January 30, 2023

Afternoon Update:

William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday began presenting evidence to a grand jury about Donald J. TrumpAlvin L. Bragg, is nearing a decision about whether to charge Mr. Trump.... The developments compound Mr. Trump's legal woes in the early days of his third presidential campaign." NPR's story is here.

California. Lisa Bonos & Joyce Lau of the Washington Post: "More details have emerged about the workplace dispute that led Zhao Chunli, 66, to allegedly kill seven people and attempt to kill another at two mushroom farms in Northern California a week ago. Zhao told investigators that his Half Moon Bay shooting was sparked after his boss asked him to pay a $100 repair bill for damage that had been done to heavy construction equipment, according to local news reports confirmed by San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. After confronting his supervisor and a co-worker, whom Zhao thought were responsible for the collision between his forklift and a bulldozer, he allegedly shot them, according to reports confirmed by Wagstaffe."

Tennessee. Jessica Jaglois of the New York Times: "The Memphis Police Department confirmed on Monday that a sixth officer had been taken off duty in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols. Five officers were fired by the department earlier this month, soon after being placed on leave, and charged last week with second-degree murder in connection with Mr. Nichols's death. The sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, has been placed on administrative leave; it is not clear exactly what role he played in the encounter." ~~~

~~~ Adrian Sainz has the AP story. In an update, Sainz writes, "Also Monday, Fire Department officials announced the firing of emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMicheal Sandridge and fire[person?] Lt. Michelle Whitaker in connection with Nichols' death. Fire Chief Gina Sweat said in a statement that the department received a call from police to respond to a report of a person who had been pepper-sprayed.... Long and Sandridge, based on the nature of the call and information they were told by police, 'failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,' the statement said. Whitaker and the driver remained in the engine. An investigation determined that all three violated 'multiple' policies and protocols, the statement said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Am I alone in wondering if there was some other, perhaps personal, motivation here? All of these perps knew what happened to the killers of George Floyd. Why would they risk the same fate? This looks like a conspiracy among at least nine city officers to beat one man to death and/or to facilitate the murder. It's hard to believe the only reason is a shared general assumption they could get away with it.

David Firestone of the New York Times: "Former Attorney General William Barr has spent the last year in a desperate salvage operation for what's left of his legal and ethical reputation. During his 22 months in office, he allowed his Justice Department to become a personal protection racket for his boss, Donald Trump, and left prosecutors, the F.B.I. and other law enforcement officials subject to the worst impulses of the president. But then, in his 2022 memoir, Mr. Barr did an about-face, bashing Mr. Trump for lacking a presidential temperament and singling out his 'self-indulgence and lack of self-control.'... The hollow and self-serving nature of this turnabout was always apparent.... [And last week's Times] reporting demonstrated a staggering abuse of the special counsel system and the attorney general's office, all in a failed attempt by Mr. Barr to rewrite the sour truths of Mr. Trump's history.... His efforts came to naught, and so will his campaign to be remembered as a defender of the Constitution."

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Why Biden Won't Negotiate the Debt Limit: Been There, Done That. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "In 2011, after faltering debt limit negotiations with House Republicans brought the U.S. to the brink of economic calamity, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden sat by the fireplace in the Oval Office, with their top aides on the couch.... Obama and Biden made a vow: Never again. They agreed that going forward, 'Nobody can use the threat of default or not increasing the debt limit as a negotiating tool,' said a former Obama official involved in the fiscal discussions, who recounted the Oval Office meeting and the 'lesson of 2011' they all discussed." ~~~

     ~~~ But Kevin Is Optimistic! Olivia Olander of Politico: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday he thinks President Joe Biden will come to an agreement with him regarding the debt ceiling, despite the Biden administration's previous assertions that they wouldn't negotiate with House Republicans on the issue. 'His staff tries to say something different, but I think the president will be willing to make an agreement together,' McCarthy said on CBS" 'Face the Nation.' The pair are scheduled to meet Wednesday, McCarthy said."

Merrick the Unready, Ctd. Zachary Cohen of CNN: "The Justice Department has told lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee that it is working to satisfy their demands for information about classified documents found at properties of President Joe Biden and ... Donald Trump without harming ongoing special counsel investigations into both matters, according to a new letter obtained by CNN. The DOJ letter, dated Saturday, responds to the committee's August request for information about the documents recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence and follow-up inquiries by the panel about classified material found at the Penn Biden Center as well as Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, home." MB: Wait, wait! Senators first asked for some of this info last August, and the DOJ is just now getting around to saying it's working on it? Based on actuarial tables, all of the DOJ principles involved in these investigations will be dead before any charges are brought. ~~~

     ~~~ Olivia Olander & Nicholas Wu of Politico: “Sens. Mark Warner and Marco Rubio, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, jointly said they spoke for their entire committee in demanding access to documents found in the possession of President Joe Biden and ... Donald Trump. 'I don't know how congressional oversight on the documents, actually knowing what they are, in any way impedes an investigation,' Rubio (R-Fla.) said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS" 'Face the Nation,' referring to the ongoing Justice Department investigations of the storage and handling of the documents."

2016 Presidential Election. Joe Conason in Commentary, republished by the Raw Story: "The arrest of Charles McGonigal, chief of the FBI counterintelligence division in New York from October 2016 until his retirement in 2018, reopens festering questions about the troubled election that put Donald Trump in the White House.... During his FBI career, McGonigal oversaw investigations of [Russian oligarch & Putin pal Oleg] Deripaska and other oligarchs suspected of various crimes, including espionage. Now the exposure of his illegal connection with Deripaska may provide fresh insights into Trump's tainted victory.... A month before Election Day, FBI director James Comey appointed McGonigal as special agent in charge of the FBI counterintelligence division in New York City.... What followed ... were two seemingly separate incidents, occurring days before the election, that had a fateful impact. On October 28, Comey sent a letter to the Congress publicly announcing that the bureau had resumed its investigation of [Hillary] Clinton.... Meanwhile, on October 31, 2016, the New York Times published a front-page story on that other FBI investigation..., which unlike her emails had gotten no public attention (and inspired no leaks). The headline was declarative and conclusive: 'Investigating Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No Clear Link to Russia.' That false story, exonerating Trump of Kremlin connections that we now know were extensive and incriminating, was pushed by Trump operatives and agents and clearly originated in the New York FBI counterintelligence division...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Conason is a long-time left-wing firebrand, but he's often right. I do think we're seeing the tip of the iceberg in McGonigal's arrest. So, one again, thanks, Jim Comey! And thanks, New York Times!

So Unfa-a-a-air! Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "In an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC News' 'Meet the Press,' [Rep. Jim] Jordan, R-Ohio, [the House Judiciary Committee chair,] suggested that there was a double standard between the discovery of classified documents held by [Donald] Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and the vice presidential papers found at [President] Biden's Delaware home and a Washington office. Jordan accused the FBI and other agencies of being 'weaponized': 'The FBI raided the home of a former president 91 days before an election, took the phone of a sitting member of Congress and on and on.' Todd pushed back, saying: 'There was nine months between the initial action. ... the [National] Archives requested documents before they even turned it over to the Justice Department. The subpoena was issued 60 days before they actually executed a subpoena. And more importantly, the only time the public found out about it is because Donald Trump told the public about it.... It was actually a year and a half of Donald Trump not complying with any of the requests from National Archives,' Todd said. 'This is not some sort of proof that somehow they've been weaponized and playing politics.' Jordan said: "They raided Trump's home. They haven't raided Biden's home.' 'Because Biden didn't defy a subpoena, congressman,' Todd said, adding that Trump had 60 days to comply before the FBI executed a search warrant." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Maybe what's newsworthy here is that Both-Sider Chuck stood up to a Republican. ~~~

~~~ If Only We Had More White Cops. Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on Sunday that there are not enough 'good people' applying to be officers, citing the 'defund the police' movement as a reason. 'The other thing that needs to frankly happen is we're not getting enough good people applying because of the of the disparagement on police officers,' Jordan told Chuck Todd on NBC's 'Meet the Press' in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols. 'They don't get enough people applying, taking the test to enter the academy, to be an officer because there's been this "defund the police" concept out there,' he continued." MB: Akhilleus did a nice job translating Jungle Gym in yesterday's Comments: Black cops and Black protesters are the real problem. ~~~

~~~ Now, here's something Jordan can endorse: an Ohio-bred homeschooling curriculum: ~~~

~~~ You've Got to Be Carefully Taught. David Gilbert of Vice: Since the ['Dissident Homeschool' Telegram channel] began in October 2021 it has openly embraced Nazi ideology and promoted white supremacy, while proudly discouraging parents from letting their white children play with or have any contact with people of any other race. Admins and members use racist, homophobic, and antisemitic slurs without shame, and quote Hitler and other Nazi leaders daily in a channel open to the public. Vice News joined the group simply by clicking on a link, though the list of members was not publicly visible.... The [Ohio] couple who run the channel are not only teaching parents how to indoctrinate their children into this fascist ideology, they're also encouraging them to meet up in real life and join even more radical groups.... Katja Lawrence, who is in her mid-30s, launched the channel in October 2021, because she 'was having a rough time finding Nazi-approved school material for [her] homeschool children,' as she told the neo-Nazi podcast 'Achtung! Amerikaner' last year." Read on.

Beyond the Beltway

Tennessee. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: "Videos of the Jan. 7 beating [of Tyre Nichols] released on Friday have ... turned the public's attention to the emergency medical workers who first arrived on the scene after the beating, raising the question of whether they should or could have done more to help Mr. Nichols.... Both of the medical workers who arrived first to tend to Mr. Nichols appeared to be emergency medical technicians with the Memphis Fire Department.... A spokeswoman for the Fire Department said on Friday that the department had suspended two of its E.M.T.s who had treated Mr. Nichols and that an investigation was expected to wrap up early this week.... U.S. officials said they believed this strike was prompted by Israel's concerns about its own security, not the potential for missile exports to Russia."

Way Beyond

Israel/Iran. Ronen Bergman, et al., of the New York Times: "A drone attack on an Iranian military facility that resulted in a large explosion in the center of the city of Isfahan on Saturday was the work of the Mossad, Israel's premier intelligence agency, according to senior intelligence officials who were familiar with the dialogue between Israel and the United States about the incident. The facility's purpose was not clear, and neither was how much damage the strike caused. But Isfahan is a major center of missile production, research and development for Iran, including the assembly of many of its Shahab medium-range missiles, which can reach Israel and beyond."

Israel/Palestine. Matthew Lee of the AP: "U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel and the Palestinians on Monday to exercise restraint and ease tensions amid a spike in violence that has put the region on edge.... The latest spate of violence erupted last week with an Israeli military raid on a militant stronghold in the West Bank city of Jenin last week that killed 10 people, most of them militants, and a Palestinian shooting attack in an east Jerusalem Jewish settlement that killed seven Israelis. And, on Monday, shortly before Blinken's arrival, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in the flashpoint city of Hebron, bringing the toll of Palestinians killed in January to 35."

Pakistan. Haq Khan of the Washington Post: "An explosion ripped through a mosque in the police compound in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, bringing down the roof and killing at least 18, according to the hospital.... A spokesman for the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshar [sic.??] said there were 18 dead and 65 wounded, mostly policemen, but the toll is expected to rise as rescuers work through the mosque debris.... The Capital City Police compound in Peshawar is high security zone in this provincial capital.... The compound includes the headquarters for the counterterrorism and investigations departments." The AP's report, which has the death toll at 28 and the number of injured at 150, is here.

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Monday is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for Russian athletes to be barred from competing in next year's Olympics while his country remains under attack.... The president said he has written to French President Emmanuel Macron to convey his request, after the International Olympic Committee reaffirmed last week that it will allow 'neutral athletes' from Russia and Belarus to participate without representing their state through flags, colors or anthems.... Ukrainian tank operators have arrived in the United Kingdom to receive training on how to use the Challenger 2 tanks that London recently pledged to send Kyiv.... -- including long-range weapons, advanced air defense systems and battle tanks -- have hampered Kyiv's ability to mount larger counteroffensive operations and take advantage of opportunities offered up 'by flaws and failures in Russian military operations,' analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said in their latest report.... Russian artillery struck a hospital, a school, residential buildings and municipal facilities in Kherson on Sunday, Zelensky said in his nightly address."

Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Former British prime minister Boris Johnson says Russian President Vladimir Putin personally threatened him with a missile attack in the run-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The accusation came in excerpts of a BBC documentary on Putin and the West set to air later Monday, and Johnson conceded that the Russian leader might have been joking. Johnson said Putin made the remarks during a 'very long' call in early February last year, as Russian troops were massing along the Ukraine border. Johnson, who was prime minister at the time, had recently visited Kyiv to show Western support for Ukraine. 'He sort of threatened me at one point and said, "Boris, I don't want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute,” or something like that. You know ... jolly,' Johnson said." MB: Yeah, very jolly. The AP's story is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Cindy Williams, the actress best known for her role on the 1970s slapstick sitcom 'Laverne & Shirley,' died on Wednesday in Los Angeles. She was 75."

New York Times: "Bobby Hull, one of the National Hockey League's superstars of the 1960s, whose blond hair, lightning fast slap shot and furious, rink-length offensive rushes earned him the nickname 'the Golden Jet,' died on Monday. He was 84."

January 29, 2023

Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "Prosecutors say [Russian] oligarch [Oleg Deripaska] recruited one of the bureau's top spy catchers, just as he entered retirement, to carry out work that they say violated U.S. sanctions. The charges unsealed this week against Charles McGonigal -- who ran the counterintelligence unit at the bureau's New York field office and investigated Russian oligarchs, including Mr. Deripaska, according to the indictment -- showed the extent of the oligarch's reach into the highest levels of U.S. power." O'Brien attempts to establish how Deripaska turned McGonigal. Well, with money, of course.

Merrick Garland and FBI agents discuss developments in the classified documents scandal: ~~~

In other news: ~~~

Presidential Race 2024. Michael Bender & Mei-Ling McNamara of the New York Times: "More than two months after formally opening his White House comeback bid..., [Donald Trump] held his first two public events on Saturday. Both were the type of textbook campaign stops he mostly skipped in his first two runs for office. In New Hampshire, Mr. Trump spoke in a high school auditorium in Salem, where he addressed an annual state party meeting. In South Carolina, where he has previously attracted thousands to rallies, Mr. Trump introduced his state leadership team at the State Capitol.... Mr. Trump's attempt to drape himself with the trappings of a traditional campaign is an unspoken acknowledgment that he begins the race in one of the most politically vulnerable positions of his public life." MB: Of course his speeches were replete with his usual lies and grievances. CNN's report is here. ~~~

~~~ More Crazy After All These Years. Ken Bessinger & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In September..., Donald J. Trump ... deliver[ed] what amounted to an unmistakable endorsement of the [QAnon] movement, which falsely and violently claims that leading Democrats are baby-eating devil worshipers. Even as the parent company of Facebook and Instagram announced this past week that Mr. Trump would be reinstated -- a move that followed the lifting of his ban from Twitter, though he has not yet returned -- there is no sign that he has curtailed his behavior or stopped spreading the kinds of messages that got him exiled in the first place. In fact, two years after he was banished from most mainstream social media sites for his role in inciting the Capitol riot, his online presence has grown only more extreme.... Since introducing his social media website in February 2022, Mr. Trump has shared hundreds of posts from accounts promoting QAnon ideas. He has continued to falsely insist that the 2020 election was stolen and that he is a victim of corrupt federal law enforcement agencies. And he has made personal attacks against his many perceived enemies, including private citizens whose names he has elevated."

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Rebecca Robbins of the New York Times: "Through its savvy but legal exploitation of the U.S. patent system, [the anti-inflammatory drug] Humira's manufacturer, AbbVie, blocked competitors from ... selling knockoffs. For the next six years, the drug's price kept rising. Today, Humira is the most lucrative franchise in pharmaceutical history. Next week, the curtain is expected to come down on a monopoly that has generated $114 billion in revenue for AbbVie just since the end of 2016. The knockoff drug that regulators authorized more than six years ago, Amgen's Amjevita, will come to market in the United States, and as many as nine more Humira competitors will follow this year from pharmaceutical giants including Pfizer. Prices are likely to tumble. The reason that it has taken so long to get to this point is a case study in how drug companies artificially prop up prices on their best-selling drugs.... The [AbbVie] strategy has been a gold mine for AbbVie, at the expense of patients and taxpayers."

Beyond the Beltway

Tennessee. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "The Memphis Police Department said on Saturday that it had disbanded a specialized group known as the Scorpion unit after five of its officers were charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was shown on video being kicked, struck and pepper-sprayed by those officers. Mr. Nichols's family and activists in the city had demanded that the Police Department dismantle the unit, which deployed officers to patrol higher-crime areas of the city and had drawn scorn in the communities it served even before Mr. Nichols's death this month."

Way Beyond

Czech Republic. Robert Tait of the Guardian: "Petr Pavel, a retired general and former senior Nato commander, has swept to the Czech presidency after a landslide victory over the former prime minister Andrej Babiš in an election overshadowed by rows over the war between Russia and Ukraine. With nearly all the votes counted, returns showed Pavel prevailing by the emphatic margin of 58.3% to 41.68%, the largest ever recorded in a Czech presidential poll and reflecting an advantage of more than 958,000 votes nationwide. Pavel's supporters immediately hailed the result as a victory for liberal democracy over oligarchic populism, which they believe Babiš represents."

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his plea for Western nations to supply Ukraine with more potent weapons, including the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, to help Kyiv defend against Russian attacks from places far from the front line.... Kyiv has long argued that it needs the U.S.-made weapons to strike Russian targets in places such as Crimea.... Intense fighting continues on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, where Western and Ukrainian officials and military analysts have warned that Moscow is probably gearing up for a major offensive in the spring.... Germany and Poland are set to begin tank training programs for Ukrainian forces in days, as they rush deliveries for spring.... Ukraine's energy system remains under heavy strain." ~~~

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

See today's Comments for context:

January 28, 2023

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden said on Friday that Jeffrey D. Zients, who served as the coronavirus response coordinator and a chairman of Mr. Biden's transition, would take over as the White House chief of staff. The formal announcement came several days after it was reported that Mr. Zients had been tapped to replace Ron Klain, the longtime Biden adviser and skilled political operative who has served the first two years of the president's term." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's President Biden's statement, which is worth reading.(Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ John Wagner of the Washington Post: "In his official resignation letter, outgoing White House chief of staff Ron Klain recounted what President Biden has accomplished so far during his tenure, as is typical of such documents. But Klain also offered a rare glimpse into how his many years of service alongside Biden, in multiple capacities, has affected him personally and been ]woven into the tapestry of the Klain family.' Klain, 61, became the White House chief of staff in January 2021 after serving in the same role for Biden at the start of his vice presidency. In his letter, Klain noted that he first became a Biden staffer 36 years ago, when Biden was a senator representing Delaware. Klain recounted that his first day on the job was the day after his honeymoon."

Benjamin Weiser & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The Justice Department said on Friday that it had charged three men in a plot hatched in Iran to assassinate Masih Alinejad, an American human-rights activist in Brooklyn who has criticized the country's repression of women. The men, Rafat Amirov, of Iran, Polad Omarov, of the Czech Republic, and Khalid Mehdiyev, an Azerbaijani man living in Yonkers, were charged with murder-for-hire and money-laundering conspiracy counts, according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan. The three men are members of an Eastern European criminal organization, known by its members as Thieves-in-Law, which has ties to Iran and last year was tasked with carrying out Ms. Alinejad's killing, the indictment says. Mr. Mehdiyev, 24, was arrested in July, after he was found with a loaded AK-47-style assault rifle outside Ms. Alinejad's house.... Mr. Omarov, 38, was arrested in the Czech Republic on Jan. 4, and the United States will seek his extradition, prosecutors said. Mr. Amirov, 43, was taken into custody overseas in the past week, according to a senior law enforcement official, and was arraigned in Manhattan on Friday."

Courtney Kube & Mosheh Gains of NBC News: "A four-star Air Force general sent a memo on Friday to the officers he commands that predicts the U.S. will be at war with China in two years and tells them to get ready to prep by firing 'a clip' at a target, and 'aim for the head.' In the memo sent Friday and obtained by NBC News, Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, said, 'I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me will fight in 2025.' Air Mobility Command has nearly 50,000 service members and nearly 500 planes and is responsible for transport and refueling. Minihan said in the memo that because both Taiwan and the U.S. will have presidential elections in 2024, the U.S. will be 'distracted,' and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have an opportunity to move on Taiwan. The Washington Post's story, by Dan Lamothe, is here.

He Done Her Wrong. She Turned Him In. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Retired FBI counterintelligence chief for the New York Office Charles McGonigal was arrested earlier this week and charged with violating U.S. sanctions against a Russian oligarch -- one of the highest-ranking FBI officials in U.S history to ever be charged with a crime. And according to a new report [firewalled] by The Daily Beast on Friday, he was nailed in part because an angry ex-lover turned him in. 'In an interview with Insider, Allison Guerriero said she dated McGonigal for a year, unaware he was married,' reported Rachel Olding. 'He spent far more lavishly than an FBI salary would typically allow, she recalled, and she once found a bag of cash in his apartment. But after their fling ended, he revealed he was married and had no plans to leave his wife.'... It's unclear what came of the email [she wrote to McGonigal's boss at the FBI,] but the feds turned up on her doorstep three years later to ask her about McGonigal and some of her allegations regarding Albania appeared in last week's indictment.'"

Tim Arango of the New York Times: "A San Francisco court on Friday released police body camera footage showing the frenzied seconds when an intruder wielding a hammer attacked Paul Pelosi, 82, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, in the foyer of the couple's home in Pacific Heights in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022." The report includes the video. This is a liveblog. An earlier entry reports, "Capitol Police surveillance video from outside former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home in San Francisco, released publicly on Friday, shows the man who attacked her husband in October breaking in." That post includes the surveillance video. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

I have absolutely no intention of seeing the deadly assault on my husband's life. I won't be making any more statements about this case as it proceeds, except to again thank people and inform them of Paul's progress. -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi, to reporters, Friday ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The New York Times' full story, by Annie Karni & Tim Arango, is here: "The body camera video and separate surveillance footage from outside the home that captured the minutes before [the attacker David] DePape gained access to the Pelosi home disproved groundless claims circulated on the far right and amplified at all levels of Republican politics that the assault was an inside job or a cover story for a sordid situation involving Mr. Pelosi. But rather than quell such conspiracy theorizing, the documentary evidence only fed the cycle that began in the immediate aftermath of the attack, when ... Donald J. Trump and Republican lawmakers were among those questioning the official account.... Mr. DePape himself was clearly influenced to carry out the attack by right-wing conspiracy theories he learned about online."

     ~~~ Politico's report, by Jeremy White, also includes both videos. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The audio of the 911 call is here:

     ~~~ Marie: Am I the only one who thinks that 911 operator was dangerously clueless?

Isaac Stanley-Becker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York..., according to two people familiar with the request. The request, which came from the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, is the clearest sign to date that federal prosecutors are examining Santos's campaign finances. The request also asked that the FEC provide any relevant documents to the Justice Department.... Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday interviewed two people about Santos's role in Harbor City Capital, an investment firm that was forced to shut down in 2021 after the SEC accused it of operating a 'classic Ponzi scheme.'" ~~~

~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The campaign of embattled Republican Rep. George Santos is facing new scrutiny from the Federal Elections Commission after a person listed as Santos' campaign treasurer [-- Thomas Datwyler --] denied that he had taken the job.... 'It has come to the attention of the Federal Election Commission that you may have failed to include the true, correct, or complete treasurer information' in a recent filing, read the letter dated Thursday.... The letter gave the Santos campaign a March 2 deadline to respond. The FEC warned that 'knowingly and willfully making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a federal government agency' would lead to criminal charges.... Numerous other political committees linked to Santos received the same letter after they also listed Datwyler as the new treasurer, news outlets have reported." ~~~

~~~ Looks Like Mrs. Ima Fraud Was George's Biggest Campaign Contributor. Noah Lanard & David Corn of Mother Jones: "We Tried to Call the Top Donors To George Santos' 2020 Campaign. Many Don't Seem To Exist.... [There are] more than a dozen major donations to the 2020 Santos campaign for which the name or the address of the donor cannot be confirmed, a Mother Jones investigation found. A separate $2,800 donation was attributed in Santos' reports filed with the Federal Election Commission to a friend of Santos who says he did not give the money. Under federal campaign finance law, it is illegal to donate money using a false name or the name of someone else.... These questionable donations, which account for more than $30,000 of the $338,000 the Santos campaign raised from individual donors in 2020, have not been previously cited in media reports." ~~~

~~~ Azi Paybarah, et al., of the Washington Post: "Here's a look at how [Rep. George] Santos defined and redefined himself in his biography on his campaign website. Below is an analysis of how that biography was rewritten from 2020 through 2023.... Three version of [his] campaign 'About' page included fewer and fewer biographical details." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Henry Gomez of NBC News: "A Republican technology firm says it is asking Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., to correct yet another apparent error on his campaign spending records. Santos reported paying WinRed more than $206,000 to process donations to his 2022 campaign, records show. But that amount doesn't match up with how much money Santos actually raised. A Republican fundraising platform, WinRed charges candidates a 3.94% fee for contributions made online by credit card. At that rate, Santos would have had to have raised more than $5.2 million through WinRed to warrant a $206,000 payment to the firm. Through November, however, his campaign reported total contributions of $1.7 million, including donations that didn't come through WinRed.... 'At this point,' [campaign finance lawyer Brett] Kappel said, 'nothing that appears on Rep. Santos's FEC reports can be taken at face value.'" MB: Hey, if you can make up your entire biography, why not make up numbers (and a treasurer!) for a silly little FEC report? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Après Anthony. Sarah Ferris & Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Just months after [George] Santos' win helped seal a GOP majority, New York Democrats and Republicans are drafting contingency plans for a potential special election in the battleground district, despite the currently high likelihood that the incumbent stays put. No matter what Santos does, the freshman fabricator's toxicity has forced House members and campaign hands to think about 2024 months before they otherwise would. 'We're preparing because that should be a Democratic seat. And we're going to make sure that whoever gets the Democratic line is in a position to win,' said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), a Queens party boss." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "With a sea of uniformed police officers looking on, a New Jersey man who pleaded guilty to shooting pepper spray into the face of Officer Brian D. Sicknick during the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol was sentenced on Friday to nearly seven years in prison. The 80-month sentence handed down against the man, Julian Khater, brought an end to one of the wrenching cases involving Officer Sicknick, who died one day after he was doused with pepper spray in the melee outside the Capitol. At the same hearing, George Tanios, a second man who was accused in the attack, was sentenced to time served, having already spent five months in jail as his case moved through the courts. In July, Mr. Tanios pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges after the government agreed to drop an assault count against him. While early reports suggested that Officer Sicknick died of his injuries, an autopsy later showed that he died of natural causes, after suffering multiple strokes that were not directly related to the violent pro-Trump riot." The CBS News story is here. The Guardian's story is here.

Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN: "A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday to threatening to use explosives during a four-hour standoff with police in 2021 outside the Library of Congress near the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Floyd Ray Roseberry, 52, faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in June, the Department of Justice said in a news release. In August 2021, Roseberry parked outside the Jefferson building of the Library of Congress and threatened to detonate a bomb, according to court documents. FBI and local police responded to the threat, and found Roseberry, claiming to have a detonator, inside a black pickup truck with no license plates.... The incident prompted authorities to evacuate several buildings in the area. Officials later said that while Roseberry did possess suspected bomb-making material in his truck, the device was not capable of detonating."

Cameron Joseph of Vice: "It's hard to imagine a dumber way to protect our national intelligence.... Experts and sources describe the classification process as messy and cumbersome, with far too much information needlessly marked classified. And they complain that when the handful of people at the top of the government mishandle classified information, they're treated very differently than the (literal) millions of other people with security clearances would be treated if they accidentally misplaced classified material.... Most [experts] argued that it was unsurprising that Pence's and Biden's teams had screwed up and brought a few classified documents with them when they left office -- and that the documents themselves were likely pretty innocuous.... Part of the problem is that there's just way too many things being unnecessarily classified." One of the classified documents that wound up in Hillary Clinton's infamous emails was a copy of a newspaper article. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Smith of the Guardian: "America has a crisis of 'overclassification', critics say. Since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, Washington has been overzealous in defining government secrets. Politicians and officials can too easily fall foul of this secrecy-industrial complex but the biggest losers are the American people denied democratic accountability.... The government classifies about 50m documents every year -- at a cost to taxpayers of approximately $18bn -- while not declassifying them at anything like the same rate.... Classification can be useful for a government official seeking to conceal incompetence, preserve a bureaucratic monopoly on a particular set of facts or keep a rival government agency in the dark. Conversely there is no penalty for keeping information -- however trivial or unnecessary -- secret and no mechanism for declassifying in the public interest."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump's administration executed 13 federal inmates in his last six months in office -- a stunning increase over three executions in 60 years.... Six of the 13 executions came after Trump lost the 2020 election as his Justice Department accelerated the schedule ahead of the incoming Joe Biden administration, which halted federal executions, but the former president has already promised to resume -- and increase -- executions in he wins back his old office."

If you don't have a New York Times subscription, Andrew Prokop of Vox covers a great deal of the Times report, linked early yesterday & late the previous day, on the Bill Barr/John Durham plot to finger the FBI for picking on Donald Trump. (Prokop's recap also linked yesterday.)

Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Days before ... Donald Trump left the White House, federal prosecutors in New York discussed whether to potentially charge Trump with campaign finance crimes once he was out of office, according to a new book from CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York developed significant evidence against Trump when they charged his former attorney Michael Cohen in 2018 over a hush money scheme paying two women claiming affairs with Trump, including adult film star Stormy Daniels, Honig writes.... With Trump about to leave office in January 2021, however, Audrey Strauss, the acting US attorney, held multiple discussions with a small group of prosecutors to discuss its evidence against Trump. They decided to not seek an indictment Trump for several reasons, Honig writes, including the political ramifications and the fact that Trump's other scandals, such as efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021, insurrection, 'made the campaign finance violations seem somehow trivial and outdated by comparison.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Inasmuch as the worst thing that's happened to Trump as a result of leading an insurrection is that he got kicked off Twitter & Facebook for a few years, it seems to me Audrey and her team miscalculated. Besides, if you commit multiple crimes, you will usually be prosecuted for all of them, not just the worst one.

Schlock Social. Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "Between posts about conspiracy theories and right-wing grievances ... on Truth Social, the right-wing social network started by [Donald] Trump in late 2021..., [are] many pitches from hucksters and fringe marketers dominating the ads on the site. Ads from major brands are nonexistent on the site. Instead, the ads on Truth Social are for alternative medicine, diet pills, gun accessories and Trump-themed trinkets...." Thompson goes to to explain why major brands stay away from the site, then reports on and reproduces some of the ads that appear on the site. (Also linked yesterday.)

Guess Who -- Possibly Unlawfully -- Partially Funded the Arizona Fraudit. Brendan Fischer & Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "One of the enduring mysteries surrounding the chaotic attempts to overturn Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential battle has been solved: who made a secret $1m donation to the controversial election 'audit' in Arizona?... Now the Guardian can reveal that the person who partially bankrolled the failed attempt to prove that the election was stolen from Trump was ... Trump. An analysis by the watchdog group Documented has traced funding for the Arizona audit back to Trump's Save America Pac.... In September 2021, as Cyber Ninjas was preparing to deliver its findings, the New York Times reported that unnamed 'officials' had denied that Trump had played any part in securing the funds.... Documented's analysis pierces through that denial.... Bill Gates, the Republican vice-chair of the Maricopa county board of supervisors at the time of the Cyber Ninjas audit ... pointed out that under Arizona law, electoral candidates are not allowed to fund vote recounts which have to be financed with taxpayer dollars."

Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A federal judge on Friday delayed the contempt of Congress trial for former Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro, likely for months, to allow for additional pre-trial debate over the role executive privilege could play when the case goes to a jury. Over the course of a nearly two-hour hearing Friday, US District Judge Amit Mehta grilled Justice Department prosecutors on the position the department has taken, in previous internal Office of Legal Counsel opinions, that close aides to a president can be immune from congressional subpoenas. The trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday. With the questions Mehta is raising about executive privilege, the Justice Department has been put on the spot to clarify its murky interpretations about the scope of presidential immunity." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Fix Was Always In. Joan Biskupic of CNN: "The Supreme Court did not disclose its longstanding financial ties with former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff even as it touted him as an expert who independently validated its investigation into who leaked the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. The court's inquiry, released last week with Chertoff's endorsement, failed to identify who was responsible for the unprecedented leak. The decision to keep the relationship with Chertoff quiet is a reflection of a pattern of opacity at the nation's highest court.... CNN has learned ... that the court in recent years has privately contracted with The Chertoff Group for security assessments, some broadly covering justices' safety and some specifically related to Covid-19 protocols at the court itself. The estimated payments to Chertoff's risk assessment firm, for consultations that extended over several months and involved a review of the justices' homes, reached at least $1 million.... Chertoff, whose financial ties to the court have not been previously reported, already had well-known personal connections to the justices through his Ivy League education, prior judicial clerkships and tenure in the two Bush administrations." (Also linked yesterday.)

Oh, the Suspense Is Over. Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee on Friday voted to reelect Ronna [Romney] McDaniel to a fourth two-year term as its chair, opting not to punish her for the GOP's recent string of electoral defeats,in a contested race that exposed fissures in the party. McDaniel fended off a challenge from Harmeet Dhillon, a California lawyer who has represented ... Donald Trump and the unsuccessful Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, seizing on grass-roots furor demanding new leadership. McDaniel positioned herself as a steady hand and honest broker who can hold together the party's factions and continue building out the RNC's financial and field resources. She prevailed on the first ballot, 111-51. After her win, McDaniel told Fox News this will be her final term. 'It's done,' she said."

Lisa Lerer & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The 168 members of the Republican National Committee will vote Friday morning in California on their next party chair, choosing between handing their current leader, Ronna [Romney] McDaniel, a fourth term or turning her position over to hard-line challengers who say new blood is needed after three disappointing national elections." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Tennessee. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "Officials in Memphis released roughly an hour of video on Friday that captured how a traffic stop involving Mr. Nichols on Jan. 7 turned deadly during a second encounter after he fled on foot. The video, which was posted online in four segments just before 6 p.m., provided a degree of long-awaited clarity for the many people in Memphis and around the country who have demanded to know what happened. Yet it also failed to answer essential questions, including why the police pulled over Mr. Nichols, who was Black, to begin with.... The police officers kicked Tyre Nichols in the head, pepper-sprayed him and hit him repeatedly with a baton, even as he showed no signs of fighting back. At one point, after Mr. Nichols stood up, one officer struck him with at least five forceful blows while another held Mr. Nichols's hands behind his back. Soon, Mr. Nichols, 29, was on the ground -- not far from the home he shared with his mother and stepfather -- crying out in anguish: 'Mom, Mom, Mom.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The video is here. A New York Times liveblog of developments related to the release of the video is here. The Washington Post's main story is here. An NBC News story is here. NBC News live updates are here. CNN's main story is here.

Georgia. Timothy Pratt of the Guardian: When does a "protester" become a "terrorist"? The state of Georgia is testing that. "... a strident rhetoric from police and politicians in Georgia, seeking to define a largely peaceful protest movement -- often focused on environmental and racial justice issues -- as terrorism and those who participate in it as terrorists.... On Saturday night, six activists in Atlanta were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism, bringing the total since December to 18. All have been charged under a Georgia statute, marking the first time state law has been used this way in the history of environmental movements in the US.... Eli Bennett and Joshua Schiffer, two Atlanta attorneys representing some of the activists, both told the Guardian the state statute is 'overly vague'. Four of the 18 cases brought under federal domestic terrorism charges during the 2000s were dismissed due to allegations being too vague, according to the Intercept.... Bill McKibben, author of 20 books on climate change and other subjects, wrote this week that, according to Georgia's domestic terrorism law, lie down in front of a police car and you're a terrorist who could spend many many years behind bars'." Another expert, Ryan Shapiro, said, "even writing pro-animal slogans on the sidewalk in chalk" could be construed as terrorism. ~~~

     ~~~ These two young terrorists on a rampage pause to show off the havoc they have wrought: ~~~

New York. AP: “New York state should pay former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's legal bills as he defends himself against a lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing a state trooper, a judge ruled Friday. Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Letitia James in August arguing she violated state law by denying him public assistance for his defense. Cuomo said the trooper's allegations stem from a time when 'he was acting within the scope of his employment or duties.'... Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler said it is for a judge or jury to determine if Cuomo sexually harassed the state trooper, and that his state-funded defense can't be denied, according to the New York Post."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al. The Guardian's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

News Lede

New York Times: "At least three people were killed and four others wounded in a shooting near Beverly Hills, Calif., early on Saturday morning, the police said. The Los Angeles Police Department said that the shooting took place at a short-term rental around 2:30 a.m. in the upscale Beverly Crest neighborhood, which borders Beverly Hills."