The Commentariat -- February 5, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "When President Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to Congress -- his first under divided government -- the left wing of the ascendant House Democrats will have a rare opportunity to confront him.... The new Democrats -- many of them women, and many of them people of color -- are planning to send their own pointed messages to the president with their choices of guests and attire. Many women will wear white -- the color of the women's suffrage movement -- to spotlight issues like reproductive rights and equal pay. Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the Democratic leader, will be handing out white lapel ribbons to the men.... Members of Congress each get one ticket to bring a guest to the State of the Union address; sometimes they invite family members, but more often they use their tickets to make a point. Addressing gun violence is high on the agendas of several Democrats.... Mr. Trump's immigration policy is also top of mind for Democrats this year. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, Democrat of New Jersey, is bringing Victorina Morales, an undocumented immigrant who spoke out about her work at Mr. Trump's golf resort in Bedminster, N.J." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry, but it isn't exactly "left wing" to return to Eisenhower-era policies.
So Much for Bipartisanship. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) traded barbs on Tuesday ahead of the president's second State of the Union address. Trump knocked the Senate Democratic leader for criticizing his upcoming speech, which the president will deliver to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. 'I see Schumer is already criticizing my State of the Union speech, even though he hasn't seen it yet. He's just upset that he didn't win the Senate, after spending a fortune, like he thought he would. Too bad we weren't given more credit for the Senate win by the media!' Trump said in a tweet. Trump's tweet came after Schumer used back-to-back floor speeches this week to knock the administration, saying it's mired in 'chaos.' Schumer, during a Senate floor speech on Tuesday, predicted Trump would use his prime time remarks to make policy promises that he won't keep."
John Cassidy of the New Yorker makes a compelling argument that Trump started out as a weak president*, & has only grown weaker. "The White House's victories, such as the passage of a tax-reform bill, 'usually involve Trump having adopted the position of the congressional Republicans, not the other way around,' [scholar Matthew] Glassman noted." ...
... Case in Point. Haley Byrd of CNN: "As ... Donald Trump prepares to once again make a bipartisan appeal in his State of the Union address Tuesday, members of Congress are linking arms on one of his favorite issues: trade. Yet they're working against the president, seeking to limit his authority to impose tariffs unilaterally on national security grounds, as he did last year on steel and aluminum, sparking a dispute with the European Union and alienating close partners such as Canada and Mexico. Multiple Republican lawmakers are working alongside Democrats to put forward legislation curtailing Trump's existing national security tariff powers."
"The Plan to Keep Trump's Taxes Hidden." Nancy Cook of Politico: "The new House Democratic majority is widely expected to test one of Donald Trump's ultimate red lines by demanding the president's personal tax returns -- and the Trump administration has been gearing up for months to fight back hard. Trump's Treasury Department is readying plans to drag the expected Democratic request for Trump's past tax filings, which he has closely guarded, into a quagmire of arcane legal arguments. At the same time, officials intend to publicly cast the request as a nakedly partisan exercise. The two-pronged scheme was developed by a handful of top political appointees and lawyers inside the department -- with the ultimate goal of keeping the president's past returns private.... But whatever the members or staffers find must remain private -- and that's where the request of Trump's returns becomes potentially tricky for Democrats. A related section within the Internal Revenue Code says any federal employee who leaks tax information is committing a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's ridiculous. The public has a right to know if (ha ha) Trump lied about his assets, liabilities & tax avoidance schemes. His taxes should be released, in full, to the public, so tax experts can go at them & help Congress and the public understand what's behind the numbers.
The Lie Heard 'Round the World. Azeen Ghorayshi, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "BuzzFeed News is today publishing a cache of internal Trump Organization documents that lay bare the secret negotiations [re: a Trump Moscow tower] that continued long after [Michael] Cohen claimed the deal had been abandoned. The documents, many of which have been exclusively obtained by BuzzFeed News, reveal that -- despite Trump's claim that the development was never more than a passing notion -- the effort to get the tower built was long-running, detail-oriented and directly entwined with the ups and downs of his campaign. As Trump went from rally to rally, vociferously denying any dealings in Russia, his representatives, Michael Cohen and his associate Felix Sater, worked with Trump Organization lawyers and even Ivanka Trump to push forward negotiations to build a 100-story edifice just miles from the Kremlin. The fixers believed they needed Putin's support to pull off the lucrative deal, and they planned to use Trump's public praise for him to help secure it. At the same time, they plotted to persuade Putin to openly declare his support for Trump's candidacy. 'If he says it we own this election,' Sater wrote to Cohen."
Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam remained in power Monday but is having a difficult time finding allies, begging his Cabinet members to give him the chance to prove he was not the person pictured in a racist photo that surfaced Friday. Northam oversaw a regularly scheduled Cabinet meeting Monday morning that a source inside the meeting described as 'solemn.' According to that source, the governor specifically said that if he resigns, he would be resigning as a 'racist for life,' and that the only way he can clear his name is to stay in office and convince people that he is not in that photo and that the photo does not represent who he is."
*****
David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Facing growing political head winds, President Trump on Tuesday will try to convince the nation that his presidency remains strong and viable in a State of the Union address that aides described as a sincere appeal to broaden his governing coalition. But Trump is also expected to reaffirm his demand for Congress to support his hard-line immigration agenda and offer a robust defense of foreign policy initiatives that have engendered fierce criticism from Democrats who have asserted newfound power to try to blunt his agenda. The dynamic suggests that any attempt from the usually truculent president to proffer a nod to bipartisanship and cooperation during his prime-time remarks is almost certain to be short-lived and viewed as duplicitous by his critics." Mrs. McC: By his critics? One hardly needs to be a critic to notice Trump is duplicitous. ...
... OR, as the headline writer at New York's "Daily Intelligencer" put it, "The theme of Trump's State of the Union: Republicans and Democrats should come together ... to give me my wall." No link.
Matt Stevens & Mihir Zaveri of the New York Times report the list of Trump's guests for the SOTU. One is "Joshua Trump, a sixth-grade student from Wilmington, Del., who ... has 'been bullied in school due to his last name,' the White House's announcement said. (He is not related to the president.)... Last year, Mrs. Trump -- who has said she is the 'most bullied person' in the world -- introduced her 'Be Best' public awareness campaign, which seeks to teach children to be kind." Mrs. McC: This is part of the "poor, pitiful (in this case, fake) billionaire" syndrome; see also poor, pitiful Howard Schultz, who has been subjected to "an assault" because he's thinking of running an independent presidential campaign that would very likely give Trump a second term. Story linked below. ...
... Sophie Weiner of Splinter: "... everyone is embarrassed by things about themselves when they're in sixth grade. It's normal and totally understandable. What's not normal? Going to the State of the Union as 'the kid bullied because he has the same last name as the president.' Joshua, here's some advice, from one person with an easily ridiculed name to another: in order to transcend it, you gotta own it. Getting invited to the State of the Union as 'that bullied kid' is NOT gonna make things easier for you with the kids at school. If your name wasn't already inextricably linked to the president's, it is now." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: A normal president would invite a kid to the SOTU who had been bullied because s/he was a member of a minority, say, a Muslim or a transgender kid. However, this President* gets a kick out of bullying these very same groups. But bullied because the kid is a Trump? Oh, the humanity! ...
... Amanda Arnold of New York: "... Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Monday that she was bringing Ana Maria Archila [to the SOTU], one of the women who famously confronted Senator Jeff Flake in an elevator during Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings."
This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.
Maggie Haberman & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "President Trump's inaugural committee was ordered on Monday to turn over documents about its donors, finances and activities to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, according to two people familiar with the investigation into the committee's activities. Prosecutors are seeking documents related to all of the committee's donors and event attendees; any benefits handed out, including tickets and photo opportunities with the president; federal disclosure filings; vendors; contracts; and more, one of the people said.... In the subpoena, investigators also showed interest in whether any foreigners illegally donated to the committee, as well as whether committee staff knew that such donations were illegal, asking for documents laying out legal requirements for donations. Federal law prohibits foreign contributions to federal campaigns, political action committees and inaugural funds." ...
... Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "... prosecutors have shown interest in investigating whether wealthy donors gave money in exchange for access into and influence within the Trump administration. That news came out of the the Southern District of New York's investigation of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. The Wall Street Journal reported that the investigation was made possible in no small part because of materials seized during April 2018 raids on Cohen's home, office and hotel room[.]... It had already been reported as far back as April that Mueller was investigating whether 'wealthy Russians illegally funneled cash donations directly or indirectly into Donald Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration.' Sources said at the time claimed that Mueller had a theory that 'straw donors' (particularly Americans) acted as 'a vessel through which they could pump money into the campaign and inauguration fund.'"
... Marcy Wheeler: "My guess is that SDNY is only now getting around to digging into what is surely a vast swamp of corruption because Mueller asked them to wait until his inauguration related equities were done. Which may be consistent with reports that his investigation is coming to a head, perhaps pending just the Mystery Appellant, Andrew Miller, and William Barr's confirmation. Which may mean that after the results in Mueller's Russian investigation soften Trump up, this investigation will just be ripening, possibly even at a time where Trump can be indicted."
Emma Loop, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "A Russian-born lobbyist who attended the controversial Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 received a series of suspicious payments totaling half a million dollars before and after the encounter. Documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News show that Rinat Akhmetshin, a Soviet military officer turned Washington lobbyist, deposited large, round-number amounts of cash in the months preceding and following the meeting, where a Russian lawyer offered senior Trump campaign officials dirt on Hillary Clinton."
Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "A federal judge on Monday pushed back by a week Paul Manafort's sentencing date while she considers allegations that the former Trump campaign chairman lied to special counsel Robert Mueller's office and a grand jury in violation of the terms of his guilty plea.... Earlier Monday, [Judge Amy] Jackson held a closed-door hearing for 4½ hours with Manafort, his lawyers and Mueller's office, where she was set to go over the evidence that the special counsel has presented about Manafort's alleged violations of the guilty plea."
Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "The House intelligence committee is set to vote Wednesday to formally send the Justice Department transcripts of interviews from the panel's investigation into Russian election interference, a step that could help special counsel Robert Mueller charge some witnesses with lying to Congress.... A notice of a closed committee business meeting says the panel will 'take votes related to the transmission of certain committee transcripts' to the DOJ on Wednesday. The notice doesn't specify how many interviews that includes, but Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee's chairman, has said he wants to move as fast as possible to turn over to Mueller transcripts of the more than 50 witness interviews that the panel conducted during its investigation." Probably tops on the list are Donnie Junior & Jared Kushner, whom Democrats suspect lied to the committee.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post runs down a number of the contradictory remarks Trump made in his CBS interview, which aired Sunday. As Daniel Dale wrote (tweet below), interviewers would do well to slow down. Mrs. McC: That might help, but it might not. I've heard interviewers ask follow-up questions that highlight some contradiction, & Trump just completely changes the subject: "Why didn't you do your homework, Donnie?" "The dog ate it." "You don't have a dog." "I'm an underprivileged kid from Jamaica, Queens who doesn't even have a pet. You should be saying great things about me." An interviewer would have to go back & back to the initial question until Trump finally ripped the mike out of his lapel & trounced out in a huff. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Eric Levitz of New York: "In an interview with CBS News, the president said that he does not want his youngest son Barron to play youth football because 'I just don't like the reports that I see coming out having to do with football ― I mean, it's a dangerous sport....' [BUT]... As evidence of football's devastating effects on the human brain mounted -- and the NFL responded by implementing (demonstrably inadequate) rule changes to modestly reduce the risk of its athletes suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) -- the president argued that the game had grown insufficiently violent. 'Today, if you hit too hard, if they hit too hard, "15 yards, throw him out of the game,"' Trump groused in 2017. 'They had that last week, I watched for a couple of minutes. Two guys, just really, beautiful tackle -- "Boom, 15 yards."... They're ruining the game ... they want to hit.' These remarks heavily implied that Trump sees the lives of (disproportionately African-American) NFL players as fundamentally less valuable than those of wealthy, white people like himself." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Ahmed Aboulenein & John Davison of Reuters: "Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Monday that ... Donald Trump did not ask Iraq's permission for U.S. troops stationed there to 'watch Iran.'... U.S. troops in Iraq are there as part of an agreement between the two countries with a specific mission of combating terrorism, Salih said, and that they should stick to that. Trump said it was important to keep a U.S. military presence in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran 'because Iran is a real problem,' according to a CBS interview broadcast on Sunday. 'Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues,' Salih said. 'The U.S. is a major power ... but do not pursue your own policy priorities, we live here.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michelle Goldberg: "The latest edition of 'Freedom in the World,' ... the pro-democracy nonprofit ... Freedom House's flagship report, has just been released. For the second year in a row, the United States had a score of 86, down from 94 in 2009.... America now falls below not just Canada and the Nordic countries, but also Greece, Latvia and Mauritius. 'The current overall U.S. score puts American democracy closer to struggling counterparts like Croatia than to traditional peers such as Germany or the United Kingdom,' the report said.... It usually takes more than two years for a democracy to collapse.... If Americans increasingly ignore Trump's words, foreign leaders don't. Authoritarianism is on the rise all over the globe -- according to the Freedom House report, this is the 13th consecutive year that global freedom has declined. Trump's presidency is a consequence of this trend, but it's also become an accelerant of it."
Victoria Guida: "Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met for dinner with ... Donald Trump on Monday evening, the first time the two men have spoken since Powell was sworn in as the central bank's chief last February. Powell, who has been the target of months of criticism from the president over the central bank's interest rate policy, stressed that the Fed's decisions on rates would remain nonpolitical, according to a statement from the Fed." ...
... Heather Long of the Washington Post: "After the central bank raised interest rates in December, Trump was so irate that he asked close advisers whether he could fire Powell. The Fed is supposed to be independent from politics, and it is hard to remove a Fed governor except for 'cause,' which has typically been interpreted by courts as egregious wrongdoing. Top White House officials have come out and said they do not believe the president has the authority to remove Powell, although the president never said he would not try to do it.... It is rare for a president to meet with the Fed chair, although not unprecedented. President Barack Obama met with then-Chair Janet L. Yellen in 2016, for example. But presidents are not supposed to dictate Fed policy.... Former Fed chairman Paul Volcker details his awkward encounter at the White House with President Ronald Reagan and his chief of staff Jim Baker.... Volcker recalls Baker saying, 'The president is ordering you not to raise interest rates before the election,' and Volcker 'walked out without saying a word.'... 'Paul Volcker is viewed as Moses of central banking for standing up to the president,' said Richard Fisher, the former head of the Dallas Fed."
All the Worst People. Victoria Guida & Ben White of Politico: "... Donald Trump is expected to tap Treasury Department official David Malpass as the U.S. pick to lead the World Bank, according to senior administration officials, a clear sign the administration wants to rein in the international financial institution. Malpass, Treasury's undersecretary for international affairs, has said global organizations like the World Bank 'have grown larger and more intrusive' and 'the challenge of refocusing them has become urgent and more difficult.' The institution aims to reduce global poverty by making loans, with a sizable portion flowing to China and India.... The U.S. has historically been allowed to choose the head of the World Bank, although that dynamic has more recently faced pushback from other nations. Nominating someone who has been so openly critical of the bank could intensify that resistance."
Andrew Kaczynski & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... Donald Trump's pick to be United Nations ambassador once hosted a panel on unfounded conspiracy theories that Islamic fundamentalists are secretly trying to destroy America by changing the country's institutions and culture and imposing Sharia law. Heather Nauert, a former host for 'Fox and Friends' and the current spokeswoman for the State Department, pushed the theory in a 2009 Fox News hourlong special webcast titled 'Terror from Within' that is still available on the network's website. Nauert fielded input from anti-Muslim activists Frank Gaffney and Robert Spencer, as well as Canadian journalist Tarek Fatah, who is a prominent Muslim critic of aspects of Islam."
** Arming Our Enemies -- Thanks, Donald & Jared! Nima Elbagir, et al., in a CNN report: "Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to al Qaeda-linked fighters, hardline Salafi militias, and other factions waging war in Yemen, in violation of their agreements with the United States, a CNN investigation has found. The weapons have also made their way into the hands of Iranian-backed rebels battling the coalition for control of the country, exposing some of America's sensitive military technology to Tehran and potentially endangering the lives of US troops in other conflict zones. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, its main partner in the war, have used the US-manufactured weapons as a form of currency to buy the loyalties of militias or tribes, bolster chosen armed actors, and influence the complex political landscape, according to local commanders on the ground and analysts who spoke to CNN.... After CNN presented its findings, a US defense official confirmed there was an ongoing investigation into the issue.... Previous CNN investigations established that US-made weapons were used in a series of deadly Saudi coalition attacks that killed dozens of civilians, many of them children. The developments also come as Congress, outraged with Riyadh over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year, considers whether to force an end to the Trump administration's support for the Saudi coalition, which relies on American weapons to conduct its war."
Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine of Politico: "Many Senate Republicans are deeply opposed to ... Donald Trump declaring a national emergency to build his border wall, with enough resistance that the president might ultimately be forced to veto a measure intended to block him. Interviews with a dozen GOP senators on Monday revealed broad efforts to wave Trump from doing an end run around Congress, part of an effort to avoid a politically perilous floor vote that could place them at odds with the president."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Democrats blocked abortion-related legislation on Monday night in the wake of a political firestorm sparked by a Virginia abortion-rights bill last week. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) tried to pass legislation that penalizes doctors who fail to 'exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion.' But Sasse was blocked by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who argued that U.S. laws already prohibit infanticide and warned that Republicans were misrepresenting the [Virginia] bill.... Sasse's attempted to pass the legislation comes after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) provoked outrage among anti-abortion groups, GOP lawmakers and the White House over his comments about a bill that would have made it easier for women to get third trimester abortions if their health was threatened by pregnancy."
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has agreed to testify before a key House panel after weeks of contentious negotiations with Democrats. Nielsen will appear before the House Homeland Security Committee on March 6.... The agreement comes after Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the committee, threatened last week to issue a subpoena to compel Nielsen to testify. Democrats said Nielsen was refusing to testify in front of the panel this month."
Presidential Race 2020
Mister Schultz's Etiquette Rule No. 1: [Howard Schultz] said the terms 'people of wealth' and 'people of means' are preferred to referring to people as 'billionaires.'
Like many a rube, I am so politically incorrect. Next some bumpkin will be calling a certain "person of wealth" an idiot. No, wait. Make that "total idiot." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
See also other suggestions: "wealth extractors," "money hoarders," "poverty profiteers." ...
... Shia Kapos of Politico: "Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on Monday night said he will take three to four months before deciding whether he'll run for president in 2020 as an independent. 'I promise I would do nothing whatsoever to be a spoiler to re-elect Donald Trump. Nobody wants to see this president leave office more than me,' he said during a stop on his book tour in Chicago. He spoke during a Q&A with Chicago businesswoman and Starbucks Vice Chair Mellody Hobson, who compared the reports of the possibility of an independent run to 'dropping a bomb.'... Schultz said he expected push-back 'but not to the degree of an assault,' he told the crowd." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The story should be titled "What a Total Idiot Howard Schultz Is." That's apparent in just two comments cited above, tho there's more. First, there's the "everybody's picking on poor, pitiful, billionaire/'person-of-means' me." Then there's the empty assurance he won't be a spoiler. Really? How is that gonna work, Howard? Schultz gave no clue, no doubt because he has no clue. ...
... Schultz's Own Research Confirms He's a Spoiler. Jonathan Chait: "Change Research found Schultz's favorable rating among the public is 4 percent, with 40 percent viewing him unfavorably, and the rest not knowing who this person is.... Perhaps in an effort to push back against this [Mrs. McC: these] data, Schultz's team released very partial internal polling data. Somewhat suspiciously, the data did not show what information the respondents were given about Schultz, to possibly prompt them to support him. The bottom-line figures showed Schultz drawing a whopping 17 percent of the national vote in a three-way race with Trump and either Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren. The same figures showed Trump beating both Democrats 33 to 32 percent. In other words, Schultz's own polling indicates he would lose badly, and would throw the race to Trump.... Fox News reports that Schultz 'told advisors that he was shocked by the stridency of the attacks made by Democrats,' a fact that, if true, would indicate an ignorance of the political system so proud it would be disqualifying." Mrs. McC: And we now know it's true because Schultz publicly expressed surprise at the "assault" on him. As Sen. Brown said....
... MEANWHILE. Ben White of Politico: "... polling suggests that when it comes to soaking the rich, the American public is increasingly on board. Surveys are showing overwhelming support for raising taxes on top earners, including a new Politico/Morning Consult poll released Monday that found 76 percent of registered voters believe the wealthiest Americans should pay more in taxes. A recent Fox News survey showed that 70 percent of Americans favor raising taxes on those earning over $10 million -- including 54 percent of Republicans. The numbers suggest the political ground upon which the 2020 presidential campaign will be fought is shifting in dramatic ways, reflecting the rise in inequality in the United States and growing concerns in the electorate about the fairness of the American system." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Paul Krugman explains that "if there's a real opening for an independent, that candidate will look more like George Wallace than like Howard Schultz. Billionaires who despise the conventional parties should beware of what they wish for." That is, there is a viable call for racist, economic populist politicians, but there's little or no call for socially liberal, economic conservative politicians. ...
... Helaine Olen of the Washington Post: "There is increasing angst in the circles of the wealthy about more frequent calls from prominent Democratic politicians to raise taxes on the richest Americans.... Blame Donald Trump. Like no one else, Trump proves that the United States' 40-year infatuation with tax cuts and trickle-down economics was a sham. Instead of trusting the wealthiest that the money would flow down, the dollars, like heat in an apartment, always went to the top. Take the 2017 tax reform package. The wealthiest Americans were the recipients of almost all the large and permanent reductions, while the rest of us were left with mere scraps -- which will sunset at the end of 2025. The Trump administration promised the corporate tax cuts would trickle down in the form of salary increases.... No such luck.... In addition, Republicans weaponized the tax code, seeming to punish voters who disproportionately voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. The ability to deduct state and local taxes on federal returns was capped at $10,000, something that impacted residents of high-cost metropolitan areas.... It's hard not to suspect future generations will look back at this period and wonder what took us so long to demand the Trumps of the world pay their fair share of the tax bill."
Beyond the Beltway
Jonathan Martin & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, abandoned by allies in the Democratic Party and besieged by demands that he resign, met with his cabinet Monday morning as state legislators returned to a Capitol thrown into chaos by the governor's insistence on staying in office despite revelations that a photograph showing people in blackface and Ku Klux Klan robes was displayed on his medical school yearbook page. But even after meeting Sunday night with a group of his African-American aides, most of whom told him the only way he could clear his name would be to quit, Mr. Northam was giving no indication that he intended to step down. As Mr. Northam dug in, his onetime allies in the state and national Democratic Party intensified their pleas that he quit, angry and embarrassed at the prospect of being saddled with a governor suddenly compromised by his past." .(Also linked yesterday.) ..
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Northam also must be "consulting" with Megyn Kelly. ...
... Oh, Great. Jonathan Martin: "Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of Virginia issued a statement Monday morning denying an unsubstantiated allegation of sexual assault that a right-wing media site published amid extraordinary political turmoil in the state that has raised the possibility of Mr. Fairfax becoming the next governor. In a statement issued at 2:55 a.m., aides to Mr. Fairfax -- a Democrat who has drawn national attention as Gov. Ralph Northam considers resigning over past racist behavior -- said the allegation was 'false' and that Mr. Fairfax had 'never assaulted anyone -- ever -- in any way, shape or form.' The aides said that Mr. Fairfax is considering 'appropriate legal action against those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Theresa Vargas of the Washington Post: "The statement came after the online publication, Big League Politics, ran a story under the headline: 'UPDATE: Stanford Fellow Hints At Possible Justin Fairfax Sex Assault.' The story was based on a private Facebook post from the woman, which the publication said it had obtained from a friend of hers who had permission to share it. In their response, Fairfax's staff members, pointed out that the woman first approached The Washington Post with the allegation shortly before he was inaugurated and The Post 'carefully investigated the claim for several months.' The woman approached The Post after Fairfax won election in November 2017 and before he was inaugurated in January 2018 inauguration, saying she felt like she had an obligation to speak out.... Fairfax and the woman told different versions of what happened in [a] hotel room [in 2004] with no one else present. The Washington Post could not find anyone who could corroborate either version. The Post did not find 'significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations,' as the Fairfax statement incorrectly said.... The Washington Post did not run a story.&" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Alejandro de la Garza of Time: "In the midst of the ongoing controversy over a racist photograph on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page, a photograph of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) posing in front of a Confederate flag is making the rounds on social media.... The photograph of McConnell, which apparently shows the senator posing in front of a large Confederate flag, had previously surfaced in 2015, according to Snopes. The photo was allegedly taken at a Sons of Confederate Veterans event in the early '90s." Includes photo. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "In American politics, lawmakers can get a pass for almost anything short of open allegiance to racist ideologies or the explicit use of racist imagery. There is a logic to this dynamic, even as it produces absurd results, like forceful condemnations of racism from a Virginia Republican Party that fielded an unapologetic neo-Confederate for Senate just over three months ago or calls for Northam's resignation from a Republican National Committee that otherwise stands firmly behind President Trump.... If racism is principally a problem of power and resources -- of race hierarchy and the denial of life, liberty and opportunity to blacks and other nonwhites -- then our political culture ought to expand the offenses that earn the kinds of swift condemnation we've seen over the last few days. Voter suppression and the lawmakers who back it deserve the same contempt we save for open racial bigotry; officials behind policies rooted in prejudice, like the travel ban or child separation, ought to be forced from office.... We should care about racist imagery, but we should care even more about our still-segregated society."
New Jersey. Katherine Landergan of Politico: "Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday that will gradually raise New Jersey's minimum wage to $15 an hour for most workers by 2024, making it the fourth state to approve a policy that not long ago was considered a pipe dream in Democratic circles."
Way Beyond
Richard Pérez-Peña of the New York Times: "Seven European Union countries on Monday recognized Juan Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, turning decisively against President Nicolás Maduro after he refused their demand to schedule a new presidential election. The countries -- Austria, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden -- joined the United States, Canada, Australia and much of Latin America in withdrawing recognition of Mr. Maduro's government and acknowledging Mr. Guaidó, the opposition leader, as the interim president pending elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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