not guilty to both the evidence tampering and the involuntary manslaughter charges." The article goes on describe discord among the investigators & prosecutors in the case. The Guardian's story is here.

Wyoming. Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "A Wyoming judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the first state law specifically banning the use of pills for abortion, the most common method in the country. Just over a week before the ban was scheduled to take effect, Judge Melissa Owens of Teton County District Court granted a temporary restraining order, putting the law on hold pending further court proceedings. Ruling from the bench after a hearing that lasted about two hours, Judge Owens said that the plaintiffs, who include four health care providers, 'have clearly shown probable success on the merits and that at least some of the plaintiffs will suffer possible irreparable injury' if the ban were to take effect." MB: Yeah, well, a photo of Judge Owens, suggests she is young enough to still be ovulating. Lady judges should not be allowed to rule on these things because obviously they are biased, not to mention they might make their rulings on a PMS day.

Way Beyond

India/Russia. Nidhi Verma of Reuters: "India's rising imports of Russian oil hit a record high of about 1.95 million barrels per day (bpd) in May denting purchases from Iraq and Saudi Arabia fell, tanker data from trade and industry sources showed. India, the world's third biggest oil consumer and importer, buys more than 80% of its oil from overseas markets. Its refiners have been gorging on Russian oil since the West imposed sanctions over Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine."

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live update of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Friday is here: "Ukrainian missiles hit a bridge connecting Russian-held territory in Kherson and the Crimean Peninsula, Russian officials said Thursday.... RIA Novosti, a Russian state-operated news outlet, shared a video showing a large hole in the Chonhar bridge -- known as the 'Gate to Crimea' -- surrounded by what appeared to be missile fragments. No casualties were reported. The bridge is used by the Russian military to move between Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and other Russian-held areas.... The United Nations added Russia's armed forces to a list of global offenders for killing 136 children in Ukraine in 2022, according to a U.N. Security Council document seen by Reuters.... Russia Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Moscow will finish forming a 'reserve army' by the end of June as well as a new army corps.... India is ready to contribute in 'any way we can to restore peace' between Russia and Ukraine, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a news conference alongside President Biden. New Delhi has rebuked Moscow for the war in Ukraine, but has not joined international sanctions and continues to buy energy and weapons from Russia."

AP: "A Moscow court on Thursday ruled that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich must remain in jail on espionage charges until at least late August, rejecting the American journalist's appeal to be released. The 31-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested in late March while on a reporting trip. A Moscow court ruled last month to keep him in custody until Aug. 30, but his lawyers had challenged the decision." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

New York Times: "A vast multinational search for five people who had descended to view the wreckage of the sunken R.M.S. Titanic ended on Thursday after pieces of the privately owned submersible vessel that had carried them were found on the ocean floor, evidence of a 'catastrophic implosion' with no survivors, according to the U.S. Coast Guard." ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "The U.S. Navy, using data from a secret network of underwater sensors designed to track hostile submarines, detected 'an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion' in the vicinity of the Titan submersible at the time communications with the vessel were lost on Sunday, two senior Navy officials said on Thursday."

Washington Post: "A large tornado tore through the town of Matador, Tex., leaving four people dead and 10 injured, emergency services said early Thursday. The destructive tornado hit amid a siege of violent storms stretching from around Houston to Denver on Wednesday afternoon and night."