December 19, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Mary Jalonick, et al., of the AP: "The House Jan. 6 committee is wrapping up its investigation of the violent 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with lawmakers on Monday declaring that they have assembled a 'roadmap to justice' to bring criminal charges against ... Donald Trump and his allies.... The committee alleged violations of four criminal statutes by Trump, in both the run-up to the riot and during the insurrection itself, as it recommended the former president for prosecution to the Justice Department. The charges recommended by the committee are conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to make a false statement and insurrection." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Here's the committee's video of Monday's hearing:
~~~ ** The committee has released its 160-page introduction to its report. According to on-air reporters, the introductory material includes information that has not previously been released to the public.
New York Times reporters are liveblogging the House January 6 committee hearing. CNN's liveblog is here.
More Fake Than Trump. Grace Ashford & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "By his account, [Representative-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.)] catapulted himself from a New York City public college to become a 'seasoned Wall Street financier and investor' with a family-owned real estate portfolio of 13 properties and an animal rescue charity that saved more than 2,500 dogs and cats. But a New York Times review of public documents and court filings from the United States and Brazil, as well as various attempts to verify claims that Mr. Santos, 34, made on the campaign trail, calls into question key parts of the résumé that he sold to voters. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the marquee Wall Street firms on Mr. Santos's campaign biography, told The Times they had no record of his ever working there. Officials at Baruch College, which Mr. Santos has said he graduated from in 2010, could find no record of anyone matching his name and date of birth graduating that year. [And so forth,]... At the same time, new revelations uncovered by The Times -- including the omission of key information on Mr. Santos's personal financial disclosures, and criminal charges for check fraud in Brazil -- have the potential to create ethical and possibly legal challenges once he takes office." Recently, Santos did work for an investment company that the S.E.C. has accused of running a $17MM Ponzi scheme.
Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: "The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to be extradited to the United States, one of his lawyers said on Monday, after a chaotic morning of legal maneuvering in which Mr. Bankman Fried was shunted back and forth between court and prison in the Bahamas. Jerone Roberts, a local defense lawyer for Mr. Bankman-Fried, told reporters that his client had agreed to the extradition voluntarily, defying 'the strongest possible legal advice.'... But the hearing [in which Bankman-Fried was expected to say he would not fight extradition] descended into chaos: Mr. Roberts said he was 'shocked' to see his client in court, and requested at least one 45-minute break to confer privately with Mr. Bankman-Fried.... The judge presiding over the matter ordered the crypto entrepreneur returned to the Fox Hill jail in Nassau."
Andrew Dalton of the AP: "Harvey Weinstein was found guilty Monday of rape at a Los Angeles trial in another #MeToo moment of reckoning, five years after he became a magnet for the movement. After deliberating for nine days spanning more than two weeks, the jury of eight men and four women reached the verdict at the second criminal trial of the 70-year-old onetime powerful movie mogul, who is two years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York. Weinstein was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving an Italian model and actor who said he appeared uninvited at her hotel room door during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013. The jury was unable to reach a decision on several counts, notably charges involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The jury reported it was unable to reach verdicts in her allegations and the allegations of another woman. A mistrial was declared on those counts."
~~~~~~~~~~
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "After more than five years of dramatic headlines about controversies, scandals and potential crimes surrounding ... Donald J. Trump, the coming week will be among the most consequential. On Monday, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol by Mr. Trump's supporters will hold what is almost certainly its final public meeting before it is disbanded when Republicans take over the majority in the new year.... On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee will meet privately to discuss what to do with the six years of Mr. Trump's tax returns that it finally obtained after nearly four years of legal efforts by Mr. Trump to block their release.... And on Wednesday, the Jan. 6 committee is expected to release its report on the attack, along with some transcripts of interviews with witnesses. Taken together, this week will point a spotlight on both Mr. Trump's refusal to cede power and the issue that he has most acutely guarded for decades, the actual size of his personal wealth and his sources of income."
Dear Lord of the Fairy Tales: In the week of the Solstice, the Saturnalia, Hanukkah and anniversaries of the births of Zarathustra, Buddha, Mithras, Jesus & numerous other demigods & messiahs, please let this also be the week that the impish anti-god Trumpelstiltskin rends himself in two. -- Marie
Mary Jalonick of the AP: "The House Jan. 6 committee is wrapping up its investigation of the violent 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with lawmakers expected to cap one of the most exhaustive and aggressive congressional probes in memory with an extraordinary recommendation: The Justice Department should consider criminal charges against ... Donald Trump. At a final meeting on Monday, the panel's seven Democrats and two Republicans are poised to recommend criminal charges against Trump and potentially against associates and staff who helped him launch a multifaceted pressure campaign to try to overturn the 2020 election. While a criminal referral is mostly symbolic, with the Justice Department ultimately deciding whether to prosecute Trump or others, it is a decisive end to a probe that had an almost singular focus from the start." MB: The hearing begins at 1:00 pm ET, with coverage on CNN & MSNBC beginning at noon ET.
Victoria Bekiempis of the Guardian: "California congressman Adam Schiff [D] said Sunday [on CNN] that he believes there is 'sufficient evidence' to criminally charge Donald Trump in relation to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.... Schiff said he was worried, however, that 'it may take until he is no longer politically relevant for justice to be served. That's not the way it should be in this country, but there seems to be an added evidentiary burden with someone who has a large enough following.... That simply should not be the case, but I find it hard, otherwise, to explain why, almost two years from the events of January 6, and with the evidenc that's already in the public domain, why the justice department hasn't moved more quickly than it has,' Schiff also said." Schiff is a former prosecutor.
Marie: Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) appeared on MSNBC yesterday and made a point so fundamental that it had more-or-less slipped my mind. If Trump was not trying to instigate an insurrection, why did he plan his Ellipse extravaganza for January 6, the day Congress, by law, was set to certify Biden's election? Why not some other date? The obvious answer is that Trump hoped to get his minions to stop the certification by violence if mike pence & the Congress did not do so in session. Since pence had told Trump he would not halt the certification, nor were there enough members of Congress to stop the process, a violent insurrection was Trump's Last Chance. And he took it.
Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's "Nov. 22 dinner ... [with the antisemite Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes] neatly encapsulates Trump's post-presidential life -- a reminder of how a former president who worked steadily to dismantle the government guardrails imposed by his elected office is now almost entirely without restraint.... In the two years since he left office, Trump has re-created the conditions of his own freewheeling White House -- with all of its chaos, norm flouting and catering to his ego -- with little regard for the law.... These days, he is served almost exclusively by sycophants, having replaced successive rounds of loyal yet inexperienced aides with staffers even more beholden and novice.... This behind-the-scenes account of Trump's post-presidential life is based on interviews with 23 people...."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "... the notion that the Proud Boys wanted to provoke violence among the 'normies' -- or the normal people -- in the crowd that day rests at the heart of the government's case against five members of the group who are facing trial on charges of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack. At the trial, which begins with jury selection on Monday, prosecutors intend to argue that the five defendants turned the mob into a weapon on Jan. 6 and pointed it at the Capitol, where lawmakers had gathered to certify the results of the 2020 election, according to court papers and pretrial hearings. It was all part of a plot, the government will say, to stop the lawful transfer of power and ensure that ... Donald J. Trump remained in office." The AP story is here.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Some of the best-known retired military officers in the United States have joined a grass-roots effort to pass legislation to bolster support for Afghans who assisted the American war effort, calling for Congress to act immediately and include it in a spending bill that lawmakers are expected to approve within days. 'We are convinced that the Afghan Adjustment Act furthers the national security interests of the United States,' the officers wrote in a letter to senior lawmakers on Saturday. 'It is also a moral imperative.'... The letter was addressed to the top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate and organized by #AfghanEvac, a coalition of more than 180 nonprofits and other organizations that are supporting Afghan resettlement efforts. The senior officers called for Congress to attach the legislation to the upcoming omnibus, which will provide funding for federal agency budgets through Sept. 30...."
Natalie Allison & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "As she seeks a rare fourth term as RNC chair, [Ronna Romney] McDaniel is facing fierce criticism from a horde of right-wing media figures who reach millions of GOP faithful.... The contentious chair's race playing out in the public eye follows Republican disappointments the last three election cycles.... Some of the most prominent instigators of the wave of anti-McDaniel sentiment have been Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson.... So far, the pressure campaign from inside and outside the RNC has not diminished McDaniel's support. The question is whether she can maintain that support until the RNC's leadership election Jan. 27."
The Erratic Whims of the Lords of the Tweets, Ctd. Kate Conger & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "High-profile Twitter users were suspended without warning or explanation, then abruptly reinstated. A new policy to prevent users from sharing links and user names from other social platforms was rolled out, then apparently curtailed. And Elon Musk, Twitter's new owner, posted a flurry of messages to his 122 million followers asking them if he should step down as the head of the social media service while lamenting that no one else wanted the job. It was another chaotic 48 hours on Twitter, which has been mired in turmoil since Mr. Musk completed a $44 billion buyout of the company in late October. His tenure has already been marked by mass layoffs, executive resignations and unpaid bills at the company. Advertisers have balked, rival services have pounced and many of Twitter's users have feared that the service would simply cease to work." A related NBC News story is here.
Marie: Another reason to rid the superrich of the burden of their billions: their psychoses & meltdowns also can harm or inconvenience untold numbers of other people.
No, @ElonJet Did Not Lead to an Assassination Attempt. Drew Harwell & Taylor Lorenz of the Washington Post: "A confrontation between a member of Elon Musk's security team and an alleged stalker that Musk blamed on a Twitter account that tracked his jet took place at a gas station 26 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and 23 hours after the @ElonJet account had last located the jet's whereabouts. The timing and location of the confrontation cast doubt on Musk's assertion that the account had posted real-time 'assassination coordinates' that threatened his family and led to the confrontation. Police have said little about the incident but say they've yet to find a link between the confrontation and the jet-tracking account. The incident last week ... underscored how Musk's personal concerns can influence his governance of a social media platform used by hundreds of millions of people around the world." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is most likely the story that Lorenz believed so irritated the Boy Billionaire that he pulled her Twitter account when she asked for comment. One must not question the judgment of the Lord of the Tweets. However, it is likely her account was banned because in other tweets, she promoted her presence on other social media.
Elizabeth Dias & Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "A well-known Catholic priest an incendiary leader of the anti-abortion movement was removed from the priesthood by the Vatican, according to a letter from Pope Francis' representative to the United States that was obtained by The New York Times. Frank Pavone, who leads the advocacy organization Priests for Life, and was once a religious adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, was dismissed from the clergy on Nov. 9 with no possibility of appeal, the letter states. The letter included a statement about the removal, called laicization, that it said was approved by the Dicastery for the Clergy, a Vatican office." The AP's report is here.
Beyond the Beltway
Texas. Paradise Afshar & Christina Maxouris of CNN: "El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening following a surge of migrants who have recently arrived in the community and he says are living in unsafe conditions. The mayor, who had previously declined to issue a state of emergency, said 'hundreds' of migrants are on the streets in unsafe conditions while temperatures are beginning to drop, and things could get much worse when a Trump-era border policy is lifted Wednesday, which federal officials expect will lead to an increase in migrant arrivals."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Monday are here: "The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, came under attack again early Monday. The city's military administration said drones were shot down in Kyiv's airspace but some critical infrastructure was hit.... Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit Minsk on Monday for talks with his regional ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Analysts suggest Putin could be trying to set conditions for a renewed offensive against northern Ukraine or Kyiv, after a failed attempt to seize the capital early in the war.... Northern European leaders will gather Monday to discuss Ukraine. The Joint Expeditionary Force, a military and political coalition led by the United Kingdom that includes Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, will meet in Riga, Latvia.... Ukrainian officials are preparing for a 'peace summit' this winter, [President Volodymyr] Zelensky said during his nightly address. Kyiv's formula for peace will create a 'new, globally important security architecture' that is applicable to Ukraine and a guarantee for other nations, he said."
China. Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: "A fast-spreading covid-19 outbreak in China has researchers predicting a surge in virus-related deaths next year, with several analyses forecasting more than 1 million fatalities in a country that until now has largely kept the coronavirus in check. Earlier this month, China dramatically loosened its strict 'zero covid' policies following a wave of protests in towns and cities where residents were fed up with years of stringent lockdowns, mass testing and centralized quarantines. The demonstrations marked the most significant show of public dissent in China in years. But many of China's 1.4 billion people remain vulnerable to the virus because of limited exposure, low vaccination rates and poor investment in emergency care. And now, funeral homes and crematoriums in Beijing, the capital, are struggling to keep up with demand, Reuters reported." Access to this article is free to nonsubscribers.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Three dozen people were hurt -- 11 of them seriously -- when a flight from Phoenix to Honolulu was rocked by severe turbulence on Sunday, the authorities said. The Hawaiian Airlines flight, which carried 238 passengers and 10 crew members, landed at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu at about 11 a.m. local time, according to the airline. Medical personnel provided care to passengers and crew members who were injured, according to Honolulu Emergency Medical Services."
Guardian & Agencies: "Five people have been shot and killed in a residential unit in the Greater Toronto Area before the gunman was killed by police, authorities have said. Police were called to a residential building in Vaughan, north of Toronto, at about 7.20pm on Sunday to reports of an active male shooter who had shot several victims at a condo in in the Ontario city. Mass shootings are rare in Canada and Toronto has long prided itself as being one of the safest big cities in the world."
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Reader Comments (18)
Wait until con-man, former president*, ego driven, maniacal, nitwit,
finds out that he used copyrighted images on his $99 swindle of
trumpbots.
Hope the lawsuits outweigh the profits.
Forrest,
Criminal behavior surrounds Trump like bad air in an unventilated gas station men’s room. He attracts, and is attracted to lowlifes, crooks, con artists, grifters, and thugs.
Down in Texas, a MAGA priest who worships Trump was just given the boot from the Catholic Church for his consistent bad actions. How bad do you have to be to get fired from Pedophile Central? But this creep loves Trump.
Over in Georgia, a guy who had to resign as Trump’s statewide director because evidence of past brutalities had surfaced in 2016. This asshole was recently arrested for kicking a dog! But don’t cry for this particular Trumps thug. He’s going to be chief of staff for a newly elected Trumpy House member.
Jesus, they’re all assholes.
https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2022/12/13/gop-operative-brandon-phillips-00073724
So Space Karen is taking another “poll”. This one to see if Twitter users want him to resign as Head Twit. Oh please! Such a fucking victim. Why not get break out the hair shirt and commence with the self-flagellation? I’m sure this “poll” will be as honest as the one he used as cover for inviting all his Nazi pals to be re-platformed.
He’s just one of a number of narcissistic billionaire douchebags causing immense chaos in the world, Trump, the Murdochs, Koch, and Putin being of the same ilk. Or should that be ill-k?
And over at the Times, this from Thomas Frank, who still doesn't know what's the matter with Kansas.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/opinion/liberalism-republican-party.html
My comment:
Yes, in a democracy (no matter how weak) fundamental change must move from the bottom up.
But conditions must be right for that kind of movement to occur, as they were in the 1930's, when the world's western economies were in shambles and millions were out of work and had no place to live. That extraordinary mess and the despair and anger that followed in its wake provided the dynamo for change.
Republicans have been smart enough since to take advantage of the Rooseveltian revolution that followed. Thanks to it, we have SS, unemployment insurance. Medicare and an array of ways to move aid to those who need it.
While poverty remains and economic inequality is worse now than it has been since the 1930's, people are generally far more comfortable with their lot these days than they were then.
So ironically, while the R's complain about the social safety net and threaten to dismantle it, it is precisely that net that keeps the majority compliant and open to the kinds of fears and grievances (various free-dumbs and racial fear and animus, primarily) they sell to keep their base energized .
We also have so much money washing around in our politics that those at the top, regardless of party, often soon lose their revolutionary fervor, even if they started out as firebrands.
In short, things have to get worse for people, top and bottom, before any fundamental change is likely.
And that darn Biden is actually busy making things better, in a milder way just what FDR did to stave off a real revolution.
I'm wondering how many of TFG's NFTs were paid for in foreign currency? How many rubles equal $99? Seems like a easy way to funnel foreign money or dirty money through the loser.
Before we launch into the Jan.6 revelations I want to go back to yesterday's comments re: ironing shirts because like Marie (multiple husbands) I had my fill of it and like Ken I was too cheap to send all those shirts out for others to do until I wasn't (and I gave the cardboards to my children to draw on) Yesterday's conversations reminded me of a poem I once read that expressed perfectly this operation. I can't remember who wrote it but I recall some of the lines.
The poet says there was no poetry waiting for her mother
In the week’s worth of shirts and describes the process.
"Her arm would have to travel a long way,
Steering the small boat of the iron
On a slow, repetitive journey up
And down the backs of my father’s shirts,
The narrow channels of his sleeves,
While “As the World Turns” was on the T.V."
Then she says her mother never asked for help though she wanted to give it; instead her mother ordered her outside to play, saying "I’d have to do this work soon enough someday. (oh, how we wish more mothers were like this.)
"She didn’t want a mother’s little helper.
I’m grateful to her for that, and for
Other freedoms she was never granted, like
Sleeping with a man who is not your husband.
This morning, I watch from the bed as you iron
Your white shirt, pleased that such
An important thing as women’s work
Does not come between us."
Progress people! Catch it while we can.
$99 is approximately 6,780 rubles. Looks like it's easy to be a
millionaire in Russia (in rubles).
S B-F’s predecessors at The Farm:
I’d categorize it as a bit! of Americana.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rahulsingireddy/2018/03/06/the-stanford-bitcoin-mafia/?sh=2278500c74c2
@RAS: I think (not 100% sure) buyers had to use cryptocurrency to purchase Trump "trading cards." Of course, you have to pay in some kind of currency, crypto- or rubles or whatever, to own the cryptocurrency in the first place.
Marie: You are probably right. It is just that most of the coverage I've seen has been laughing at the ridiculousness of Trump's "big announcement" and the amateurness of his trading cards. We have seen, most recently with FTX, how shady crypto and NFTs is and I haven't seen anyone asking who exactly are buying all this worthless junk other than assuming it is just the Trump cult suckers. He is known for running scams through his businesses and that may be all this truly is, hopefully. Though, with his many ties to foreign governments, his history of ties to organized crime, and his many looming debts I think someone should take a closer look to make sure nothing more nefarious is going on here. He has gotten away with a lot because he is an idiot.
Just watched the conclusion of the House hearing and had the rare feeling that I was watching a critical moment of history unfold.
It seemed BIG.
My old heart swelled a little.
After watching the J6 session, I have more hope for the country. Now the question is what will the DoJ do with the recommendations?
I almost wish this had been later in the day. I could probably watch the fireworks at Mar-a-Lago from the yard.
I had the pleasure of voting for Raskin this year (and before) and really enjoyed how he got all rhetorical and judgmental in articulating the criminal acts the J6 committee referred to Justice. I really liked that he said we are not a country that punishes the foot soldiers but lets the masterminds off the hook.
Excuse please (as those white actors portraying Chinese super sleuth Charlie Chan used to say), Trump has no interest in crypto currency (and honest to Baal, I couldn’t explain all the ins and outs and weird ass permutations of crypto with a gun to my head). The Fat (soon to be indicted—C’mon, Merrick!—Traitor, prefers Kleptocurrency. As does his entire crime family.
More on the J6 hearing later, but at the tail end of the radio coverage, it was pointed out how a battery of big name Party of Traitor “leaders” (hard to call any of these gimcrack inhuman slot machines leaders) gave the GQP one finger salute to congressional subpoenas, anal cysts who will shortly become screaming banshees when they issue their own subpoenas, including the presumptive (consumptive?) Speaker (drooler?) My Kevin, and soon to be chair of the House judiciary committee, Gym (go ahead and sexually abuse those boys, I don’t care) Jordan.
Just imagine Gym fucking Jordan, a congenital liar, traitor, and supporter of sexual abuse as chair of a committee dedicated to upholding the rule of law.
Jesus fuckin’ A Christ.
One other (baleful) thought about Gym Jordan.
This guy looked the other way when heinous criminal sexual abuse of minors was going on, all to make sure he didn’t jeopardize his own standing and career. And let’s be clear. He wasn’t a kid. He was an adult. By the end of his run at OSU, he was in his early 30’s. And he had no problem allowing the serial sexual abuse of kids under his so-called protection in order to set himself up.
Will he do any different in Congress? Has he? Fuck no.
Now, this repulsive, amoral, self-serving piece of pus-leaking roadkill inner organs is, after shitting on a congressional subpoena to explain his role in the attempted overthrow of the United States government, going to chair a committee dedicated to upholding Constitutional law. I will bet you every penny I’ve ever made in my life that this prick has never read the Constitution.
But now he’s in charge.
There are a fetid landfill of weak, stupid, mendacious, insurrectionist, hypocritical crooks and scoundrels from the GQP eating away at the pillars of democracy like toxic treasonous termites.
Not a one of them—not a fucking goddam one—adopts Tacitus’s motto: Honesta mors turpi vita potior. An honorable death is better than a dishonest life.
Certainly not this pusillanimous proditor.
No. Scum like Jordan say “Dishonor IS my life. So fuck you! Dishonor, criminality, and treason are mother’s milk.”
@Patrick: Yes to all that. I was impressed (somewhat to my chagrin) to be reminded what a good speaker Liz Cheney is. Her contrasting Trump's criminal corruption with George Washington's resigning his commander-in-chief commission to the Congress, & Northern soldiers who fought to preserve the Union was very affecting, IMO.
Marie: Yes, to your assessment of Liz. I am most grateful and am most impressed by her courageous stance on these matters. She is her father's daughter but has, I believe, surpassed him in monumental ways. Would love to know their conversations. Many times kinder takes the high road and shows parents a better way to travel.
I wish I felt better about Garland. I am so afraid that by the time someone gets to pronounce Dumpster a felon on his way to a supermax, I will be doddering and drooling in a wheelchair of Nursing Homes R Us, and I will not get to enjoy it. The law types extolling the process make it sound endless and uphill and I just can't bear it. I have always known that society is full of unfairness, but the crimes these people committed are so blatant, I would think they should be trying them right away. Like cheating, stealing, robbing and killing-- hey, remember all the Covid victims?? That pig keeps stealing money from dumb people, and no one does a thing. And I will never understand how supposed smart people on the right were willing to ruin the capitol and shoot and hang the congresspeople to keep this guttersnipe in charge...why???