July 16, 2022

Peter Baker & David Sanger of the New York Times: "In the most fraught foreign visit of his presidency to date, [President] Biden's encounter with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave the de facto Saudi leader a measure of the international rehabilitation he sought, while securing steps toward closer relations with Israel and an unannounced understanding that the kingdom would soon pump more oil to relieve high gas prices at home. Mr. Biden's discomfort was palpable as he avoided a handshake with the prince in favor of a fist bump.... Mr. Biden ... told reporters [Jamal] Khashoggi's murder was 'outrageous' and said he had confronted the crown prince privately. 'I raised it at the top of the meeting, making clear what I thought at the time and what I think of it now,' he said. 'I was straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my view crystal clear.' He reported that Prince Mohammed, often known by his initials M.B.S., had denied culpability. 'He basically said that he was not personally responsible for it,' Mr. Biden said. 'I indicated that I thought he was.'... The Saudis wasted little time splashing photographs of the president and the prince across social media...." An ABC News report is here.

Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: "President Biden had contrasting messages for Israelis and Palestinians on Friday before departing Israel for Saudi Arabia, announcing new steps toward Israeli integration within the Middle East while cautioning Palestinians that now was not the time for new peace talks to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For the Palestinians, Mr. Biden offered sympathy and funding, but few long-term prospects. On a brief visit to the West Bank, he announced more than $300 million for Palestinian hospitals and refugees, some of it subject to congressional approval. And he reported that Israel had agreed to give the Palestinians access to 4G internet, a decision not yet confirmed by Israel. He also restated his support for a future Palestinian state, with a capital in at least part of Jerusalem, and said that Israel's increased acceptance within the Arab world could lead to new momentum for the dormant peace process." An NPR report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Good grief! 4G? Haven't I been using 5G for several years? And so far Israel isn't even promising 4G? Here's a little background, from a February 9, 2022, Jerusalem Post report. We, or at least I, don't know the many ways Israel mistreats Palestinians.

Rand Paul to the Rescue! Really. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "The White House is abandoning plans to nominate a Kentucky lawyer [Chad Meredith] who opposes abortion rights and is backed by Senator Mitch McConnell to a federal court seat, citing opposition from Senator Rand Paul, Mr. McConnell's home-state colleague. The resistance from Mr. McConnell's fellow Republican marked a new twist over a potential nomination that had prompted outrage on the left.... Mr. McConnell ... said the White House intended to follow through on its commitment to nominate Mr. Meredith until Mr. Paul objected. Mr. Paul informed the White House that he would not return a 'blue slip' consenting to the nomination of Mr. Meredith, who is now in private practice. 'The net result of this is it has prevented me from getting my kind of judge out of a liberal Democratic president,' Mr. McConnell said in an interview, calling Mr. Paul's position 'just utterly pointless.'... Mr. McConnell said that he had made no pledge to the White House to do anything in return for Mr. Biden accepting his recommendation.... Democrats had sharply questioned why Mr. Biden would put forward a nominee backed by Mr. McConnell, considering that the Republican leader blocked Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick in 2016 and has been a main impediment to the president's agenda." No one seems to know Paul's objection to the nomination. The Huffington Post's story is here.

Senator Manchin has said a lot of things. Every time, what he makes clear over and over again, is he can't close a deal and that you can't trust what he says. -- Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) ~~~

~~~ Off With His Head! Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "A day after pulling the plug on his party's plans to pass a climate, energy and tax package this summer, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia ... suggested, in another month or so, he might see his way clear to salvaging the last bits of President Biden's domestic agenda.... This time, Democrats had had enough. Rather than engage in another round of will-he-or-won't-he negotiations with Mr. Manchin, Mr. Biden let it be known that he was done trying to secure his climate agenda in Congress. Mr. Manchin's abrupt withdrawal left Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, jilted after months of courting a colleague whose demands and red lines seemed to shift by the day, or the latest economic projection. And it prodded many Democrats into open revolt against Mr. Manchin, blaming him for the demise of their ambitions and the last chance for their party to tackle the existential threat of climate change." Read on. An NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Joe reminds me of Anne Boleyn. According to legend, she kept enticing Henry VIII with sexy moves but pushed Jenry away every time he got, you know, too close. She would not do the deed, she said, unless he married her. He did, and you know how that turned out for Anne. ~~~

"A Modern-day Villain." Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "Joe Manchin's decision to kill off sweeping US climate legislation has been called 'nothing short of a death sentence' for younger people and a livable climate on Earth, amid an outpouring of anger and despair from activists, scientists and even many of the US Senator's Democratic colleagues. Manchin, the centrist West Virginia senator who has become a millionaire through his founding of a coal-trading company in his home state, dealt a crushing political blow to Joe Biden's agenda on Thursday night when he made clear he would not support any spending to curb the climate crisis in a proposed bill." ~~~

~~~ Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "... President Biden on Friday called on congressional Democrats to refocus their once-sweeping spending ambitions -- and adopt a package soon that aims to lower Americans' health-care costs. The public statement from the White House reflected an unavoidable reality: Biden's once-vast vision to remake broad swaths of the U.S. economy -- including an attempt to invest historic sums in the fight against climate change -- had faltered for perhaps the final time after months of failed negotiations between Democratic leaders and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.)."

The Party of Women's Rights. Amy Wang & Eugene Scott of the Washington Post: "The House on Friday passed legislation that would protect access to reproductive health care, including the ability to travel across state lines for an abortion, as part of Democrats' efforts to minimize the consequences of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last month. One bill, the Women's Health Protection Act, would enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into law. The House already passed the bill last year, but it did not advance in a Senate vote in May. The House passed the bill, 219-210, prompting applause from Democrats in the chamber. All Republicans and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) voted against the measure. Another bill, the Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, would reaffirm the right for someone seeking an abortion to travel freely across state lines. The House passed that measure, 223-205, with three Republicans -- Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Fred Upton (Mich.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) -- joining all Democrats in backing the bill.... The bills are almost certain to fail in the Senate, where they would require 60 votes or the suspension of filibuster rules and a simple majority. Both are unlikely in the face of Republican opposition."

Jacqueline Alemany & Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol issued a subpoena to the U.S. Secret Service on Friday requesting records after a government watchdog accused the agency of erasing texts from Jan. 5 and 6 after his office requested them. Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), in a letter transmitting notice of the subpoena, wrote that the panel sought relevant text messages and reports issued in any way related to the attack on the Capitol.... The subpoena is the first the committee has issued to an executive branch agency. The text messages could provide insight into the actions of the agency and potentially those of President Donald Trump on the day of the insurrection.... Joseph Cuffari, the DHS's inspector general, briefed members of the committee on Friday after sending a letter to lawmakers this week notifying them that the text messages were erased following the inspector general's request [for the text messages]." Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "The inspector general told the committee that the Secret Service has not been fully cooperative with his probe. Cuffari's description left the impression that the Secret Service had been 'footdragging,' the source said. The inspector general told the committee they were not getting full access to personnel and records. Cuffari said he brought the issue to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas more than once and was told to keep trying to get the information. Ultimately, Cuffari decided to go to Congress because he could not get anywhere within DHS with his concerns. Separately, a law enforcement official told CNN about Cuffari going to Mayorkas."

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Justice Department declared Friday that the Jan. 6 select committee has adequately justified its subpoena for testimony and documents from Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff in Donald Trump's White House. That conclusion came as part of a landmark filing taking a position for the first time that former advisers to presidents who have left office are not 'absolutely immune' from congressional subpoenas. DOJ filed the brief Friday evening in a civil suit Meadows filed in December against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the committee's members in a bid to quash subpoenas the former Trump aide received from the House panel.... The department's brief concludes such advisers only retain that 'qualified immunity' after the president they served leaves office and that such immunity can be overcome by Congress if lawmakers prove they need the information at issue and can't get it anywhere else.... The Justice Department's decision to side with the House committee in the civil suit is notable ... [because] last month, department officials passed up the chance to pursue criminal charges against Meadows for defying the same House panel."

A Ridiculous Little Mystery, Solved. Kyle Cheney & Nicholas Wu of Politico: "A little-known Donald Trump campaign operative delivered lists of false electors to Capitol Hill in a bid to get them to Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, according to two people familiar with the episode. Mike Roman, then Trump's 2020 director of Election Day operations, delivered those false elector certificates -- signed by pro-Trump activists in Michigan and Wisconsin -- to Rep. Mike Kelly's (R-Pa.) chief of staff at the time [Matt Stroia].... Kelly was a Trump ally in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, and his then-top aide received the documents from Roman before deputizing a colleague to disseminate copies on Capitol Hill, according to both people.... After the committee revealed the role of a top aide to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in the episode during a hearing last month, Johnson said the false elector lists came from Kelly -- who has repeatedly denied any involvement by his office in their distribution." Johnson's spokesperson said Kelly should apologize to Johnson. The January 6 committee has subpoenaed Roman regarding his part in the fake electors scheme.

Insurrectionists Turned Crybabies. Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: “Two New York state men who led a mob that overwhelmed police at the perimeter of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 -- then bodysurfed over the top of the crowd at a building entrance and pepper-sprayed officers -- were both sentenced Friday to 44 months in prison. Cody Mattice, 29, of Greece, N.Y., and James Mault, 30, of Brockport, N.Y., both wept as they stood before Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell and asked for leniency, apologizing for their actions and saying they hoped to return soon to their families and young children. But Howell noted that prosecutors had already cut them a reasonable deal by dropping charges that could have led to far more prison time, and she imposed the sentences requested by the government."

Michael Isikoff & Daniel Klaidman of Yahoo! News: "In the latest sign that she is moving rapidly in her investigation into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis has sent so-called target letters to prominent Georgia Republicans informing them they could be indicted for their role in a scheme to appoint alternate electors pledged to the former president despite Joe Biden's victory in the state.... Among the recipients of the target letters, the sources said, are GOP state Sen. Burt Jones, Gov. Brian Kemp's running mate for lieutenant governor; David Shafer, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party; and state Sen. Brandon Beach. Jones and Shafer were among those who participated in a closed-door meeting at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, in which 16 Georgia Republicans selected themselves as the electors for the state, although they had no legal basis for doing so.... 'Yes,' said Willis when asked if there was any chance Trump will be called to testify." The New York Times story is here.

Emily Anthes of the New York Times: "As the monkeypox outbreak grows in the United States, demand for the vaccine is outstripping the nation's supply, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news briefing on Friday.... The federal government made another 131,000 doses available to states and other jurisdictions on Friday. But the scope of the outbreak remains unclear, in part because diagnostic testing has been slow and limited. Nearly 1,500 cases have been identified in the United States, primarily in men who have sex with men, and the figure is likely to rise in the coming weeks, Dr. Walensky said.... The Department of Health and Human Services ordered an additional 2.5 million doses of the vaccine, known as Jynneos, on Friday, but those doses are not scheduled to arrive until next year. A previously ordered 2.5 million doses should begin arriving late this year, officials said."

Maria Paúl & Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Hours after a man was charged Wednesday with raping a 10-year-old Ohio girl, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) questioned whether the Indianapolis doctor who helped the child obtain an abortion had reported the procedure to state officials, as required by law.... Rokita again raised doubts Thursday in a letter to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R), saying that his office had requested, but not received, documentation from state agencies that the girl's abortion had been properly reported by the OB/GYN, Caitlin Bernard. But records obtained by The Washington Post on Thursday afternoon show that Bernard indeed reported the minor's abortion to the relevant state agencies before the legally mandated deadline to do so. The doctor's attorney, Kathleen DeLaney..., sent a cease-and-desist order to Rokita on Friday."

     ~~~ Marie: Are we to assume that the Washington Post -- and the New York Times (here) AND the Indy Star (here), both a full day earlier -- have better access to Indiana state records than does the state's own attorney general? A better assumption would be that Rokita is a news whore who just wanted his moment in the Fox "News" sunlight. Because Rokita could hardly wait to get on the Fox teevee. I'm getting angrier & angrier at these fat, lying, misogynistic, holier-than-thou Republicans.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona, the Worst Place to Live. In yesterday's thread, RAS & Akhilleus linked to stories that suggest that if you are thinking of moving states, Arizona is a really bad choice: ~~~

(1) Scott Cohn of CNBC: "With five million more job openings in the U.S. than there are employees to fill them, workers have more leverage than they have had in years. They are using that power -- and unprecedented mobility -- to demand a welcoming environment and great quality of life in the places they work. Our Life, Health and Inclusion category considers factors such as crime rates, environmental quality, and health care. For the first time in 2022, we also consider the availability of childcare.... We also consider inclusiveness of state laws in areas like protections against discrimination and voting rights. That's not politics, it's business.... [According to these metrics,] America's worst state to live in is ... ~~~

~~~ "Arizona: "... it [has] some of the worst air quality in the nation.... Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, endures 39 high ozone days per year. That puts more stress on an already poor health care system, short on hospital beds and staff." The state's "Life, Health & Inclusion" score is the worst in the nation, Grade: F. Meanwhile, none of CNBC's metrics put Arizona in the top 50 percent. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

(2) MEANWHILE, Arizona Is the Slave Labor State. Robyn Pennacchia of Wonkette: "Giving testimony on Thursday before [a state legislative budget committee], Arizona Department of Corrections Director David Shinn explained that many Arizona communities would 'collapse' without prison labor.... In other words, he is arguing that ... the state literally needs people to commit crimes in order to function economically.... According to the ACLU, 'charging misdemeanors as felonies, throwing thousands of people behind bars instead of offering drug treatment or diversion services, and abusing prosecutorial power to secure guilty pleas are just some of the tactics used that have led to Arizona's exceedingly high rate of incarceration.'" Thanks to RAS for the link.

New York. Ed Shanahan of the New York Times: "Ivana Trump, the ex-wife of ... Donald J. Trump, died accidentally of blunt impact injuries to her torso, according to New York City's chief medical examiner. The office, which announced its determination in a news release on Friday afternoon, said it would have no further comment on the death of Ms. Trump, 73." CNN's report is here. MB: It is my personal hope that this succinct ME announcement will be no impediment to conspiracy theorists.

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "Days after the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the leaders of the grieving city fumed during a closed-door meeting with Steven McCraw, the state's top police official.... [The city officials] laid out their own version of events, one that praised the officers for initially rushing to the gunfire and saving hundreds of other children in the school.... The competing accounts have obscured the actions of the police.... The clearest picture yet is expected to come on Sunday when a Texas House committee is set to report the results of its investigation, one of several overlapping inquiries into what took place. The committee's report was expected to spread blame beyond Chief Pete Arredondo, the head of the small Uvalde school district police force who Mr. McCraw has said was principally responsible for a law enforcement response that he has called an 'abject failure.'"

West Virginia. Chris Dickerson of the West Virginia Record: "A circuit court judge allegedly brandished a handgun during a hearing earlier this year, leaving it pointed at an attorney from Texas during the proceedings. Second Judicial Circuit Judge David Hummel was overseeing a trial in a case ... regarding royalty payments to landowners. Houston-based attorney Lauren Varnado was leading the legal team representing [one of the litigants]. The incident in question occurred March 12 during a rare Saturday hearing involving only trial counsel.... According to the Daily Beast website..., Hummel 'whipped out his handgun, waved it in the air and left it on the bench with the barrel pointing directly at corporate lawyers who had irritated him.' At first, Hummel told the Daily Beast that never happened. Then, he told the reporter he kept the gun, a Colt .45, in a secret drawer in his bench. Then, he said he was wearing a holstered gun under his robe during the trial the previous week. But he said it was a long, classic-looking revolver.... During the trial, [Varnado] said Hummel would walk around the courtroom with his robe unzipped and the firearm visible." Varnaro notified the FBI & attested to Varnaro's courtroom gunslinging in in an affidavit. She said she was terrified by his behavior.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "A Russian strike on an industrial plant and a busy street in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed at least three people and injured 15 on Friday night, a regional leader said.... A spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said about 70 percent of Russian strikes have targeted nonmilitary infrastructure.... Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine had received its first M270 multiple-launch rocket systems, which he called 'good company' for comparable U.S. weapons credited for the destruction of more than 30 Russian military logistics centers. Russian opposition activist Andrei Pivovarov was sentenced to four years in prison for leading a pro-democracy group. Moscow has intensified its crackdown on dissidents since the Feb. 24. invasion. As ... Vladimir Putin prepares to visit Tehran next week, Iran said recent U.S. intelligence reports that it is sending Russia weapons-ready drones were 'baseless,' state media reported." ~~~

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

Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Lawyers for WNBA star Brittney Griner told a Russian court Friday that doctors in the United States prescribed her medical cannabis for chronic pain, as the basketball player faced her fourth day in a trial on drug charges that could send her to prison for up to 10 years.... [Griner had] told the court she accidentally packed the two vape cartridges and did not intend to break Russian law.... As part of the presentation of evidence for the defense, one of Griner's attorneys, Maria Blagovolina ... read a medical certificate indicating that Griner was prescribed medical cannabis by U.S. doctors as part of treatment for chronic pain and other conditions. The trial was then adjourned until July 26."

July 15, 2022

The New York Times' live updates of President Biden's trip to the Middle East are here: "Saudi Arabia has taken a small step toward normalizing relations with Israel by agreeing to allow Israeli planes to fly between the two countries, President Biden said on Friday -- a new example of the growing ties between Israel and the Arab world after decades of diplomatic isolation.... On the eve of Mr. Biden's visit, the White House announced several financial measures intended to improve Palestinian life but stopped short of a political process to create a Palestinian state and left several Trump-era measures in place."

Bethan McKernan of the Guardian: "Joe Biden has defended his imminent trip to Saudi Arabia, saying he will not avoid human rights issues on the final leg of his Middle East tour, despite refusing to commit to mentioning the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi when he meets the kingdom's crown prince. Speaking during a news conference with the interim Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid, in Jerusalem on Thursday, the US leader said his stance on Khashoggi's killing was 'absolutely' clear. US intelligence services concluded last year that Khashoggi’s 2018 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was approved by the powerful heir to the throne, Mohammed bin Salman."

Burn Planet, Burn. Emily Cochrane & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, pulled the plug on Thursday on negotiations to salvage ke pieces of President Biden's agenda, informing his party's leaders that he would not support funding for climate or energy programs or raising taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations. The decision by Mr. Manchin, a conservative-leaning Democrat whose opposition has effectively stalled Mr. Biden's economic package in the evenly divided Senate, dealt a devastating blow to his party's efforts to enact a broad social safety net, climate and tax package." The Hill's report is here.

How Conveeeenient. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Text messages sent and received by Secret Service agents around the time of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol last year have been erased, an inspector general said on Thursday, prompting concern from the House committee investigating the assault. In a letter obtained by The New York Times, the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of the Secret Service, reported that many of the agents' texts were erased as part of a device replacement program even after the inspector general had requested them as part of his inquiry into the events of Jan. 6.... In a statement, the Secret Service disputed parts of the inspector general's findings, saying that it 'lost' data on 'some phones' as part of a preplanned three-month 'system migration' in January 2021, but maintaining that no texts pertinent to the inquiry 'had been lost in the migration.' The agency said that the project was underway before it received notice from the inspector general to preserve its data, and that it did not 'maliciously' delete text messages." The Intercept story, which broke the news, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's a whiney, indignant press release from Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service spokesman (chief of communications). MB: I'd suggest the Secret Service find a new spokesman; this guy's communications skills stink, & his release is, at best, unprofessional. ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Solender of Axios: "The chair of the Jan. 6 select committee [Rep. Bennie Thomson (D-Miss.)] on Thursday said the panel will try to 'reconstruct' deleted U.S. Secret Service text messages flagged by an agency watchdog.... The text messages ... could shed light on reported efforts to remove former Vice President Mike Pence from the Capitol, and former President Trump's alleged attempts to travel to the Capitol to join his supporters on that day.... Thompson said the Jan. 6 panel has not yet interviewed [agents Anthony] Ornato and Robert Engel, [who were with Trump in the vehicle] but said, 'We've been talking to them.'... The Secret Service has turned over roughly 786,176 emails and 7,678 internal messages that reference conversations and operational details related to Jan. 6, according to a Secret Service official."

Jamie Gangel & Annie Grayer of CNN: "A Washington, DC, police officer has corroborated to the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, details regarding a heated exchange ... Donald Trump had with his Secret Service detail when he was told he could not go to the US Capitol after his rally, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. The officer with the Metropolitan Police Department was in the motorcade with the Secret Service for Trump on January 6 and recounted what was seen to committee investigators, according to the source.... The committee is also engaging with the driver who was in the presidential SUV regarding possible testimony, the source said.... CNN has previously reported that two Secret Service sources have said they heard about Trump angrily demanding to go to the Capitol and berating his detail when he didn't get his way. The sources told CNN that stories circulated about the incident in the months after January 6 -- including details that are similar to what Hutchinson described to the committee."

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot said its next hearing will focus on how ... Donald Trump;s failure to quell the violent mob for several hours showed a 'supreme dereliction of duty.' The committee's eighth public hearing, expected to air in prime time July 21, marks its last scheduled presentation of evidence implicating Trump in a multi-pronged conspiracy to overturn his 2020 election loss that culminated in the deadly invasion. The final hearing will highlight the more-than-three-hour gap between Trump's departure from a rally that preceded the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and his eventual call for the mob to go home, committee members said. The lawmakers 'plan to go through that 187 minutes,' said Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., in an ABC News interview Wednesday afternoon." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Republican members of Congress regularly blame others -- often Nancy Pelosi -- for not adequately securing the Capitol on January 6. I hope the committee makes it abundantly clear that Donald Trump purposely engineered the low level of security at the Capitol (by keeping secret his plans to storm the building) when the mob first attacked and the failure of the National Guard or federal agencies to assist the police as the mob breached the building.

Rebecca Beitsch & Mike Lillis of the Hill: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol scrambled to add new testimony from White House counsel Pat Cipollone to its latest hearing on Tuesday, and in the process bumped aside evidence about former President Trump's ties to violent extremist groups.... Left unmentioned, for instance, was a Jan. 5 request from Trump to have chief of staff Mark Meadows contact two informal advisors, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, who both used extremist groups as security details. The panel also excluded any mention of the so-called war room at the Willard Hotel near the White House, where leading Trump allies -- including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani -- had huddled to devise strategy ahead of Jan. 6. At least one member of an extremist group, the 1st Amendment Praetorian, was reportedly among them." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A judge once again on Thursday refused to delay Steve Bannon's trial for contempt of Congress, which is set to get underway on Monday.... Bannon's lawyers had once again argued that there was too much pre-trial publicity about the case.... 'We're still going to be at trial on Monday,' [Judge Carl] Nichols said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols of Washington, a Trump appointee, appears ready, willing and able to come down hard on Bannon's flouting of a congressional subpoena last year.... The Great Manipulator could even serve some jail time if convicted -- as much as two years or, perhaps more likely, as little as 30 days.... My animus for Bannon comes partly from the way he has helped to turn the public against the reality-based press and the way he has tried to bury truth under an avalanche of lies and misdirection.... Days before Jan. 6, 2021, Bannon used his podcast to summon deluded and criminal mobs to the gathering storm at the U.S. Capitol with a drumbeat of election lies: 'It all comes down to, are we going to affirm the massive landslide of Donald J. Trump? Or are we going to turn over our constitutional republic ... to the forces of darkness?'... Of all the Trump-era villains -- and, let's face it, they are legion -- Stephen K. Bannon surely is one of the worst." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "An armed man who reportedly threatened to kill Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) was arrested outside her Seattle home Saturday on suspicion of committing a hate crime, police said. The man, whose name was redacted from publicly available police reports, was released from jail Wednesday because police could not confirm his threats or that he told Jayapal to 'go back to India,' and an investigation is ongoing, the Seattle Times reported. On Saturday night, Jayapal called 911 to report that someone was outside her home using obscene language and may have fired a pellet gun, according to a probable cause statement from Seattle police obtained by King 5 News.' According to the statement, police found a 48-year-old man outside Jayapal's home who was 'standing in the middle of the street with his hands in the air' and a .40-caliber Glock 22 handgun holstered on his waist."

Texas Is for Misogynists. David Goodman & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Days after the Biden administration moved to ensure access to abortion in certain emergency situations, Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas on Thursday filed a lawsuit challenging the federal guidance, saying it would 'force abortions' in hospitals in the state. The suit was an opening salvo in what is likely to be a protracted legal tug of war between the administration and states like Texas that have swiftly taken steps to ban abortion in almost all cases in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The suit, which names Mr. Biden's health secretary, Xavier Becerra, as its lead defendant, grows out of guidance issued on Monday by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The agency has instructed hospitals that, even in states where abortion is illegal, federal law requires doctors to perform abortions for pregnant women who show up in their emergency departments if they believe it is 'the stabilizing treatment necessary' to resolve an emergency medical condition."

Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "Democratic legislation that would protect the right to travel freely from state to state to seek abortion care was blocked in the Senate on Thursday by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). Lankford, who supports instituting a national ban on abortion, dismissed it as unnecessary.... The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, introduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) earlier this week, would clarify the right to cross state lines to obtain reproductive health care services. It would also empower the U.S. attorney general and affected individuals to bring civil lawsuits against anyone who attempts to restrict that right.... 'This is a form of gaslighting to keep insisting that American women will be able to get care when we know that anti-choice legislators and groups are working to stop them from doing so,' [Cortez Masto] said on Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Like, for instance, when a 10-year-old pregnant child crossed stated lines from Ohio to Indiana to get an abortion, Indiana went after her physician. ~~~

~~~ Myah Ward of Politico: "Indiana's Republican attorney general said on Wednesday that his office planned to investigate the Indiana doctor who helped a 10-year-old rape victim who crossed state lines to have an abortion. Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, has told multiple outlets that she provided care to the 10-year-old after a child abuse doctor in Ohio contacted her. 'We're gathering the evidence as we speak, and we're going to fight this to the end, including looking at her licensure if she failed to report. And in Indiana it's a crime ... to intentionally not report,' state Attorney General Todd Rokita said on Fox News on Wednesday night." MB: The bastards never let up. And it's surprising how many of them, like Rokita, physically resemble ugly, fat, pink pigs with dull, beady eyes. Related stories linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ More Republican Men Confused About Female Anatomy. Scott Wong of NBC News: "Confronted with the reality of the case, GOP lawmakers interviewed Thursday appeared to be grappling with how to respond -- from confusion to blaming the media. Many expressed shock that it was even biologically possible for the 10-year-old child to become pregnant.... 'I'm amazed a 10-year-old got pregnant.... You really wrestle with that. That's a tough one,' Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, said Thursday.... Asked whether he regretted calling the story a lie, [Rep. Jim] Jordan [R-Ohio] blamed [the alleged rapist], an undocumented immigrant, and the news media [MB: and President Biden]." MB: Jordan has learned -- possibly from Donald Trump -- that every ignorant, reckless thing he does or says is the fault of several other people and he has no reason to apologize. ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Rather than apologize to Caitlin Bernard for calling her a liar, many on the right have started attacking her for not reporting the rape herself, even though the police already knew about it by the time she saw the girl. It looks like the only thing Bernard did wrong, though, is to embarrass Republicans. On Thursday afternoon, The Star reported that Bernard reported the abortion to the Indiana Department of Health and the Department of Child Services, as state law requires. In a statement, her lawyer said she's considering legal action against [Indiana AG Todd] Rokita and others who have 'smeared' her. This whole hideous episode has demonstrated the extent to which conservatives are unwilling to grapple with the reality of the abortion regime they are imposing on much of the country." Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I hope Dr. Bernard does sue. She is not a public figure, and the attackers obviously had maliciously intent. Moreover, the Ohio & Indiana AGs had access to public records to determine whether or not the false charges they made were true -- but they were too anxious to become Fox "News" stars to bother to check the facts before they attacked Dr. Bernard & her patient.

Michael Scherer & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: Donald Trump "is now eyeing a September announcement [of his presidential candidacy], according to two Trump advisers.... His team has instructed others to have an online apparatus ready for a campaign should he announce soon, two people familiar with the matter said. He also has begun meeting with top donors to talk about the 2024 race...." Some Republicans are worried an early announcement from Trump will upset their 2022 plans. MB: They have only themselves to blame. Senate Republicans could have convicted Trump in his second impeachment and voted him ineligible to run for office. Ever. As for me, I urge media outlets to ignore Trump's run as much as possible. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Peter Nicholas of NBC News: Ty Cobb, the attorney who led Donald Trump's response to the Mueller report, now describes Trump as a "disaster": "The Big Lie, and the related violence, election interference and other perceived misconduct, was and is an affront to this nation and its first principles. It has permanently soiled the history pages and deepened the abyss that divides our country and continues to expand due to the delusions and lack of accountability of politicians in both parties. It should be disqualifying for Trump and his political acolytes, and would have been at any other time in our history." MB: In fairness to Trump, he probably didn't pay Cobb, so maybe Cobb is suffering from a case of sour grapes.

Clay Risen of the New York Times: "Ivana Trump, the glamorous Czech-American businesswoman whose high-profile marriage to Donald J. Trump in the 1980s established them as one of New York's quintessential power couples of that era, died on Thursday at her home in Manhattan. She was 73.... The New York City police are investigating whether Ms. Trump fell down the stairs at her home on Manhattan's Upper East Side, just off Fifth Avenue near Central Park, according to two law enforcement officials.... One of the officials said there was no sign of forced entry at the home, and the death appeared to be accidental. A spokeswoman for the city's chief medical examiner's office said it would investigate the death." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "A judge in Colorado issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for Tina Peters, the Mesa County clerk who is under indictment in relation to a breach of election equipment after the 2020 presidential contest, for violating conditions of her bond that prevented her from traveling without court approval. The judge, Matthew D. Barrett of Colorado's 21st Judicial District, also revoked her $25,000 cash bond and called for her to be held in jail pending a hearing. Ms. Peters traveled to Las Vegas this week to speak at an event hosted by ... a conservative group of county sheriffs and their allies.... Ms. Peters had been deemed a flight risk..., but because she was running for the Republican nomination for Colorado secretary of state, Ms. Peters was given permission to travel outside the state for political purposes, as long as she notified the court of her plans. She lost her primary bid last month, and on Monday, Judge Barrett ruled that she would again need the court's approval before traveling out of state. Ms. Peters has continued to claim, without evidence, that her election loss was the result of fraud." A CBS News report is here.

New York. Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A Tops Friendly Markets location in Buffalo where 10 people died in a racially-motivated massacre two months ago is set to reopen to the public on Friday, generating mixed feelings from the predominantly Black community the grocery store used to serve. Tops executives held a moment of silence at the site on Thursday afternoon with local officials and others in attendance. Also Thursday, a federal grand jury in the Western District of New York returned a 27-count indictment against the alleged gunman in the massacre, who was charged last month with hate crimes and a gun violation and could face the death penalty for the weapons charge. The accused shooter, Payton Gendron, 19, separately has been charged in state court >with hate-motivated domestic terrorism, first-degree murder and other counts. He is being held without bail and faces a maximum penalty of life without the possibility of parole in the state-level case."

South Carolina. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "Alex Murdaugh, the fourth-generation lawyer whose family has long held power and influence in a rural swath of South Carolina, was charged on Thursday with killing his wife and one of his sons at the family's secluded hunting estate in a mysterious murder that remained unsolved for more than a year.... The killings immediately put scrutiny on the Murdaugh family and the deaths of several people associated with them. The police began to re-examine the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old man who was found along a road about 10 miles from the Murdaugh's home and who was thought to have been hit by a truck, as well as the death of Gloria Satterfield in 2018, a housekeeper who worked for the Murdaugh family who died after falling on their house's front steps. At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh had been facing charges of drunkenly crashing a boat carrying several of his friends, killing a 19-year-old passenger, Mallory Beach." Read on, it you're not familiar with this Southern gothic melodrama, which looks suspiciously like a Netflix mini-series. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Texas. A Field Trip to Ted's House -- Without the Children. Steffi Cao of BuzzFeed News: "A fleet of 52 yellow school buses formed a mile-long procession to Sen. Ted Cruz's house in Houston on Thursday morning -- 4,368 empty seats to honor the number of children killed by gun violence since 2020. The first bus carried items from school shooting victims.... Named 'The NRA Children's Museum,' this project is the latest by artist Manuel Oliver, father of Joaquin [who was killed by the Parkland shooter].... On Monday, [Manuel Oliver] interrupted President Joe Biden during a Rose Garden speech, calling on the White House to open an office specifically for gun violence.... Oliver hand-delivered a letter from his late son to Cruz's house on Thursday, who has received a total of $749,000 from the pro-gun group. The note, which was written by a 12-year-old Joaquin, spoke to gun owners about his thoughts on gun control in the country. When the buses arrived, a security guard came out and accepted the letter. Oliver did not receive an immediate response from Cruz. The procession left shortly after due to encircling police presence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

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

Guardian: "Canada's finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, has told Russian officials at a meeting of G20 finance ministers that she held them personally responsible for 'war crimes' committed during Russia's war in Ukraine, a western official said. Freeland directly addressed the Russian delegation taking part in the meeting of the Group of 20 major economies, telling them on Friday: 'It is not only generals who commit war crimes, it is the economic technocrats who allow the war to happen and to continue,' the official said. Freeland, whose maternal grandparents were born in Ukraine, told the opening G20 session that the war was the 'single biggest threat to the global economy right now', the official said. A day before the meeting, the US Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, set the tone, calling Russia's war in Ukraine the 'greatest challenge' to the global economy and saying members of Putin's government 'have no place' at the talks." ~~~

~~~ Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Friday denounced Russia's war in Ukraine in a closed-door meeting of the Group of 20 nations attended by a senior Kremlin official, according to a Treasury official. Yellen criticized Russia over the atrocities committed in Ukraine and the war's impact on the global economy, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe behind-the-scenes discussions.... 'Russia's officials, including those participating in this session, should recognize that they are adding to the horrific consequences of this war through their continued support of the Putin regime. You share responsibility for the innocent lives lost and the ongoing human and economic toll that the war is causing around the world,' she [said].... It was unclear if the deputy finance minster was still in the room when Yellen delivered the remarks." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sounds to me as if either the deputy was in the room or the finance minister was there virtually (or both); otherwise Yellen would not have said "you." ~~~

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.

Italy. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Italy's golden period of stability suddenly seemed on the familiar precipice of chaos on Thursday after Prime Minister Mario Draghi tendered his resignation in response to a revolt by anti-establishment populists within his broad national unity government. But in a sign of how traumatic Mr. Draghi's departure would be for Italy, the country's president refused to accept his resignation, essentially freezing the political situation in place until next week, when Mr. Draghi will address Parliament. The unexpected government crisis, and the theatrics and behind-the-scenes machinations, left Italy in a state of suspended animation and created a potential calamity for Europe as it seeks a united front against Russia's aggression in Ukraine, and faces a wave of Covid infections and an energy crisis."

Sri Lanka. A Day Late, Millions of Dollars Short. Niha Masih & Hafeel Farisz of the Washington Post: "Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned Thursday from his sudden exile in Singapore, a day after fleeing the country he led for nearly three years. Forced out by a civilian uprising over the island nation's economic collapse, the 73-year-old Rajapaksa had left Sri Lanka before dawn Wednesday to escape public fury over an economy in free fall. He kept his country on tenterhooks even as he was on the run, first flying to Maldives and then missing his self-declared deadline for stepping down. The delay helped him escape while he still enjoyed presidential immunity, but his maneuver sparked fresh protests in which one person died. His ouster now sets off a full leadership struggle." This is an update of a story linked earlier today.

July 14, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Clay Risen of the New York Times: "Ivana Trump, the glamorous Czech-American businesswoman whose high-profile marriage to Donald J. Trump in the 1980s established them as one of New York's quintessential power couples of that era, died on Thursday at her home in Manhattan. She was 73.... The New York City police are investigating whether Ms. Trump fell down the stairs at her home on Manhattan's Upper East Side, just off Fifth Avenue near Central Park, according to two law enforcement officials.... One of the officials said there was no sign of forced entry at the home, and the death appeared to be accidental"

Rebecca Beitsch & Mike Lillis of the Hill: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol scrambled to add new testimony from White House counsel Pat Cipollone to its latest hearing on Tuesday, and in the process bumped aside evidence about former President Trump's ties to violent extremist groups.... Left unmentioned, for instance, was a Jan. 5 request from Trump to have chief of staff Mark Meadows contact two informal advisors, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, who both used extremist groups as security details. The panel also excluded any mention of the so-called war room at the Willard Hotel near the White House, where leading Trump allies -- including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani -- had huddled to devise strategy ahead of Jan. 6. At least one member of an extremist group, the 1st Amendment Praetorian, was reportedly among them."

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot said its next hearing will focus on how ... Donald Trump's failure to quell the violent mob for several hours showed a 'supreme dereliction of duty.' The committee's eighth public hearing, expected to air in prime time July 21, marks its last scheduled presentation of evidence implicating Trump in a multi-pronged conspiracy to overturn his 2020 election loss that culminated in the deadly invasion. The final hearing will highlight the more-than-three-hour gap between Trump's departure from a rally that preceded the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and his eventual call for the mob to go home, committee members said. The lawmakers 'plan to go through that 187 minutes,' said Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., in an ABC News interview Wednesday afternoon." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Republican members of Congress regularly blame others -- often Nancy Pelosi -- for not adequately securing the Capitol on January 6. I hope the committee makes it abundantly clear that Donald Trump purposely engineered the low level of security at the Capitol (by keeping secret his plans to storm the building) when the mob first attacked and the failure of the National Guard or federal agencies to assist the police as the mob breached the building.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A judge once again on Thursday refused to delay Steve Bannon's trial for contempt of Congress, which is set to get underway on Monday.... Bannon's lawyers had once again argued that there was too much pre-trial publicity about the case.... 'We're still going to be at trial on Monday,' [Judge Carl] Nichols said." ~~~

~~~ Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols of Washington, a Trump appointee, appears ready, willing and able to come down hard on Bannon's flouting of a congressional subpoena last year.... The Great Manipulator could even serve some jail time if convicted -- as much as two years or, perhaps more likely, as little as 30 days.... My animus for Bannon comes partly from the way he has helped to turn the public against the reality-based press and the way he has tried to bury truth under an avalanche of lies and misdirection.... Days before Jan. 6, 2021, Bannon used his podcast to summon deluded and criminal mobs to the gathering storm at the U.S. Capitol with a drumbeat of election lies: 'It all comes down to, are we going to affirm the massive landslide of Donald J. Trump? Or are we going to turn over our constitutional republic ... to the forces of darkness?'... Of all the Trump-era villains -- and, let's face it, they are legion ... Stephen K. Bannon surely is one of the worst."

Michael Scherer & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: Donald Trump "is now eyeing a September announcement [of his presidential candidacy], according to two Trump advisers.... His team has instructed others to have an online apparatus ready for a campaign should he announce soon, two people familiar with the matter said. He also has begun meeting with top donors to talk about the 2024 race...." Some Republicans are worried an early announcement from Trump will upset their 2022 plans. MB: They have only themselves to blame. Senate Republicans could have convicted Trump in his second impeachment and voted him ineligible to run for office. Ever. As for me, I urge media outlets to ignore Trump's run as much as possible.

Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "Democratic legislation that would protect the right to travel freely from state to state to seek abortion care was blocked in the Senate on Thursday by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). Lankford, who supports instituting a national ban on abortion, dismissed it as unnecessary.... The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, introduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) earlier this week, would clarify the right to cross state lines to obtain reproductive health care services. It would also empower the U.S. attorney general and affected individuals to bring civil lawsuits against anyone who attempts to restrict that right.... 'This is a form of gaslighting to keep insisting that American women will be able to get care when we know that anti-choice legislators and groups are working to stop them from doing so,' [Cortez Masto] said on Thursday." ~~~

~~~ Like, for instance, when a 10-year-old pregnant child crossed stated lines from Ohio to Indiana to get an abortion, Indiana went after her physician. ~~~

~~~ Myah Ward of Politico: "Indiana's Republican attorney general said on Wednesday that his office planned to investigate the Indiana doctor who helped a 10-year-old rape victim who crossed state lines to have an abortion. Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, has told multiple outlets that she provided care to the 10-year-old after a child abuse doctor in Ohio contacted her. 'We're gathering the evidence as we speak, and we're going to fight this to the end, including looking at her licensure if she failed to report. And in Indiana it's a crime ... to intentionally not report,' state Attorney General Todd Rokita said on Fox News on Wednesday night." MB: The bastards never let up. And it's surprising how many of them, like Rokita, physically resemble ugly, fat, pink pigs with dull, beady eyes. Related stories linked below.

South Carolina. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughts of the New York Times: "Alex Murdaugh, the fourth-generation lawyer whose family has long held power and influence in a rural swath of South Carolina, was charged on Thursday with killing his wife and one of his sons at the family's secluded hunting estate in a mysterious murder that remained unsolved for more than a year.... The killings immediately put scrutiny on the Murdaugh family and the deaths of several people associated with them. The police began to re-examine the 2015 death of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old man who was found along a road about 10 miles from the Murdaugh's home and who was thought to have been hit by a truck, as well as the death of Gloria Satterfield in 2018, a housekeeper who worked for the Murdaugh family who died after falling on their house's front steps. At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh had been facing charges of drunkenly crashing a boat carrying several of his friends, killing a 19-year-old passenger, Mallory Beach." Read on, it you're not familiar with this Southern gothic melodrama, which looks suspiciously like a Netflix mini-series.

Texas. A Field Trip to Ted's House -- Without the Children. Steffi Cao of BuzzFeed News: "A fleet of 52 yellow school buses formed a mile-long procession to Sen. Ted Cruz's house in Houston on Thursday morning -- 4,368 empty seats to honor the number of children killed by gun violence since 2020. The first bus carried items from school shooting victims.... Named 'The NRA Children's Museum,' this project is the latest by artist Manuel Oliver, father of Joaquin [who was killed by the Parkland shooter].... On Monday, [Manuel Oliver] interrupted President Joe Biden during a Rose Garden speech, calling on the White House to open an office specifically for gun violence.... Oliver hand-delivered a letter from his late son to Cruz's house on Thursday, who has received a total of $749,000 from the pro-gun group. The note, which was written by a 12-year-old Joaquin, spoke to gun owners about his thoughts on gun control in the country. When the buses arrived, a security guard came out and accepted the letter. Oliver did not receive an immediate response from Cruz. The procession left shortly after due to encircling police presence."

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here.

Sri Lanka. A Day Late & Millions of Dollars Short. Niha Masih & Hafeel Farisz of the Washington Post: "Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned Thursday from his sudden exile in Singapore, a day after fleeing the country he led for nearly three years. Forced out by a civilian uprising over the island nation's economic collapse, the 73-year-old Rajapaksa had left Sri Lanka before dawn Wednesday to escape public fury over an economy in free fall. He kept his country on tenterhooks even as he was on the run, first flying to Maldives and then missing his self-declared deadline for stepping down. The delay helped him escape while he still enjoyed presidential immunity, but his maneuver sparked fresh protests in which one person died. His ouster now sets off a full leadership struggle." This is an update of a story linked earlier today.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times is liveblogging developments Thursday in President Biden's visit to the Middle East.

Aamer Madhani, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States is 'not going to wait forever' for Iran to rejoin a dormant nuclear deal, a day after saying he'd be willing to use force as a last resort against Tehran if necessary. Biden made the comments at a news conference after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid following one-on-one talks in which they discussed Iran's rapidly progressing nuclear program.... Resurrecting the nuclear deal brokered by Barack Obama's administration and abandoned by Donald Trump in 2018 was a key priority for Biden as he entered office. But administration officials have become increasingly pessimistic about the chances of Iran returning to compliance."

Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "A year and a half after Donald J. Trump left the White House, Israeli leaders welcomed [President Biden] with a rapturous embrace, as if to prove that their love affair with the former president would not stand in the way of a close relationship with the new president. As for Mr. Biden, he seemed just as determined to prove that he took a back seat to no one in supporting Israel.... Mr. Biden ... rarely gets such unvarnished praise or loving hugs back in America, where his poll numbers have plummeted and even most Democrats do not want him to run for another term.... Mr. Biden indicated he wanted to restore traditional Democratic support for Israel even as he hoped to resume the American role of honest broker with the Palestinians. In an interview with Israeli television, he rejected Democrats who have denounced Israel as an apartheid state.... For the first day of his 10th visit to Israel, Mr. Biden chose two symbolic statements by receiving a briefing on Israel's latest defense against rocket attacks and visiting the country's iconic Yad Vashem memorial for Holocaust victims.... The mutual show of bonhomie, however, papered over fundamental differences, most notably on Iran and the Palestinians."

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has asked the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol for evidence it has accumulated about the scheme by ... Donald J. Trump and his allies to put forward false slates of pro-Trump electors in battleground states won by Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020.Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, disclosed the request to reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.... Mr. Thompson said the committee was working with federal prosecutors to allow them to review the transcripts of interviews the panel has done with people who served as so-called alternate electors for Mr. Trump. Mr. Thompson said the Justice Department's investigation into 'fraudulent electors' was the only specific topic the agency had broached with the committee. A Justice Department official said the agency maintained its position that it was requesting copies of all transcripts of witness interviews." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This sure makes it seem that DOJ is doing nothing about Trump's other schemes to overturn the 2020 election. Former prominent DOJ prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, during an appearance on MSNBC, did say that some DOJ staff contacted him about his recent New York Times op-ed in which he urged the Department to take a multi-pronged approach to its investigations into Trump's schemes. Weissmann said he couldn't reveal what discussions he had or with whom. ~~~

~~~ Richard Wolffe of the Guardian: "Here we are, 18 months after his presidency, staring at clear evidence that Trump led a criminal conspiracy to interfere with the 2020 election and the constitutional duties of Congress. He intentionally incited a violent mob that he knew was armed to mount an attempted coup on Capitol Hill. He knew from his own lawyers' opposition to his many crackpot schemes that he was breaking the law. But the US justice department has apparently only just begun to grapple with the debate over whether they can even investigate the former president. You have to wonder: if Trump did shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, would all those prosecutors still be struggling with the question of whether they could or should indict him?... There is just one principle more important than the attorney general's high-minded approach to the sanctity of prosecutorial power. It's called defending democracy. If he doesn't want to uphold the laws that protect the republic, he should step aside and let someone else do the job."

Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump tried to call a member of the White House support staff who was talking to the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. The support staffer was not someone who routinely communicated with the former President and was concerned about the contact, according to the sources, and informed their attorney. The call was made after former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified publicly to the committee. The White House staffer was in a position to corroborate part of what Hutchinson had said under oath, according to the sources.... The initial revelation about Trump's phone call was made in a dramatic moment at the end of this week's hearing by committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney.... A source familiar with the panel's investigation added that the committee has spoken to the person Trump tried to call, but not as part of a deposition." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump surely knows that it's against the law to try to intimidate a witness. But following the law has never been of much interest to Trump. So apparently he thought it was fine to lean on, say, the guy who -- with Hutchinson -- cleaned up the ketchup Trump threw at the wall or some other staffer whose name he had never bothered to learn.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Mother Jones is out with a new Bannon tape from Oct. 31, 2020, [also linked here yesterday] in which [Steve] Bannon talks in detail -- presciently, it turns out -- about how ... Donald Trump would claim victory on election night regardless of where the vote count stood.... In an interview with Showtime's 'The Circus' released in early October -- about a month before these other comments -- Bannon predicted that there would be such uncertainty that Congress would be forced to decide the election.... [Days before the election], Axios's Jonathan Swan reported that Trump had told advisers that he would declare victory if it looked like he was ahead at the time -- even if the outcome wasn't final.... Bannon's theorizing didn't come out of nowhere.... On [Bannon's September 25, 2020,] show, a former Trump White House official [Bill McGinley] had talked about just such a scenario. The following day, Trump himself talked about the advantage he could have if it ever went to Congress, by virtue of there being more GOP-controlled congressional delegations than Democratic ones.... ~~~

~~~ "In total, Bannon predicted Trump's premature victory declaration, which came true. He predicted that all hell would break loose on Jan. 6, which came true. He predicted that uncertainty about election results spurred by a bunch of lawsuits would force Congress to decide the election, which wound up essentially being Trump's plan. And he suggested that unrest was perhaps desirable and/or could be of some utility in all of this, which evidence suggests Trump might well have agreed with on Jan. 6." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Trump is not a stupid as many of his remarks would suggest. He didn't know anything about public policy or how to run a vast federal bureaucracy because he didn't care about governance. When it came to looking out for his own interests, Trump was pretty good at grasping the details.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Trump-appointed judges keep ruling against Trump and his acolytes in cases related to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "A Maryland man who used a lacrosse stick attached to a Confederate battle flag to shove a police officer during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Wednesday to five months in prison, according to a Justice Department spokesman. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also sentenced David Alan Blair, to 18 months of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution, said William Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia."

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Biden administration warned the nation's 60,000 retail pharmacies on Wednesday that they risk violating federal civil rights law if they refuse to fill prescriptions for pills that can induce abortion -- the second time this week that it has used its executive authority to set up showdowns with states where abortion is now illegal. In four pages of guidance, the federal Department of Health and Human Services ticked off a series of conditions -- including miscarriage, stomach ulcers and ectopic pregnancy -- that are commonly treated with drugs that can induce abortion. It warned that failing to dispense such pills 'may be discriminating' on the basis of sex or disability. The guidance came two days after Xavier Becerra, President Biden's health secretary, instructed hospitals that even in states where abortion is now illegal, federal law requires doctors to perform abortions for pregnant women who show up in their emergency departments if they believe it is 'the stabilizing treatment necessary' to resolve an emergency medical condition."

Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "Democratic-controlled cities within Republican states have launched improvisational efforts to preserve abortion services, even as officials acknowledge they will probably fall short of protecting doctors and patients sufficiently to serve as a substitute for a constitutional right to the procedure.... Dozens of big-city prosecutors, mostly in the South and Midwest, have said they will not file charges against medical workers who conduct abortions or their patients.... Last week, the [New Orleans] city council ... passed a resolution instructing the police department not to pursue cases against abortion providers or patients.... Taken together, the steps do not amount to an affirmative right, but they could make the penalties for abortion more hypothetical than Republicans running the prosecutors' states would prefer as they invoke bans on the procedure.... The net result is widespread confusion...."

Ava Sasani of the New York Times: "An Ohio man has been arrested and charged with the rape of a 10-year-old girl, whose travel across state lines to receive an abortion captured national attention. Gerson Fuentes, 27, was arraigned on Wednesday in Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus, where he was charged with the rape of a child under 13 years old, a felony that can carry a lifetime prison sentence. He was being held on $2 million bond.... The case of the young victim became a focus of the abortion debate after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion enshrined in Roe v. Wade.... The girl's story, which first appeared in The Indianapolis Star, was immediately seized on by abortion rights advocates as the tragic but expected consequence of severe abortion restrictions....

~~~ "Before this week's arrest, some conservatives, including Ohio's top prosecutor, cast doubt on the story.... In an editorial published before news of the arrest, The Wall Street Journal called the case 'an unlikely story from a biased source that neatly fits the progressive narrative but can't be confirmed.' The Journal later added an editor's note acknowledging the arrest.... 'It's always shocking to me that people are surprised to hear about these stories,' Dr. [Caitlin] Bernard, [the OB/GYN who first told The Star about the case,] said in an interview with The New York Times. 'The fact that anyone would question such a story is a testament to how out of touch lawmakers and politicians are with reality.'" ~~~

~~~ An AP story is here. A Law & Crime story, which provides details of the arrest, including a copy of the complaint, is here. Scott Lemieux, in LG&$, details some of the right wing's "skepticism." ~~~

~~~ AND this almost goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway: ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "On Wednesday, Tucker Carlson criticized President Joe Biden for relaying the true story about a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio even though Carlson himself had inaccurately proclaimed, 'The story was not true.'... On Tuesday's show, Carlson said that 'politicians are lying about this.'... 'Where is the rapist?' he asked.... [After the suspect was arrested,] Carlson made no mention of his [false] claim the night before. Instead, he attacked Biden for supposedly failing to vet the story.... 'Nobody seemed interested at all in learning who this person was,' Carlson added. 'And maybe there was a reason for that.' The host revealed the [alleged] rapist is a 27-year-old undocumented immigrant." MB: The post is a little confusing as to what Tucker said when. But inasmuch as TuKKKer's intent is always to obfuscate, that seems fair enough. ~~~

~~~ ** Judd Legum of Popular Information reports on the right-wing smear campaign against Dr. Caitlan Bernard, who performed the abortion, & Indy Star veteran reporter Shari Rudavsky, who was the lead writer to break the story of the 10-year-old victim. "There was never any reason to doubt the accuracy of this story."

Casey Parks of the Washington Post: "Nearly a year after the Department of Veterans Affairs promised to restore benefits to some former members of the military who were forced out for being gay, a nonprofit legal group that represents veterans says VA has refused to explain what its new guidance entails -- or whether it was implemented. The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) filed a complaint in federal court late last month, alleging that VA has not responded to requests to release what the department called 'newly-issued guidance.'... Because many of those were booted from the military with 'less than honorable' or 'other than honorable' discharges, thousands of people ousted under [President Clinton's] 'don't ask, don't tell' do not have benefits, including access to health care, home loans and educational support through VA." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I do not understand why the VA, no matter the presidential administration, always does such a crappy job. Every president & president* talks about how much we owe our wonderful self-sacrificing military, all the while the VA is ignoring or downright mistreating our wonderful veterans. Are they not as wonderful once they have completed their service to the country?

Ed Shanahan of the New York Times: "A former Central Intelligence Agency software engineer was convicted by a federal jury on Wednesday of causing the largest theft of classified information in the agency's history. The former C.I.A. employee, Joshua Schulte, was arrested after the 2017 disclosure by WikiLeaks of a trove of confidential documents detailing the agency's secret methods for penetrating the computer networks of foreign governments and terrorists. The verdict came two years after a previous jury failed to agree on eight of the 10 charges he faced then.... [Mr. Schulte] was convicted on Wednesday on nine counts, which included illegally gathering national defense information and illegally transmitting that information."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "U.S. regulators Wednesday authorized the nation's fourth coronavirus vaccine, a shot developed by Novavax, a Maryland biotechnology company that has been a straggler in the vaccine race. For a relatively small niche of people who want to be vaccinated, but can't or won't take existing vaccines, Wednesday's decision by the Food and Drug Administration has been impatiently awaited. Some people are allergic to an ingredient in messenger RNA vaccines or simply prefer the more traditional technology at the core of Novavax's shot, which is the United States' first protein-based vaccine." A Guardian report is here.

Georgia. Alex Traub of the New York Times: "The former mayor of Stonecrest, Ga., a small city outside Atlanta, was sentenced on Wednesday to four years and nine months in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal money intended to help his city cope with the pandemic, the authorities said. The former mayor, Jason Lary, who pleaded guilty in United States District Court in Atlanta in January to wire fraud, stealing federal money and conspiracy, used the money he took to pay off his mortgage on his lakeside home and outstanding tax liabilities, prosecutors said. In addition to the prison time, he was ordered by Judge Thomas Thrash of U.S. District Court to pay nearly $120,000 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has launched a global campaign to defund Russia's war chest. This week, she was in Japan promoting her plan "to create a new global price cap on Russian oil.... After visiting Japan, Yellen flew on Wednesday to Indonesia for meetings of finance ministers from the Group of 20 industrialized nations, where she will attempt to rally a much broader swath of countries to pledge to buy Russian oil only at a discount rate. If successful, her campaign could deliver a major blow to Russia's war effort and help prevent the United States and the rest of the world from plunging into economic recession."

Karina Tsui of the Washington Post: "Russia has deported 900,000 to 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens from Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine in a systemic 'filtration' operation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Wednesday, in a loud condemnation of Moscow and affirmation of claims that Ukrainian officials have levied for weeks. Many of those 'forcibly deported,' including 260,000 children, some separated from their families, have wound up in isolated regions in Russia's far east, Blinken said. 'Reports indicate' that Russian forces have taken thousands of children from orphanages in Ukraine and placed them up for adoption in Russia, according to the statement." MB: Assuming this is true or substantially true, it's a vast humanitarian catastrophe.

Will Oremus of the Washington Post: "In the frantic first weeks of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. tech companies that control the world's largest information hubs sprang into action. Responding to pressure from Western governments, social media apps like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube banned or throttled Russian state media accounts, beefed up their fact-checking operations, curtailed ad sales in Russia and opened direct lines to Ukrainian officials, inviting them to flag Russian disinformation and propaganda to be taken down. As the war grinds toward its sixth month, however, Russian propaganda techniques have evolved -- and the tech firms haven't kept up. Ukrainian officials who have flagged thousands of tweets, YouTube videos and other social media posts as Russian propaganda or anti-Ukrainian hate speech say the companies have grown less responsive to their requests to remove such content. New research shared with The Washington Post by a Europe-based nonprofit initiative confirms that many of those requests seem to be going unheeded...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is hardly surprising. These companies are essentially unregulated, so there's nothing except public opinion -- or boycotts -- to curb their behavior. As long as Congress does nothing to establish a regulatory framework to harness these 21st century versions of robber barons, they will keep on keepin' on.

Sri Lanka. Niha Masih & Hafeel Farisz of the Washington Post: "Sri Lankan protesters withdrew on Thursday from three major government buildings they had occupied, just a day after violent clashes with security forces, and even as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was yet to resign." A Guardian story is here.

U.K. Amanda Bryant of the Guardian: American actor "Kevin Spacey has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault dating back 17 years in a hearing at the Old Bailey. The 62-year-old actor appeared in court one of the London court on Thursday to plead not guilty to four charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent."