CNBC: “Job growth proved better than expected in June, as the labor market showed surprising resilience and likely taking a July interest rate cut off the table. Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 147,000 for the month, higher than the estimate for 110,000 and just above the upwardly revised 144,000 in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. April’s tally also saw a small upward revision, now at 158,000 following an 11,000 increase.... Though the jobless rates fell [to 4.1%], it was due largely to a decrease in those working or looking for jobs.”
Washington Post: “A warehouse storing fireworks in Northern California exploded on Tuesday,leaving seven people missing and two injured as explosions continued intoWednesday evening, officials said. Dramatic video footage captured by KCRA 3 News, a Sacramento broadcaster, showed smoke pouring from the building’s roof before a massive explosion created a fireball that seemed to engulf much of the warehouse, accompanied by an echoing boom. Hundreds of fireworks appeared to be going off and were sparkling within the smoke. Photos of the aftermath showed multiple destroyed buildings and a large area covered in gray ash.” ~~~
New York Times: “The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, who emerged from the backwoods of Louisiana to become a television evangelist with global reach, preaching about an eternal struggle between good and evil and warning of the temptations of the flesh, a theme that played out in his own life in a sex scandal, died on July 1. He was 90.” ~~~
~~~ For another sort of obituary, see Akhilleus' commentary near the end of yesterday's thread.
Help!
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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.
Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:
~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.
CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~
~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play.
New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.
Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts.
New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”
No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. -- Magna Carta ~~~
~~~ New York Times: “Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.... A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.... First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.”
NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow
Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns
I have a Bluesky account now. The URL ishttps://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.
Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and a top adviser, looked on from the crowd, stone-faced. -- Washington Post ...
... Griff Witte & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "An annual security conference where Western allies have long forged united fronts erupted Saturday into a full-scale assault on the Trump administration's foreign policy. European leaders, would-be Democratic challengers and even the president's Republican backers took the floor to rebuke the president's go-it-alone approach. German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- habitually cautious about provoking Trump -- led the charge, unleashing a stinging, point-by-point takedown of the administration's tendency to treat its allies as adversaries.... Merkel accused the United States of strengthening Iran and Russia with its plans for a speedy military pullout from Syria. She expressed shock that the Trump administration would deem BMWs made in South Carolina a threat to national security.... The crowd gave the German chancellor an extended standing ovation -- a rare display at the normally button-down Munich Security Conference. The customarily reserved Merkel beamed as she took her seat.... Merkel was followed to the podium Saturday by Vice President Pence, who was met with only tepid applause -- and some incredulous looks -- when he proclaimed Trump 'the leader of the free world.'" ...
... Katrin Bennhold & Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany delivered a strong rejoinder on Saturday to American demands that European allies pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and gave a spirited defense of multilateral institutions in a world increasingly marked by great-power rivalry. In an uncharacteristically passionate speech, Ms. Merkel said the nuclear deal was the best way of influencing Iranian behavior on a range of non-nuclear issues, from missile development to terrorism. Without mentioning President Trump or the United States by name in what may be her last speech to this major security conference, Ms. Merkel criticized other unilateral moves, such as Mr. Trump's decision to pull American troops out of Syria, a suggestion that he would withdraw quickly from Afghanistan and his decision to suspend the Intermediate Range Missile Treaty with Russia, which directly affects European security.... Ms. Merkel spoke immediately before the United States vice president, Mike Pence, and addressed a packed auditorium with an audience that included Mr. Trump's daughter Ivanka, as well as the Russian foreign minister and a high-ranking Chinese official, who all pointedly remained seated when the chancellor received a standing ovation. Her reception was in sharp contrast to the polite near-silence that greeted Mr. Pence's address.... Mr. Pence focused less on working together and more on a list of demands for American allies based on American interests, with a heavy emphasis on a combative approach to Iran."
... Idiots Abroad. Washington PostEditors: "Many Europeans suspect that the Trump administration has little regard for the close alliances with Britain, France and Germany that have shaped U.S. foreign policy since World War II, preferring the autocratic ethnonationalism that has emerged in the nations of Central Europe. A bumbling series of appearances across the continent last week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Pence will surely reinforce those conclusions. Mr. Pompeo began the week by paying court to the Hungarian regime of Viktor Orban, who has become a virtual pariah in European capitals because of his embrace of 'illiberal democracy.'... The secretary of state extended his goodwill tour to Slovakia -- where a leading journalist who exposed government corruption was murdered last year -- before meeting up in Poland with Mr. Pence for a ... poorly-conceived ... U.S.-organized conference on the Middle East.... the broad message of the week is that the Trump administration is aligning itself with those European forces that flout liberal values while denigrating allies that for 75 years have supported U.S. global leadership."
Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "To justify redirecting federal funds to a wall, the president made a litany of assertions about crime, drugs and other issues on the southern border. Nearly all were misleading, exaggerated or false." (Also linked yesterday afternoon) ...
... Glenn Kessler & Meg Kelly of the Washington Post: "Where to begin with President Trump's rambling news conference to announce he was invoking a national emergency to build a border wall? It was chock-full of false and misleading claims, many of which we've previously highlighted.... Here's a summary of 14 of the most noteworthy claims...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon) ...
Eric Levitz of New York: "On Friday morning, the president of the United States announced that America was suffering from a national emergency, that invaders were pouring across its southern border -- and that Rush Limbaugh is a 'great guy' who can 'speak for three hours without taking a phone call; try doing that some time!' That last declaration wasn't nearly as much of a non sequitur as one would hope. Donald Trump's decision to override the will of Congress -- and unilaterally fund his border wall through a fictitious emergency -- was the direct product of his affection for conservative media personalities. On Tuesday night, Sean Hannitytold his viewers that he could tolerate Trump signing a bipartisan spending bill that lacked funding for 'the wall,' so long as the president simultaneously used an emergency order to unilaterally finance his signature policy. Three days later, Trump did exactly that." Levitz points out that Trump's base is so solid, he could have promoted -- and forced upon the GOP Congress -- actual populist & progressive legislation and not lost any of his base. He's a dick because he wants to be a dick, not because he has to be.
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Democrats are taking their first real steps to force ... Donald Trumpto divulge information about his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting up an extraordinary clash with the White House over Congress' oversight authority. Rep. Adam Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman, and Rep. Eliot Engel, the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, told Politico they are actively consulting with House General Counsel Douglas Letter about the best way to legally compel the Trump administration to turn over documents or other information related to the president's one-on-one discussions with the Russian leader.... In particular, Democrats say they want to find out what Trump and Putin discussed during their private meeting in Helsinki last July, where Trump put himself at odds with the U.S. intelligence community and declared -- while standing next to the Russian president -- that the Kremlin did not interfere in the 2016 elections." (Also linked yesterday)
Dwight Garner in the New York Times: Former FBI acting director Andrew McCabe's "'The Threat' is a concise yet substantive account of how the F.B.I. works, at a moment when its procedures and impartiality are under attack. It's an unambiguous indictment of Trump's moral behavior.... McCabe writes. 'The work of the F.B.I. is being undermined by the current president.'... McCabe's accounts of his baffled interactions with Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general, would be high comedy if they were not so dire.... We see a Sessions who is openly racist.... He spends a good deal of time talking about Hillary Clinton and her email server. He argues that [James] Comey, whom he admires, made crucial mistakes in how he handled the matter. 'As a matter of policy, the F.B.I. does everything possible not to influence elections. In 2016, it seems we did.'"
Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump&'s pick to be the next United Nations ambassador withdrew from consideration Saturday, the State Department said. The department's spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, had been tapped to succeed Nikki Haley at the United Nations, but her name was never formally sent to the Senate for confirmation. The withdrawal is related to the employment of a nanny who was in the country illegally, said three people.... But according to a person familiar with Nauert's situation, the nanny was in the country legally.... It is unclear if she will return as spokeswoman." ...
... Matthew Lee of the AP: "Heather Nauert, picked by ... Donald Trump to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations but never officially nominated, has withdrawn from consideration, the State Department said.... Nauert's impending nomination had been considered a tough sell in the Senate, where she would have faced tough questions about her relative lack of foreign policy experience, according to congressional aides. A potential issue involving a nanny that she and her husband had employed may also have been a factor in her decision to withdraw, according to one aide. That issue, which was first reported by Bloomberg on Saturday, centered on a foreign nanny who was legally in the U.S. but did not have legal status to work, according to the aide.... The aide said some involved in the vetting process saw Nauert&'s inexperience and questions about her ability to represent the U.S. at the U.N. as a larger issue."
Presidential Race 2020. Holly Otterbein of Politico: "Bernie Sanders, inching closer to a second bid for the White House, has recorded a campaign video in which he says he is running for president in 2020, according to two people familiar with the spot.... Another hint that Sanders is getting closer to a launch: As Politico reported this week, the Sanders team has been interviewing people for top staff positions."
Elizabeth Dias & Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis has expelledTheodore E. McCarrick, a former cardinal and archbishop of Washington, from the priesthood, after the church found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adult seminarians over decades, the Vatican said on Saturday. The move appears to be the first time any cardinal has been defrocked for sexual abuse -- marking a critical moment in the Vatican's handling of a scandal that has gripped the church for nearly two decades. It is also the first time an American cardinal has been removed from the priesthood." (Also linked yesterday)
Beyond the Beltway
Illinois. Don Babwin & Caryn Rousseau of the AP: "The man who opened fire and killed five co-workers including the plant manager, human resources manager and an intern working his first day at a suburban Chicago manufacturing warehouse, took a gun he wasn't supposed to have to a job he was about to lose. Right after learning Friday that he was being fired from his job of 15 years at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, Gary Martin pulled out a gun and began shooting, killing the three people in the room with him and two others just outside and wounding a sixth employee, police said Saturday.... Martin, 45, had six arrests over the years in Aurora, for what police Chief Kristen Ziman described as 'traffic and domestic battery-related issues' and for violating an order of protection. He also had a 1995 felony conviction for aggravated assault in Mississippi that should have prevented him from buying his gun, Ziman said."
Illinois. Ryan Young, et al., of CNN: "Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation tell CNN that Chicago Police believe actor Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate an assault on him that he reported late last month. Smollett denies playing a role in his attack, according to a statement from his attorneys. The men, who are brothers, were arrested Wednesday but released without charges Friday after Chicago police cited the discovery of 'new evidence.' The sources told CNN the two men are now cooperating fully with law enforcement.... One of the men has appeared on 'Empire,' [a Chicago Police spokesman] said. A police source also told CNN on Friday night that the men had a previous affiliation with Smollett, but did not provide additional details." ...
... Charlie De Mar of CBS News Chicago: "Jussie Smollettpaid two brothers to stage an attack against him, directed them to buy items used in the alleged assault and actually rehearsed it with them, sources say.... The brothers, who were questioned by police this week before being released, were paid $3,500 before leaving for Nigeria and were promised an additional $500 upon their return.... Police raided ... the brothers' home on Wednesday, the same day police met them at O'Hare International Airport, as they were returning from Nigeria."
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Democrats are taking their first real steps to force ... Donald Trumpto divulge information about his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting up an extraordinary clash with the White House over Congress' oversight authority. Rep. Adam Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman, and Rep. Eliot Engel, the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, told Politico they are actively consulting with House General Counsel Douglas Letter about the best way to legally compel the Trump administration to turn over documents or other information related to the president's one-on-one discussions with the Russian leader.... In particular, Democrats say they want to find out what Trump and Putin discussed during their private meeting in Helsinki last July, where Trump put himself at odds with the U.S. intelligence community and declared --; while standing next to the Russian president -- that the Kremlin did not interfere in the 2016 elections."
Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "To justify redirecting federal funds to a wall, the president made a litany of assertions about crime, drugs and other issues on the southern border. Nearly all were misleading, exaggerated or false." ...
... Glenn Kessler & Meg Kelly of the Washington Post: "Where to begin with President Trump's rambling news conference to announce he was invoking a national emergency to build a border wall? It was chock-full of false and misleading claims, many of which we've previously highlighted.... Here's a summary of 14 of the most noteworthy claims...."
Elizabeth Dias & Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis has expelledTheodore E. McCarrick, a former cardinal and archbishop of Washington, from the priesthood, after the church found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adult seminarians over decades, the Vatican said on Saturday. The move appears to be the first time any cardinal has been defrocked for sexual abuse -- marking a critical moment in the Vatican's handling of a scandal that has gripped the church for nearly two decades. It is also the first time an American cardinal has been removed from the priesthood."
*****
#FakeTrumpEmergency
The president's actions clearly violate the Congress's exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution. The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available. We call upon our Republican colleagues to join us to defend the Constitution. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi & Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a joint statement.
... Mrs. McCrabbie: One big problem: the public doesn't understand the concept of separation of powers that Democrats are trying to protect. Most (74 percent) can't even name the three branches of government, much less understand the established Constitutional relationship among them.
Shannon Vavra of Axios: "The House Judiciary Committee announced it will investigate President Trump's national emergency declaration in light of comments he made at his Rose Garden press conference on Friday morning, during which he claimed that he 'didn't need to do this.'... In a letter addressed to Trump, Democrats who control the committee requested a hearing with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and 'appropriate individuals' from the Justice Department, as well as background documents related to the decision and written responses to a number of questions. The panel asked Trump to provide the relevant information by Feb. 22."
Connor O'Brien of Politico: "... Donald Trump's decision to tap into billions of dollars in defense funding to help build his signature border wall drew fierce criticism Friday from military-minded lawmakers in both parties, who warned the move would damage military readiness. Trump's declaration of a national emergency, including tapping into $3.6 billion in military construction funding to finance more barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, set off another firestorm on Capitol Hill as he declared that the military projects his administration intended to raid 'didn't sound too important to me.'... House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) vowed stiff oversight to highlight specific military projects Trump 'has chosen to value less' than a border wall.'... Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, called Trump's move a 'dangerous precedent' and warned 'securing our border should not be done at the expense of previously funded military construction projects.'"
Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News: "A consumer advocacy group filed the first lawsuit late Friday challenging ... Donald Trump's national emergency declaration, suing on behalf of Texas landowners and an environmental group who say they'll be affected by border wall construction. The case, filed by Public Citizen in federal district court in Washington, DC, is the first of what are expected to be multiple lawsuits challenging Trump's unprecedented decision to declare a national emergency in order to access $3.6 billion in military construction funds to pay for more sections of the wall he promised to build along the US-Mexico border." ...
... ACLU: "The American Civil Liberties Union today announced that it will file a lawsuit challenging President Trump's emergency powers declaration to secure funds to build a wall along the southern border."
Matt Wilstein of the Daily Beast: "Ann Coultersays she's thankful President Trump distanced himself from her on Friday after he disappointed her once again by signing a bipartisan border deal while simultaneously declaring a national emergency to fund his wall. 'I haven't spoken to her. I don't follow her. I don't talk to her, but the press loves to bring up the name Ann Coulter,' Trump told reporters from the Rose Garden Friday morning.... The president's 'mandate,' Coulter said, was to build the wall. And even though that's what he plans to do by declaring a national emergency, she's not happy about it. 'The only national emergency is that our president is an idiot,' she said.... Coulter predicted that the courts will use the bill Trump just signed to block him from building the wall, once again calling him a 'lazy' and 'incompetent' president who is surrounded by 'absolute morons' like Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump."
I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster. And I don't have to do it for the election. I've already done a lot of wall for the election. 2020. And the only reason we're up here talking about this is because of the election -- because they want to try to win an election, which it looks like they're not going to be able to do. -- Donald Trump, explaining in the Rose Garden why his "national emergency" was an unnecessary, bogus political gambit
Trump also said, 'I made a deal ... but I'm not happy with it,' making clear that he sees the emergency declaration as a way to get around Congress. -- Noah Lanard of Mother Jones
So then Trump rushed off to Mar-a-Lago to oversee the "national emergency" while playing golf over the long weekend. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump declared a national emergency at the border on Friday to access billions of dollars to build a border wall that Congress refused to give him, transforming a highly charged policy dispute into a fundamental confrontation over separation of powers. In a televised announcement in the Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said he would sign the declaration to protect the country from the flow of drugs, criminals and illegal immigrants coming across the border from Mexico, which he characterized as a profound threat to national security." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Damian Paletta, et al., of the Washington Post: "During a 50-minute, meandering Rose Garden news conference, Trump offered little empirical evidence to back up his assertion that there was a crisis on the border requiring an extraordinary response. Instead, he invoked hyperbolic, campaign-style rhetoric about lawlessness that he said only walls could suitably address.... He later said the emergency declaration wasn't urgent but rather expedient, as it would help him build a wall more quickly than Congress would allow.... Democrats and several Republicans predicted a two-pronged response to the declaration: one, having Congress vote to reject it in the coming weeks, and two, suing Trump -- or at least aiding other parties that attempt to intervene.... White House officials plan to use $8 billion to build new fencing that they believe will block or discourage a wide range of immigrants." The reporters break down the planned sources of those funds. ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The idea that the situation at the border is truly a 'national emergency' already strained credulity. And at Friday’s news conference, President Trump might have just erased any doubt about his true motivation.... 'I didn't need to do this,' Trump said. 'But I'd rather do it much faster.'... If it's truly an emergency, how can you say you didn't need to declare an emergency? Trump basically admitted that this was a choice for him -- a matter of expediency, quite literally -- and not something required by events on the ground.... He repeatedly disagreed with data, even data produced by his own administration, about what's happening on the border. He called reports showing the vast majority of drugs come through ports of entry, where a wall wouldn't matter, a 'lie.' Of data that show undocumented immigrants commit less crime than native-born Americans, Trump told the reporter, 'You don't really believe that stat, do you?'"...
... ** Dana Milbank: "... with the nation watching, Trump ... delivered a bizarre, 47-minute variant of his campaign speech. He boasted about the economy, military spending and the stock markets ('we have all the records'), and he applauded the Chinese president's pledge to execute people who deal fentanyl ('one of the things I'm most excited about in our trade deal'). [Read on for a good summary of bizarro claims.] Somewhere, administration lawyers were face-palming.... CNN's Jim Acosta pointed out that border crossings are near record lows and illegal immigrants are not disproportionately criminal. 'You're fake news,' Trump replied. Playboy's Brian Karem asked Trump to 'clarify where you get your numbers.' 'Sit down,' Trump told him, declaring that 'I use many stats.' Minutes later, he pumped a fist in the air and departed. 'What about the 25th Amendment?' Acosta called after him. Trump's performance had already provided a compelling answer." ...
... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "The President lets it all hang out: the incoherence, the fabrications, the mendacity, the raging but delicate ego, the attention-deficit disorder, and, occasionally, the revealing shards of self-illumination. He just can't help himself.... Trump's description of the situation at the border is almost entirely fictitious, of course, but in one sense it is real. It's a central element of the political narrative he has constructed for his white-nationalist base over the past three and a half years, and, as he helpfully sought to explain, it's one he can't easily back away from at this stage.... In [his] carefully concocted narrative, the wall isn't a mere stretch of concrete or steel fencing stretching along the border; it's a symbol of national sovereignty and regeneration. But, if it's so important, why didn't Trump get it built during his first two years in office, when the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress? Trump's failure to ge his own party to support what was arguably his signature campaign pledge demonstrates that he is fundamentally a weak and isolated President.... [Mitch McConnell's capitulation] was yet another example of how the G.O.P. leadership's Faustian pact with Trump has driven them to enable his more authoritarian tendencies. ...
... Matt Ford of the New Republic: "So why did McConnell relent and declare his support for the president's plan to declare a national emergency? Trump reportedly had last-minute apprehensions about signing the compromise spending bill, even though a veto would have triggered another partial government shutdown for which Republicans would bear the blame. McConnell could not risk that, and likely was unable to change Trump's mind about the emergency declaration. This is the perfect encapsulation of the ruling Republican Party today: an uncompromising president who inflicts long-term damage to avoid the short-term humiliation, and a spineless leader of the Senate who stands by him every step of the way."
... Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Forced to confront arguably the biggest surrender of his presidency, Mr. Trump did what he often does after a loss: respond with distraction, digression and entertainment, through a fog of words. There was no teleprompter. He hardly looked at his notes. There was just Mr. Trump, dressed in a dark overcoat and bright blue tie, free-associating in tweetable sound bites.... A White House handout was titled 'President Donald J. Trump's Border Security Victory.'... The Rose Garden has become Mr. Trump's chosen backdrop for pitching defeats as victories.... Employing a singsong voice that seemed meant to play down the significance of the separation of powers he will be testing, Mr. Trump walked through what he anticipated would be the legal ramifications of his order.... Throughout, Mr. Trump focused on grisly, specific stories while ignoring questions about why there needed to be a national emergency now, as opposed to two years ago."
Michael Tackett of the New York Times: "Here are six takeaways from Mr. Trump's action. Trump will go to almost any length to appease his base.... Democrats probably can't stop him, but they can make it awkward... Pulling money from elsewhere could make new enemies.... A court challenge is a near certainty.... Expect to hear a lot from [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi about a basic tenet of American government, that Congress is a coequal branch of government that is not cowed by presidential whim."
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Trump on Friday pointed to nearly five dozen previous instances in which presidents of both parties have declared emergencies as justification for his invocation of extraordinary powers to build his border wall.... He portrayed his invocation of emergency powers as a routine use of executive authority that was never controversial when his predecessors did it.... But there is no precedent for what he has just done. None of the times emergency powers have been invoked since 1976, the year Congress enacted the National Emergencies Act, involved a president making an end run around lawmakers to spend money on a project they had decided against funding. Mr. Trump, by contrast, is challenging the bedrock principle that the legislative branch controls the government's purse."
Jonathan Chait: "Trump's extemporaneous commentary defending his emergency decision repeatedly gave away his own rationale. He admitted he could have passed border funding through Congress during his first year and a half, but he was 'too new to politics,' and his fellow Republicans 'didn't step up.' And he admitted the emergency declaration was a luxury rather than an emergency ('I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster.'). He is clumsily undermining his already-shaky legal case, while making it plain his ploy is to claim Executive powers to override an area of control for Congress.... Trump chillingly praised anti-drug policy in authoritarian China, which he claims has achieved total success by brutalizing criminals. His argument for a wall could just as easily be used to justify overriding criminal-justice protections.... Trump has at minimum proven that he lacks the temperament or basic competence to serve as president of the United States." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It was kind of enjoyable to hear Trump admit he didn't know WTF he was doing when he was "too new to politics," & completely predictable that he would blame Ryan & McConnell, et al., for failing to "step up." ...
... Henry Olsen of the Washington Post: "Trump's rambling and disjointed explanation for his decision is a perfect example why so many independents and former Republicans find him unacceptable.... Words matter when you are president. They are a president's strongest weapon.... A leader who can't string together an original coherent paragraph loses ... voters' respect.... Friday morning's speech was significantly worse than normal even for a man whose rhetorical style will never be confused with Cicero's."
... Trump said during Q&A that the Pentagon's planned spending projects "didn't seem too important to" him. One of the piggy banks Trump is planning to raid is for military housing. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Joshua Schneyer, et al., of Reuters: "Deeply troubled by military housing conditions exposed by Reuters reporting, the U.S. Army's top leadership vowed Friday to renegotiate its housing contracts with private real estate firms, test tens of thousands of homes for toxins and hold its own commanders responsible for protecting Army base residents from dangerous homes. In an interview, the Secretary of the Army Mark Esper said Reuters reports and a chorus of concerns from military families had opened his eyes to the need for urgent overhauls of the Army's privatized housing system, which accommodates more than 86,000 families. The secretary's conclusion: Private real estate firms tasked with managing and maintaining the housing stock have been failing the families they serve, and the Army itself neglected its duties." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Daily Beast: "Replying to a tweet that claimed 'the goal of a national emergency is to end illegal immigration and cartel smuggling,' Coulter wrote that 'no, the goal of a national emergency is for Trump to scam the stupidest people in his base for 2 more years.' In a subsequent tweet, she added that 'The goal is to get Trump's stupidest voters to say "HE'S FIGHTING!" No he's not. If he signs this bill, it's over.'"
Brian Krassenstein of the Hill Reporter: "In [a] 2014 video, first posted by Conservative pundit, and Trump critic Bill Kristol, former Indiana Governor and current Vice President, Mike Pence attacks Obama's use of executive powers to push through new immigration policy. 'I think it would be a profound mistake for the President of the United States to overturn American immigration law with the stroke of a pen,' Pence, said in the video, taken at the annual Republican Governors Association conference in New Jersey, just days after President Obama announced that he would use his executive powers to offer temporary legal status to certain undocumented immigrants." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's worth noting that President Obama's executive action was materially different from Trump's fake national emergency. First, Obama did not declare a national emergency. Second, Obama's executive order had little or no spending impact; i.e., it didn't usurp Congress's "power of the purse." Third, it did directly overturn a Congressional action; rather, it made a substantial policy change that Congress itself could have enacted into law.
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Wow! Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Prosecutors said for the first time that they have evidence of Roger Stone communicating with WikiLeaks, according to a new court filing from special counsel prosecutors. During its investigation..., 'the government obtained and executed dozens of search warrants on various accounts used to facilitate the transfer of stolen documents for release, as well as to discuss the timing and promotion of their release,' the prosecutors wrote Friday to a federal judge. 'Several of those search warrants were executed on accounts that contained Stone's communications with Guccifer 2.0 and with Organization 1,' which is WikiLeaks. Previously, the prosecutors had only outlined how Stone attempted to get in touch with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange through intermediaries.... Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Friday denied Stone's attempt to get a new judge in his case, by alleging that his charges are unrelated to a case about the Russian hack of the Democrats. Prosecutors say they are indeed related, partly because they both hinge on some of the same search warrants." ...
... As Frank Figliuzzi noted on MSNBC, "This may be the closest we've come to actual evidence of collusion with Russians." (paraphrase, but close) Stone has claimed he never communicated with WikiLeaks or Guccifer 2.0.
... Katelyn Polantz: "A federal judge has placed a gag order on ... Roger Stone and attorneys involved in his criminal case, though Stone's ability to speak publicly isn't completely restricted. Lawyers 'for the parties and the witnesses must refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case,' Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote. They, their clients and even Stone are also not allowed to speak in and around the courthouse. In her order, Jackson notes how effective Stone has been in gaining followers, critics and media attention. She notes 'the size and vociferousness of the crowds that have already been attracted to these proceedings, and the risk that public pronouncements by the participants may inflame those gatherings.'"
Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Robert Mueller's office recommended on Friday that Paul Manafortget up to 24-and-a-half years in prison for his conviction last summer for financial malfeasance. The special counsel's suggestion is the opening move in what will be a two-step sentencing process for the 69-year-old former Trump campaign chairman, who appears to be on track to spend the rest of his life in prison absent a presidential pardon.... In their 27-page memo filed late Friday, Mueller's team signaled it would recommend a sentence from 19-and-a-half to 24-and-a-half years in prison for the Virginia case alone. They also recommended a fine between $50,000 and $24.4 million, supervised release of up to five years and forfeitures in the amount of more than $4.4 million.... The Mueller prosecutors described a series of crimes committed 'for no other reason than greed, evidencing his belief that the law does not apply to him.' They also made a clear reference to Manafort's time atop Trump's 2016 campaign, noting his 'repeated misrepresentations to financial institutions were brazen, at least some of which were made at a time when he was the subject of significant national attention.'... Both Democrats and Republicans have both warned the president against [pardoning Manafort]. But ... Trump ... asked his legal team to review pardon scenarios last summer during the Manafort trial and told the New York Post in a November interview that he 'wouldn't take it off the table.'"
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said on Friday that his panel received new documents showing that two attorneys for ... Donald Trumpmay have lied to government ethics officials about Trump fixer Michael Cohen's payments to women alleging affairs with the president ahead of the 2016 election. 'It now appears that President Trump's other attorneys --; at the White House and in private practice -- may have provided false information about these payments to federal officials,' Cummings (D-Md.) wrote in a letter to White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.... 'This raises significant questions about why some of the president's closest advisers made these false claims and the extent to which they too were acting at the direction of, or in coordination with, the president,' the chairman wrote.... Cummings named Sheri Dillon [private] and Stefan Passantino [White House] as the two attorneys who might have made false statements to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), citing documents the committee obtained from the office."
Pamela Brown & Alex Rogers of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has interviewed White House press secretarySarah Sanders, she told CNN on Friday. 'The President urged me, like he has everyone in the administration, to fully cooperate with the special counsel. I was happy to voluntarily sit down with them,' Sanders said in response to a question from CNN. The interview is one of the final known interviews by Mueller's team. It came around the same time as the special counsel interviewed former White House chief of staff John Kelly, well after a number of other senior officials, including former White House communications director Hope Hicks and former press secretary Sean Spicer, were brought in for questioning. The White House did not immediately agree to grant the special counsel an interview with Sanders, according to one of the sources. Similarly, as CNN reported in December, White House lawyers initially objected to Mueller's request to interview Kelly, who ultimately responded to a narrow set of questions from special counsel investigators." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sanders' responses to investigators' questions included & were limited to, "I'll get back to you on that," and "I have no further information on that."
Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitakerwill remain at the Justice Department despite William Barr's being sworn in to lead the department. Whitaker, who served as chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions until ... Donald Trump tapped him for the acting role in November, is now a senior counselor in the associate attorney general's office, a department spokesperson said Friday.... The Office of the Associate Attorney General, whose titular role is currently filled on an acting basis, oversees civil justice, federal and local law enforcement, and public safety matters for DOJ." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Pete Williams of NBC News: "The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it will take up the battle over a citizenship question for the coming census, agreeing to hear and decide the case before the court's term ends in late June. Eighteen states, several of the nation's largest cities, and immigrant rights groups sued the government over its decision to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census form that goes to every U.S. household. They said the question would make immigrants reluctant to respond to census takers, resulting in an undercount of the population." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgreturned to the Supreme Court Friday for the first time since she underwent surgery in December, a court spokeswoman said. Ginsburg, 85, participated in a private conference with her colleagues as they considered which cases to accept for review or reject, said court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race 2020
Holly Ramer, et al., of the AP: "Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, little-known on the national stage but well-respected among veterans in the GOP establishment, announced an exploratory committee for president on Friday, becoming the first Republican to move toward a serious primary challenge against ... Donald Trump. There are new signs he won't be the last. In the immediate aftermath of the 73-year-old Weld's announcement at a breakfast event in New Hampshire, a senior aide for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich indicated Kasich is likely to launch a primary challenge as well.... [Aides to] Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ... acknowledge that the two-term Republican governor is openly considering a Trump challenge." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Ledes
New York Times: "Lee Radziwill, the free-spirited former princess who shared the qualities of wealth, social status and ambition with her older sister, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, but who struggled as an actor, decorator and writer to share her sister's aura of success, died on Friday at her home in Manhattan. She was 85."
Chicago Tribune: "Six people, including a gunman, died in a mass shooting at a manufacturing firm Friday afternoon, and five officers were struck by gunfire, officials said. Authorities confirmed the shooter, Gary Martin, 45, was killed in a shootout with police. Police said he was a 15-year veteran of Henry Pratt Co. in the industrial park in the Chicago suburb, and was getting fired Friday."
Pamela Brown & Alex Rogers of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has interviewed White House press secretarySarah Sanders, she told CNN on Friday. 'The President urged me, like he has everyone in the administration, to fully cooperate with the special counsel. I was happy to voluntarily sit down with them,' Sanders said in response to a question from CNN. The interview is one of the final known interviews by Mueller's team. It came around the same time as the special counsel interviewed former White House chief of staff John Kelly, well after a number of other senior officials, including former White House communications director Hope Hicks and former press secretary Sean Spicer, were brought in for questioning. The White House did not immediately agree to grant the special counsel an interview with Sanders, according to one of the sources. Similarly, as CNN reported in December, White House lawyers initially objected to Mueller's request to interview Kelly, who ultimately responded to a narrow set of questions from special counsel investigators." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sanders' responses to investigators' questions included & were limited to, "I'll get back to you on that," and "I have no further information on that."
Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitakerwill remain at the Justice Department despite William Barr's being sworn in to lead the department. Whitaker, who served as chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions until ... Donald Trump tapped him for the acting role in November, is now a senior counselor in the associate attorney general's office, a department spokesperson said Friday.... The Office of the Associate Attorney General, whose titular role is currently filled on an acting basis, oversees civil justice, federal and local law enforcement, and public safety matters for DOJ."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump declared a national emergency at the border on Friday to access billions of dollars to build a border wall that Congress refused to give him, transforming a highly charged policy dispute into a fundamental confrontation over separation of powers. In a televised announcement in the Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said he would sign the declaration to protect the country from the flow of drugs, criminals and illegal immigrants coming across the border from Mexico, which he characterized as a profound threat to national security." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Unfortunately, I was working on a project I couldn't drop to change channels, so I heard the whole "speech"/strings of words & lies (all seemingly off-script) & the Q&A that followed. Because I seldom listen to Trump's speeches, it was just about the stupidest speech I've ever heard. Litigators take note: Trump also completely undermined his "national emergency" argument by declaring he "didn't really need to do it" but was signing the emergency declaration because he wanted to build wall faster. In the Q&A, he told Jim Acosta of CNN that he had all kinds of sources for his "statistics" that contraverted the ones Acosta pointed out came from his own administration. P.S. If you're worried Trump will rip up the Constitution, you can stop worrying; he's already done it. And as contributor Schlub pointed out earlier in today's commentary, Peter Baker's report doesn't even hint at that. ...
Jonathan Chait: "Trump’s extemporaneous commentary defending his emergency decision repeatedly gave away his own rationale. He admitted he could have passed border funding through Congress during his first year and a half, but he was 'too new to politics,' and his fellow Republicans 'didn't step up.' And he admitted the emergency declaration was a luxury rather than an emergency ('I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster.'). He is clumsily undermining his already-shaky legal case, while making it plain his ploy is to claim Executive powers to override an area of control for Congress.... Trump chillingly praised anti-drug policy in authoritarian China, which he claims has achieved total success by brutalizing criminals. His argument for a wall could just as easily be used to justify overriding criminal-justice protections.... Trump has at minimum proven that he lacks the temperament or basic competence to serve as president of the United States." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It was kind of enjoyable to hear Trump admit he didn't know WTF he was doingwhen he was "too new to politics," & completely predictable that he would blame Ryan & McConnell, et al., for failing to "step up." ...
... Trump said during Q&A that the Pentagon's planned spending projects "didn't seem too important to" him. One of the piggy banks Trump is planning to raid is for military housing. ...
... Joshua Schneyer, et al., of Reuters: "Deeply troubled by military housing conditions exposed by Reuters reporting, the U.S. Army's top leadership vowed Friday to renegotiate its housing contracts with private real estate firms, test tens of thousands of homes for toxins and hold its own commanders responsible for protecting Army base residents from dangerous homes. In an interview, the Secretary of the Army Mark Esper said Reuters reports and a chorus of concerns from military families had opened his eyes to the need for urgent overhauls of the Army's privatized housing system, which accommodates more than 86,000 families. The secretary's conclusion: Private real estate firms tasked with managing and maintaining the housing stock have been failing the families they serve, and the Army itself neglected its duties." ...
... Brian Krassenstein of the Hill Reporter: "In [a] 2014 video, first posted by Conservative pundit, and Trump critic Bill Kristol, former Indiana Governor and current Vice President, Mike Pence attacks Obama's use of executive powers to push through new immigration policy. 'I think it would be a profound mistake for the President of the United States to overturn American immigration law with the stroke of a pen,' Pence, said in the video, taken at the annual Republican Governors Association conference in New Jersey, just days after President Obama announced that he would use his executive powers to offer temporary legal status to certain undocumented immigrants." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's worth noting that President Obama's executive action was materially different from Trump's fake national emergency. First, Obama did not declare a national emergency. Second, Obama's executive order had little or no spending impact; i.e., it didn't usurp Congress's "power of the purse." Third, it did directly overturn a Congressional action; rather, it made a substantial policy change that Congress itself could have enacted into law.
Holly Ramer, et al., of the AP: "Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, little-known on the national stage but well-respected among veterans in the GOP establishment, announced an exploratory committee for president on Friday, becoming the first Republican to move toward a serious primary challenge against ... Donald Trump. There are new signs he won't be the last. In the immediate aftermath of the 73-year-old Weld's announcement at a breakfast event in New Hampshire, a senior aide for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich indicated Kasich is likely to launch a primary challenge as well.... [Aides to] Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ... acknowledge that the two-term Republican governor is openly considering a Trump challenge."
Pete Williams of NBC News: "The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it will take up the battle over a citizenship question for the coming census, agreeing to hear and decide the case before the court's term ends in late June. Eighteen states, several of the nation's largest cities, and immigrant rights groups sued the government over its decision to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census form that goes to every U.S. household. They said the question would make immigrants reluctant to respond to census takers, resulting in an undercount of the population."
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgreturned to the Supreme Court Friday for the first time since she underwent surgery in December, a court spokeswoman said. Ginsburg, 85, participated in a private conference with her colleagues as they considered which cases to accept for review or reject, said court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg."
*****
L'Etat, C'est Trump
John Wagner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trumpis set to hold an event at 10 a.m. in the Rose Garden at White House, where he is expected to sign spending legislation to avert a government shutdown while at the same declare a national emergency with the aim of securing about $6.5 billion more to build his long-promised border wall without congressional approval. Many of Trump's Republican allies have called the move ill-advised, and Democrats are promising immediate action aimed at blocking it. The declaration is expected to face an array of legal challenges, possibly including from congressional Democrats." Mrs. McC: Trump is such a nut case that this report is a live blog, in case there are "developments." ...
... Robert Costa, et al., of the Washington Post: "After three weeks of pained negotiations to keep the federal government open, President Trump almost blew the whole thing up again on Thursday. Headed for another defeat on his signature promise to make Mexico pay for a southern border wall, the president was frustrated after a briefing by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and others on details of the final deal to avoid a shutdown, according to officials involved in the discussions. Trump threatened not to sign the legislation, the officials said, putting the government on the brink of another damaging shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was on the phone with Trump at least three times during the course of the nerve-racking day, pressing him to stay the course and asserting that Democrats had actually lost the spending fight, two people familiar with the conversations said.... Trump refused to sign the bill Thursday until the White House Counsel's Office convinced him it would not preclude him from declaring a national emergency, two senior administration officials said." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Lawrence O'Donnell thinks this story is a plant intended to make Trump's base think he fought for wall till the last dog died. ...
... Jonathan Karl & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "The Justice Department has warned the White House a national emergency declaration is nearly certain to be blocked by the courts on, at least, a temporary basis, preventing the immediate implementation of the president's plan to circumvent Congress and build the wall using his executives powers, ABC News has learned. However, a senior White House official tells ABC News that the administration is confident it could ultimately win the case on appeal. Lawyers at the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and at the Pentagon have been working for weeks to iron out different options the president would have to obtain funds for his border wall." ...
... Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The White House's announcement Thursday that President Trump would claim emergency powers to build his border wall without congressional approval was a way out of the political crisis he created over shutting down the government.... Legal specialists warned that the long-term costs to American democracy could be steep. As a matter of political reality, such a declaration permits Mr. Trump to keep the government open without losing face with his core supporters by surrendering to congressional Democrats on his signature issue. As a matter of legal reality, the proposal is likely to be bogged down in a court challenge, leaving any actual construction work based on emergency powers spending an uncertain and, at best, distant prospect. But no matter what else happens, Mr. Trump's willingness to invoke emergency powers to circumvent Congress is likely to go down as an extraordinary violation of constitutional norms -- setting a precedent that future presidents of both parties may emulate to unilaterally achieve their own policy goals." ...
... New York TimesEditors: "... President Trump is planning to take executive overreach to dizzying new heights.... The influx of migrant families at the southern border does not constitute a national security crisis, much less a bona fide emergency. There is, at this point, a worsening humanitarian crisis, actively fueled by the draconian policies of the administration. But the suffering on display requires thoughtful policy adjustments, not a steel monstrosity.... Mr. Trump aims to usurp one of Congress's most basic responsibilities, the power of the purse.... The poison cherry atop this sundae is that Mr. Trump is subverting American democracy for a cause opposed by a majority of the public.... Mr. Trump's eagerness to undermine the Constitution to serve his short-term political gain remains among the most outrageous." ...
... Peter Baker & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "President Trump plans to declare a national emergency so he can bypass Congress and build his long-promised wall along the border even as he signs a spending bill that does not fund it, the White House said Thursday. The announcement of his decision came just minutes before the Senate voted 82-16 to advance the spending package in anticipation of final passage on Thursday night by the House.... Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Democrats were 'reviewing our options' in responding to Mr. Trump's anticipated declaration and did not rule out a legal challenge.... Mr. Trump disregarded objections raised by [Mitch] McConnell and other Republicans who balked at what they deemed presidential overreach." ...
... Update: "The Senate passed it 83 to 16, and the House followed later in the evening, 300 to 128." Mrs. McC: Note that both votes are veto-proof.
... Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "The [Senate] vote followed drama ... as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared suddenly on the floor to end hours of uncertainty, announcing Trump had agreed to support the bill. At the same time, McConnell told senators that Trump would be declaring a national emergency to circumvent Congress and get more money for his wall -- and that McConnell himself would support the move, even though he's been outspoken in opposition to an emergency declaration.... Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on Twitter that the the declaration is 'lawless act' and accused Trump of attempting to draw attention away from the president's unkept promise that the wall would be paid for by Mexico.... The House could pass a disapproval resolution to overturn the emergency declaration, and McConnell would be forced to put it on the Senate floor, an outcome the majority leader had hoped to avoid. McConnell had cautioned Trump privately about the scenario." ...
Oh, wow. Well, he's got a primary. -- Former GOP Lawmaker when told McConnell had okayed Trump's national-emergency demand ...
... Jeff Toobin asserted on CNN Thursday afternoon that no president has ever declared a national emergency to overrule a bill debated & passed by the Congress. Mrs. McC: I'd add that no president has ever declared a fake national emergency to fulfill half of a ridiculous campaign promise. ...
... Burgess Everett, et al., of Politico: "The surprise announcement Thursday that ... Donald Trump will use his emergency powers to try and build his border wall blindsided some Republicans, confused others and sent the Senate GOP into a general state of shock. The news, delivered by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor, came after weeks of warnings from his own party not to declare a national emergency at the border.... Aides privately predicted Trump will lose a vote on the Senate floor once the Democratic House passes a resolution of disapproval to block the move." The reporters quote a bunch of GOP senators hemming & hawing their "disappointment" & "concerns." ...
... BUT. Sam Stein & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "... one singular promise defined Donald Trump's candidacy: should he be elected president, a wall would be built along the U.S.-Mexico border and Mexico would pay for it. On Thursday, that promise officially died.... It was, on a pure policy level, a reversal of his campaign pledge and a constitutional challenge to a co-equal branch of government. And yet, few in a Republican Party raised a stink. Indeed, with few exceptions, they cheered him on, framing his handling of the latest shutdown showdown as a stroke of strategic brilliance.... Well before Thursday afternoon, conservative-media heavy hitters had already laid the groundwork for praising Trump for snatching at least something from the jaws of victory." ...
... Greg Sargent: "Trump plainly believes declaring a national emergency will make him look like he's acting decisively and taking control of events in the eyes of his base. But ... it's clear that he'll still face many obstacles. First, there will be court challenges to the national emergency itself, and as Elizabeth Goeteinhas shown, the mere fact that Trump has delayed so long will undermine his legal argument, because it undercuts the notion that there actually is an emergency (which there isn't).... The more times that Congress 'votes against providing the funding the president has asked for,' Goetein notes, 'the clearer it becomes that an emergency declaration in this case would be designed as an end run around the Constitution.'... Even if Trump does prevail in the courts, he will then face still more litigation from landowners, as Charlie Savage recently detailed.... And even if he were to win on all those fronts, it's still not clear how much money Trump could round up. It's likely that all that would result is some more of the same bollard fencing that's been built for years, in targeted areas, since that's what Customs and Border Protection has declared is its preferred form of barrier. It's simply amazing that Trump is willing to put the country through all of this just for that rinky-dink outcome...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's also likely Trump declared his intention to go the national-emergency route to drive Andy McCabe off top of the front page. It can't be pleasant for the emperor/king to hear again that top officials at the DOJ & FBI were discussing proposals to cut off his head. I also think it's entirely possible that Trump will put his big fat signature on an emergency declaration & promptly forget it when the next crisis looms (way next week). ...
... Alex Ward of Vox: "The key law [that governs a president's ability to order construction in a national emergency] is the appropriately named 'Construction authority in the event of a declaration of war or national emergency.'... First, building the wall must require the use of the military. And second, the only money Trump can use is funds that have been earmarked for military construction projects but not yet assigned to specific ones. There's roughly $21 billion of that money available. Both of those will likely present big challenges for Trump to quickly overturn.... One could easily argue that civilians could erect the structure.... [AND] Top lawmakers -- including Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), the Senate Armed Services Committee chair -- don't want Trump to use defense money for the wall.... Taking that money would ... remove funds from other potential construction projects at home and in war zones abroad.... Trump's supposed quick fix to get a border wall is anything but, and extremely problematic to boot." ...
... Kevin Liptak & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "... in conversations with allies over the past days, [Donald Trump] has griped that Republican negotiators were outplayed by their Democratic counterpartssecuring a border funding number far smaller than Trump has spent the last two months demanding.... Trump has cast the GOP's dealmaking efforts as inadequate and wondered why he, an experienced dealmaker, wasn't consulted at more regular intervals as the two sides haggled over an agreement.... That was intentional, according to people familiar with the process, who noted Trump's attempts at brokering an agreement between lawmakers proved futile during the record-length government shutdown that ushered in the new year." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here again, Trump is grumbling out of both sides of his mouth. Other reporting said that Trump purposely stayed out of Congressional negotiations because he wanted to be able to blame Congress if negotiators could not come to an agreement. Wall, which started as a mnemonic device for an undisciplined candidate, was never something Trump really cared about. ...
... Litigators, Take Note. Andrew Kaczynski of CNN: "... Donald Trump once said taking executive action on immigration was an unconstitutional action that could lead to impeachment.... Trump made the comments on Fox News' 'Fox and Friends' in November 2014 when asked about executive actions by then-President Barack Obama that would halt deportations for the undocumented parents of children born in the United States. 'Now he has to use executive action and this is a very, very dangerous thing that should be overwritten easily by the Supreme Court,' Trump said.... He said Obama could certainly be impeached for his executive action on immigration.... The comments from Trump echo a tweet he sent, also from November 2014, in which he wrote, 'Repubs must not allow Pres Obama to subvert the Constitution of the US for his own benefit & because he is unable to negotiate w/ Congress.'"
** Yascha Mounk in Slate: "The president's intention to issue an executive order declaring a national emergency at the southern border ... is ... [the clearest] piece of evidence that he really does seek unconstitutional powers[.]... From Adolf Hitler in Germany to Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, some of the most brutal dictators of the past hundred years have consolidated their power by exploiting emergency legislation.... The differences between the powers that American presidents have traditionally exercised during states of emergencies and those granted by the infamous Article 48 of the Constitution of the Weimar Republic are a matter of degree, not of kind.... It is hard to recall a juncture in American history in which the president's congressional supporters have been so willing to do his bidding. Mitch McConnell is an especially striking study in the dereliction of duty." Read the whole essay.
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Adam Goldman & Matthew Haag of the New York Times: "Andrew G. McCabe, the former deputy F.B.I. director, said in an interview aired on Thursday that top Justice Department officials were so alarmed by President Trump's decision in May 2017 to fire James B. Comey, the bureau's director, that they discussed whether to recruit cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office. The concerns about the president's actions also prompted Mr. McCabe to order the bureau's team investigating Russia's election interference to expand their scope to also investigate whether Mr. Trump had obstructed justice by firing Mr. Comey. They also were to examine if he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests.... Mr. Trump appeared to react to the interview, attacking Mr. McCabe and his wife, both frequent targets of Mr. Trump, via Twitter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... The Atlantic has published an excerpt of Andrew McCabe's book. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Rosenstein's Non-Denial Denial. Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "... Andrew McCabe ... resurrected claims that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein ... proposed wearing a wire during meetings with ... Donald Trump and considered invoking the 25th Amendment.... Rosenstein, through a Department of Justice spokesperson, reacted on Thursday to the McCabe interview in a statement sent to CNN," which Naham cites. In the statement, "Rosenstein does not deny that he mentioned invoking the 25th Amendment or that he discussed wearing a wire. He said that he wasn't 'in a position to consider invoking' it and said that his 'personal dealings' with Trump show that there is 'no basis' for doing so.... He also says that he never 'authorized' a recording, which is different from discussing one. Nor is there mention, as there was [when the New York Timesreported the story last September], that Rosenstein was joking or being sarcastic." ...
[The FBI was better off when] you all only hired Irishmen. They were drunks but they could be trusted. Not like all those new people with nose rings and tattoos -- who knows what they're doing? -- Jeff Sessions to Andrew McCabe ...
... Greg Miller of the Washington Post reviews Andrew McCabe's book, The Threat: "The description of [Jeff] Sessionsis one of the most striking revelations in 'The Threat.'... He didn't read intelligence reports and mixed up classified material with what he had seen in newspaper clips. He seemed confused about the structure and purpose of organizations and became overwhelmed when meetings covered multiple subjects. He blamed immigrants for nearly every societal problem and uttered racist sentiments with shocking callousness.... McCabe is a keen observer of detail, particularly when it comes to the president’s pettiness. He describes how Trump arranges Oval Office encounters so that his advisers are forced to sit before him in 'little schoolboy chairs' across the Resolute Desk. [Mrs. McC: I've noticed this myself from looking at too many photos of Trump.]... He documents the president's attempts to impair the Russia probe and incessant attacks on the institution, describing the stakes in sweeping, convincing language." ...
... "Fox & Friends" Freak-out." Pilar Melendez of the Daily Beast: "The explosive report by 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley on This Morning -- that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says top Department of Justice officials met to consider invoking the 25th Amendment on after the firing of James Comey -- had the hosts of Fox & Friendsquestioning whether there was an illegal coup attempt to oust ... Donald Trump." And whom did they ask? Why, Devin Nunes, Man of the Midnight Run. "'They were opening up a counterintelligence investigation into a political party based on dirt and research from another political party,' Nunes said. '... Every American should be outraged by this. This is buried by the mainstream media for years. This has gone on two years. It is absolutely absurd and now you have people hawking books over the thing.'" ...
... ** It's Not the Collusion; It's the Compromise. Martin Longman, in the Washington Monthly: At the time (May 2017) Andrew McCabebroadened the FBI's election interference investigation to probe whether or not Trump had been working for Russia, they didn't "have the kind of proof they would have needed to make the case for removal under the 25th Amendment. If they had had the Moscow Trump Tower piece back then, it would have gone off like a thermonuclear bomb.... When the FBI saw how Trump was behaving in the aftermath of the election, they obviously suspected that he was compromised in some way.... It's the compromise that makes Trump 'unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.' He started out as a candidate excusing the murder of journalists because he had a secret financial reason for doing so, and then he wound up doing the same as president because he's too compromised to object. Anyone should be able to see that he cannot be allowed to continue in this job. The Deep State suspected this. The Deep State was right." ...
... Longman also highlights the perfect parallel between Trump's repeated dismissals of Putin's killing of journalists & dissidents and Trump pal Tom Barrack's attempt this week to justify the Saudis' murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. "... the Saudi royal family has considered Mr. Barrack a trustworthy representative for more than four decades. It was Barrack who recommended Paul Manafort to Donald Trump. It was Barrack who hired Rick Gates.... It was Barrack who was put in charge of the inauguration, which is now being investigated by the Justice Department." Mrs. McC: I was immediately struck when I read Barrack's excuse that the U.S. commits "atrocities," too, at how exactly it mimicked Trump's defense of Putin: "I think that our country does plenty of killing, too."
Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "Millions of Americans are waiting for Robert Mueller to give them the final word on whether the Trump campaign conspired with the 2016 Russian election interference effort -- and whether their president is under the influence of a foreign adversary. Millions of Americans may be sorely disappointed. Unless Mueller files a detailed indictment charging members of the Trump campaign with conspiring with Russia, the public may never learn the full scope of what Mueller and his team has found -- including potentially scandalous behavior that doesn't amount to a provable crime.... The special counsel operates under rules that severely constrain how much information can be made public. Those rules require that the special counsel's report to the attorney general be 'confidential.' And, while the attorney general is required to notify Congress about Mueller's findings, the rules say those reports must amount to "brief notifications, with an outline of the actions and the reasons for them.'... There is a wildcard -- if the Mueller report contains allegations of potentially impeachable offenses against the president, scholars have said the Justice Department would have to pass the full details of that to Congress. But short of that, it's not clear Congress will get access to the evidence Mueller has gathered." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It is essential that Congressional committees get access not only to Mueller's "conclusions" or "determinations" but also to the raw material he gathered to reach those conclusions: interviews, grand-jury testimony, correspondence (including e-mails, texts, phone records), bank records, etc. It is not up to Bob Mueller to decide what an impeachable offense is; the Constitution says that is the purview of Congress. Mueller's charge is to ferret out any criminality, and his authority to do so comes from the Executive branch; he is an appointee of a political appointee of the head* of the Executive branch. Congress has a duty to review all data the Executive branch has collected and determine whether or not it views any of the evidence as rising to the level of "high crimes & misdemeanors," which need not be chargeable crimes. The whole pupose of separation of powers would be trampled if Mueller or Barr makes an "executive decision" as to the meaning of the special counsel's collection of evidence. Furthermore, the people who paid for that collection -- that is, you and I -- have a right to reasonable access to Mueller's work product.
Erin Banco & Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "Two teams of federal officials assembled to fight foreign election interference are being dramatically downsized, according to three current and former Department of Homeland Security officials. And now, those sources say they fear the department won't prepare adequately for election threats in 2020.... The task forces, part of the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), were assembled in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.... One of the task forces is now half the size it was a few months ago.... There are concerns it will completely wither away. The other task force also shrank significantly shortly after the midterms..., and before its members produced a thorough assessment of what happened during the 2018 elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Steve Eder, et al., of the New York Times: "In the early months of the Trump administration..., [Donald Trump's] eldest sons embarked on a plan to roll out two new hotel lines in dozens of American cities.... Now, in a striking reversal, the Trump Organization is no longer pursuing the signature initiative, according to company officials. Plans for the two hotel chains, Scion and American Idea, are to be shelved indefinitely, most likely for the remainder of the presidency. As a practical matter, that means calling off just one agreement, in Mississipppi, though two years ago the Trump Organization said it had as many as 30 potential deals in the pipeline. The retrenchment comes as the company faces growing scrutiny from federal prosecutors and congressional investigators.... 'We live in a climate where everything will be used against us, whether by the fake news or by Democrats who are only interested in presidential harassment and wasting everyone's time, barraging us with nonsense letters,' Eric Trump said in a statement." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Also too, it must have dawned on even someone as dumb as Eric that the Trump Org would not be able to exploit undocumented workers to build & renovate its cheesy hotels, as the company has done in the past.
Betsy Woodruff & Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast: "The boyfriend of confessed Russian agent Maria Butinawrote that she 'manipulated' a Russian spy agency when arranging NRA bigwigs' trip to Moscow, The Daily Beast has learned. Paul Erickson, Butina's boyfriend, made this claim on Nov. 25, 2015 in an email to a trip participant. The light-hearted, chummy tone of the email, which was subsequently read to The Daily Beast, contrasts significantly with how Erickson characterized Butina's relationship with the FSB to The New Republic: tense, bordering on hostile.... Erickson [wrote in] the email ... to then-incoming NRA President Pete Brownell..., 'Miss Butina has (apparently) moved heaven and earth and manipulated the Russian FSB (the current incarnation of the old KGB) and gotten you cleared for a tour of one (1) Russian arms factory the day before the NRA delegation arrives in Moscow.... She found a way to shrink a normally 3-week process into about 3-days (probably because most of the FSB agents 'assigned' to her want to marry her).'"
Nicholas Fandos & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Senate confirmedWilliam P. Barr on Thursday for a second stint as attorney general, handing oversight of the Justice Department -- and its ongoing investigation into links between Russia's interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign -- to a seasoned Republican legal hand known for his expansive view of presidential power.... Divided over whether to accept his assurances, the Senate voted largely along party lines, 54 to 45, to confirm Mr. Barr. Mr. Trump is expected to swear him in at the Oval Office later Thursday. A handful of senators separated from their parties on the Senate floor.... Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against Mr. Barr, citing concerns over his sweeping view of executive power. Three Democrats from conservative or swing states -- Senators Doug Jones of Alabama, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia -- supported him."
Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "... Donald Trump gained four pounds over the last year, according to a new assessment from his doctor, a weight increase that makes him technically obese. But Trump's doctor, Sean Conley, nonetheless determined that the president 'remains in very good health overall' in a memorandum released by the White House on Thursday. Conley recorded Trump's height as 6'3" and his weight as 243 pounds. Last year, the president clocked in at 239 pounds, according to an assessment by his former doctor, Ronny Jackson.... Jackson recommended last year that the president lose 10-15 pounds and put him on a diet and exercise plan. The White House acknowledged last week that the president has not followed the plan closely." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump is more obese than that. As Restuccia reports, "Based on his current height and weight, Trump's body mass index is 30.4, putting him across the obesity threshold." But Rachel Maddow pointed out last night, Trump is actually less than 6'3", so his body mass index is greater than Conley's report indicates. (As Maddow asked, if you can't trust his doctor to correctly report something as objective as height, what-all else is Conley lying about?) Maddow featured the photo of Jeb Bush & Trump (during a 2016 debate). Jeb Bush is 6'3". Actually.
Carol Morello & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Vice President Pence on Thursday launched a combative broadside against some of America’s closest allies, calling on European countries to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran and accusing them of attempting to break U.S. sanctions against 'that vile regime' in Tehran. Officials from Britain, France and Germany -- all countries that negotiated and signed the 2015 landmark agreement that President Trump withdrew from last year -- were in the audience as Pence accused them of essentially joining sides with America's enemy. Pence threatened to impose more U.S. sanctions against Iran and praised countries that are moving to reduce their oil imports from the country 'to zero.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Barbara Starr & Bianca Britton of CNN: "The US commander who has been leading the war against ISIS told CNN Friday that he disagreed withDonald Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria and warned that the terror group was far from defeated, in a stark public break with the President. Joseph Votel, the top American general in the Middle East, also said that the US-backed forces on the ground in Syria were not ready to handle the threat of ISIS on their own.... Votel, speaking to CNN from Oman on Friday, revealed he would only have declared that ISIS had been defeated, as Trump did in December, if he was sure they no longer posed a threat.... Votel also said that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) -- who launched an offensive to oust ISIS from its only remaining enclave in Syria last weekend -- could not defeat the terror group without continued American assistance."
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are negotiating over a multi-billion dollar fine that would settle the agency's investigation into the social media giant's privacy practices, according to two people familiar with the probe. The fine would be the largest the agency has ever imposed on a technology company, but the two sides have not yet agreed on an exact amount.... If talks break down, the FTC could take the matter to court in what would likely be a bruising legal fight.... A multi-billion dollar fine would amount to a political reckoning for Facebook in the United States after a series of privacy lapses that may have put the personal information of its users at risk. Lawmakers have faulted the company for mishandling that [those!] data while failing to crack down on other other digital ills, including the rise of online hate speech and the spread of disinformation from Russia and other foreign actors."
Presidential Race 2020. Allan Smith of NBC News: "NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo will host the first 2020 presidential primary debate in June, the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday. The debate could be held over two consecutive nights in prime time, given the anticipated size of the field, the DNC said.... The [DNC]'s chairman, Tom Perez, said in a statement Thursday that he is 'committed to running an open and transparent primary process,' which includes updating the threshold for candidates to qualify for a spot on the debate stage that places a premium on grassroots support."
David Goodman of the New York Times: "Amazon on Thursday canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing an unexpectedly fierce backlash from some lawmakers and union leaders, who contended that a tech giant did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives. The company, as part of its extensive search for a new headquarters, had chosen Long Island City, Queens, as one of two winning sites, saying that it would create more than 25,000 jobs in the city. But the agreement to lure Amazon stirred an intense debate about the use of public subsidies to entice wealthy companies, the rising cost of living in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods and the city's very identity." ...
... Derek Thompson of the Atlantic: "In a statement, Amazon blamed local politicians for the reversal.... In a period of growing antipathy toward billionaires, Amazon's corporate-welfare haul struck many -- including me -- as a gratuitous gift to a trillion-dollar company that was probably going to keep adding thousands of jobs to the New York region anyway.... The most obvious losers in Amazon's reversal are real-estate speculators.... But ... it is ... likely that neither the city's nor the company's economic trajectory will be materially altered.... The larger truth is that corporate subsidies, including the $3 billion package offered to Amazon, are often pernicious and usually pointless. Studies show that these sorts of measures 'have no discernible impact on firm expansion, measured by job creation.'... The irony is that the quasi-socialist revolution behind [backlash against the deal] has voided a corporate-welfare deal that is more corporate cronyism than capitalism. It has taken far-left protesters to inject a measure of sanity into the free market." ...
... Thanks, GOP! Laura Stampler of Fortune: "According to a report published by the Institute on Taxation and Economic (ITEP) policy Wednesday..., [Amazon] won’t have to pay a cent in federal taxes for the second year in a row. This tax-free break comes even though Amazon almost doubled its U.S. profits from $5.6 billion to $11.2 billion between 2017 and 2018.... To top it off, Amazon actually reported a $129 million 2018 federal income tax rebate -- making its tax rate -1%.... But even though [Donald] Trump previously blasted Amazon for its limited state taxes -- a single presidential tweet caused the company's shares to fall by 9% -- ITEP notes that its non-existent federal tax payment is a result of the Trump Administration's corporation-friendly tax cuts. The think tank writes that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act not only decreased corporate tax rates from 35% to 21%, but it also didn't close 'a slew of tax loopholes that allow profitable companies to routinely avoid paying federal and state income taxes on almost half of their profits.'" ...
... Kevin Drum: "This is not ordinarily a gossip site, but damn. The story we've heard so far about Amazon gazillionaire Jeff Bezos is that he sent a bunch of, um, below-the-belt selfies to his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, and then they were stolen and turned over to the National Enquirer, which tried to blackmail Bezos over them. The thief was Michael Sanchez, Lauren's brother. What an asshole! He did this to his own sister! But wait. Gabe Sherman has an interview with Michael Sanchez today, and he doesn't merely deny the allegations, he claims to have been Jeff and Lauren's closest confidant about their affair over the past year[.]... Michael Sanchez ... thinks Lauren shared [the photos] with girlfriends.... This is either Trump-level lying or else the biggest twist ever to a story like this." ...
... Lachlan Markay, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Michael Sanchez, the Hollywood talent agent who allegedly leaked Jeff Bezos' racy text messages to the National Enquirer, has a history of weaponizing his connections at AMI and the Enquirer on behalf of -- and sometimes against -- his former clients."
Beyond the Beltway
ABC News Chicago: "Chicago police confirmed Thursday that detectives are talking to two persons of interest in connection with the alleged attack on 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett. Multiple sources have told ABC7 Eyewitness News that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack allegedly because Smollett was being written off of 'Empire.'... Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson contacted ABC7 to say they are continuing to treat Smollett as a victim and the investigation remains ongoing. Chicago police told ABC News, 'Police are investigating whether the two individuals committed the attack - or whether the attack happened at all.'... Smollett's representatives said he is not being written off 'Empire.'... A source briefed on the Smollett investigation confirmed to ABC News that Chicago police are questioning the two persons of interest -- one of whom has appeared on 'Empire.'"
News Lede
NBC News: "Five people were killed and six police officers injured in a shooting at a manufacturing company in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday afternoon. The suspected gunman, killed by police, was identified by authorities as Gary Martin. Authorities believe Martin may have been employed at the plant, according to Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman."
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