January 5, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Under pressure from Democrats and a few Republicans to hold ... Donald J. Trump accountable for his role in inspiring the attack on the Capitol, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland [said] on Wednesday..., 'The Justice Department remains committed to holding all Jan. 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law -- whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.'... Several of the attorney general's remarks appeared to respond to critics who have urged him to say more about the department's investigation into what he called 'an unprecedented attack on the seat of our democracy,' and to address whether investigators were scrutinizing Mr. Trump.... Mr. Garland did not mention Mr. Trump or any specific investigation the department might be pursuing."

** President Jimmy Carter in a New York Times op-ed: "One year ago, a violent mob, guided by unscrupulous politicians, stormed the Capitol and almost succeeded in preventing the democratic transfer of power. All four of us former presidents condemned their actions and affirmed the legitimacy of the 2020 election.... However, one year on, promoters of the lie that the election was stolen have taken over one political party and stoked distrust in our electoral systems.... I now fear that what we have fought so hard to achieve globally -- the right to free, fair elections, unhindered by strongman politicians who seek nothing more than to grow their own power -- has become dangerously fragile at home.... After I left the White House and founded the Carter Center, we worked to promote free, fair and orderly elections across the globe.... I have also seen how new democratic systems -- and sometimes even established ones -- can fall to military juntas or power-hungry despots."

Oh Noes! I missed yesterday's biggest story: ~~~

~~~ Kate Bennett of CNN: "Melania Trump announced Tuesday morning that she is holding an auction of the white hat she wore during the visit of the French first family, the Macrons, to the White House in 2018. In a statement from her office, Trump said that, in addition to the hat, the auction lot will include a watercolor by Marc-Antoine Coulon -- a French artist who drew her eyes for her NFT last month -- as well as what the statement defines as 'an exclusive digital artwork NFT with motion.' The NFT, the second Trump has sold in less than a month, features the drawing of the hat with some animation. Trump's office says some of the proceeds will go toward an initiative that is a part of the former first lady's Be Best program, but it's not clear how much will be donated. The centerpiece of the auction, the custom white hat, which Trump has signed, was created for Trump by her personal stylist, Hervé Pierre, to match the $2,105 white crepe Michael Kors Collection suit Trump wore for the daytime ceremonies at the White House attended by Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron.... The three items will have an opening bid of $250,000, and bidding will only be accepted via SOL, a form of cryptocurrency." ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. Also to Patrick for his commentary. For some reason, both writers seem to suspect there are scams involved here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Video of an Insurrection. Rep. Jamie Raskin presented this video during Donald Trump's second impeachment trial:

The Washington Post features a series that reports on events before, during & after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol: "... Donald Trump's assault on American democracy began in the spring of 2020, when he issued a flurry of preemptive attacks on the integrity of the country's voting systems. The doubts he cultivated ultimately led to a rampage inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob came within seconds of encountering Vice President Mike Pence, trapped lawmakers and vandalized the home of Congress in the worst desecration of the complex since British forces burned it in 1814. Five people died in the Jan. 6 attack or in the immediate aftermath, and 140 police officers were assaulted. The consequences of that day are still coming into focus, but what is already clear is that the insurrection was not a spontaneous act nor an isolated event. It was a battle in a broader war over the truth and over the future of American democracy." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post also has a page of insurrection photos not frequently published, with commentary from reporters & photojournalists.

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senior Biden administration officials have concluded that the government's Jan. 6 preparations were hampered by a lack of high-level information-sharing and a failure to anticipate how bad the day could be -- lessons they say they are applying today in an effort to prevent another such attack. Those conclusions ... are not formal findings, the officials said. But they offer a kind of road map for how the Biden White House is attempting to prevent similar assaults on the democratic functions of government.... In an effort to keep senior officials on top of security threats in Washington, Biden's National Security Council oversees weekly discussions among federal law enforcement agencies to discuss planned events like protests and any related information that points to possible violence."

** Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "Fox News host Sean Hannity was concerned about ... Donald Trump's strategy and conduct before, during and after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, according to a letter sent to him on Tuesday by the House select committee probing the insurrection. The committee asked Hannity for his voluntary cooperation with their investigation, noting it had received 'dozens' of his text messages sent to and from former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that indicate that he had 'advance knowledge regarding President Trump's and his legal team's planning for January 6th.' In the letter, the panel said it wants to speak with Hannity specifically about his communications with Trump, White House staff and his legal team between December 31, 2020, and January 20, 2021, when President Joe Biden was inaugurated." Update: The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

~~~ ** The full text of committee chair Bennie Thompson & vice-chair Liz Cheney's letter to Hannity is here, via the committee (linked fixed; the linked page also links to a facsimile of the letter). MB: The letter is kind of a bombshell, as Thompson & Cheney indicate that Hannity knew Trump's state of mind before, during & after the insurrection. The funny thing about the tidbits we're getting is that, for the most part, we're learning what people allegedly said to Trump or to others in his inner circle (like Meadows), but we don't learn Trump's reaction. (The exception is the phone call, made during the insurrection, between Trump & Kevin McCarthy.) We sort of have a picture that everyone is talking at Trump, while he said nothing. Especially because of "expletive-laced" nature of the McCarthy-Trump shouting match, I doubt that was the case.

Ryan Nobles & Annie Grayer of CNN: "Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, wants to hear directly from then-Vice President Mike Pence, who certified the 2020 presidential election despite an extensive pressure campaign led by ... Donald Trump and his allies to halt the process. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, wants Pence to voluntarily speak with the panel about what he witnessed on January 6 and the conversations he was privy to in the days leading up to it, which could provide extensive insight to the panel's investigation."

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "For weeks, Rep. Liz Cheney has hinted that the House select committee examining Jan. 6 might urge the Justice Department to consider prosecuting Donald Trump.... Some comments from Cheney herself -- and clarification I've now obtained from a Cheney spokesman -- shed new light on where this is going. The short version: It's likely the committee will explore recommending changes to federal law to further clarify that obstructing the electoral count in Congress is a crime subject to stiff penalties.... The committee wants to determine whether [during the insurrection] Trump indicated a desire to see the mob continue disrupting the electoral count. We don't know if it will prove this."

Nicholas Wu & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The select panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection has issued a subpoena for the phone records of pro-Trump commentator and radio host Sebastian Gorka, who previously had not been known to be of interest to the committee. Gorka filed suit Tuesday, accusing the committee of overstepping its authority and asking a court to block Verizon from turning over the records."

Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Trapped in the gallery of the House, occupying balcony seats off-limits to the public because of COVID-19, roughly three dozen House Democrats were the last ones to leave the chamber on Jan. 6, bearing witness as the certification of a presidential election gave way to a violent insurrection. As danger neared, and as the rioters were trying to break down the doors, they called their families. They scrambled for makeshift weapons and mentally prepared themselves to fight. Many thought they might die. 'When I looked up, I had this realization that we were trapped,' said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'They had evacuated the House floor first. And they forgot about us.'"

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Three more police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol -- including two who aided the evacuation of lawmakers -- have sued Donald Trump, seeking damages for their physical and emotional injuries.... [In all, ten officers have] sue[d] Trump and accuse[d] him of instigating the attack."

Hmm. Trumpolini Chickens Out. Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Former President Trump is scrapping a planned news conference on the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The former president had planned to use the Thursday news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., as counterprogramming for a scheduled prayer service at the Capitol to commemorate the events of Jan. 6. In a statement, Trump blamed the House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 riot for the cancellation. He said he would instead touch on many of the themes he had planned to discuss at the news conference during a rally in Arizona set for Jan. 15." ~~~

     ~~~ Felicia Sonmez & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "According to a person familiar with the matter, Trump wanted to make a scene and deride reporters at the event but had been told repeatedly by his advisers it could be the kind of coverage he doesn't want. Trump also did not know exactly what he wanted his message to be, and his team was taken aback by how many reporters were planning on attending, according to the person...."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Three more police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol -- including two who aided the evacuation of lawmakers -- have sued Donald Trump, seeking damages for their physical and emotional injuries.... [In all, ten officers have] sue[d] Trump and accuse[d] him of instigating the attack."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday night floated smaller changes to the Senate rules that would stop short of the filibuster reforms being pushed for by many of his Democratic colleagues. Manchin, coming out of a meeting with Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats involved in the negotiations, didn't pledge to vote for any specific rules reforms but appeared open to smaller changes.... One idea Manchin said he would support would be getting rid of the 60-vote hurdle currently required to start debate on legislation. Manchin has raised potentially scrapping the procedural roadblock in talks he's had with GOP senators on the Senate's rules.... But Manchin indicated that he still wants to keep a supermajority requirement to end debate, but that he was supportive of changing it from requiring 60 votes needed to break a filibuster to three-fifths of senators present and voting." MB: IOW, "Watch me pretend I'm a reasonable guy open to filibuster reform as I flip the bird at all you liberal wusses."

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) predicted Republicans would move to impeach President Biden 'whether it's justified or not' if they retake the House in this year's midterm elections. The White House responded Tuesday by calling on Cruz to work with Democrats toward bipartisan agreement on policy matters instead of 'name-calling' and making political predictions. Cruz's comments, which he made during a podcast appearance late last month, underscore the extent to which rising partisan hostility has paralyzed Washington."

Take This Job & Shove It. Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The number of Americans quitting their jobs is the highest on record, as workers take advantage of strong employer demand to pursue better opportunities. More than 4.5 million people voluntarily left their jobs in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That was up from 4.2 million in October and was the most in the two decades that the government has been keeping track.... Much of the discussion about the increase in quitting, sometimes referred to as the Great Resignation, has focused on white-collar workers re-evaluating their priorities in the pandemic. But job turnover has been concentrated in hospitality and other low-wage sectors, where intense competition for employees has given workers the leverage to seek better pay."

Frances Robles & Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: "The United States has charged a retired Colombian commando with taking part in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti -- the first suspect to face U.S. prosecution in the crime. Mario Palacios was detained at an airport in Panama on Monday and flown from there to Miami, after previously agreeing to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement, according to federal prosecutors. He appeared before a federal judge on Tuesday and was charged with conspiring to kidnap or kill outside the United States. He was held without bond."

Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "Toyota Motor unseated General Motors as the top-selling automaker in the United States last year, becoming the first manufacturer based outside the country to achieve that feat in the industry's nearly 120-year history. That milestone underlines the changes shaking automakers, which face strong competition and external forces as they move into electric vehicles. And it came in a tumultuous and strange year in which automakers contended with an accelerating shift to electric vehicles and struggled with profound manufacturing challenges. New car sales have been damped by a severe shortage of computer chips that forced automakers to idle plants even though demand for cars has been incredibly robust."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "Public school officials in Chicago canceled classes for Wednesday amid a clash with the teachers' union, whose members had threatened to stay home in a bid to force instruction online during a coronavirus surge. Union members had criticized the district's response to the Omicron variant, which has pushed cases in the city to record levels, and said conditions in classrooms were unsafe. The Chicago Teachers Union said late Tuesday night that 73 percent of members who voted favored pausing in-person instruction." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here.

Some Thoughts about Covid from the Stupidest Senator. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) this week doubled down on his campaign to promote the so-called 'natural immunity' that occurs after one has been infected by Covid-19. During an interview with WCPT, Johnson said that vaccine scientists are wrong to think that they 'can create something better than God.' The Wisconsin Republican recalled that he had tested positive for Covid-19 last year while being free of symptoms."

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Luis Ferré-Sadurní & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York will not be prosecuted in the criminal case involving allegations that he groped a former aide in the Executive Mansion in 2020, the Albany County district attorney announced on Tuesday. The announcement came on the heels of recent decisions by district attorneys in Nassau and Westchester Counties not to bring charges against Mr. Cuomo on other sexual misconduct allegations. And it brought to an end the only criminal charge thus far related to a blistering report from the state attorney general that led to his resignation in August. While the Albany district attorney said he was 'deeply troubled' by allegations against Mr. Cuomo made by the former aide, Brittany Commisso, his statement underscored the difficulties of building a criminal case out of them.... David Soares, the Albany County district attorney, said in a statement[,] 'While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial.'"

Way Beyond

Canada. Catherine Porter & Vjosa Isai of the New York Times: "The Canadian government announced Tuesday that it had reached what it called the largest settlement in Canada's history, paying $31.5 billion to fix the nation's discriminatory child welfare system and compensate the Indigenous people harmed by it. The agreement in principle forms the basis for a final settlement of several lawsuits brought by First Nations groups against the Canadian government. Of the overall settlement, 40 billion in Canadian dollars, half will go toward compensating both children who were unnecessarily removed, and their families and caregivers, over the past three decades. The rest of the money will go toward repairing the child welfare system for First Nations children -- who are statistically far more likely to be removed from their families -- over the next five years to ensure families are able to stay together."

News Ledes

AP: "A large house fire in Philadelphia[, Pa.,] early Wednesday killed 13 people, including seven children, and sent two people to hospitals, fire officials said. Officials said at a news conference later in the morning that there were four smoke detectors in the building but that none were operating. Firefighters and police responded to the fire at a three-story rowhouse in the city's Fairmount neighborhood around 6:40 a.m. and found flames coming from the second-floor windows, fire officials said. The house had been converted into two apartments, police said. The fire was brought under control after less than an hour."

CNN: "Amtrak passengers traveling through Virginia were delayed for about 30 hours Monday night after trees downed during a winter storm blocked the train's path. About 120 passengers were on the Crescent Train 20 when it was stopped north of Lynchburg, Amtrak spokesperson Christina Leeds told CNN.... While trains and automobiles are on the move again, Virginia is still recovering from the storm. More than 187,000 customers were still without power as of early Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us."

January 4, 2022

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Merrick Garland will give a speech Wednesday about the Justice Department's efforts to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, stressing the department's 'unwavering commitment to defend Americans and American democracy from violence and threats of violence,' a Justice Department official said. In the address, scheduled for the day before the anniversary of the attack, Garland will not speak about specific people or charges, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the speech had not yet been officially announced."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) told colleagues Monday that the chamber would vote no later than the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on changing Senate rules if Republicans continue to block voting rights legislation. The announcement of the planned action by Jan. 17 represented Schumer's strongest endorsement yet of trying to muscle through legislation that has been stymied because of Senate rules requiring a 60-vote threshold. 'We hope our Republican colleagues change course and work with us,' Schumer said in a letter. 'But if they do not, the Senate will debate and consider changes to Senate rules on or before January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to protect the foundation of our democracy: free and fair elections.' For the strategy to succeed, however, Schumer will need buy-in from two fellow Democrats -- Sens. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) -- who have voiced skepticism or opposition to changing Senate procedures in a way that would be needed to push voting rights priorities across the finish line." NPR's story is here.

Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Monday accused Twitter of trying to 'silence' Americans after the platform banned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for violating its COVID-19 misinformation policy." MB: So while the Democratic leader of the Senate is trying to ensure voting rights for Americans, the Republican leader of the House is trying to ensure the "rights" of House members to spread dangerous lies on social media.

Luke Broadwater & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "In recent weeks, with the anniversary of the [January 6] riot looming on Thursday, the [House January 6] panel has redoubled its efforts in the face of mounting resistance from the former president. It is rushing to make as much progress as possible before January 2023. Republicans are favored to regain control of the House this fall, and if they do, that is when they would take power and almost certainly dissolve the inquiry.... Working in color-coded teams, investigators have interviewed more than 300 witnesses, from White House officials close to Mr. Trump to the rioters themselves, and are sorting through more than 35,000 documents."

Susan Dominus & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times Magazine: "It is widely known that about 150 officers from the Capitol and Metropolitan Police Departments and local agencies were injured during the violence, more than 80 from the Capitol Police alone. Less understood is how long-lasting the damage, physical and psychological, to the Capitol Police force has been, damage that informs many officers'outrage about what they perceive as a lack of accountability for those responsible. Interviews over many months with more than two dozen officers and their families (some of whom requested not to use their full names to speak frankly without permission from the department or to protect future employment prospects in the federal government), as well as a review of internal documents, congressional testimony and medical records, reveal a department that is still hobbled and in many ways dysfunctional." The article examines what some individual Capitol police officers endured last January 6. A related AP story is here.

Stephen Collinson of CNN: "The House select committee probing the January 6 insurrection is signaling that it has penetrated Donald Trump's wall of obstruction about what was going on inside the White House and his own family while he refused to stop the mob attack on the US Capitol a year ago this week. Revelations delivered on Sunday by the top two lawmakers on the committee offer the clearest sign yet that it can get to the truth about the violence Trump incited to further his coup attempt, which turned into the worst assault on American democracy in modern times. And a person familiar with the inquiry told CNN's Jamie Gangel that one of the key witnesses who has given testimony is Keith Kellogg, former Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser, who was with Trump in the White House as the riot raged."

Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "More than 150 people have pleaded guilty to storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, but relatively few defendants have received prison time for their role in the insurrection. A Politico analysis of every sentence to date in the Capitol riot shows that judges have been wary about imposing long prison terms except when violence, or the threat of it, was involved. A little over half of defendants who have pleaded guilty are still awaiting sentencing, and some of the most serious cases of violence against police officers are still awaiting their fate, so the length of prison time for the most serious offenders may change." Niedzwiadek provides an overview of Politico's findings & links to its database, which is here.

Meredith McGraw & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "In the hours after a mob of angry Donald Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, a number of prominent Trump administration officials and Republicans decided that they'd had enough. With a mix of anger and outrage, they condemned Trump for either stoking the riots or doing next-to-nothing to stop them. Cabinet officials submitted letters of resignation. Golf buddies and top donors broke their alliances. Top advisers said they'd been let down by Trump.... One year after the Jan. 6 riot, the voices of those who broke with Trump over that day have mostly been muted, moved on, or ... come to embrace Trump all over again. Politico contacted eighteen Trump administration officials who stepped down as a result of Jan. 6 or whose resignation seemed timed to it. Only one [-- Stephanie Grisham --] agreed to speak on the record about their decision that day.... Twelve months ago, the outgoing president's political future appeared to be in serious jeopardy.... Yet over the course of the past year, Trump's grip on the party ... remains firm."

Amanda Carpenter of the Bulwark elaborates on Peter Navarro's planned &"good" coup: Navarro, Steve "Bannon, and [Donald] Trump were in the middle of executing a legal coup, which the violent coup attempt foiled. Therefore, he, Bannon and Trump couldn't possibly be responsible for the violent attempted coup. Which is a defense, of sorts. What Navarro is arguing is that he had a good coup in mind. The rioters were trying to do a bad coup. He's the good guy. The rioters -- and, funnily enough, Mike Pence, whom Navarro accuses of 'betrayal' -- are the bad guys who got in the way of this good coup.... Navarro is certainly right [about one thing]: This scheme could have worked. Whether that's a defense or an indictment is up to America."

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Days after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 last year, federal law enforcement officials pursued ... the far-right nationalist Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia. Members of both organizations were quickly arrested on attention-grabbing charges.... Now congressional investigators are examining the role of another right-wing paramilitary group that was involved in a less publicly visible yet still expansive effort to keep ... Donald J. Trump in power: the 1st Amendment Praetorian. Known in shorthand as 1AP, the group spent much of the postelection period working in the shadows with ... [Trump allies] to undermine public confidence in the election and to bolster Mr. Trump's hopes of remaining in the White House. By their own account, members of the 1st Amendment Praetorian helped to funnel data on purported election fraud to lawyers suing to overturn the vote count. They guarded celebrities like Michael T. Flynn.... And they supported an explosive proposal to persuade the president to declare an emergency and seize the country's voting machines in a bid to stay in power."

Craig Silverman of ProPublica, Craig Timberg of the Washington Post, et al., in ProPublica: "Facebook groups swelled with at least 650,000 posts attacking the legitimacy of Joe Biden's victory between Election Day and the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, with many calling for executions or other political violence, an investigation by ProPublica and The Washington Post has found. The barrage -- averaging at least 10,000 posts a day, a scale not reported previously -- turned the groups into incubators for the baseless claims supporters of ... Donald Trump voiced as they stormed the Capitol, demanding he get a second term. Many posts portrayed Biden's election as the result of widespread fraud that required extraordinary action -- including the use of force -- to prevent the nation from falling into the hands of traitors.... Facebook executives have downplayed the company's role in the Jan. 6 attack and have resisted calls, including from its own Oversight Board, for a comprehensive internal investigation. The company also has yet to turn over all the information requested by the congressional committee studying the Jan. 6 attack. Facebook said it is continuing to negotiate with the committee."

** Laurence Tribe in a Guardian op-ed: "... our country, and the legal and political institutions that prevent it from descending into despotism, are in even greater peril today than they were at the time of last November's election.... In the course of designing possible remedies, the [January 6] committee has uncovered evidence of a conspiracy broader, more far-reaching and better organized than was initially thought.... Part of the plot [to overturn the election], we are now learning, featured Trump's invocation of the Insurrection Act to declare something like martial law to put down the chaos and bedlam he and his inner circle would ... have unleashed on the Capitol, all the time blaming the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for not keeping order, a form of sinister gaslighting the Republicans have deployed ever since 6 January.... But most terrifyingly, we have learned over the past year that the Republican party plans to do it again.... Far from being condemned, in the intervening year ... violence has been increasingly glorified by the mainstream conservative movement."

Jedediah Britton-Purdy, in a New York Times op-ed, blames the Electoral College system and other anti-democratic elements for everything Trump. Trump would not, after all have become president in 2017 if presidential (and vice-presidential) elections were decided by popular vote. "An antidemocratic system has bred an antidemocratic [read: "Republican"] party. The remedy is to democratize our so-called democracy. James Madison boasted that the Constitution achieved 'the total exclusion of the people, in their collective capacity.' Its elaborate political mechanics reflect the elite dislike and mistrust of majority rule that Madison voiced when he wrote, 'Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.' Madison's condescension has never gone away."

William Rashbaum & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "The New York State attorney general's office, which last month subpoenaed Donald J. Trump as part of a civil investigation into his business practices, is also seeking to question two of his adult children as part of the inquiry. The involvement of the children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, was disclosed in court documents filed on Monday as the Trump Organization sought to block lawyers for the attorney general, Letitia James, from questioning the former president and his children. The subpoenas for the former president and two of his children were served on Dec. 1, according to one of the documents. Eric Trump, another of Mr. Trump's sons, was already questioned by Ms. James's office in October 2020." An ABC News story is here.

OMG! I Hope I'm Invited to the Wedding! Leah Bitsky & Sara Nathan of the New York Post's Page Six: "Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle are headed to the altar, having been engaged for nearly a year, a source close to both of them confirmed to Page Six on Monday." MB: It's so unfair to expect young Donnie to sit for a mean ole deposition when he will be so busy planning the nuptials.

Rachel Lerman, et al., of the Washington Post: "A federal jury found Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes guilty on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud against investors Monday, in the most high-profile test of whether Silicon Valley's 'fake it until you make it' ethos could withstand legal scrutiny. The decision -- delivered by a jury of eight men and four women after seven days of deliberations -- cements what multiple media investigations, podcasts and documentaries have highlighted over the past six years: that Holmes knowingly misled investors about her company's blood-testing technology. It was a landmark conviction in one of the few prosecutions of a tech executive during Silicon Valley's rise to global dominance. The jury convicted Holmes of four counts related to interactions with investors, marking a big win for the government's years-long probe into the entrepreneur. However, Holmes was acquitted on four counts related to patients, and the jury was deadlocked on three other counts related to defrauding investors." The AP's story is here.

Bye, Bye, Blackberry. Taylor Telford of the Washington Post: "The classic BlackBerry is being forced to retire. A pioneer of on-the-go email and paragon of corporate connectedness, it reigned supreme in the days when physical keyboards had yet to yield to touch screens. But come Tuesday, the cellphone turned status symbol will become one more relic of a bygone era as the transition to 5G wireless technology grinds forward. After its 'end of life date,' as BlackBerry calls it, devices running on BlackBerry's legacy operating systems and software 'will no longer reliably function,' the company -- which has since pivoted to enterprise software and cybersecurity -- reminded users in a news release in late December. Old devices won't be able to send a text message or dial 911, placing them firmly in the realm of the arcane, in the company of floppy disks and rotary phones."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here.

Whoopty-Doo. Davey Alba of the New York Times: "Facebook on Monday suspended for 24 hours the account of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus, a day after Twitter permanently banned one of her accounts for posting a similar message. Ms. Greene, a Georgia Republican, had posted falsely about 'extremely high amounts of Covid vaccine deaths.' She published the message on Saturday as part a long post on American life 'Before Covid' and 'After Covid,' calling public health measures meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus into question, including testing, mask-wearing and vaccine mandates."

Sailors Experience Sudden-onset Christian Faith. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Defense from taking 'any adverse action' against 35 Navy sailors who have refused to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, arguing that it violated their religious freedoms. The service members -- including Navy SEALs and members of the Naval Special Warfare Command -- had filed suit against the Biden administration arguing that their 'sincerely held religious beliefs forbid each of them from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine for a variety of reasons based upon their Christian faith.'... Judge [Reed] O'Connor [of the Northern District of Texas], who was appointed by President George W. Bush, has reliably tossed several Democratic policies that have been challenged on the federal bench." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Reis Thebault & Andrew deGrandpre of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Navy combat ship that was sidelined by a coronavirus outbreak among its crew last month has returned to sea, even as some sailors on board remain positive for the virus, officials said on Monday. The USS Milwaukee, a littoral combat ship with a crew of 105 plus a detachment of Coast Guard personnel and an aviation unit, had been at port in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since Dec. 20, after stopping at the U.S. military base there to refuel. The Associated Press reported that about 25 percent of the ship's sailors had tested positive."

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado. Simon Romero & Giulia Heyward of the New York Times: "Investigators looking into the cause of a colossal wildfire in Colorado that forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people are focusing on a property owned by a Christian fundamentalist sect, after witnesses reported seeing a structure on fire there moments before the blaze spread with astonishing speed across drought-stricken suburbs. Sheriff Joe Pelle of Boulder County said at a news briefing on Monday that the property owned by Twelve Tribes, which was founded in Tennessee in the 1970s, had become a target of the probe after investigators ruled out the possibility that downed power lines might have sparked the fire. Still, Sheriff Pelle warned against jumping to conclusions...."

Illinois Congressional Race. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) said Monday that he will not run for reelection this year, citing his desire to spend more time with his grandchildren. Rush, 75, first won election to Congress in 1992 and will have served for three decades when he retires early next year. He is the only Democrat to have defeated Barack Obama, who unsuccessfully challenged him during Rush's 2000 reelection bid. This year, Rush had been facing primary challenges from several Democrats, including activist Jahmal Cole and pastor Chris Butler.... Rush helped found the Illinois Black Panther Party in the late 1960s and is a longtime civil rights activist." The Hill's report is here.

Way Beyond

Haiti. Widlore Merancourt & Amanda Coletta of the Washington Post: "Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to flee the northern city of Gonaïves, where he and other government officials were attending a New Year's Day Mass to mark the country's independence from France, after a shootout that left one person dead and that his office cast as an attempt on his life. Henry's office said Monday that 'bandits and terrorists' put soldiers behind walls to shoot at his convoy and also threatened the bishop by surrounding the Cathedral of St. Charles Borromeo, where the Mass was taking place. It said arrest warrants had been issued and called the situation 'intolerable.' In a tweet, Henry thanked the bishop of Gonaïves and other church officials for doing their duty 'despite the tense situation that reigned in the city.'"

Steven Erlanger & Benjamin Novak of the New York Times: "After long indulging him, leaders in the European Union now widely consider Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary an existential threat to a bloc that holds itself up as a model of human rights and the rule of law. Mr. Orban has spent the past decade steadily building his 'illiberal state,' as he proudly calls Hungary, with the help of lavish E.U. funding. Even as his project widened fissures in the bloc, which Hungary joined in 2004, his fellow national leaders mostly looked the other way, committed to staying out of one another's affairs. But now Mr. Orban's defiance and intransigence has had an important, if unintended, effect: serving as a catalyst for an often-sluggish European Union system to act to safeguard the democratic principles that are the foundation of the bloc. Early this year, the European Court of Justice will issue a landmark decision on whether the union has the authority to make its funds to member states conditional on meeting the bloc's core values. Doing so would allow Brussels to deny billions of euros to countries that violate those values." ~~~

~~~ ** BUT. Despots United. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump endorsed Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, on Monday, formally pledging his 'complete support' to a far-right foreign leader.... Mr. Orban and his party have steadily consolidated power in Hungary by weakening the country's independent and democratic institutions -- rewriting election laws to favor his Fidesz party, changing school textbooks, curbing press freedoms, overhauling the Constitution and changing the composition of the judiciary.... Hungarian elections [are] scheduled for this spring."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "... astronomers ... concluded [that] a meteor explod[ed] over western Pennsylvania around 11:20 a.m. on Saturday, producing an energy blast equivalent to 30 tons of TNT. The bolide -- a meteor brighter than Venus -- is believed to have weighed about 1,000 pounds, measured a yard in diameter and shot through the atmosphere at 45,000 mph, NASA said Tuesday. A meteor of that size plunges into Earth's atmosphere every three or four days. But because most of the planet is water-covered, the majority of those meteors fall where no one sees or hears them, said Bill Cooke, who leads NASA's meteoroid environments office."

CNN: "Drivers have been stranded for hours on a major interstate in eastern Virginia -- some stuck from Monday into Tuesday morning -- after a severe winter storm caused massive backups, sending authorities scrambling to clear a path. In some places in the Fredericksburg area, vehicles still were stranded shortly before sunrise Tuesday partly because of disabled trucks, and some travelers have been stuck since Monday morning, the Virginia Department of Transportation said. The stuck vehicles were on portions of I-95 between exit 104 near Carmel Church and exit 152 at Dumfries Road -- a roughly 50-mile stretch that runs through Fredericksburg between Richmond and Washington, DC. That 50-mile stretch was closed Tuesday morning so workers could remove stopped trucks treat the road for icing, VODT said.... The Fredericksburg area received at least 14 inches of snow from the storm, according to the National Weather Service in the Baltimore/Washington area." ~~~

     ~~~ Washington Post Update (@ 9:42 am ET): "Both sides of Interstate 95 in Virginia's Fredericksburg area have been shut down overnight into Tuesday, creating a standstill of cars and trucks that stretched 48 miles south of D.C. along one of the busiest highways in the country and leaving people stuck for nearly 20 hours in their vehicles without food and water.Transportation officials said there were multiple crashes, some of them involving jackknifed tractor-trailers on the highway." ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times Update (@ 6:16 pm ET): "Emergency crews on Tuesday afternoon freed the last of hundreds of drivers stranded by a snowstorm on Interstate 95 in Virginia, after more than 24 shivering hours of watching gas gauges drop, rationing food and water and holding out for any kind of help. A 40-mile stretch of the highway -- one of the busiest travel corridors in the United States -- came to a standstill overnight after a fast-falling snowstorm led to jackknifed tractor-trailers and hundreds of other accidents. Some people abandoned their cars. Many, including a U.S. senator [Tim Kaine (D-Va.)], spent the night on the snowy highway." ~~~

     ~~~ Sen. Kaine tells the Washington Post about being stuck in freezing weather on I-95 with no food & low fuel.

January 3, 2022

Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post:"President Biden assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday that the United States 'will respond decisively' if Russia invades the Eastern European nation, according to the White House. Days after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden spoke with Zelensky and reaffirmed previous commitments to aid Ukraine amid Russia's military buildup on Ukraine's border that has prompted fears of an invasion, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by phone. The leaders 'expressed support' for upcoming diplomatic talks, she said, that will commence in the wake of Putin telling Biden that any economic sanctions imposed in response to military action by the Kremlin could result in 'a complete rupture of relations.'"

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The White House on Monday announced it will devote $1 billion to aiding independent meat and poultry producers, aiming to undercut the four powerful meat producers the Biden administration has alleged are responsible for surging consumer prices. Facing immense political pressure over inflation, the White House has responded in recent weeks by criticizing large corporations and arguing that breaking up monopolies will foster competition and drive down prices. In November, President Biden asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into whether oil and gas companies were improperly pushing up energy prices. The stakes are particularly high in the beef industry, where prices in November rose by a staggering 21 percent relative to last year, according to federal data. Food prices have also increased more broadly -- by a significant 6.4 percent -- with the index for meat, poultry, fish and eggs jumping 13 percent." Cheney looks at what's been done to improve the preparedness level -- and what has not. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: President Biden will meet virtually with small meat producers at 1:30 pm ET today; live here.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... the political blight that contributed to the [January 6] attack has only worsened, inside and outside the Capitol. So while leaders feel readier today than they did on Jan. 5, no one is rushing to declare the threat has passed.... Capitol Police officers remain overtaxed and exhausted, logging crushing amounts of overtime as they grapple with a depleted force. Threats against members of Congress are still spiking.... Many of those who fled from or responded to the violence are indelibly scarred.

David Siders of Politico: "Donald Trump has already telegraphed the remarks he plans to give at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, the anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. If he follows the script laid out in his announcement of the news conference, he will commit a whitewashing of the day, repeating the lie that the 2020 election was rigged and defending his part in fomenting the insurrection -- all while a solemn prayer service is held at the Capitol, in a vivid split-screen moment.... One year after the riot at the Capitol, nearly three-quarters of Republicans still believe Trump's baseless claim that Joe Biden won the presidency due to voter fraud, according to a Monmouth University poll.... And according to a Quinnipiac University survey, nearly 8 in 10 Republicans want Trump to run for president again in 2024." (Also linked yesterday.)

Christina Zhao of NBC News: "The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot has testimony that ... Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump asked him to intervene as his supporters ransacked the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Sunday. 'The committee has firsthand testimony now that he was sitting in the dining room next to the Oval Office watching the attack on television.... The briefing room at the White House is just a mere few steps from the Oval Office,' Cheney, the vice chair of the committee, said on ABC News' 'This Week.' She said that at any moment, Trump could have walked to the briefing room and appeared on television. 'We know, as he was sitting there in the dining room next to the Oval Office, members of his staff were pleading with him to go on television, to tell people to stop. We know Leader McCarthy was pleading with him to do that,' she said, referring to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. 'We know members of his family, we know his daughter -- we have firsthand testimony that his daughter Ivanka went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence,' she said." ~~~

~~~ David Cohen of Politico: “Rep. Liz Cheney said Sunday she fears that if ... Donald Trump were to become president again, it could be a lethal blow to American democracy. 'He crossed lines no American president has ever crossed before,' the Wyoming Republican told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC's 'This Week,' days before the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot." (Also linked yesterday.)

Donie O'Sullivan of CNN: "Twitter has permanently suspended Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter account @mtgreenee, the company confirmed to CNN Sunday morning..., 'for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy.'Greene most frequently tweeted from the handle @mtgreenee. She still has access to and can tweet from her official congressional account @RepMTG." MB: Greene released a statement re: the ban, in which she said, "Communist Democrats can't stop the truth." O'Sullivan has her full statement. The New York Times' story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "To shed light on Trump's battle of the National Archives records, The Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery interviewed Don W. Wilson and John W. Carlin, who both served as the U.S. archivist. 'Given how frantic they are... there are things in those records that are going to make real trouble. I'm talking about prison time,' Carlin said. 'It reinforces the fact that they know they're in real trouble if these things are released -- particularly if they're released soon.'... Read the full report [firewalled]."

AP: "The late Sen. Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who served as majority leader during a 30-year career in the Senate, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda next week. The leaders of Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said in a statement Sunday night that ceremonies honoring Reid at the Capitol will take place on Jan. 12." The Washington Post's report is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Monday are here.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Barbara Starr of CNN: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has tested positive for Covid-19 and is exhibiting 'mild' symptoms, according to a statement from him released by the Defense Department on Sunday. 'I have informed my leadership team of my positive test result, as well as the President. My staff has begun contact tracing and testing of all those with whom I have come into contact over the last week,' Austin said."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "About eight and a half million gallons of untreated sewage have spilled into a flood-control waterway in Los Angeles County since Thursday afternoon, prompting at least five beaches to close, an official with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts said.... The spill began after a concrete pipe 48 inches in diameter in Carson, Calif., collapsed. The sewage leaked out of a manhole on 212th Street on Thursday evening and much of Friday.... From there, the waste traveled through storm drain pipes and toward the Dominguez Channel, a flood-control waterway that runs more than 15 miles from Hawthorne, Calif., and discharges into Los Angeles Harbor. Water from the channel eventually flows to the Pacific Ocean. Officials are investigating what caused the pipe, which wa built in the 1960s, to collapse."(Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Sudan. Max Bearak & Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned in a televised statement Sunday, ending a short-lived political agreement with the country's military, which had temporarily deposed him in an October coup before allowing him to return to power. Hamdok's resignation follows weeks of wrangling between civilian and military leaders over the formation of a new government, but their differences proved insurmountable. Meanwhile, a massive protest movement has repeatedly filled the streets of Sudan's capital, Khartoum, denouncing both the military and Hamdok, whom they saw as compromised for his cooperation with the forces that sought to sideline him." An AP story is here.