March 23, 2023

Marie: Reposted here from Reality Chex Annex:

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Colby Hall of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump ramped up his inciteful rhetoric in a social media post that pushed back on calls for peaceful protest amid reports of his impending arrest.... Trump called for [Alvin] Bragg to drop the case in an ALL CAPS rant posted Thursday morning[.]... Trump's rejection of those calling for calm -- 'THEY TELL US TO BE PEACEFUL!' -- comes as political tensions remain high in the country.... It does not take a genius to see that Trump is suggesting that a violent approach to protest -- like the one that struck the Capitol on Jan. 6 -- is still very much on the table. In classic Trump fashion, however, he is also not saying that." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump made his remarks in two all-caps posts, which Hall republishes here. I am not reproducing them, but both posts are worth reading. He calls Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg "a Soros backed animal" and says the justice system Bragg represents 'is the Gestapo."

Zach Montague of the New York Times: " A Pennsylvania woman who steered a group of rioters toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office on Jan. 6, 2021, and directed others inside the Capitol to steal a laptop computer was sentenced in Federal District Court in Washington on Thursday to three years in prison. The woman, Riley June Williams, 24, was convicted in November of several charges including felony civil disorder and impeding officers trying to defend the Capitol Rotunda. The jury deadlocked on whether she had played a role in the theft of the computer, which Ms. Pelosi used for Zoom calls during the coronavirus pandemic, and whether her actions amounted to obstruction of Congress's certification of the 2020 electoral vote." The NBC News report is here.

Florida. Sarah Boboltz of the Huffington Post: "The principal of Florida's Tallahassee Classical School is out of a job after parents complained that their sixth-grade children were shown Michelangelo's 16th century 'David' sculpture, with one parent calling it 'pornographic,' the Tallahassee Democrat first reported. The now-former principal, Hope Carrasquilla, told HuffPost the situation was also 'a little more complicated than that,' noting that the usual protocol is to send parents a letter before students are shown such classical artwork. Due to 'a series of miscommunications,' the letter did not go out to the sixth-grade parents, and some complained, Carrasquilla said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gosh, I sure hope none of those parents ever takes their impressionable children on an educational tour of Italy, because there are naked statues everywhere. Standing in Florence's main square -- the Piazza della Signoria -- right in front of the town hall -- the Palazzo Vecchio -- is a copy of the David, where the original once stood. Both are huge, BTW, but you do have to go into a museum to see the original.

Michigan. CBS/AP: "The parents of a teenager who killed four students at a Michigan high school can face trial for involuntary manslaughter, the state appeals court said Thursday in a groundbreaking case of criminal responsibility for the acts of a child. The murders would not have happened if the parents hadn't purchased a gun for Ethan Crumbley or if they had taken him home from Oxford High School on the day of the shooting, when staff became alarmed about his extreme drawings, the appeals court said."

New York Times: "Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are questioning Shou Chew, the C.E.O. of the viral video app. Their main concerns are data privacy and its Chinese ownership." This is a liveblog of the hearing.

From an NBC News liveblog: "The Manhattan grand jury that has been investigating the hush money case involving [Donald] Trump is not expected to consider it today, NBC News has confirmed. The grand jury was set to return to court in lower Manhattan on Thursday, but it is expected to meet about a different case, according to three sources familiar with the matter.... Members of the jury have been meeting Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told them to stay home yesterday." ~~~

     ~~~ Update from the liveblog: "The Manhattan District Attorney's Office sent a lengthy letter today to three House GOP committee chairmen arguing that they are overstepping their bounds in their quest to obtain information related to the hush money case involving [Donald] Trump. General counsel Leslie B. Dubeck, writing on behalf of [DA Alvin] Bragg, said in the letter that the Republican chairmen are embarking on an unprecedented inquiry 'into pending local prosecution.... [Your] letter seeks non-public information about a pending criminal investigation, which is confidential under state law,' Dubeck wrote, adding that 'it is clear that Congress cannot have any legitimate legislative task relating to the oversight of local prosecutors enforcing state law.'"

Arizona. Jacques Billeaud of the AP: "The Arizona Supreme Court has declined to hear most of Republican Kari Lake's appeal in a challenge of her defeat in the governor's race but revived a claim that was dismissed by a trial court. In an order Wednesday, the state&'s highest court said a lower court erroneously dismissed Lake's claim challenging the application of signature verification procedures on early ballots in Maricopa County. The court sent the claim back to a trial court to consider."

~~~~~~~~~~

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, moving forward with its fight against high inflation after taking dramatic steps to contain a banking crisis." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story, by Jeanna Smialek, is here. ~~~

~~~ Alan Rappeport, et al., of the New York Times: "Two of the nation's top economic policymakers on Wednesday said they were focused on determining how the failure of Silicon Valley Bank had happened and suggested changes to federal regulation and oversight might be needed to prevent future runs on American banks. The discussion of stricter oversight by Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, and Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen came as lawmakers, the financial industry and investors are working to figure out why Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed and as policymakers try to ensure other firms don't suffer the same fate. At a news conference following the Fed's announcement that it would raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point, Mr. Powell said he was focused on the question of what had gone wrong at Silicon Valley Bank, which was overseen by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.... Ms. Yellen echoed his comments at a Senate hearing on Wednesday afternoon...."

"Ready for His Perp Walk," Ctd.

Katelyn Polantz & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... Donald Trump's defense attorney Evan Corcoran is scheduled to testify Friday before the grand jury investigating classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago after a new order from a federal appeals court, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The US DC Circuit Court of Appeals said that Corcoran must provide additional testimony and turn over documents about the former president as part of the criminal investigation into possible mishandling of classified documents. The source said Trump's side is unlikely to appeal to the Supreme Court." ~~~

     ~~~ Katherine Faulders & Alexander Mallin of ABC News: "D.C. district judge Beryl Howell [had] ruled [last Friday] that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith's office had made a 'prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations,' according to sources who described her Friday order, and that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers, [Evan] Corcoran and Jennifer Little, could therefore be pierced. Sources ... further described to ABC New the six topics that Corcoran was ordered by Judge Howell to testify about, over which he had previously sought to assert attorney-client privilege. The topics indicate that Smith has zeroed in on [Donald] Trump's actions surrounding his response to a May 11 DOJ subpoena that sought all remaining classified documents in his possession -- which investigators have described as key to Trump's alleged 'scheme' to obstruct the investigation...."

Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "After forcing Department of Justice attorneys to burn the midnight oil, the D.C. Circuit quickly affirmed that ... Donald Trump's legal team must turn over 'documents' to special counsel Jack Smith. Details of the ruling are sparse, as it was filed pursuant to an appeal of a sealed case. The public portion makes clear, however, that it will fuel the special counsel's ongoing investigation into the former president's possession of highly classified documents, which sparked last year's FBI search at Mar-a-Lago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

      ~~~ Update: The Washington Post's story by Josh Dawsey & others, is here: "The panel of three judges issued a brief order Wednesday afternoon directing the parties 'to comply with the district court's March 17, 2023, order to produce documents' and ending an emergency hold on a ruling last week by a lower-court judge." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "The Manhattan grand jury that has been hearing evidence about Donald J. Trump's involvement with a hush-money payment to a porn star will not meet on Wednesday, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, suggesting that any indictment of the former president would come Thursday at the earliest."

Chris Stokel-Walker of BuzzFeed News: "Many are envisioning -- some gleefully -- what a Trump arrest would look like. Among them is Eliot Higgins, best known as the founder of open-source investigative journalism website Bellingcat. This week, Higgins used the AI image generator Midjourney to depict Trump's arrest. He shared 50 images on Twitter, and they quickly went viral. As a result, he said on Wednesday, Midjourney appeared to have banned him from the service." To see Higgins' images, many of which are fairly convincing, click on the second link above (at "shared 50 images on Twitter").

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. DeSantis Plans to Expand "Don't Say Gay." Anthony Isaguierre of the AP: " Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis′ administration is moving to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the controversial law critics call 'Don't Say Gay' as the Republican governor continues to focus on cultural issues ahead of his expected presidential run. The proposal, which would not require legislative approval, is scheduled for a vote next month before the state Board of Education and has been put forward by the state Education Department, both of which are led by appointees of the governor.... The initial law that DeSantis championed last spring bans those lessons in kindergarten through the third grade." MB: Once you get a horrible idea, don't drop it. Expand it.

Mississippi. Sarah Fowler of the New York Times: "As residents [of Jackson, Mississippi,] had to boil their tap water and businesses closed because their faucets were dry, [a water-main] break at [a country club golf course] squandered an estimated five million gallons of drinking water a day in a city that had none to spare. It is enough water to serve the daily needs of 50,000 people, or a third of the city residents who rely on the beleaguered water utility.... Newly appointed water officials say the city discovered the broken mainline pipe in 2016 and left it to gush.... [Another recently-discovered leak] is spewing water 30 feet in the air like a geyser and losing the city as much as one million gallons a day.... In Jackson, the city's problems with leaks are so extensive, its systems so antiquated, its chronic staffing problems so overwhelming, that many leaks, seemingly of any size, have gone undetected or unaddressed.... Outside the country club on Tuesday afternoon, construction crews were preparing to begin repairs, which are expected to take a couple of weeks."

Virginia. Laura Vozzella, et al., of the Washington Post: "Newly released surveillance video shows a group of law enforcement officers in Virginia enter Irvo Otieno's cell in the Henrico County Jail, and at least one appears to throw several punches in an encounter just hours before Otieno’s death at a mental hospital. Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man, died at Central State Hospital as sheriff's deputies from Henrico County and hospital staff piled on him for approximately 11 minutes on March 6.... Mark Krudys, a lawyer for the family, has said that video of the jail shows Henrico County sheriff's deputies beating and pepper-spraying Otieno."

Wyoming. Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming -- at least temporarily -- after a judge on Wednesday ordered that a newly enacted ban be blocked until further court proceedings in a lawsuit challenging it. After a three-hour hearing, Judge Melissa Owens of Teton County District Court granted a temporary restraining order, pausing a law that took effect Sunday. The law would make providing almost all abortions a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The lawsuit ... also challenges another law, scheduled to take effect on July 1, that would make Wyoming the first state to explicitly ban the use of pills for abortion. Now, the medication abortion ban and the overall ban will be considered at a hearing where the plaintiffs will seek an injunction to suspend both laws until the full lawsuit can be heard."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels for a two-day summit, which will include continued E.U. support for Ukraine, measures to increase 'collective pressure' on Russia, and decisions on sending more ammunition to Kyiv. The United Nations' Secretary-General, António Guterres, will also attend.... Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu handed out medals to the two fighter pilots responsible for dumping fuel and then hitting the propeller of a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea, according to the Russian state news agency, Tass.... Lawmakers in Sweden formally voted to allow the country to join NATO.... Russia and Belarus have been barred from the ice hockey world championships, the international federation announced.... The International Olympic Committee cannot be a referee in global political disputes, the president of its ruling body Thomas Bach said, after backlash for refusing to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Games...." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Marc Santora, et al., of the New York Times: "Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, made a rare and defiant trip near the front line on Wednesday, personally thanking soldiers who have been fighting in the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, which has become a potent symbol of Ukrainian resistance. The trip to the Bakhmut area came on a day when air and seaborne drones attacked the Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea and a Russian missile ripped into a nine-story apartment complex in Zaporizhzhia, in the south, killing at least one person and injuring more than 30 others. At least seven other people were killed, including an ambulance driver, and nine others wounded when a drone strike hit a college in Rzhyshchiv, about 50 miles southeast of the capital, Kyiv, military officials said on Wednesday."

Ron the Uncertain. Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida this week clarified his description of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a 'territorial dispute' and said that Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, was a 'war criminal' who should be 'held accountable.' Mr. DeSantis, a Republican who is expected to announce a presidential campaign in the coming months, made his latest comments in an interview with the British broadcaster Piers Morgan, who shared them with The New York Post and Fox News, both owned by Rupert Murdoch." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No, DeSantolini did not "clarify" his position. Instead, he tried one tack and when that bombed, he tried another. Like most tin-pot dictatorial types, Ron has no principles, so he just test-runs crap and has no qualms about contradicting himself. He is trying to define himself as a "winner," as he said elsewhere in his interview with Morgan, and "winning" means "whatever works." ~~~

     ~~~ David Kihara of Politico: "... during an interview with Morgan set to air this week, DeSantis called Putin ... 'a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons,' repeating a similar line he had used in early March.... Both lines echoed a 2014 quip from then-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in which he said, 'Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country.'" MB: What DeSantis lacks in gravitas, he makes up for in banality.

U.K. Rob Picheta & Luke McGee of CNN: "Boris Johnson admitted he misled lawmakers but claimed he did so unintentionally, as the former British prime minister fought to save his political career at a tense and combative hearing into the 'Partygate' scandal that contributed to the collapse of his government. Johnson, flanked by lawyers in a packed committee room, sparred with lawmakers during a heated three-hour grilling at the hands of members of parliament (MPs) on the Privileges Committee on Tuesday afternoon. He was rebuffed by members of the panel, whose televised interrogation of Johnson is the major spectacle of a months-long investigation...."

The following link belongs in "Infotainment," but I don't have an Infotainment section today, so here ya go:

Gina Kolata of the New York Times: "By analyzing seven samples of hair said to have come from Ludwig van Beethoven, researchers debunked myths about the revered composer while raising new questions about his life and death."

March 22, 2023

Marie: My Internet service was down for hours and now the Reality Chex site is behaving badly, so don't expect much today. If you post a comment, please SAVE it, as there's a high likelihood it will "be disappeared." Thanks for your patience. I have contacted the host Squarespace, but their tech services are extremely limited & take forever.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "A day after meeting with cast members from the hit show 'Ted Lasso,' [President] Biden bestowed National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals to a passel of acclaimed actors, musicians and writers including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bruce Springsteen, Gladys Knight, Amy Tan and Colson Whitehead. 'The work of our honorees is as diverse as the nation that celebrates with them today,' Mr. Biden said at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. 'But common threads weave them together in many ways in the very fabric of America -- the pursuit of excellence, the drive to create, the yearning to connect and the boldness to be truth tellers, bridge builders and change seekers. Above all, you're masters of your craft.'... As he recognized Mr. Whitehead, Mr. Biden noted that he is the only writer to have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for back-to-back works.... 'Pretty good, man,' said ... [Mr. Biden]. 'I'm kind of looking for back-to-back myself.'" The article lists the other honorees. ~~~

     ~~~ Video of the ceremony is here.

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday on whether to raise rates at a precarious moment carries risks not just for the central bank, but also for President Biden. Mr. Biden was already relying on the Fed to maintain a delicate balance with its interest rate decisions, simultaneously taming rapid price growth while avoiding plunging the economy into recession. Now, he also needs the Fed chair, Jerome H. Powell, and his colleagues to avert a misstep that could hasten a full-blown financial crisis. Economists and investors are watching Wednesday's decision closely, after the Fed and the administration intervened this month to shore up a suddenly shaky regional banking system following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank."

"Ready for His Perp Walk"

Michael Bender & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump claims he is ready for his perp walk. Behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, the former president has told friends and associates that he welcomes the idea of being paraded by the authorities before a throng of reporters and news cameras. He ... is said to have described the potential spectacle as a fun experience.... There is no indication, even if Mr. Trump is charged, that the authorities would have him take part in [a perp walk].... Mr. Trump has been both invigorated and angered by the prospect of being arrested, according to those who have spoken with him. And he has also entertained a certain amount of magical thinking.... He has discussed the prospect that his recent pressure campaign -- a series of personal, unproven and provocative attacks he has unleashed against investigators, Democrats and fellow Republicans -- might persuade Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, to walk away from the case. That notion, according to legal experts, is highly unlikely, but Mr. Trump has a long history of believing he can bend external events to his will, and has sometimes succeeded."

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "Prosecutors in the special counsel's office have presented compelling preliminary evidence that former President Donald Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his own attorneys about his retention of classified materials after leaving office, a former top federal judge wrote Friday in a sealed filing, according to sources who described its contents to ABC News. U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, who on Friday stepped down as the D.C. district court's chief judge, wrote last week that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith's office had made a 'prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations,' according to the sources, and that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers could therefore be pierced. In her sealed filing, Howell ordered that Evan Corcoran, an attorney for Trump, should comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony on six separate lines of inquiry over which he had previously asserted attorney-client privilege. Sources added that Howell also ordered Corcoran to hand over a number of records tied to what Howell described as Trump's alleged 'criminal scheme,' echoing prosecutors." (Also linked yesterday evening.) ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Weissmann said on MSNBC that "If Donald Trump's own attorney testifies that Trump misled him about documents he (Trump) still had in his possession, and the attorney then communicated that misleading info to federal officials, therein is a clear case of obstruction. ~~~

~~~ Lawyers Ordered to Work All Night. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed [Judge] Howell's order temporarily on Tuesday night, ordering an extraordinarily rapid series of filings in a matter of hours -- including one from [Donald] Trump's team by midnight Tuesday. The appeals court's order -- from Judges Cornelia Pillard, J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, all Democratic appointees -- doesn't identify [Trump attorney Evan] Corcoran or the case at issue but makes clear that the government was on the winning side of the case in Howell's court. The three-judge panel is asking Trump's attorneys to specify the precise set of documents at issue by midnight and for [DOJ special counsel Jack] Smith's team to respond by 6 a.m. Wednesday to the Trump team’s demand for a longer stay of Howell's ruling.... The appeals court order followed the filing by Trump-linked attorneys of a pair of appeals and stay requests tied to Howell's decision, which came on the final day of her seven-year tenure as chief judge of the federal District Court in Washington.... Trump's 2024 presidential campaign issued a statement Tuesday attacking special counsel Jack Smith and ... [Judge] Howell." Classy.

Kristen Holmes & Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Communications between adult-film star Stormy Daniels and an attorney who is now representing ... Donald Trump have been turned over to the Manhattan district attorney's office, Daniels' lawyer told CNN. The exchanges -- said to date back to 2018, when Daniels was seeking representation -- raise the possibility that the Trump attorney, Joe Tacopina, could be sidelined from his defense of the former president in a case pertaining to Trump's alleged role in a scheme to pay hush money to Daniels. Daniels' communications with Tacopina and others at his firm include details relating to Daniels' situation, according to her current attorney Clark Brewster, who believes the communications show a disclosure of confidential information from Daniels. Tacopina denies that there is a conflict or that confidential information was shared with his office. He says he neither met nor spoke to Daniels.... But legal ethics experts CNN spoke with said they could lead to limits being placed on the role Tacopina can play at trial or even his disqualification." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Years ago, when I was a party to a lawsuit, the defendants wanted to use one lawyer after another with whom I had had contact. In each case, I had to provide only the flimsiest evidence of my contact with the lawyers to have them struck from the case. Admittedly, it was the lawyers themselves who agreed to step away. Tacopina clearly has no such scruples.

Trump's Call for Protests Is Not Going Well. Wesley Parnell of Politico: "Demonstrators who want a Donald Trump indictment far outnumbered MAGA supporters Tuesday morning outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, where the former president is expected to be charged as early as Wednesday.... Across the street from the [20-person] anti-Trump rally, five supporters of the former president walked around holding signs including one that highlighted liberal billionaire George Soros support for [Manhattan D.A. Alvin] Bragg, a common right-wing talking point. Trump has seized on a $500,000 donation to Bragg from a political action committee funded by Soros that was part of a nationwide effort to help elect progressive district attorneys.... Tuesday morning, a non-credible bomb threat was made to nearby courthouses, including one where a hearing was underway in New York Attorney General Tish James' $250 million lawsuit accusing Trump and his real estate firm of financial fraud."

Marianna Sotomayor, et al., of the Washington Post: "As House Republicans gathered [in Orlando, Florida,] this week for their annual issues conference, one man loomed large: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Republicans contorted themselves when pressed on Bragg's possible criminal case against ... Donald Trump, avoiding addressing a range of inquiries about the 2024 presidential candidate's legal woes.... Bragg has pushed back against Republican criticism, calling attacks 'baseless accusations' and saying in a statement Monday that his office 'will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The reporters note that Republicans have been enthusiastic about "talking points connecting Bragg to out-of-control crime in New York City." What the report doesn't say on even imply is that New York City crime has dropped since Bragg became DA & that NYC's crime rate is lower than those of other major U.S. cities, according to assertions I heard multiples times on MSNBC. I'll admit that Bragg probably has little or nothing to do with reducing the crime rate, but if it is lower, the reporters should say so.

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is warning that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) arresting former President Trump would 'blow up our country.'" Graham made his comments in a "Fox & Friends" interview. MB: See digby's commentary under "Presidential Race 2024." It isn't Alvin Bragg who would "blow up our country."

Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "A Delaware judge overseeing Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News said in a pretrial hearing on Tuesday that he was still weighing whether to issue a summary judgment for either side in the case. In a hearing in Wilmington, Del., on Tuesday, lawyers for Fox News and Dominion both pushed the judge, Eric M. Davis of the Delaware Superior Court, to rule on the case without a jury. Dominion, an election technology company, is accusing Fox of spreading false claims of widespread vote-rigging in the 2020 presidential election. 'I haven't made a decision,' Judge Davis said.... On Tuesday, Dominion argued that a trove of internal communications and depositions it had obtained showed that Fox executives and hosts had known that some of the claims about election fraud were false but had given them airtime anyway. Fox asked Judge Davis to dismiss the case outright, saying its actions were protected by the First Amendment. A trial is scheduled to begin on April 17." ~~~

     ~~~ Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "A Delaware judge threw cold water on some arguments made by a lawyer representing Fox News on Tuesday, less than a month before a trial is expected to begin in Dominion Voting System's $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network. As both Fox and Dominion made their arguments for summary judgment and pleaded for an early victory that might preclude a jury trial, Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis pushed back on assertions from both sides during the day-long hearing. But the judge seemed particularly skeptical of Fox's claims that its hosts were merely voicing opinions -- not asserting false facts -- when they suggested to viewers that Dominion may have manufactured fraudulent votes for Joe Biden in the 2020 election."

Never Mind. Adam Klasfeld of Law & Crime: "One day after suing Tucker Carlson's producer, Fox News quickly retreated on Tuesday with a brief indicating, without explanation, that the network dropped its case. The filing gives Fox News the option to refile the case, if it so chooses."

Presidential Race 2024. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, the closest prospective rival to Donald J. Trump in early polls of the 2024 Republican presidential primary, pressed forward with questions about the former president's character and pointed to himself as a low-drama 'winner' in an interview this week with the British media personality Piers Morgan. The interview, which Mr. Morgan wrote about Tuesday for The New York Post, was striking in terms of how expansive Mr. DeSantis was.... In the interview with Mr. Morgan, Mr. DeSantis took clear aim at Mr. Trump's often-criticized penchant for chaos and for hiring people who were at odds with his professed policy interests and who often leaked information to the news media.... Mr. Morgan wrote in The Post that when he asked a question about the conduct of leaders, Mr. DeSantis responded, 'You really want to look to people like our founding fathers, like what type of character? It's not saying that you don't ever make a mistake in your personal life, but I think what type of character are you bringing?' He pointed to George Washington -- who 'always put the Republic over his own personal interest' — as an example.... Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, slammed Mr. DeSantis for the interview. 'Ron DeSantis has finally shown his true colors,' he wrote on Twitter. 'An establishment Never Trumper who despises the MAGA base and was faking it the entire time.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Contrasting the last U.S. president* with the first president is fraught. I'd say that young George's apocryphal declaration "I cannot tell a lie; I did it with my little hatchet" might be contrasted with a boast from Trump like, "I cannot tell a lie; I always tell two or three lies at a time."

digby cites a USA Today story which notes that Donald Trump will hold his next rally in Waco, Texas: "The rally, planned for Saturday, will fall during the 30th anniversary of the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. Federal agents, aiming to arrest cult leader David Koresh, surrounded his walled compound in an armed standoff that lasted more than a month. Itended in a botched raid that left 76 people, including 25 children, dead." digby responds, "... you can bet that the violent, anti-government extremists in this country -- and there are many -- will see this as a signal.... I don't know if it will immediately result in violence but it's a clear directive to 'stand back and stand by.' I guess, as usual, there's no one around him to tell him how dangerous this is. In fact, someone obviously told him to do it -- he didn't know anything about the Waco standoff anniversary. But the wingnuts sure do."

The Pandemic, Ctd. Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "On Jan. 12, 2020, Chinese investigators combing a market for clues about the outbreak of a mysterious new illness in the city of Wuhan swabbed a cart. It was the kind typically used for transporting animal cages, and it came back positive for the coronavirus. Three years later, a team of international experts has sifted through the genetic contents of that swab, which were quietly uploaded to an international database and made public only this year. In a report released on Monday night, the scientists described in detail for the first time evidence from the swab that they say strengthens the case that illegally traded wild animals ignited the coronavirus pandemic.... Along with genetic signatures of the coronavirus, the swab from the cart contained more than 4,500 lengthy fragments of genetic material from raccoon dogs, the report said. It had none from humans."

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Why Are So Many Republicans Crooks? Jamiel Lynch & Chenelle Woody of CNN: "A former Florida lawmaker pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements in connection with Covid-19 relief fraud, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Former Republican state Rep. Joseph Harding acquired more than $150,000 in Small Business Administration loans by lying on loan applications, the department said. Harding is scheduled to be sentenced on July 25, the release said.... The Florida Republican has drawn the national spotlight before, as a sponsor of the controversial legislation that banned certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom that opponents dubbed the 'Don't Say Gay' law." MB: Now let's see if he gets picked up before sentencing for soliticing a Cub Scout in a school zone.

Oklahoma. Andrew Jeong of the Washington Post: "The Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned part of the state's near-total abortion ban, ruling in a 5-to-4 decision that the procedure would be lawful if there is a reasonable chance that a pregnancy could threaten a pregnant person's life. Oklahoma's constitution protects the right to an abortion if 'the woman's physician has determined to a reasonable degree of medical certainty' that continuing 'the pregnancy will endanger the woman's life,' the court's justices said in Tuesday's ruling. 'Absolute certainty' that the pregnancy will be life-threatening isn't required, but 'mere possibility or speculation' is insufficient, they added." The Oklahoman's report is here.

Wisconsin. Adam Edelman & Alexandra Marquez of NBC News: "In the only debate of the closely watched race that will determine ideological control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, liberal judge Janet Protasiewicz hammered her conservative opponent, Daniel Kelly, as a 'true threat to democracy' over his ties to a scheme to overturn the 2020 election.... Protasiewicz criticized Kelly for having advised Republicans on legal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential race through the use of 'fake electors.'"

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Chinese leader Xi Jinping departed Russia on Wednesday, wrapping up a three-day trip that underscored Beijing and Moscow's desire to reshape the global order against Western power but that offered little concrete progress on China's pledge to promote peace in the Ukraine conflict.... Xi reiterated that China has an 'impartial position' on the war in Ukraine. The United States later accused China of 'parroting the Russian propaganda.'... The United States sees 'no indication' that China is 'fixing to provide lethal weapons' to Russia, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday.... Kyiv has asked Beijing to endorse a Ukrainian peace formula to end the conflict, [Ukraine's President] Zelensky told reporters alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was in Kyiv on Tuesday. The peace formula calls for the restoration of Ukraine's internationally recognized borders and a withdrawal of Russian troops.... Drone attacks hit Kyiv overnight, killing three and injuring at least seven, according to Kyiv's regional military administration.... The Pentagon is accelerating shipment of M1 tanks to Ukraine, moving up deliveries to the fall, after earlier saying it could take a year or more to get them battle-ready. 'This is about getting this important combat capability into the hands of the Ukrainians sooner rather than later,' Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Marc Santora of the New York Times: "As swarms of Russian soldiers stormed Ukrainian lines in furious assaults around two cities in the east on Tuesday, Ukraine set the stage for its own advance by making strikes deep behind Russian lines, including what appeared to be a drone attack on a vital logistical hub in the occupied Crimean Peninsula. Russian forces have gained ground in recent days around the Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka in the eastern Donbas region, but the Ukrainians say Moscow is paying a heavy price in blood for every inch of ground it claims in its bid to encircle the long-battered city."

Valerie Hopkins & Chris Buckley of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and China's top leader, Xi Jinping, declared an enduring economic partnership on Tuesday, promising to bring more Russian energy to China and more Chinese companies to Russia as the two leaders sought to insulate their countries from Western sanctions and other consequences of the war in Ukraine.... Mr. Putin's economic outreach this week was a clear sign that Beijing was gaining leverage over Russia even as it gave its neighbor help, said Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.... As [Xi and Putin] met on Tuesday, Japan's prime minister, Fumio Kishida, visited Kyiv in a show of support that put the geopolitical fault lines created by Russia's invasion into even sharper relief."

UK. Boris: "In My Defence, I Had No Idea What I Was Doing." BBC: "Boris Johnson has accepted he misled Parliament over Covid rule-breaking parties in Downing Street, but denied he did it on purpose.The former prime minister has published a 52-page defence of his actions ahead of a grilling by MPs on Wednesday.In it, he says his assurances to MPs that lockdown rules had been followed were made in 'good faith'. Mr Johnson faces being suspended or even expelled from Parliament, if MPs decide he deliberately misled them."

March 21, 2023

Evening Update:

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "Prosecutors in the special counsel's office have presented compelling preliminary evidence that former President Donald Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his own attorneys about his retention of classified materials after leaving office, a former top federal judge wrote Friday in a sealed filing, according to sources who described its contents to ABC News. U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, who on Friday stepped down as the D.C. district court's chief judge, wrote last week that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith's office had made a 'prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations,' according to the sources, and that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers could therefore be pierced. In her sealed filing, Howell ordered that Evan Corcoran, an attorney for Trump, should comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony on six separate lines of inquiry over which he had previously asserted attorney-client privilege. Sources added that Howell also ordered Corcoran to hand over a number of records tied to what Howell described as Trump's alleged 'criminal scheme,' echoing prosecutors." ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Weissmann said on MSNBC that "If Donald Trump's own attorney testifies that Trump misled him about documents he (Trump) still had in his possession, and the attorney then communicated that misleading info to federal officials, therein is a clear case of obstruction.

~~~~~~~~~~

Zeke Miller of the AP: “President Joe Biden issued the first veto of his presidency Monday in an early sign of shifting White House relations with the new Congress since Republicans took control of the House in January.... Biden sought to kill a Republican-authored measure that would ban the government from considering environmental impacts or potential lawsuits when making investment decisions for people's retirement plans. In a video released by the White House, Biden said he vetoed the measure because it 'put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country.' His first veto represents a more confrontational approach at the midway of Biden's term in office, as he faces a GOP-controlled House that is eager to undo parts of his policy legacy and investigate his administration and his family." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Carmen Paun of Politico: "President Joe Biden signed into law Monday a bill to declassify intelligence on the origins of Covid-19, offering the public a chance to review information that government agencies say is inconclusive. The legislation, called the Covid-19 Origin Act of 2023, which passed the Senate and House with unanimous support earlier this month, orders the Director of National Intelligence to declassify within 90 days of enactment all information relating to potential links between China's Wuhan Institute of Virology and Covid-19. The director is then to submit the information in a report to Congress."

The Woes of Trump, Ctd.

Rachel Maddow delivers a (kind of fun) civics lesson:

Alexander Burns of Politico argues against the journalists, pundits & politicians who have produced a genre of opinionation (nice word, hey?) that Trump's legal woes will boost his popularity & re-election prospects: "For all his unusual strengths, Trump is defined these days more by his weaknesses -- personal and political deficiencies that have grown with time and now figure to undermine any attempt to exploit the criminal case against him. His base of support is too small, his political imagination too depleted and his instinct for self-absorption too overwhelming for him to marshal a broad, lasting backlash. His determination to look inward and backward has been a problem for his campaign even without the indictment.... The question before Republicans is whether they need another lesson from the electorate in the perils of running on a version of Trumpism that is all about Trump. A campaign about Jan. 6 and Stormy Daniels is not one that is likely to end well for Republicans." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You may have been wondering why the Justice Department never brought charges against Donald Trump, a/k/a Individual No. 1, after Michael Cohen was convicted of various charges in participating, at Trump's behest, in the very same scheme to induce Stormy Daniels to hide her (alleged!) sexual relationship with Trump. Here's a partial answer, which does not explain why Merrick the Unready has -- as far as we know -- done absolutely nothing: ~~~

~~~ Ryan Goodman & Andrew Weissmann, professors at N.Y.U. Law, in a New York Times op-ed: "... it is a mistake to assess the Manhattan district attorney's investigation of Donald Trump by comparing its relative severity with those of myriad other crimes possibly committed by him.... It would be anathema to the rule of law not to prosecute the principal for the crime when a lower-level conspirator [-- Michael Cohen --] has been prosecuted. [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg, however, has had to pick up the slack, since federal prosecutors have not pursued such charges, for reasons that were clear under the corrupt influence of William Barr. Barr is reported to have shut down any follow-up investigation of Mr. Trump, but it remains murky as to why a criminal investigation or indictment of Mr. Trump has not been pursued under the current administration (Attorney General Merrick Garland has not explained publicly any reason for not pursuing this investigation)." The writers go in to detail some aspects of a case against Trump.

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "In a last-ditch effort to stave off the indictment of Donald J. Trump, a witness on Monday appeared before a Manhattan grand jury at the request of the former president's lawyers, providing testimony aimed at attacking the credibility of the prosecution's star witness. The man who testified, Robert J. Costello, who was once a legal adviser to Michael D. Cohen, the crucial witness for the Manhattan district attorney's office in its investigation of Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former fixer, has already spent hours testifying before the grand jury. Mr. Costello and Mr. Cohen had a falling out a few years ago, and Mr. Trump's lawyers hoped that Mr. Costello's grand jury appearance on Monday would undercut Mr. Cohen's testimony.... In an interview after his appearance, Mr. Costello attacked the prosecutors, saying they had withheld evidence from the grand jury.... Addressing Mr. Cohen's credibility, he said, 'I told the grand jury that this guy couldn't tell the truth if you put a gun to his head.' Prosecutors had summoned Mr. Cohen to the courthouse where the grand jury meets, thinking he might be useful in rebutting Mr. Costello's testimony. They did not call him into the grand jury on Monday, however...." ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Ackerman, speaking on MSNBC Monday with Michael Cohen & host Ari Melber, opined that Robert Costello's testimony, along with other evidence gathered by Robert Mueller's team, subjected Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani & perhaps Costello himself to charges of witness-tampering. The men discussed the various attempts Trump and others are known to have made to discourage Cohen from speaking truthfully about the payment to Stormy Daniels. "Giving D.A. Alvin Bragg access to Costello, Akerman said, gives him the opportunity to bring up 'all the conversations Costello had with Michael. All the conversations Costello had with Rudy Giuliani. What Rudy Giuliani said that Donald Trump said and what he conveyed to Donald Trump. And then I would end up indicting Donald Trump for witness tampering and obstruction of justice....'"

Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Monday broke his silence about the potential indictment of his state's most famous resident..., Donald J. Trump, attacking the Manhattan district attorney pursuing the case but also pointedly noting the personal conduct over which Mr. Trump is being investigated.... 'I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,' Mr. DeSantis said to chuckles from the crowd at the event. 'I just, I can't speak to that,' he said. 'But what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction, and he chooses to go back many, many years ago, to try to use something about porn star hush-money payments, you know, that's an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office.' ...

"In a post on his social media site ... later in the day, Mr. Trump fired back at Mr. DeSantis in personal terms, mockingly raising questions about the governor's sexuality. 'Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future..., when he's unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are "underage" (or possibly a man!)...,' Mr. Trump wrote. It was a second effort after Mr. Trump deleted a shorter version. His longer post appeared to refer to an earlier insinuation by Mr. Trump that Mr. DeSantis -- who is married to a woman -- was inappropriately involved with students when he was a teacher in his early 20s." ~~~

~~~ Soros, Soros, Soros. Natasha Korecki of NBC News: "After remaining silent over the weekend, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took shots at the 'Soros-funded prosecutor' in Manhattan involved in an ongoing hush money case against ... Donald Trump. 'I have no interest in getting involved in some manufactured circus by some Soros-DA,' DeSantis said at a news conference Monday, referring to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 'He's trying to do a political spectacle. He's trying to virtue signal for his base. I've got real issues I got to deal with here in the state of Florida. I don't know what's going to happen but I do know this: the Manhattan district attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor,' he added." MB: Have you got that now? A Jewish man has funded a Black D.A., see. And that can only be bad news. (I have no idea if Bragg received a political contribution from Soros or from a Soros-funded PAC. And I'm not going to look it up, because I really, really don't care.) (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: According to Haberman & Swan of the New York Times (linked above), Bragg received "indirect financial support the district attorney received in his 2021 campaign from George Soros...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One cannot exaggerate how disgusting it is for a politician to use Trump's demand for a response to his possible indictment as a platform to send a screeching dogwhistle to the vast bigot branch of the GOP about the fake "international cabal of rich Jews attempting to control the world." That DeSantis also manages to suggest that a Black person is a pawn of that cabal compounds this bigoted response, and I'm sorry there has been no wide condemnation of DeSantis. DeSantis is a Nazi kind of fascist. Between DeSantis' response to Trump & Trump's response to DeSantis suggesting DeSantis may have been involved in gay sex with his minor students, these two are among the lowest of lowlifes.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... if there's no voter Trump could lose if he stood in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shot somebody, as Trump famously said, there are probably no leading Republican politicians who would leave his camp, either. Hell, they might even say the victim deserved it."

Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: "Republicans on Monday braced for the impact of the impending indictment of ... Donald J. Trump, with his allies on Capitol Hill flexing their investigative powers to target the prosecutor pursuing Mr. Trump while the leading rival for the 2024 G.O.P. presidential nomination, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, took his first swipe at Mr. Trump's personal conduct.... With police barricades going up outside the Criminal Courts Building in Manhattan on Monday, prominent Republicans, including Mr. Trump's allies, were divided over whether to encourage mass protests.... Three Republican House committee chairmen ... Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, James R. Comer of Kentucky and Bryan Steil of Wisconsin ... made an extraordinary pre-emptive strike on Monday against the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, demanding that he provide communications, documents and testimony about his investigation, a rare attempt by Congress to involve itself in an active criminal inquiry."

Don Lemon & Jason Morris of CNN: "Atlanta-area prosecutors are considering bringing racketeering and conspiracy charges in connection with Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. Investigators have a large volume of substantial evidence related to a possible conspiracy from inside and outside the state, including recordings of phone calls, emails, text messages, documents, and testimony before a special grand jury. Their work, the source said, underscores the belief that the push to help Trump was not just a grassroots effort that originated inside the state." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump filed a motion in a Georgia court on Monday seeking to quash the final report of a special grand jury that investigated whether Mr. Trump and some of his allies interfered in the 2020 election results in Georgia. The motion also seeks to 'preclude the use of any evidence derived' from the report, and asks that the office of Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, be disqualified from the case." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's report, by Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein, is here. MB: Waah, waaah, waaaah. Good luck with this one, Donald. You're just aggravating the judge who has to rule on such a waste-of-time motion. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Constitutional law expert Laurence Tribe, appearing on MSNBC, said the 480-page filing was "nothing but air," and -- invoking Gertrude Stein, said, "There's no there there."

Alan Feuer & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Four people who marched with the Oath Keepers militia into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were convicted on Monday of conspiracy to obstruct the work of Congress, bringing an end to the third and final trial examining the role that members of the far-right group played in the attack. The four defendants -- Sandra Parker, Laura Steele, Connie Meggs and William Isaacs -- were also found guilty of an array of other charges, including destruction of government property and conspiracy to prevent members of Congress from discharging their duties by certifying the results of the 2020 election. Two other people charged in the case -- Ms. Parker's husband, Bennie Parker, and Michael Greene, a close associate of Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers -- avoided conviction on conspiracy charges, but were both found guilty of illegally entering and remaining on the Capitol grounds." (Also linked yesterday.) A CNN report is here.

The Woes of the Murdochs, Ctd. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times produces a timeline of what happened inside Fox "News" when company executives & personalities went into a panic over Joe Biden's win & fear of losing viewers. Peters' reporting is based largely on revelations from Dominion Systems' filings in its suit against Fox. And there's this: ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Confessore & Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "A Fox News producer who has worked with the hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson filed lawsuits against the company in New York and Delaware on Monday, accusing Fox lawyers of coercing her into giving misleading testimony in the continuing legal battle around the network's coverage of unfounded claims about election fraud. The producer, Abby Grossberg, said Fox lawyers had tried to position her and Ms. Bartiromo to take the blame for Fox's repeated airing of conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems and its supposed role in manipulating the results of the 2020 presidential election. Dominion has filed a $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox. Ms. Grossberg said the effort to place blame on her and Ms. Bartiromo was rooted in rampant misogyny and discrimination at the network.... Ms. Grossberg says she and other women endured frank and open sexism from co-workers and superiors at the network.... Ms. Grossberg accuses lawyers for Fox News of coaching her in 'a coercive and intimidating manner' before her September deposition in the Dominion case....

"On Monday afternoon, Fox filed its own suit against Ms. Grossberg, seeking to enjoin her from filing claims that would shed light on her discussions with the company's lawyers. A judge has not yet ruled on Fox's suit. Later on Monday, according to her lawyer, Parisis G. Filippatos, Fox also placed Ms. Grossberg on forced administrative leave." CNN's report, by Oliver Darcy, is here.

And now we break from the news of the day to turn to the gossip page: ~~~

~~~ Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Rupert Murdoch, four times married and divorced at 92..., said he plans to marry a fifth time. Murdoch announced he is engaged once again, this time to Ann Lesley Smith, 66, a former model, singer-songwriter, radio talk-show host, and police chaplain in San Francisco. The couple met last year. Murdoch is fresh off his divorce from Jerry Hall, the model and actress he married in 2016. Murdoch divorced Hall, the mother of four of Mick Jagger's children, last year. Murdoch broke the news of his engagement in the New York Post, the tabloid that helped launch his foray into the American and global media market when the Australian immigrant bought it in 1976."

Kylie Atwood of CNN: "An American aid worker who was kidnapped in Niger more than six years ago and held hostage by terrorists has been released, President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted on Monday. 'I'm gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity. The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him. I thank so many across our government who've worked tirelessly toward securing his freedom,' Sullivan tweeted. Jeffery Woodke is now being offered support and transport. He was released outside of Niger in the Mali-Burkina Faso area, [a senior administration] official said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Karen Weise of the New York Times: "Amazon plans to lay off 9,000 corporate and tech workers by the end of April, adding to the 18,000 roles it already cut late last year and this January, Andy Jassy, the company's chief executive, said in a note to employees on Monday. The new layoffs, which amount to less than 3 percent of its corporate work force, will target workers in some of Amazon's most profitable divisions, which had previously been spared, including Amazon's cloud computing business and advertising operations."

Brad Plumer of the New York Times: "Earth is likely to cross a critical threshold for global warming within the next decade, and nations will need to make an immediate and drastic shift away from fossil fuels to prevent the planet from overheating dangerously beyond that level, according to a major new report released on Monday. The report, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of experts convened by the United Nations, offers the most comprehensive understanding to date of ways in which the planet is changing. It says that global average temperatures are estimated to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels sometime around 'the first half of the 2030s,' as humans continue to burn coal, oil and natural gas. That number holds a special significance in global climate politics: Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, virtually every nation agreed to 'pursue efforts' to hold global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Beyond that point, scientists say, the impacts of catastrophic heat waves, flooding, drought, crop failures and species extinction become significantly harder for humanity to handle."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Kurtis Lee & Soumya Karlamangla of the New York Times: "Tens of thousands of Los Angeles school employees will begin a three-day strike starting on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of campuses to close and canceling classes for 422,000 students. The union that represents 30,000 support workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District is seeking a 30 percent pay increase, saying that many employees make little more than the minimum wage and struggle to afford the cost of living in Southern California. The Los Angeles teachers' union has asked its 35,000 members to walk out in solidarity and to avoid crossing the support workers' picket lines."

California. Olafimihan Oshin of the Hill: "A federal judge is blocking a California law that would mandate certain safety features for semiautomatic handguns. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney on Monday ruled in favor of the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) and four individuals who had said the law violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms since no new guns being manufactured complied with it, Reuters reported. The plaintiffs noted that gun buyers in California were de facto limited to purchasing models from before 2013, the year when the law fully took effect." Carney is a George W. Bush appointee.

Minnesota. Nina Masih of the Washington Post: "Minnesota has advanced legislation that would shield local providers and their out-of-state patients from action by states that punish those seeking or providing abortions, as Democratic lawmakers move to establish the state as a Midwestern haven for reproductive rights.If it becomes law, the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act would expand on an executive order issued last year by Gov. Tim Walz (D) that shields abortion patients and providers from other states' laws. The bill passed Monday by 68 to 62 votes in the state's Democratic-controlled House and will now need to clear the Senate, where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority."

Virginia. Salvador Rizzo, et al., of the Washington Post: "As many as 10 sheriff’s deputies and medical staff at Virginia's Central State Hospital can be seen piling on top of a shackled Irvo N. Otieno for approximately 11 minutes until he stops moving, according to new video showing the encounter that led to the 28-year-old Black man's death. The hospital surveillance video, which has no sound, shows Otieno's final moments on March 6, from the time Henrico County sheriff's deputies drag him into a hospital admissions room in handcuffs and leg irons, to the 11 minutes in which they restrain Otieno on the ground, to the moment when they release Otieno's limp body around 4:40 p.m. Minutes later, video shows workers beginning to apply chest compressions and a defibrillator machine to Otieno's upper body, before a medical technician drapes him with a white sheet at 5:48 p.m. A Virginia prosecutor has charged seven Henrico County sheriff's deputies and three staff members at the hospital with second-degree murder in Otieno's death, and has said she expects more arrests and charges." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I won't be watching the video, but a screenshot reveals that most of the people involved in Otieno's killing appear to be Black. If this is a hate crime, it's a hate crime against a mentally-disturbed person.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Beijing has billed [Xi Jinpeng's] state visit as a peace mission. But officials around the world are watching warily for signs it could embolden Putin by signaling China's tacit approval of his aggression, as the two men position themselves as the leaders of a new global order opposed to the United States and its allies.... Beijing has portrayed itself as a potential negotiator over the Ukraine conflict, although its 12-point proposal for ending the conflict includes no demands for Moscow to withdraw its troops -- a position that sets it at odds with Ukraine, which wants to reclaim all of its territory. [U.S.] Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference in Washington on Monday that any truce that doesn't force Russian troops to withdraw from internationally recognized Ukrainian territory 'would effectively be supporting the ratification of Russian conquest.'"

Valerie Hopkins, et al., of the New York Times: "Standing side by side in a show of partnership unshaken by Russia's yearlong war in Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin and China's top leader, Xi Jinping, began talks in Moscow on Monday with boasts of their close ties and only understated mention of the conflict itself. Though the war and the schisms it has exposed hung over the meeting, the public comments about it from Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin were muted.... The leaders went to great lengths to flatter each other and project unity in a series of meticulously choreographed events.... They sat by a small fireside table, a far more intimate setting than the extremely long room where Mr. Putin held tense meetings with Western leaders before Russia invaded Ukraine. But behind the display of friendship was a backdrop of hardheaded geopolitics. China and Russia both oppose a global order dominated by the United States and its allies, and that appears to outweigh any objections that Mr. Xi may have about Mr. Putin's invasion of Ukraine."

France. Dalel Mawad, et al., of CNN: "Two no-confidence votes against French President Emmanuel Macron's government have failed in the country's parliament, clearing the way for his hugely unpopular pension reforms to be implemented and sparking new protests in Paris. The government triggered special constitutional powers last Thursday to push through controversial legislation that would raise the age of retirement from 62 to 64 for most workers. Lawmakers critical of the move called the no-confidence votes that were held on Monday. The first motion was brought forward by the small parliamentary group 'LIOT,' which represents various small parties, and was seen as the most likely of the two to threaten the government. It received 278 votes -- just nine short of the 287 majority needed to pass. The second vote -- tabled last week by far-right party National Rally -- drew less support, with only 94 lawmakers voting in favor. The government's narrow survival will exacerbates the legitimacy crisis that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's cabinet and Macron's presidency are facing." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

U.K. Bryan Pietsch of the Washington Post: "Racism, misogyny and homophobia are running rampant in London's Metropolitan Police force, an official review of the institution found, recommending that the force undergo a dramatic overhaul to address deep-seated issues that it said have been exacerbated by a culture of 'defensiveness and denial.' The Met, as the force is commonly called, 'has failed over time to ensure the integrity of its officers and therefore of the organisation,' Louise Casey, a British government official, wrote in the report released Tuesday. The Met commissioned the review after an officer admitted to kidnapping, raping and murdering a woman in 2021."

News Lede

Washington Post: "A deadly and highly-drug resistant fungus is spreading at 'an alarming rate' in long-term care hospitals and other health facilities caring for very sick people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday. Fungal infections from the yeast strain known as Candida auris tripled nationally from 476 in 2019 to 1,471 in 2021, according to CDC data. Cases where a person carries the fungus but is not infected nearly quadrupled from 1,077 to 4,040 in the same time period. Preliminary data suggests the numbers have continued to rise.Scientists believe the fungus is not a threat to healthy people whose immune systems can fight it off. But it poses a danger to medically fragile people, including nursing home patients on ventilators and cancer patients on chemotherapy. Between 30 to 70 percent of hospitalized people who develop bloodstream infection."