The Commentariat -- February 14, 2021

Happy Valentine's Day from a Real President & First Lady. Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~

President Biden: "#ValentinesDay is a big. Jill's favorite day. For real."

Q: "What inspired you to do this?"@FLOTUS: "I just wanted some joy. With the pandemic, just everybody's feeling a little down. So, it's just a little joy. A little hope. That's all." pic.twitter.com/JW0S1cclNO

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 12, 2021

Kelly Mena & Jason Hoffman of CNN: "President Joe Biden weighed in late Saturday night on ... Donald Trump's acquittal in his second impeachment trial.... 'This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant. That violence and extremism has no place in America. And that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies,' Biden said in a statement.... 'While the final vote did not lead to a conviction, the substance of the charge is not in dispute. Even those opposed to the conviction, like Senate Minority Leader McConnell, believe Donald Trump was guilty of a "disgraceful dereliction of duty" and "practically and morally responsible for provoking" the violence unleashed on the Capitol." President Biden's full statement is here.

Scott Wong of the Hill: "After the Senate voted to acquit former President Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Saturday ruled out censuring the former president -- an idea that several Republicans had floated in recent days. 'Censure is a slap in the face of the Constitution. It lets everybody off the hook...,' Pelosi told reporters following the Senate impeachment trial at the Capitol. 'Oh, these cowardly senators who couldn't face up to what the president did and what was at stake for our country are now going to have a chance to give a little slap on the wrist?' Pelosi said while slapping her own wrist. 'We censure people for using stationery for the wrong purpose,' said Pelosi, referring to an episode that led Democrats to censure former Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) in 2010. 'We don't censure people for inciting insurrection that kills people in the Capitol.'... Pelosi also took a couple jabs at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)...."

Mitch Has Cake; Eats It, Too. Carl Hulse & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Senator Mitch McConnell said he believed that Donald J. Trump was undeniably guilty of a 'disgraceful dereliction of duty' on Jan. 6, when he incited and then failed to do anything to halt a deadly assault on the Capitol. 'There's no question -- none-- that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,' Mr. McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and minority leader, declared Saturday afternoon in an anti-Trump diatribe so scathing that it could have been delivered by any of the nine House prosecutors seeking a conviction. But minutes before he spoke, when it came time for the most powerful Republican in Washington to hold Mr. Trump to account on the charge of causing the riot, Mr. McConnell said his hands were tied. It could not be done, he argued. He voted to acquit. 'We have no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizen,' Mr. McConnell, who said he reached that conclusion after 'intense reflection,' said as he delivered a lawyerly explanation on the limits of Senate power." This is an update of an item by Fandos linked earlier. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Former Sen. Claire McCaskill [D-Mo.] explained on MSNBC that the soliloquy was Mitch's bid to get his donor base back. To convict or not to convict evidently was not the question.

Here's a statement from Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who voted to convict Donald Trump.

43 Profiles in Cowardice. Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senate Republicans voted against convicting Donald Trump Saturday for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol Jan. 6, bringing a swift end to the former president's second impeachment trial after Democrats abandoned plans to call witnesses in the face of GOP opposition. Seven Republicans joined Democrats in a 57-43 vote in favor of conviction, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump in the Senate. Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.), Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Patrick Toomey (Pa.) were the Republicans who voted with Democrats. The decision in the end to forego witnesses set the stage for Trump's acquittal without a full accounting of the former president's actions as the riots unfolded, endangering the lives of lawmakers and former vice president Mike Pence. The result underscored Trump's continued grip on most Republicans...." ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Under the watch of National Guard troops still patrolling the historic building, a bipartisan majority voted to find Mr. Trump 'guilty' of the House's single charge of 'incitement of insurrection.' They included seven Republicans, more members of a president's party than have ever returned an adverse verdict in an impeachment trial.... Party leaders and even the president's most loyal supporters in the Senate did not defend his actions -- a monthslong campaign, seeded with election lies, to overturn his decisive loss to Mr. Biden that culminated when Mr. Trump told thousands of his supporters to 'fight like hell' and they did. Instead, in the face of a meticulous case brought by nine House prosecutors, they found safe harbor in technical arguments that the trial itself was not valid because Mr. Trump was no longer in office." The story has been updated.

Taking Stockholm Syndrome to a New Low. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "As his marauders sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 in their bloody attempt to overturn the election, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy called the then-president and pleaded for Trump to call off the attack. Trump refused, essentially telling McCarthy he got what he deserved. Trump was, in effect, content to let members of Congress die.... Trump's lawyers, in their slashing, largely fictitious defense, claimed that Trump was 'horrified' by the violence, hadn't known that Vice President Mike Pence was in danger and took 'immediate steps' to counter the rioting. But [Rep. Jaime] Herrera Beutler [R-Wash.] revealed such claims to be a lie.... On Saturday afternoon, senators agreed that Herrera Beutler's statement would be entered into the trial record as evidence. Even knowing this, most Republican senators, as long expected, voted to acquit Trump, a craven surrender to the political imperative not to cross the demagogue.... [Forty-three] Republicans, some of whom, like McConnell, feebly denounced Trump's conduct even as they acquitted him, now have the cowardly distinction of licking the boots of the man who left them to die."

A Very Trump Closing. Daniel Dale & Tara Subramaniam of CNN: "... Donald Trump's impeachment defense was dishonest from start to finish. Prior to Trump's Senate acquittal on Saturday on a charge that he incited the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen delivered a closing argument that was replete with false and misleading claims. This followed a Friday session in which van der Veen delivered other false and misleading claims. Which followed a Monday written filing in which van der Veen and his colleagues delivered still more false and misleading claims. Here is a fact check of some of the things van der Veen said on Saturday, plus a fact check of a false claim made by a Democratic impeachment manager during Saturday's closing arguments." It's quite a list.

Here are the final final arguments. Both Rep. Raskin's & Rep. Neguse's closing arguments are tearjerkers:

Peter Baker & Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "Though Mr. Trump escaped conviction, the Senate impeachment trial has served at least one purpose: It stitched together the most comprehensive and chilling account to date of last month's deadly assault on the Capitol, ensuring that the former president's name will be inextricably associated with a violent attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power, the first in American history. In the new details it revealed and the methodical, minute-by-minute assembly of known facts it presented, the trial proved revelatory for many Americans -- and even for some who lived through the events."

Moving On. From the Guardian's live updates @ 12:43 pm ET: "Senate minority whip John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota, told the Washington Post that he believes the chamber has reached an agreement to admit Jaime Herrera Beutler's statement into the official record and then move on without calling witnesses, allowing for a swift end to the trial." @ 12:52 pm ET: "Senator Patrick Leahy, who is presiding over the trial, resumed the proceedings by recognizing Bruce Castor, one of Donald Trump's lawyers. Castor said he believed that congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler's testimony, if she were called as a witness, would be consistent with her statement from last month. Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin then read Beutler's statement aloud, and it was added to the official trial record." @ 12:55 pm ET: "With Jaime Herrera Beutler's statement added to the official record, the Senate has now agreed that no witnesses will be called in the impeachment trial. The trial has now moved on to closing arguments from the impeachment managers and Donald Trump's defense lawyers. The trial is expected to conclude with a final vote on acquittal later today." The House managers then deliverrf their closing arguments. (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times' live analysis is here, and the reporters' comments are much more timely as to what's going on than are its "live updates." The morning got off to a wild start. The Times page includes video of the proceedings, but you can pause the video or turn off the sound if it's intrusive. (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times' live updates of the impeachment trial Saturday are here: "Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, informed colleagues Saturday morning that it was a 'close call,' but he would vote to acquit ... Donald J. Trump on the charge of 'incitement of insurrection' for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to three people familiar with the matter. His decision, revealed in an email to colleagues hours before a vote on the verdict, put to rest weeks of uncertainty and public silence about how Mr. McConnell would judge the former president, and confirmed that it was all but certain that the Senate would acquit Mr. Trump." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Saturday's proceedings are here: "Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Saturday said Democrats would like to subpoena as a witness Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), who tweeted late Friday details of a conversation House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had with Trump while the Jan. 6 attack was ongoing.... Responding angrily, Trump attorney Michael van der Veen said if Democrats were to call one witness, he would call 100." MB: The vote to call witnesses was 55-45 in favor. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Guardian's live updates of Saturday's proceedings are here: "Four Senate Republicans have voted along with the Democrats, giving them more than enough votes to call witnesses: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse. Lindsay Graham changed his vote from no to yes after it was clear the motion would pass." MB: So no way to know when this trial will end. At this point (11 am ET), the Senate still needs to hold a vote on a resolution that lays out the rules for calling witnesses. So we still don't know for sure, for sure that there will be witnesses. We do know fairly certainly that the defense won't be calling 100 witnesses, because 100 is not going to be the resolution's threshold. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times provide an up-to-date timeline of what Donald Trump was doing as the siege of the Capitol played out.

A Jan. 6 Commission? Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The Senate vote left multiple questions still to be answered.... Chief among them: Exactly what did Trump know as the attacks were unfolding, and why he didn't he do anything to protect Vice President Mike Pence or order immediate reinforcements to the beleaguered law enforcement officers at the Capitol?... One vehicle for fact finding that could lead to protecting the Capitol ... is the kind of commission that Tom Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, and Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic House member from Indiana, headed after 9/11 and now are advocating to investigate the Jan. 6 events. On Friday, Kean and Hamilton sent a letter to President Biden and to the bipartisan leaders in the House and Senate urging the establishment of a commission that would be both independent and bipartisan.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) already has raised the idea of creating such a commission, as have some other members of Congress. Kean and Hamilton said that each had received a call from the speaker on Friday...."

** Christiaan Triebert, et al., of the New York Times: "At least six people who had provided security for Roger Stone entered the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 attack, according to a New York Times investigation. Videos show the group guarding Mr. Stone, a longtime friend of ... Donald J. Trump, on the day of the attack or the day before. All six of them are associated with the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia that is known to provide security for right-wing personalities and protesters at public events." MB: This is another of my toljaso moments, as I said a while back it wasn't silly to explore Stone's roll as the link between Trump & the insurrectionsts. This would be a really good time for the FBI to get search warrants to storm Stone's homes & offices looking for evidence of his involvement in the siege and his communications with Trump about it. Stone's connections to the Proud Boys are also suspect.

Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "In an interview about her newly announced criminal investigation into election interference in Georgia, [Fani] Willis, the [new] district attorney of Fulton County, made it clear that the scope of her inquiry would encompass the pressure campaign on state officials by ... Donald J. Trump as well as the activities of his allies.... She and her office have indicated that the investigation will include Senator Lindsey Graham's phone call to [state attorney general Brad] Raffensperger in November about mail-in ballots; the abrupt removal last month of Byung J. Pak, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, who earned Mr. Trump's enmity for not advancing his debunked assertions about election fraud; and the false claims that Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, made before state legislative committees." (Also linked yesterday.)

MEANWHILE ~~~

Ashley Parker & Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Deputy White House press secretary TJ Ducklo resigned Saturday amid fallout from a contentious phone call last month in which he berated and threatened a female reporter who was working on a story about a potential conflict of interest stemming from his personal life.... White House press secretary Jen Psaki had announced Friday that Ducklo would be suspended for a week without pay, but by Saturday, both senior White House advisers and Ducklo said they had reassessed the incident, leading to his resignation that night. 'We are committed to striving every day to meet the standard set by the President in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility and with a value for others through our words and our actions,' Psaki said in a statement, explaining why the White House accepted Ducklo's resignation.... The White House turnabout, which took just over 24 hours and came amid public outcry, was the result of discussions Saturday between [among!] top administration officials.... While [Ducklo] wasn't forced to resign, one person close to the situation said that 'we would not have accepted any other outcome.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story is here. The AP's story is here.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here: "British government scientists are increasingly finding the coronavirus variant first detected in Britain to be linked to a higher risk of death than other versions of the virus, a devastating trend that highlights the serious risks and considerable uncertainties of this new phase of the pandemic. The scientists said last month that there was a 'realistic possibility' that the variant was not only more contagious than others, but also more lethal. Now, they say in a new document that it is 'likely' that the variant is linked to an increased risk of hospitalization and death."

The Commentariat -- February 13, 2021

Morning/Afternoon Updates:

Weird. Mitch McConnell voted not-guilty, but he is now (at 4:10 pm ET) making an impassioned speech outlining the evidence of Trump's guilt. Update: Former Sen. Claire McCaskill explained that this was Mitch trying to get his donor base back.

The Senate voted 57-guilty to 43-not guilty. MB: The only "surprise" I noticed was Richard Burr of N.C., who voted "guilty." The seven Republican senatorss who voted to convict were Burr, Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski, Romney, Sasse & Toomey. All 50 Democratic senators voted to convict.

Moving On. From the Guardian's live updates @ 12:43 pm ET: "Senate minority whip John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota, told the Washington Post that he believes the chamber has reached an agreement to admit Jaime Herrera Beutler's statement into the official record and then move on without calling witnesses, allowing for a swift end to the trial." @ 12:52 pm ET: "Senator Patrick Leahy, who is presiding over the trial, resumed the proceedings by recognizing Bruce Castor, one of Donald Trump's lawyers. Castor said he believed that congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler's testimony, if she were called as a witness, would be consistent with her statement from last month. Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin then read Beutler's statement aloud, and it was added to the official trial record." @ 12:55 pm ET: "With Jaime Herrera Beutler's statement added to the official record, the Senate has now agreed that no witnesses will be called in the impeachment trial. The trial has now moved on to closing arguments from the impeachment managers and Donald Trump's defense lawyers. The trial is expected to conclude with a final vote on acquittal later today." The House managers are delivering their closing arguments.

The New York Times' live analysis is here, and the reporters' comments are much more timely as to what's going on than are its "live updates." The morning got off to a wild start. The Times page includes video of the proceedings, but you can pause the video or turn off the sound if it's intrusive.

The New York Times' live updates of the impeachment trial Saturday are here: "Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, informed colleagues Saturday morning that it was a 'close call,' but he would vote to acquit ... Donald J. Trump on the charge of 'incitement of insurrection' for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to three people familiar with the matter. His decision, revealed in an email to colleagues hours before a vote on the verdict, put to rest weeks of uncertainty and public silence about how Mr. McConnell would judge the former president, and confirmed that it was all but certain that the Senate would acquit Mr. Trump." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Saturday's proceedings are here: "Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Saturday said Democrats would like to subpoena as a witness Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), who tweeted late Friday details of a conversation House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had with Trump while the Jan. 6 attack was ongoing.... Responding angrily, Trump attorney Michael van der Veen said if Democrats were to call one witness, he would call 100." MB: The vote to call witnesses was 55-45 in favor. ~~~

~~~ The Guardian's live updates of Saturday's proceedings are here: "Four Senate Republicans have voted along with the Democrats, giving them more than enough votes to call witnesses: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse. Lindsay Graham changed his vote from no to yes after it was clear the motion would pass." MB: So no way to know when this trial will end. At this point (11 am ET), the Senate still needs to hold a vote on a resolution that lays out the rules for calling witnesses. So we still don't know for sure, for sure that there will be witnesses. We do know that the defense won't be calling 100 witnesses, because 100 is not going to be the resolution's threshold.

Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "In an interview about her newly announced criminal investigation into election interference in Georgia, [Fani] Willis, the [new] district attorney of Fulton County, made it clear that the scope of her inquiry would encompass the pressure campaign on state officials by ... Donald J. Trump as well as the activities of his allies.... She and her office have indicated that the investigation will include Senator Lindsey Graham's phone call to [state attorney general Brad] Raffensperger in November about mail-in ballots; the abrupt removal last month of Byung J. Pak, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, who earned Mr. Trump's enmity for not advancing his debunked assertions about election fraud; and the false claims that Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, made before state legislative committees."

~~~~~~~~~~

Closing arguments in Trump's second impeachment trial are scheduled to begin at 10 am ET today. Unless the Senate votes to call witnesses, the Senate also will vote today. A New York Times what-to-watch-for story is here. ~~~

~~~ Lisa Mascaro, et al., of the AP: "Senators are poised to vote on whether Donald Trump will be held accountable for inciting the horrific attack at the Capitol after a speedy trial that laid bare the violence and danger to their own lives and the fragility of the nation's tradition of a peaceful transfer of presidential power. Barely a month since the deadly riot, closing arguments are set for the historic impeachment trial as senators arrive for a rare Saturday session, all under the watch of armed National Guard troops still guarding the iconic building."

** Trump Wouldn't Call Off Rioters Even After McCarthy Asked Him: CNN Website Banner Headline at 7:45 pm ET Friday. Jamie Gangel, et al.: "In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the Capitol was under attack..., Donald Trump said..., 'Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.'... McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump's supporters and begged Trump to call them off.... A furious McCarthy told the President the rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and asked Trump, 'Who the f[uc]k do you think you are talking to?' according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with the call. The newly revealed details of the call, described to CNN by multiple Republicans briefed on it, provide critical insight into the President's state of mind as rioters were overrunning the Capitol.... The Republican members of Congress said the exchange showed Trump had no intention of calling off the rioters even as lawmakers were pleading with him to intervene. Several said it amounted to a dereliction of his presidential duty.... Speaking to the President from inside the besieged Capitol, McCarthy pressed Trump to call off his supporters.... ~~~

~~~ "Trump's comment about the would-be insurrectionists caring more about the election results than McCarthy did was first mentioned by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican from Washington state, in a town hall earlier this week, and was confirmed to CNN by Herrera Beutler and other Republicans briefed on the conversation. 'You have to look at what he did during the insurrection to confirm where his mind was at,' Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans who voted last month to impeach Trump, told CNN. 'That line right there demonstrates to me that either he didn't care, which is impeachable, because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry.... We should never stand for that, for any reason, under any party flag,' she added, voicing her extreme frustration: 'I'm trying really hard not to say the F-word.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans to support Donald Trump's impeachment for inciting the Capitol insurrection, pleaded with those close to the former president -- and former vice president Mike Pence -- to come forward and reveal what they know about Trump's conduct. 'To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former Vice President: if you have something to add here, now would be the time,' Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) wrote in a statement released late Friday, on the eve of what is expected to be the Senate's final vote in Trump's impeachment trial.... Herrera Beutler has been telling the McCarthy story since last month, including to her local paper, but it largely went unnoticed and wasn't mentioned in the House's impeachment case against Trump that concluded Thursday.... Late Friday, a Democratic senator cited the [Kevin] McCarthy and [Tommy] Tuberville revelations as a reason to potentially 'suspend' the impeachment trial and seek testimony from both Republican lawmakers. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said House managers could also ask the 'Secret Service to produce for review comms back to White House re VP Pence safety during siege. What did Trump know, and when did he know it?' No other Democratic senators have explicitly called for these steps so far." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here is Herrera Beutler's full statement, which she posted on her Twitter account. It verifies most of CNN's reporting and refutes none of it.

Alana Wise of NPR: "The Senate has voted unanimously to award Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman with a Congressional Gold Medal, the institution's highest civilian honor, for his actions to protect the Congress during the deadly Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. Goodman was greeted in the Senate chamber on Friday with a standing ovation for his actions, which have been praised on both sides of the aisle as heroic and likely life saving. Prior to this week's Senate impeachment hearings, Goodman was already being praised as a hero for steering a mob of pro-Trump extremists away from the Senate chamber on the day of the insurrection. This week, House impeachment managers unveiled previously unseen footage that showed Goodman also redirecting Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican critic of former President Trump, away from an approaching swarm of rioters." The Washington Post's story is here.

Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: During the Q&A session that followed the defense's presentation, [Sen. Mitt] Romney [R-Utah] asked both sides whether Trump had known that Pence was in danger when he criticized his vice president in a tweet at 2:24 p.m. while Pence was being evacuated from the Senate. 'The answer is no,' [Michael] van der Veen responded. [MB: 'At no point was the President* informed that the Vice President was in any danger,' van der Veen added.] Later, [Sen. Bill] Cassidy [R-La.] asked about Trump's tweet and the conversation Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama had had with Trump minutes beforehand, in which, Tuberville said this week, he had told Trump the vice president was being evacuated. Cassidy said Trump's tweet 'suggested President Trump did not care that Vice President Pence was in danger,' asking whether it showed Trump was tolerant of intimidation of Pence. Van der Veen responded that the answer was no, but said that he disputed the facts underlying the question, even though Tuberville's description of the call was recounted on the record to reporters this week. Asked if he was satisfied with the response, Cassidy said, 'Not really..., adding that the call 'obviously wasn't hearsay' [MB: as van der Veen had claimed] because Tuberville had confirmed it." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Cassidy's question, van der Veen's weird response, & Jamie Raskin's very apt retort. Well-worth hearing as a good encapsulation of Friday in Trump Impeachment 2.0:

     ~~~ Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Trump never called Pence to check on his well-being after the attack began. Later in the day, Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, called Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to say that Pence and his team were safe and that once the Capitol was secure, they planned to forge ahead with certifying the election results. Meadows did not object. On the day of the attack -- and even during the insurrection -- Trump kept insisting that Pence had the power to overturn the will of the people and certify the election in favor of himself and Trump. But in fact, in the weeks leading up to the electoral certification, Pence and Short repeatedly explained to Trump and Meadows -- 'at least a dozen times, probably two dozen times,' one official said -- that not only did Pence lack the authority to overturn the election results but he planned to fulfill his duties to the Constitution. Trump's treatment of Pence was widely viewed within the president's orbit as one of the more detestable acts of his presidency, and some aides who have defended Trump through other controversial episodes said they could not stomach how he turned on the vice president -- or how he worked to turn the Republican Party on him, as well."

Fear of Facts. Marie: Bernie goes there. The bloody insurrection would never have happened, of course, if Trump acknowledged the clear-cut answer to the question Sen. Sanders asked. The answer to the critical question is simple, straightforward, and everyone in the room (except, I'll admit, maybe the stupidest senators, Ron Johnson & Mr. Potato Head) knew what it was. But Trump's lawyer Michael van der Veen would not answer. Earlier this week, Trump's attorney Bruce Castor did volunteer the truth that van der Veen dared not say: that voters were "smart enough to pick a new administration if they don't like the old one, and they just did." I suppose van der Veen's indignant response was what he learned in ambulance-chasing seminars: "If you have neither the facts nor the law on your side, pound the table."

Trump Sock Puppets for the Defense. Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "After initially stumbling in its first round of arguments on Tuesday, the latest team [of Trump lawyers] -- either the seventh or eighth to defend Mr. Trump since he became president, depending on your math -- followed the playbook Mr. Trump has long wanted his lawyers to adhere to. They channeled his grievances and aggressively spun, making what-about arguments that tried to cast his own behavior as not so bad when compared with the other side. Democrats found their performance infuriatingly misleading, but it potentially provided the vast majority of Republicans in the Senate opposed to convicting Mr. Trump with talking points they can use to justify their votes....

"By the end of the day Friday, [Michael] van der Veen, a personal injury lawyer from Philadelphia, had emerged as Mr. Trump's primary defender, handling questions from senators, making a series of false and outlandish claims, calling the impeachment a version of 'constitutional cancel culture' and declaring that Friday's proceedings had been his 'most miserable' experience in Washington. Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and the lead House impeachment manager, responded, 'I guess we're sorry, but man, you should have been here on Jan. 6.'...

"In another reminder of his ad hoc approach, Mr. Trump asked associates on Thursday night whether it was too late to add or remove lawyers from the team, as [David] Schoen briefly told the team he was quitting over a debate about how to use the video clips the defense showed on Friday. Mr. Trump called Mr. Schoen and he agreed to rejoin the team, two people briefed on the events said."

Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's lawyers delivered a relatively brief defense of the former president's conduct in his second impeachment trial Friday, accusing House Democrats of staging a politically motivated proceeding in a rebuttal that echoed Trump's misleading claims about the 2020 presidential election. The centerpiece of the Trump attorneys' case was a video that edited together one Democratic official after another using the word 'fight.' While meant to argue that Democrats, too, used potentially violent rhetoric, many of the comments were taken out of context, and none led to incidents of violence. Trump's lawyers used just two 2½ hours of the 16 hours allotted to them for their defense, their brevity underscoring that at least 34 GOP senators are expected to vote to acquit the ex-president and allow him to escape the prospect of being barred from public office." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It's worth noting that a good part of their two-and-a-half hours was taken up with running & re-running the "fight" video, which they set to music. This, even as they alleged -- without evidence, as one says -- that "House managers manipulated evidence and selectively edited footage."

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump's lawyers opened and closed their impeachment defense in a span of three hours on Friday, drawing praise from Republicans. Senators then submitted questions to each side. They are expected to vote to convict or acquit Mr. Trump on Saturday. Here are takeaways from the fourth day of Mr. Trump's trial. The Trump defense sounded a lot like Trump himself.... Trump's defense went on the offensive and brought its own videos.... Mr. Trump's defense team delivered a rapid-fire video montage of Democrats saying the word 'fight' in their political speeches, challenging a key House argument that Mr. Trump incited the attack on Jan. 6 by telling his supporters to 'fight' in a speech just before urging them to march to the Capitol."

Daniel Dale, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's lawyers ... made multiple false and misleading claims to bolster their case.... [Defense attorney Michael] Van der Veen claimed that 'the first two messages the President sent via Twitter once the incursion of the Capitol began' urged people to 'stay peaceful' and called for 'no violence.'... This is not true.... Trump's lawyer Bruce Castor claimed that the rioters who stormed the Capitol didn't attend the ex-President's incendiary speech that day, and that this proved the insurrection was a pre-planned attack that wasn't incited by Trump.... It's false that none of the accused Capitol rioters attended Trump's speech beforehand. And ... only a handful of the 200-plus criminal cases indicate that rioters had showed up that day intending to breach the Capitol." And more. ~~~

~~~ Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "As they mounted their defense of the former president on Friday, Donald J. Trump's lawyers made a number of inaccurate or misleading claims about the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, Mr. Trump's remarks, the impeachment process and 2020 election. Many claims were echoes of right-wing talking points popularized on social media or ones that were spread by Mr. Trump himself. Here's a fact check." A number of the lawyers' statements Qiu fact-checks are just flat-out lies. MB: Here's one for which I didn't know the underlying facts:

One of the first people arrested was the leader of antifa. -- Michael van der Veen

This is misleading. Mr. van der Veen was most likely referring to John E. Sullivan, a Utah man who was charged on Jan. 14 with violent entry and disorderly conduct. Mr. Sullivan, an activist..., had previously referred to antifa -- a loosely affiliated group of antifascist activists that has no leader -- on social media, but he has repeatedly denied being a member of the movement. The F.B.I. has said there is no evidence that supporters of the antifa movement had participated in the Capitol siege. -- Linda Qiu

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Whatever you think about Trump's culpability for the Capitol riot, the Trump team's presentation early on was overwhelmingly focused on things that didn't involve him. It was almost 100 percent whataboutism.... To rebut the argument from impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) that Trump had laid a predicate for what became the Jan. 6 riot by predicting a stolen election, Trump's legal team played videos that showed Democrats ... not doing that.... We knew based upon briefs filed by that Trump team that it would lean on the free speech argument, but we didn't know just how absolute it would assert that right is -- especially given that there are well-established limits on such rights in public discourse, including defamation and incitement." MB: If you have a WashPo subscription, definitely read the part about cavalry/calvary. It's a hilarious argument, boiling down to, "No, no, no, she really meant she was bringing the hillsite of the crucifixion, not soldiers on horseback." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Marie: Looks as if Trump's attorneys were pretty wedded to the Christian nature of the Trumpy argument, after all. In his introductory remarks, Trump attorney Michael van der Veen asserted Trump had not committed "incitement to resurrection."

It Was Just a Field Trip to an Historic Site. Or Something. Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Donald Trump's lead impeachment attorney on Friday denied that the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 amounted to an insurrection, a novel claim that contradicts the Justice Department and the broadly accepted version of events. 'Clearly, there was no insurrection,' Bruce Castor told senators as the former president's legal team mounted their first and only day of arguments in the Senate's impeachment trial. Federal indictments against those who participated in the violence at the Capitol referred to the events as an 'insurrection,' and Republican congressional leaders have echoed that characterization." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Defense That Wasn't. Dana Milbank: "The defense ran out of steam after consuming just 2 hours and 40 minutes of their allotted 16 hours. Yet, even in that brief period, they misstated legal precedents. They invented facts. They rewrote history. Trump lawyer Bruce Castor, panned for his rambling opening argument Wednesday, closed the argument Friday by confusing Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.... Presenting the prosecution case, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead impeachment manager, cited Voltaire and Thomas Paine. By contrast, Trump's lawyers repeatedly played videos, set to ominous music, of Democrats (particularly non-White or non-Christian ones) using violent rhetoric.... They neglected to point out that several of the clips were of Democrats calling for a 'fight' against things such as covid-19, not the election results."

Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: “CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Friday afternoon tore into the Trump impeachment lawyers' defense, calling their presentation outright 'stupid' and likening it to a 'Sean Hannity mixtape.'... 'We have months and months and months of the "Big Lie" of the election lie, and today was basically a legal demonstration of whataboutism,' he added. 'What about the time that this congressman said this, the time that this losing candidate said that? Times that there was no violence that followed what they said.'"

"Trump's Taste for Blood." Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "... once Trump got into politics, he realized, with growing intoxication, that the more incendiary he was, the more his fans would cheer.... He was thrilled that he could unleash his mob on the Capitol and its guardians, with rioters smearing blood and feces and yelling Trump's words and going after his targets -- Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence.... Trump not caring about the fate of his vice president was the inevitable sick end of the pairing of the Sociopath and the Sycophant.... Most Republicans, who continue to tremble before Trump even though he devoured and destroyed their party, turning its traditional values upside down, are plumbing new cowardly depths. They are mini-Trumps, making decisions solely on self-interest." ~~~

~~~ Marie: As justice reporter Elie Mystal put it on MSNBC Friday night, "The trouble is -- Cruz, Graham, Rubio -- they're all co-conspirators. They did everything Trump did except try to kill Mike Pence."

Nikki Haley Bets Against the Hawley/Cruz Horse. Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued stunning remarks breaking with former President Trump, telling Politico in an interview published Friday that she believes he 'let us down.... He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again.' Haley's remarks are her strongest yet against the former president in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and come as Trump's legal team is set to present its defense of Trump on Friday in his second Senate impeachment trial." The interview, which is long & rambling, is by Tim Alberta & is published in Politico Magazine. As Alberta points out near the top, "Haley had navigated the Trump era with a singular shrewdness, messaging and maneuvering in ways that kept her in solid standing both with the GOP donor class as well as with the president and his base." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Melanie Is at the Spa Griping about Dr. Jill. Kate Bennett of CNN: "While ... Donald Trump watches his second impeachment trial unfold, Melania Trump spends most of her time post-White House relaxing at the spa and staying out of the fray.... Yet there have been moments of bitterness and regret, say several people with knowledge of Trump's conversations of late, most notably since Joe Biden's inauguration and with respect to the activities of her successor, Jill Biden." Although Melania Trump refused to sit for interviews with popular magazines, she is apparently upset that Jill Biden is getting so much press attention, uh, because she's will to sit for interviews. Also, too, Melania is upset Jill is getting attention for the work she is doing, even though Melania spent the first five months of Donald's presidency in New York. "... the former first lady is not blaming herself in hindsight, she's blaming others -- former staff members, magazine editors, and corporations and foundations...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maybe Donald & Lindsey Can be Cellmates. Sweet! Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "An Atlanta-area prosecutor plans to scrutinize a post-Election Day phone call between Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as part of a criminal investigation into whether ... Donald Trump or his allies broke Georgia laws while trying to reverse his defeat in the state, according to a person familiar with the probe. The individual ... said the inquiry by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will include an examination of the call Graham ... made to Raffensperger 10 days after the Nov. 3 election.During their conversation, Graham asked the Georgia secretary of state whether he had the power to toss out all mail ballots in certain counties, Raffensperger told The Washington Post in an interview days later. He said Graham appeared to be asking him to improperly find a way to set aside legally cast ballots." ~~~

     ~~~ So the WashPo story makes this Politico headline an invitation to a joke: "Graham to meet with Trump to talk future of GOP." Maybe their future is on a Georgia chain gang.

Blake Montgomery & Allison Quinn of the Daily Beast: "The Lincoln Project was plunged into even deeper turmoil Thursday, with the anti-Trump group tapping an outsider to investigate its handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a co-founder, and former employees demanding to be released from non-disclosure agreements. On Friday, several more key advisers left the group in the wake of the previous day's scandalous reports.... More than 20 men have accused [Lincoln Project co-founder [John] Weaver of sending unsolicited sexual messages, with some saying he tried to barter his connections for sex; one was underage when Weaver began communicating.... Weaver resigned, but the accusations did not end there. Last weekend, co-founder Jennifer Horn stepped down.... [More accusations back & forth.] On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that leaders of the Lincoln Project learned about allegations against Weaver in the summer...." More accusations; more recriminations; more recriminations. On Friday Kurt Bardella & Tom Nichols resigned. ~~~

~~~ AND Then. Lachlan Markay of Axios: "Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt is resigning from the group's board amid a series of scandals that has rocked the high-dollar anti-Trump super PAC.... Schmidt, a veteran Republican operative, is the latest and most high-profile departure from the group...." A New York Times story is here.

MEANWHILE ~~~

Matt Spetelnick, et al., of Reuters: "President Joe Biden's aides have launched a formal review of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, reviving the Obama-era goal of closing the controversial facility with the aim of doing so before he leaves office, the White House said on Friday. Aides involved in internal discussions are considering an executive action to be signed by Biden in coming weeks or months, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, signaling a new effort to remove what human rights advocates have called a stain on America's global image." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alexandra Jaffe of the AP: "White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay after he reportedly issued a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that Ducklo's conduct was 'completely unacceptable.' Psaki said while she had not spoken about the incident with President Joe Biden, Ducklo and aides 'at the highest levels' of the White House's communications team had apologized for the incident.... Psaki said in a statement earlier Friday that Ducklo had been suspended without pay with the approval of White House chief of staff Ron Klain. She said Ducklo 'is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out' by Biden, and that Ducklo had sent the reporter in question 'a personal note professing his profound regret.'... On Friday, Vanity Fair published a report citing two unnamed sources that Ducklo had threatened the Politico reporter to try to suppress the story, telling her 'I will destroy you.'" MB: Assuming the Vanity Fair story is true, I would have fired Ducklo. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Laura Meckler of the Washington Post: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that schools can safely open as long as a range of precautions are in place, offering a road map for a return to classrooms that in parts of the country have been shuttered for nearly a year. The much-anticipated guidelines land in the middle of an emotional debate underway in many communities and nationally. Some parents are desperate for schools to reopen, and many experts worry about the impact of remote schooling on children. But many teachers and parents are frightened by the prospect of youths going back. The CDC cited a growing body of evidence that in-person schools can operate safely." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Josh Boak & Kevin Freking of the AP: "President Joe Biden met with a bipartisan group of governors and mayors at the White House on Friday as part of his push to give financial relief from the coronavirus pandemic to state and local governments -- a clear source of division with Republican lawmakers who view the spending as wasteful. As part of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus package, Biden wants to send $350 billion to state and local governments and tribal governments. While Republicans in Congress have largely objected to this initiative, Biden's push has some GOP support among governors and mayors. 'You folks are all on the front lines and dealing with the crisis since day one,' Biden said at the start of the Oval Office meeting. 'They've been working on their own in many cases.'"

Louisiana. AP: "Crowds have been warned to stay away from New Orleans in the days leading up to Mardi Gras to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Police chief Shaun Ferguson held a news conference Friday with state police and the New Orleans sheriff to drive home the danger of large gatherings, saying a bar closure order that took effect Friday would be enforced through 'Fat Tuesday,' the end of the annual pre-Lenten festivities. All parades in the city have also been canceled. Last year's Mardi Gras celebrations, which normally sees thousands of tourists in the city, are now believed to have contributed to an early surge of infections in Louisiana."

New York State. Jesse McKinley & Luis Ferré-Sadurníof the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his top aides were facing new allegations on Friday that they covered up the scope of the death toll in the state's nursing homes from the coronavirus, after admissions that they withheld data in an effort to forestall potential investigations into state misconduct. The latest revelations came in the wake of private remarks by the governor's top aide, Melissa DeRosa, and a cascading series of reports and court orders that have nearly doubled the state's official toll of nursing home deaths in the last two weeks. The disclosures have left Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, scrambling to contain the political fallout, as lawmakers of both parties call for censure, including stripping the governor of his emergency powers during the pandemic, federal and state investigations and resignations of Ms. DeRosa and other top officials. In a conversation first reported on by the New York Post, Ms. DeRosa told a group of top lawmakers on Wednesday during a call to address the nursing home situation that 'basically, we froze,' after being asked last summer for information by the Trump administration's Department of Justice." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond the Beltway

Italy. Frances D'Emilio of the AP: "Mario Draghi, the man credited with largely saving the euro currency, on Saturday formally took the helm as Italy's premier, after crafting a government that balances economic experts and other technocrats with career politicians from across the spectrum to guide the pandemic-devastated nation toward recovery. Ending weeks of political crisis, Draghi and his Cabinet ministers took their oaths of office in a ceremony at the Quirinal presidential palace in front of President Sergio Mattarella. It was Mattarella who tasked Draghi, a former chief of the European Central Bank as well as of Italy's central bank, with trying to form a government up to managing the COVID-19 health, economic and social crises."

U.K. Brexit Chaos. Peter Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: Proponents of Brexit sold it as a way for the U.K. to take back control of its commerce. Instead, it has created economic chaos. "The trade deal Britain struck late last year with the European Union stopped tariffs from being imposed on goods exchanged across the English Channel, but did not prevent the revival of customs procedures, health and safety checks, value-added taxes on imports, and other time-consuming, commerce-limiting hindrances. Businesses across Britain are now contending with paralyzing confusion and unfamiliar bureaucratic hurdles. Paperwork snafus, customs horrors and other expensive disruptions are intensifying the strains on an economy that was already reeling from the pandemic. On Friday, the Office of National Statistics announced that Britain's economy contracted by nearly 10 percent last year, the worst plunge in centuries." The report details numerous instances of goods stuck at the border. Perishable goods spoil and have to be dumped; half of carriers now cart goods one way & come back empty. "Manufacturers are contending with grave disruptions to their supplies of finished products, components and basic materials."

The Commentariat -- February 12, 2021

Afternoon Update:

The Senate impeachment trial went into Q&A session at about 3:55 pm ET.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Whatever you think about Trump's culpability for the Capitol riot, the Trump team's presentation early on was overwhelmingly focused on things that didn't involve him. It was almost 100 percent whataboutism.... To rebut the argument from impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) that Trump had laid a predicate for what became the Jan. 6 riot by predicting a stolen election, Trump's legal team played videos that showed Democrats ... not doing that.... We knew based upon briefs filed by that Trump team that it would lean on the free speech argument, but we didn't know just how absolute it would assert that right is -- especially given that there are well-established limits on such rights in public discourse, including defamation and incitement." MB: If you have a WashPo subscription, definitely read the part about cavalry/calvary. It's a hilarious argument, boiling down to, "No, no, no, she really meant she was bringing a holy mountain."

It Was Just a Field Trip to an Historic Site. Or Something. Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Donald Trump's lead impeachment attorney on Friday denied that the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 amounted to an insurrection, a novel claim that contradicts the Justice Department and the broadly accepted version of events. 'Clearly, there was no insurrection,' Bruce Castor told senators as the former president's legal team mounted their first and only day of arguments in the Senate's impeachment trial. Federal indictments against those who participated in the violence at the Capitol referred to the events as an 'insurrection,' and Republican congressional leaders have echoed that characterization."

Haley Bets Against the Hawley/Cruz Horse. Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued stunning remarks breaking with former President Trump, telling Politico in an interview published Friday that she believes he 'let us down.... He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again.' Haley's remarks are her strongest yet against the former president in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and come as Trump's legal team is set to present its defense of Trump on Friday in his second Senate impeachment trial." The interview, which is long & rambling, is by Tim Alberta & is published in Politico Magazine. As Alberta points out near the top, "Haley had navigated the Trump era with a singular shrewdness, messaging and maneuvering in ways that kept her in solid standing both with the GOP donor class as well as with the president and his base."

Melanie Is at the Spa Griping about Dr. Jill. Kate Bennett of CNN: "While ... Donald Trump watches his second impeachment trial unfold, Melania Trump spends most of her time post-White House relaxing at the spa and staying out of the fray.... Yet there have been moments of bitterness and regret, say several people with knowledge of Trump's conversations of late, most notably since Joe Biden's inauguration and with respect to the activities of her successor, Jill Biden." Although Melania Trump refused to sit for interviews with popular magazines, she is apparently upset that Jill Biden is getting so much press attention, uh, because she's will to sit for interviews. Also, too, Melania is upset Jill is getting attention for the work she is doing, even though Melania spent the first five months of Donald's presidency in New York. "... the former first lady is not blaming herself in hindsight, she's blaming others -- former staff members, magazine editors, and corporations and foundations...."

Matt Spetelnick, et al., of Reuters: "President Joe Biden's aides have launched a formal review of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, reviving the Obama-era goal of closing the controversial facility with the aim of doing so before he leaves office, the White House said on Friday. Aides involved in internal discussions are considering an executive action to be signed by Biden in coming weeks or months, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, signaling a new effort to remove what human rights advocates have called a stain on America's global image."

Alexandra Jaffe of the AP: "White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay after he reportedly issued a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that Ducklo's conduct was 'completely unacceptable.' Psaki said while she had not spoken about the incident with President Joe Biden, Ducklo and aides 'at the highest levels' of the White House's communications team had apologized for the incident.... Psaki said in a statement earlier Friday that Ducklo had been suspended without pay with the approval of White House chief of staff Ron Klain. She said Ducklo 'is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out' by Biden, and that Ducklo had sent the reporter in question 'a personal note professing his profound regret.'... On Friday, Vanity Fair published a report citing two unnamed sources that Ducklo had threatened the Politico reporter to try to suppress the story, telling her 'I will destroy you.'" MB: Assuming the Vanity Fair story is true, I would have fired Ducklo.

Jesse McKinley & Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his top aides were facing new allegations on Friday that they covered up the scope of the death toll in the state's nursing homes from the coronavirus, after admissions that they withheld data in an effort to forestall potential investigations into state misconduct. The latest revelations came in the wake of private remarks by the governor's top aide, Melissa DeRosa, and a cascading series of reports and court orders that have nearly doubled the state's official toll of nursing home deaths in the last two weeks. The disclosures have left Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, scrambling to contain the political fallout, as lawmakers of both parties call for censure, including stripping the governor of his emergency powers during the pandemic, federal and state investigations and resignations of Ms. DeRosa and other top officials. In a conversation first reported on by the New York Post, Ms. DeRosa told a group of top lawmakers on Wednesday during a call to address the nursing home situation that 'basically, we froze,' after being asked last summer for information by the Trump administration's Department of Justice."

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: It's 2/12 and the 212th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, deemed by many to be the U.S.'s "best" president, an apt day for lawyers to try to mount a defense of the worst president. The defense, sadly, will succeed, no matter if they do nothing but find and old phone book & read it, because the ladies & gentlemen sworn to be "impartial jurors" are more aligned with Jeff Davis than with Abe Lincoln. Happy Birthday, Abe!

~~~~~~~~~~

Eric Tucker, et al., of the AP: "After a prosecution case rooted in emotive, violent images from the Capitol siege, Donald Trump's impeachment trial shifts on Friday to defense lawyers prepared to make a fundamental concession: The violence was every bit as traumatic, unacceptable and illegal as Democrats say. But, they will say, Trump had nothing to do with it." MB: This is the "People don't kill people; guns kill people" argument. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' story is here.

"Impartial Jurors" Meet with Trump Lawyers. Manu Raju & Alex Rogers of CNN: "A trio of Republican senators allied with ... Donald Trump met with his defense team Thursday evening, in the middle of an impeachment trial in which they will vote on whether to convict Trump and potentially bar him from holding public office again. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah were spotted going into a room in the US Capitol that Trump's lawyers were using to prepare for their arguments. Trump lawyer David Schoen said that the senators were 'very friendly guys' who just wanted to make sure they were 'familiar with procedure' on the eve of their rebuttal to the House impeachment managers' presentation.... Cruz said the meeting with the Trump defense team was an opportunity for 'sharing our thoughts' about their legal strategy." ~~~

~~~ "Impartial Jurors" Sit Out Trial. David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement: "Fifteen of the 50 Republican Senators refused to show up for at least 'the first few hours' of Thursday's arguments by the Democratic managers in the Senate impeachment trial of ... Donald Trump, CNN's Manu Raju and Forbes report. That's 30 percent of the Republican caucus in the Senate, or nearly one-third of the GOP members. 'Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) were both away from their desks, for instance, while Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) was in the basement on his phone, CNN's Manu Raju reported,' Forbes adds. 'Many within the chamber were preoccupied with other activities: Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) were reading papers, while, according to CNN's Jeremy Herb, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) 'had a blank map of Asia on his desk and was writing on it like he was filling in the names of the countries.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I would not have been as nice to the "jurors" as the impeachment managers were. I would have told Hawley to get his feet off the furniture. I would have grabbed the map out of Rick Scott's hands & asked him how he could get Cambodia & Laos mixed up. I would have taken Burr's snacks away from him; "Just because I showed a video clip doesn't mean you're at the Bijou, buddy."  ~~~

~~~ The "Impartial Jurors" Are the Accomplices, (And They're About to Drive the Getaway Car). Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "The most powerful moments of their presentation were the temporal juxtapositions, like Trump tweeting, 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution,' even as cable news showed the MAGA horde hunting him. (One insurrectionist read Trump's tweet through a bullhorn.) It was both gutting and more riveting than I would have expected, an indelible documentary of Trump's culminating crime against the Republic. Yet in one regard, the story the House managers told was a distortion.... Many Republicans were not Trump's victims, but his enablers. Indeed, one of the most perverse things about this impeachment is that the jury is stacked with the defendant's accomplices. Several Republican senators were eager participants in Trump's big lie.... They're being given a chance to rewrite the shameful history of how the Republican Party has behaved for the last four years.They will almost certainly not take it."

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The House Democrats prosecuting ... Donald J. Trump rested their case on Thursday, branding him a clear and present danger to United States democracy who could sow new violence like the deadly assault on the Capitol last month if he was not barred from holding office again. Calling on senators to render 'impartial justice' and embrace the 'common sense' of the country's founders, the nine impeachment managers closed their case by laying out the grave damage the Jan. 6 riot had caused not just to lawmakers or police officers at the Capitol, but to the democratic system and America's standing around the world. None of it, they argued, would have happened without Mr. Trump.... 'I'm not afraid of Donald Trump running again in four years,' said Representative Ted Lieu of California. 'I'm afraid he's going to run again and lose, because he can do this again.'... [Lead House manager Jamie] Raskin [D-Md.] said the evidence that Mr. Trump cultivated, incited and then showed no remorse for the attack warranted making him the first impeached president ever to be convicted and the first former president to be disqualified from holding future office." ~~~

~~~ Mike DeBonis & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "House Democrats closed their impeachment case against Donald Trump on Thursday by linking his history of incendiary rhetoric and months-long campaign to undermine the November election to the statements of insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 -- and raising the prospect of future violence without a conviction.... Trump's defense will begin at noon Friday. Although his lawyers are entitled to 16 hours of argument over two days, a spokesman said Thursday that they expect to rest their case in one day.... A short defense presentation could put the Senate on track to vote on Trump's conviction as soon as Saturday, particularly after key Democratic senators said they believed that the managers had proved their case against Trump and saw no need for testimony from additional witnesses."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post provides a fairly good summary of Day 3 of the Trump Impeachment Trial 2.0 when he outlines key takeaways. MB: A few of the details embedded in the takeaways I didn't know before today, like this one: "Trump also endorsed a clip from a supporter saying 'the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat' -- before that supporter was arrested for his part in the Capitol riot." Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times outlines some takeaways here.

Preview of the Insurrection. An example of the case against Trump. House manager Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) lays out how the violent attacks on the Michigan state house & the plot to kidnap & execute Gov. Gretchen Whitmer presaged the January 6 attack on the Capitol: ~~~

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "With conviction in a polarized Senate seemingly out of reach, the House managers ... are aiming their arguments at two other audiences beyond the chamber: the American people whose decision to deny Mr. Trump a second term was put at risk and the historians who will one day render their own judgments about the former president and his time in power. Through the expansive use of unsettling video footage showing both Mr. Trump's words and the brutal rampage that followed, the managers are using their moment in the national spotlight to make the searing images of havoc the inexpungible legacy of the Trump presidency. Rather than let the outrage subside, the managers are seeking to ensure that Mr. Trump is held accountable even if he is acquitted in the Senate."

The New York Times' live updates of the impeachment trial Thursday are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Chilling new details emerged on Thursday about the plot by the Oath Keepers militia group to attack the Capitol as prosecutors said that members discussed a brazen plan to ferry 'heavy weapons' in a boat across the Potomac River into Washington and began training sessions 'for urban warfare, riot control and rescue operations' well before Election Day. The new accounts about the Oath Keepers' role in the Capitol assault came on the third day of ... Donald J. Trump's impeachment trial and included allegations that a member of the militia group was 'awaiting direction' from Mr. Trump about how to handle the results of the vote in the days that followed the election.... The Justice Department has brought charges against more than 200 people in the attack on the Capitol last month, but the case against [Jessica] Watkins and her two co-defendants, Thomas E. Caldwell and Donovan Crowl, is among the most serious to have emerged from the vast investigation." ~~~

     ~~~ Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The Justice Department is now making clear that a leader among the Oath Keepers paramilitary group -- who planned and led others in the US Capitol siege to attempt to stop the Biden presidency -- believed she was responding to the call from ... Donald Trump himself. 'As the inauguration grew nearer, [Jessica] Watkins indicated that she was awaiting direction from President Trump,' prosecutors wrote in a filing Thursday morning. This is the most direct language yet from federal prosecutors linking Trump's requests for support in Washington, DC, to the most militant aspects of the insurrection.... 'Her concern about taking action without his backing was evident in a November 9, 2020, text in which she stated, "I am concerned this is an elaborate trap. Unless the POTUS himself activates us, it's not legit. The POTUS has the right to activate units too. If Trump asks me to come, I will. Otherwise, I can't trust it." Watkins had perceived her desired signal by the end of December.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A former U.S. Navy intelligence officer and FBI official from Virginia has emerged as a key figure in the federal investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, as U.S. prosecutors alleged Thursday that he organized a group of trained fighters and was in contact with self-styled militia groups including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. In asking a federal judge to detain Thomas Edward Caldwell, 66, pending trial, prosecutors revealed some of the most explicit evidence to date of discussions allegedly indicating coordination and planning among groups under scrutiny for the assault on Congress that left one police officer and four others dead, delayed the confirmation of President Biden's victory.... Prosecutors allege Caldwell used his military and law enforcement background to plan violence -- including possible snipers and weapons stashed on a boat along the Potomac River -- weeks ahead of the Capitol insurrection."

Spencer Hsu & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Five people worked with Proud Boys from Kansas City and other unnamed individuals to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, U.S. prosecutors alleged, unsealing charges Thursday in one of the largest co-defendant cases yet brought in an investigation in which more than 200 have been charged. The defendants, wearing helmets, vests and tactical gear marked with fluorescent orange tape, 'appeared to gesture and communicate to one another' to coordinate efforts during and after forcing entry to the Capitol, the FBI alleged. Surveillance footage showed at least four taking actions to prevent police from deploying descending metal barriers to seal off underground access to the Capitol, allowing the invading crowd to surge forward, the FBI said in a 28-page affidavit dated Wednesday. The arrests of William Chrestman, Christopher Kuehne, Louis Enrique Colon, all of Kansas City, and siblings Felicia and Cory Konold bring the number of those affiliated with the Proud Boys to nearly 18 among those charged with battling law enforcement and obstructing the electoral vote confirmation of President Biden's victory." ~~~

~~~ Marie: It's worth remembering that members of both the Proud Boys & the Oath Keepers served as "bodyguards" for Roger Stone, the criminal dirty-trickster & friend of Trump whom Trump pardoned in December. While I have no idea what Stone & the gang discussed, it doesn't seem likely they just chatted about car engines, great Midwest bars & muscle shirts. I'm not saying there was a Jan. 6 conspiracy in which Trump was directly involved via Stone, but -- given what we know about Trump & his mob-boss methods -- it doesn't seem nuts to think there well might have been.

Barbara Starr & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Military officials overseeing the authorization process to launch nuclear weapons were unaware on January 6 that then-Vice President Mike Pence's military aide carrying the 'nuclear football' was potentially in danger as rioters got close during the violent Capitol insurrection, according to a defense official. The vice president is always accompanied by a backup of the 'football,' which contains the equipment to carry out orders to launch a nuclear strike. It must be ready at all times and is identical to what the president carries, in case he becomes incapacitated. US Strategic Command became aware of the gravity of the incident after seeing a video played at the Senate impeachment trial Wednesday showing Pence, his Secret Service agents and a military officer carrying the briefcase with classified nuclear launch information running down a flight of stairs inside the Capitol to get to safety, the official said."

Michael Schmidt & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "A little more than a month after the Capitol siege, a fuller picture of the injuries sustained by the police has emerged from court documents, footage revealed at ... Donald J. Trump's impeachment trial, accounts provided by officers and interviews with law enforcement officials and experts. The Capitol assault resulted in one of the worst days of injuries for law enforcement in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At least 138 officers -- 73 from the Capitol Police and 65 from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington -- were injured, the departments have said. They ranged from bruises and lacerations to more serious damage such as concussions, rib fractures, burns and even a mild heart attack.... The number of those injured does not account for the dozens, if not hundreds, of officers whom law enforcement officials estimate will suffer in years to come with post-traumatic stress disorder and the dozens who most likely contracted the coronavirus from unmasked Trump supporters who overran the Capitol, the experts and officials said."

Michigan. WXYZ Detroit: "Mike Shirkey, the Republican majority leader of the Michigan state senate, was caught on a hot mic Wednesday seemingly walking back an apology he made earlier this week for calling the riots at the U.S. Capitol a 'hoax.' Earlier this week, a video of Shirkey's meeting with Republican leaders from Hillsdale County leaked in which Shirkey referred to the Jan. 6 riots as a 'hoax,' and placed blame on Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, claiming he 'wanted to have a mess.' On Tuesday, Shirkey apologized for those comments, saying that he 'regrets the words that I chose and I apologize for my insensitive comments'. But on Wednesday while on the Senate floor, Shirkey was caught on a hot mic appearing to completely walk back the apology he made the day before. 'Frankly, I don't take back any of the points I was trying to make,' Shirkey said during a conversation with Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In the context of this NYT story, linked here a few days ago, Shirkey's walk-back of a walk-back are especially frightening.

Trump Has Taught Nutjobs that "Free Speech" Includes Making Death Threats. Tina Burnside & Hollie Silverman of CNN: "A North Carolina man has been charged with making threats to kill President Joe Biden, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed in court Thursday. David Kyle Reeves, 27, of Gastonia, North Carolina, was arrested February 5 for knowingly and willfully making threats to take the life of and inflict bodily harm upon the President, according to newly unsealed court documents. Prosecutors allege that between January 28 and February 1, Reeves contacted the White House switchboard multiple times by phone and made threats against President Biden and others.... Reeves called [a Secret Service] agent several times ... making threats against the President, the agent and others. Reeves told the Secret Service agent 'that he had free speech and did nothing wrong,' according to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint."

Made in China. Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "In his more than two years as secretary of state, Mike Pompeo pulled no punches against China, regularly criticizing it for human rights abuses, military aggressions and the spread of the coronavirus. But when it came to passing out party favors, Mr. Pompeo relied on the country to help produce the perfect pen. Documents released on Thursday show that Mr. Pompeo used taxpayer funds to buy 400 specially embossed pens, worth more than $10,000 in total, for guests who attended private dinners at the State Department as he mulled his political future."

If you would like to think about Rep. Marjorie Greene (Q-Ga.) having extramarital sex, then this Daily Mail story is for you. MB: Even though I didn't actually read the story, I, for one, am glad to see the Mail getting back to its regular beat. For some reason I thought the Mail had become a Murdoch enterprise, but I was wrong. The controlling shareholder is Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere. It is nice to know what it means to be upper-crust in the U.K.

Meanwhile ~~~

Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Biden administration on Friday rolled out its plans for addressing tens of thousands of migrants camped out at the southern border as it seeks to replace the Trump administration's 'remain in Mexico' policy. President Trump's policy, rolled out in 2019, blocked migrants at the Mexican border from entering the U.S. to apply for asylum, leaving what the Biden administration estimates is now around 25,000 people awaiting their fate in Mexico. In what the administration deemed as Phase 1 of their plan, the U.S. will begin processing as many as 300 people per day at three different undisclosed ports of entry starting Feb. 19.... The U.S. will begin by processing those who have already enrolled in Trump's Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program who must then coordinate with a forthcoming international organization who will help coordinate housing and test migrants for Covid-19. Only those with a negative test will be permitted to enter. Administration officials said they would 'start small' in an effort to ensure the system is working and that migrants can 'be processed in a timely fashion with due regard for public health in the middle of a pandemic.'"

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "America's federal debt is set to exceed the size of the entire U.S. economy this year for only the second time since the end of World War II, a reflection of the extraordinary emergency measures approved by Congress in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday.... It's the second time it's happened, in two years. Democratic lawmakers and many economists say another spending blitz is necessary to stabilize an economy that has stalled out and a job market that faces the prospect of permanent scarring. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said the unemployment rate for January should be considered closer to 10 percent, rather than the official number of 6.3 percent, due to misclassification errors and workers permanently leaving the labor force.... The CBOs debt estimates are based on current policy and do not account for the $1.9 trillion stimulus package Democrats are expected to pass in a matter of weeks."

Stacey Abrams & Lauren Groh-Wargo in a New York Times op-ed on "how to turn a red state blue" (or purple): "The steps toward victory are straightforward: understand your weaknesses, organize with your allies, shore up your political infrastructure and focus on the long game. Georgia's transformation is worth celebrating, and how it came to be is a long and complicated story, which required more than simply energizing a new coterie of voters. What Georgia Democrats and progressives accomplished here -- and what is happening in Arizona and North Carolina -- can be exported to the rest of the Sun Belt and the Midwest, but only if we understand how we got here."

Anna Kambhampaty of Politico: "The conservative activist organization Project Veritas was suspended from Twitter on Thursday for violating platform rules. The account was 'permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter's private information policy,' a Twitter spokesperson said. The group's founder, James O'Keefe, had his account temporarily locked, also for violation of the private information policy. 'The account owner is required to delete the violative Tweet to regain access to their account,' the spokesperson said."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

** Isaac Stanley-Becker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden said Thursday his administration had finalized deals for another 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines authorized in the United States, securing sufficient shots to cover everyone currently eligible for inoculation by the end of July. In remarks capping an afternoon tour of the National Institutes of Health, Biden said the federal government had purchased 100 million more doses from Pfizer and German company BioNTech, as well as 100 million more from Moderna, using options built into existing contracts with those companies. The announcement was the centerpiece of an emotional address from Biden, who made a point of speaking through his mask as he called it a 'patriotic responsibility' to wear one." ~~~

     ~~~ Katie Rogers & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: “... but President Biden warned that logistical hurdles would most likely mean that many Americans will still not have been vaccinated by the end of the summer.... Both vaccines are two-dose regimens, spaced three and four weeks apart. Mr. Biden lamented the 'gigantic' logistical challenge he faces during an appearance at the National Institutes of Health. He also expressed open frustration with the previous administration. 'It's one thing to have the vaccine,' Mr. Biden said. 'It's another thing to have vaccinators.'... Dr. Anthony S. Fauci predicted on Thursday morning that as early as April, any American could begin seeking a vaccine in an 'open season' that would extend availability beyond priority categories."

Amanda Holpuch of the Guardian: "The US could have averted 40% of the deaths from Covid-19, had the country's death rates corresponded with the rates in other high-income G7 countries, according to a Lancet commission tasked with assessing Donald Trump's health policy record. Almost 470,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus so far, with the number widely expected to go above half a million in the next few weeks. At the same time some 27 million people in the US have been infected. Both figures are by far the highest in the world. In seeking to respond to the pandemic, Trump has been widely condemned for not taking the pandemic seriously enough soon enough, spreading conspiracy theories, not encouraging mask wearing and undermining scientists and others seeking to combat the virus's spread." Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: I have been wondering what sort of number could be attached to Trump's Covid-19 failures. This scientific effort is useful. (Also linked yesterday.)

Noah Weiland, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump was sicker with Covid-19 in October than publicly acknowledged at the time, with extremely depressed blood oxygen levels at one point and a lung problem associated with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus, according to four people familiar with his condition. His prognosis became so worrisome before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that officials believed he would need to be put on a ventilator, two of the people familiar with his condition said.... The new details about his condition and about the effort inside the White House to get him special access to an unapproved drug to fight the virus help to flesh out one of the most dire episodes of Mr. Trump's presidency. The new revelations about Mr. Trump's struggle with the virus also underscore the limited and sometimes misleading nature of the information disclosed at the time about his condition.... Mr. Trump's physician, Dr. Sean P. Conley, repeatedly downplayed concerns about Mr. Trump's condition during his illness." A CNN story is here.

New York. Bernard Condon & Jennifer Peltz of the AP: "More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients in New York state were released from hospitals into nursing homes early in the pandemic under a controversial directive that was scrapped amid criticism it accelerated outbreaks, according to new records obtained by The Associated Press. The new number of 9,056 recovering patients sent to hundreds of nursing homes is more than 40% higher than what the state health department previously released. And it raises new questions as to whether a March 25 directive from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration helped spread sickness and death among residents, a charge the state disputes.... The new figures come as the Cuomo administration has been forced in recent weeks to acknowledge it has been underreporting the overall number of COVID-19 deaths among long-term care residents. It is now nearly 15,000 up from the 8,500 previously disclosed."

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Savador Hernandez of BuzzFeed News: "Felony charges were dropped Thursday against two police officers in Buffalo, New York, who violently shoved a 75-year-old protester, causing him to fall, hit his head on the sidewalk, and bleed from his ear, officials said. Graphic video of the incident captured by local NPR station WBFO showed the moment officers shoved the peace activist during a Black Lives Matter protest in June, and quickly went viral. The footage shows the man, Martin Gugino, walking up to police officers as they begin to yell 'Move!' and 'Push him back!' while enforcing a city curfew.... Police had initially told reporters Gugino 'tripped and fell,' without making any mention of the officers' role.... Two of the officers seen in the video, Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe, had faced second-degree assault charges, but a grand jury that reviewed the cases voted to dismiss them, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at a news conference Thursday."

Texas. Alex Samuels & Kate McGee of the Texas Tribune: "Late last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired multiple senior aides who accused him of accepting a bribe. A court filing obtained by The Texas Tribune reveals for the first time what four of those aides believe Paxton received in exchange for helping a donor with his business affairs. An updated version of a lawsuit filed by the four whistleblowers claims that Austin real estate developer Nate Paul helped Paxton remodel his house and gave a job to a woman with whom Paxton allegedly had an affair. In return, the aides allege, Paxton used his office to help Paul's business interests, investigate Paul's adversaries and help settle a lawsuit. The claims in the filing provide even more details about what the former aides believe Paxton's motivations were in what they describe as a 'bizarre, obsessive use of power.'"