August 13, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Glenn Thrush & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "At least one lawyer for ... Donald J. Trump signed a written statement in June asserting that all material marked as classified and held in boxes in a storage area at Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence and club had been returned to the government, four people with knowledge of the document said. The written declaration was made after a visit on June 3 to Mar-a-Lago by Jay I. Bratt, the top counterintelligence official in the Justice Department's national security division.... Over recent months, investigators were in contact with roughly a half-dozen of Mr. Trump's current aides who had knowledge of how the documents were handled, two people briefed on the approaches said. At least one witness provided the investigators with information that led them to want to further press Mr. Trump for material....
"Shortly before [Attorney General Merrick] Garland made [a public statement on Thursday], a person close to Mr. Trump reached out to a Justice Department official to pass along a message from the former president to the attorney general. Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Garland to know he had been checking in with people around the country and found them to be enraged by the search. 'The country is on fire,' Mr. Trump said, according to a person familiar with the exchange. 'What can I do to reduce the heat?'... As a judge unsealed the warrant and the inventory of items that the F.B.I. took, Mr. Trump alternately claimed he did nothing wrong and also made the baseless statement that officials may have planted evidence on him." CNN has a story here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Based on reviews of the property receipt, several news outlets, including this one, have noted that "FBI agents removed 11 sets of classified documents and 27 boxes from [Donald Trump's] Florida residence." I've briefly looked at the receipt, and I can't do the math, but I'll assume for argument's sake that number 27 is correct. In addition to those 27 boxes, Trump returned 15 boxes in January 2022, and according to theNYT story linked above, FBI agents took additional material from Mar-a-Lago in June 2022. So that's at least 43 boxes of stuff --and probably more -- Trump stole from us. Whatever the size of the boxes, and whatever their contents, you can't take that much stuff "accidentally." ~~~
~~~ Various news outlets have reported that at least some of the stuff was kept in a basement storage room. My house in Florida was on a large waterway; Trump's is between two bodies of water -- the Atlantic Ocean & Lake Worth. My house was built at the same time Mar-a-Lago was, and my house & Trump's are among the few in Florida that have basements. During rainy season, which runs for months, I had a sump pump that ran almost 24/7. During these months, the basement was never dry. It's possible the basement at Mar-a-Lago has since been made water-tight, but given its location, that's difficult to do. So I'm wondering about the condition of those retrieved docs, papers that have been in a likely-damp basement for at least a year-a-and-a-half.
GOP Terrorists. Steve M. republishes a portion of a (firewalled) Daily Beast story that reads, in part, "Just hours after a list began circulating among right-wing media of FBI agents who signed off on the search warrant for Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property, a former Trump aide tried to sic MAGA fans on the family members of the purported agents. Garrett Ziegler ... took to Telegram to post the personal information of men he identified as agents. 'This is one of the two feds who signed the "Receipt for Property" form, which detailed == at a very high level -- the fishing expedition that the FBI performed at Mar-a-Lago,' Ziegler said on both Truth Social and Telegram. The former Trump administration staffer that worked under White House trade adviser Peter Navarro further listed out the FBI agents' date of birth, work emails and linked to alleged family members' social media accounts." There's more. ~~~
~~~ Steve M. writes, "This is the new normal.... We're rapidly approaching the point where anything that offends Republicans will result in the doxxing of the responsible parties, with threats of violence as the inevitable consequence. Soon -- again because of Republican intransigence -- we'll conclude that we simply can't prevent this, and anyone who engages in conduct that upsets Republicans will need to invest in extra security and urge every peripheral person who might be affected to do the same. America will be divided into two nations: Republicans and those terrorized or potentially terrorized by Republicans." ~~~
~~~ David Moye of the Huffington Post: "While filling in for host Tucker Carlson on Thursday, [Fox News' Brian Kilmeade displayed a fabricated image of Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart [-- who authorized the search of Mar-a-Lago --] having his feet massaged by convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell and holding Oreo cookies and alcohol on a plane. 'Sean, can you relate to that?' Kilmeade asked Fox News personality Sean Hannity, who noted that the photo looked doctored. 'I think that's actually a picture of [financier and convicted sex offender] Jeffrey Epstein with somebody putting his [Reinhart's] head on there,' Hannity said. 'I'm guessing. I don't know.' 'Who knows?' Kilmeade said.... The fake photo seems to be a reference to Reinhart's past work defending several of Epstein's employees in court. On Friday, Kilmeade took to Twitter to clarify that the photo wasn't real. '... This depiction never took place & we wanted to make clear that we were showing a meme in jest.' So far, Kilmeade has not apologized on air to the viewers who saw the image and possibly believed it to be authentic.... Twitter users read Kilmeade the riot act for pushing misinformation, especially as Reinhart has received violent and antisemitic threats since approving the warrant...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Twitter commenters, including comedian Patton Oswalt & journalist Mehdi Hasan, saw or heard no indication in Kilmeade's on-air performance that he was "showing a meme in jest." It's a bad day for Fox "News" when the person who pushes back with at least a bit of journalistic fact-checking is Sean Hannity. Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. See also his commentary below.
~~~~~~~~~~
So here was Politico's banner headline Friday afternoon: ~~~
Trump Under Investigation for Potential Violations of Espionage Act
Wall Street Journal reporters got hold of the search warrant & inventory of documents sought & retrieved from Mar-a-Lago. I myself, for reasons unknown was able to breach the WSJ firewall. ~~~
Alex Leary, et al., of the Wall Street Journal: "FBI agents who searched ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home Monday removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to be only available in special government facilities, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took around 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump's ally Roger Stone, a list of items removed from the property shows. Also included in the list was information about the 'President of France,' according to the three-page list. The list is contained in a seven-page document that also includes the warrant to search the premises which was granted by a federal magistrate judge in Florida. The list includes references to one set of documents marked as 'Various classified/TS/SCI documents,' an abbreviation that refers to top-secret/sensitive compartmented information. It also says agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents. The list didn't provide any more details about the substance of the documents. Mr. Trump's lawyers argue that the former president used his authority t declassify the material before he left office. While a president has the power to declassify documents, there are federal regulations that lay out a process for doing so.... The search and seizure warrant, signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, shows that FBI agents sought to search 'the 45 Office,' as well as 'all storage rooms and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by [the former president] and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate.'" A CNN report, which has been expanded since first linked, is here. An NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's story, by Devlin Barrett & Josh Dawsey, is here. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is once again live-blogging developments in Trump's theft of highly-sensitive national security documents. ~~~
"Federal agents who executed the warrant did so to investigate potential crimes associated with violations of the Espionage Act, which outlaws the unauthorized retention of national security information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; a federal law that makes it a crime to destroy or conceal a document to obstruct a government investigation; and another statute associated with unlawful removal of government materials.... The most informative and sensitive document, an affidavit detailing the "probable cause" evidence that prompted Judge Reinhart to approve the search, will not be released now, or probably ever, department officials said on Thursday....
"The search warrant for Trump's residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified....
"Shortly after 3 p.m. Eastern, the Justice Department notified the court that 'counsel for former President Trump -- M. Evan Corcoran, Esq., and James Trusty, Esq. -- have informed the government that the former President does not object to the government motion to unseal' the search warrant and the inventory list." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times stand-alone story, by Maggie Haberman & others, is here: "The results of the search showed that material designated as closely guarded national secrets was being held at an unsecured resort club, Mar-a-Lago, owned and occupied by a former president who has long shown a disdain for careful handling of classified information. The documents released on Friday also made clear for the first time the gravity of the possible crimes under investigation in an inquiry that has generated denunciations of the Justice Department and the F.B.I. from prominent Republicans and fueled the anger of Mr. Trump, a likely 2024 presidential candidate.... Last year, he told close associates that he regarded some presidential documents as his own personal property." ~~~
~~~ Politico has published the warrant & inventory here.
Yeah? So? Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump claimed on Friday that before leaving office, he declassified all the documents the F.B.I. found in this week's search of his Florida residence ... including several caches apparently marked as 'top secret.' 'It was all declassified,' Mr. Trump asserted in a statement.... Such a claim would not settle the matter. For one thing, two of the laws that a search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago this week referred to -- Sections 1519 and 2071 of Title 18 of the United States Code -- make the taking or concealment of government records a crime regardless of whether they had anything to do with national security. For another, laws against taking or hoarding material with restricted national-security information, which generally carry heavier penalties than theft of ordinary documents, do not always line up with whether the files are technically classified.... A third law ... known as the Espionage Act ... was enacted by Congress during World War I, decades before President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order creating the modern classification system for the executive branch. As a result, the Espionage Act makes no reference to whether a document has been deemed classified. Instead, it makes it a crime to retain, without authorization, documents related to the national defense that could be used to harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So let us assume for a moment that Trump did declassify all that formerly-super-sensitive material that had been squirreled away in super-secure rooms where only a few select officlals with top clearance were allowed to venture. Then why hasn't Trump released this declassified stuff to the public? Suddenly, we all -- and that "we" includes the country's most dangerous enemies -- have a right to read these declassified docs, don't we? After all, declassification renders them no more secret or sensitive than say, an executive order or Melanie's tour of her White House holiday decorations.
Zoë Richards of NBC News: "... Donald Trump on Friday denied a report from The Washington Post that said FBI agents were looking for classified documents related to nuclear weapons, among other items, when they searched his Mar-a-Lago home this week. On his Truth Social platform, Trump said that 'Nuclear weapons is a hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a hoax,' referring to then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. Trump attacked the officials involved with the search of his home, calling them 'sleazy.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)~~~
~~~ Marie: Given that Trump knew we were about to find out that he had stolen top-secret docs, this is an extraordinary denial. Of course it's true that Trump didn't lift any "nuclear weapons" as he mentions; on the other hand, the WashPo article did not suggest he was storing a nuclear bomb in the Mar-a-Lardo basement. So Trump is denying something that no one asserted. However, since the Mueller investigation also was not a hoax, I suppose it's fair for Trump to compare the Mar-a-Lago search with the Mueller probe. So I guess Trump is reasonable, after all!
At the top of today's Comments, Akhilleus explains Trump's evolving excuses/lies for engaging in, well, espionage against the United States.
Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Republicans who days ago united in preemptive defense of Donald Trump are struggling to stay on the same page following new questions about documents that the former president was holding at his Florida residence. The FBI's daylong search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate this week, personally approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland, sparked near-universal GOP outrage and allegations of a politicized Justice Department. In the wake of reports that the search was tied to concerns Trump may have improperly taken highly classified White House documents related to nuclear weapons and so-called special access operations, however, Republicans are politically diverging. While some GOP lawmakers acknowledged Friday that a scenario in which Trump withheld nuclear-related documents would be problematic, House Republican leaders are still rallying behind him and suggesting without evidence that President Joe Biden sought to weaponize DOJ against a political rival." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Max Boot of the Washington Post: "The more we learn about the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago, the sillier -- and more sinister -- the overcaffeinated Republican defenses of ... Donald Trump look. A genius-level spinmeister, Trump set the tone with a Monday evening statement announcing: 'These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.'... Although Trump's team had a copy of the search warrant, he gave no hint of why the FBI might have been there.... His followers -- which means pretty much the whole of the Republican Party -- took up the cry based on no more information.... What has been reported so far bears no relation to the persecution fantasies of Trump and his cult followers.... The right now appears to be in disarray." ~~~
~~~ BUT. Marianna Sotomayor, et al., of the Washington Post: "House Republicans stood by ... Donald Trump on Friday despite the revelation that FBI agents sought classified documents relating to nuclear weapons in their search of his Mar-a-Lago estate this week.... Republicans also were highly critical of the FBI, Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray over the execution of the search warrant and about what they characterized as a lack of transparency in sharing information with Congress about a criminal investigation. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Friday singled out Garland, saying the attorney general 'has a lot of explaining to do.'... Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), the No. 3 Republican in the House leadership, on Friday called the FBI search a 'complete abuse and overreach of its authority' and promoted baseless claims that the agency protected Hillary Clinton, former FBI director James B. Comey and President Biden's son Hunter.... House Republicans, who were back in Washington on Friday to vote against the Democrats' climate, health-care and tax bill, deflected blame that their rhetoric has inspired Trump supporters to attack law enforcement."
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "On few previous occasions has the Trump movement so embraced Stephen K. Bannon's strategy (paraphrased here) of flooding the zone with garbage as after the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago....But ... it's difficult to top the latest entry." After several Fox "News" hosts latched onto a story that President Obama had "had 30 million records shipped to Chicago for his presidential library," Trump got out the muck spreader & fake-tweeted, 'What happened to the 30 million pages of documents taken from the White House to Chicago by Barack Hussein Obama? He refused to give them back! What is going on? This act was strongly at odds with NARA. Will they be breaking into Obama's "mansion" in Martha's Vineyard?'... But ... the Obama team was transferring the records to Chicago through the National Archives.... There isn't the faintest hint of legal violations -- nor does the New York Post's story suggest as much.... And on Friday, after Trump raised the issue again, the Archives sought to put an end to the charade [and clarified that they, not President Obama, has retained control of those records]." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: So if I were Trump, I would rob a bank cashier's till, then complain that you were worse than I because you had gotten more money when you made a cash withdrawal from your bank account. Unfortunately, "Barack Hussein Obama stole 30 million documents & the FBI ignored it" will soon become a true thing among the Trumpbots. ~~~
President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots! -- Donald Trump, August 12
Trump is wrong. News reports starting in 2016 showed that the National Archives and Records Administration would oversee transfer of Obama's presidential records. The agency announced it would digitize the records and that classified records were sent to a facility in College Park, Maryland. -- Jim Greenberg & Amy Sherman of PolitiFact ~~~
Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "Leadership at the Justice Department forcefully pushed back against attacks on the bureau, with Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray issuing statements condemning such rhetoric just hours apart on Thursday. Wray made clear Thursday that he sees the attacks as undermining not just the bureau, but the role law enforcement plays in a democracy. 'Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans,' Wray said in a statement.... [Donald] Trump has repeatedly referred to the FBI's search as a raid and suggested multiple times, without evidence, that agents may have been 'planting information.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Josh Campbell, et al., of CNN: "The FBI is investigating an 'unprecedented' number of threats against bureau personnel and property in the wake of the search of ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, including some against agents listed in court records as being involved in the recent search, a law enforcement source tells CNN. On Friday, the names of the two agents who signed the search warrant paperwork circulated online. The names had been included in a version of the search warrant that was leaked prior to the official unsealing of the documents. The version released by the court redacted the agents' names." MB: We know, of course, who released the agents' names. As shocking as it is, Trump and his team certainly seem to want to endanger the lives of federal agents & their families.
Lucia Walinchus, et al., of the New York Times: "A man whom the police say they killed hours after he tried to breach the F.B.I.'s Cincinnati office had been on the radar of the federal authorities for months, two law enforcement officials said on Friday. The officials said federal investigators had been looking into whether the man, Ricky Shiffer, 42, of Columbus, had been involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. They also said the F.B.I. had received a tip about Mr. Shiffer in May that was unrelated to Jan. 6, and agents opened a separate inquiry that included conducting interviews in Florida and Ohio. The F.B.I. acknowledged in a statement that it had received information about Mr. Shiffer before Thursday, but said that the information 'did not contain a specific and credible threat.' The bureau said agents from multiple offices had tried to find and interview him, but had not been successful. A neighbor at an apartment complex in Columbus where Mr. Shiffer lived, who declined to give his name, said federal agents had visited the property a few weeks ago and had asked him questions about Mr. Shiffer...."
Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: Department of Homeland Security Inspector General "Joseph V. Cuffari [--a Trump appointee --] and his staff have refused to release certain documents and tried to block interviews, effectively delaying ... [an investigation], which has now stretched for more than 15 months and evolved into a wide-ranging inquiry into more than a dozen allegations of misconduct raised by whistleblowers and other sources.... That probe, for now, does not include an investigation into the missing Secret Service texts [sent around Jan. 6, 2021], which instead are the subject of multiple congressional inquiries. Some Republican senators have also raised stiff resistance to the wider investigation into Cuffari -- which is being overseen by a panel of federal watchdogs from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).... Led by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) the senators have demanded that investigators scale back records requests from Cuffari's office and pressed them on their motives...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Needless to say, any sentence that begins with the phrase, "Led by Sen. Josh Hawley," can only end in nonsense or worse, unless what is being led by Josh Hawley is cute little puppies.
Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "A Manhattan state court judge on Friday declined to throw out the criminal case against Donald J. Trump's family business and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, clearing the way for a trial in the case scheduled for the fall. Mr. Weisselberg and the business, the Trump Organization, were charged last year by the Manhattan district attorney's office with having engaged in a 15-year scheme in which executives were compensated with hidden benefits so that they could evade taxes. The charges stemmed from the office's long-running investigation into the company's business practices. In February, Mr. Weisselberg and the company filed motions to dismiss the charges, arguing that the case was politically motivated and that the defendants were charged only because of their link with former president Donald J. Trump. The decision marked the latest legal blow to Mr. Trump in a week full of them." Here's a Law & Crime story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Congress gave final approval on Friday to legislation that would reduce the cost of prescription drugs and pour billions of dollars into the effort to slow global warming, as House Democrats overcame united Republican opposition to deliver on key components of President Biden's domestic agenda. With a party-line vote of 220 to 207, the House agreed to the single largest federal investment in the fight against climate change and the most substantial changes to national health care policy since passage of the Affordable Care Act. The bill now goes to Mr. Biden for his signature. The legislation would inject more than $370 billion into climate and energy programs aimed at helping the United States cut greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 40 percent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. It would also extend for three years subsidies to help people afford insurance under the Affordable Care Act, as well as fulfill a long-held Democratic goal to lower the cost of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to directly negotiate prices and capping recipients' annual out-of-pocket drug costs." ~~~
~~~ Michael Shear & Zolan-Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "With final House passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday, President Biden is poised to deliver the latest in a series of legislative victories that will ripple across the country for decades -- lowering the cost of prescription drugs, extending subsidies to help people pay for health insurance, reducing the deficit and investing more than $370 billion into climate and energy programs. 'The choice we face as Americans is whether to protect the already-powerful or find the courage to build a future where everybody has a shot,' Mr. Biden said on Twitter. 'Today, I proudly watched as House Democrats chose families over special interests.'... Taken together, the bills Mr. Biden has helped usher through a closely divided Congress since taking office 18 months ago touch many parts of American society."
Joshua Goodman of the AP: "Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained. Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest. His condition was not immediately known." MB: According to Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, Rushdie suffered a stab wound to the neck. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Update: "The assailant stabbed Mr. Rushdie, 75, in the abdomen and the neck, the police and witnesses said, straining to continue the attack even as several people held him back. Mr. Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital in Erie, Pa., where he was in surgery for several hours on Friday afternoon. Mr. Rushdie's agent, Andrew Wylie, said Friday evening that Mr. Rushdie was on a ventilator and could not speak. 'The news is not good,' Mr. Wylie said in an email. 'Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.' Major Eugene J. Staniszewski of the New York State Police identified the suspect in the attack as Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey man who was arrested at the scene, but said at a news conference late Friday afternoon that there was no indication yet of a motive."
Thomas Fuller of the New York Times: "The leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest Protestant denomination, said on Friday that the church was under investigation by the Justice Department for sexual abuse and that it would 'fully and completely cooperate.' Church leaders said in a statement that multiple branches of the denomination, which includes seminaries and missionary organizations, were under investigation.... In May, leaders of the church published a scathing review that said reports of sexual abuse were suppressed by top church officials for two decades."
Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times: "The polio virus has been detected in wastewater from New York City, suggesting the virus is likely circulating in the city, New York's health authorities said Friday. The announcement came after a man in Rockland County, N.Y., north of the city, was stricken with polio that left him with paralysis. Health officials fear that the detection of polio in New York City's wastewater could be followed by other cases of paralytic polio. The vaccination rate across the city fell slightly during the pandemic, as children's pediatrician visits were postponed. But most adults were vaccinated against polio as children. Across New York State, nearly 80 percent of people have been vaccinated. The spread of the virus poses a risk to unvaccinated people, but the polio vaccine is nearly 100 percent effective in people who have been fully immunized." (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Pennsylvania Senate Race. Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, returned to the campaign trail on Friday evening for his first major public event since he suffered a stroke in mid-May. Mr. Fetterman was by turns emotional and brash as he addressed an exuberant crowd, acknowledging the gravity of the health scare he faced while also slamming his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity physician, and pledging to fight for 'every county, every vote.'... Several people who have spoken with him or heard him speak at private events described him as eager to return to the campaign trail, though some have also said it was evident when he was reaching for a word. He has acknowledged that challenge, and it was at times apparent on Friday when he started a sentence over or spoke haltingly." Politico's story is here.
Wisconsin. 2020 Presidential Election. Scott Bauer of the AP: "Wisconsin's Republican Assembly leader on Friday ended a 14-month, taxpayer-funded inquiry into the 2020 election by firing his hand-picked investigator. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos' firing of Michael Gableman came just three days after the lawmaker narrowly survived a primary challenge from an opponent endorsed by ... Donald Trump and Gableman. While Gableman found no evidence of widespread fraud during his inquiry, he had joined Trump in calling for lawmakers to consider decertifying the 2020 election -- something Vos and legal experts say is unconstitutional and impossible. Vos announced the investigation last year under pressure from Trump and chose Gableman, a conservative former Supreme Court justice, to lead it. But as the investigation progressed, Vos' relationship soured with both Gableman and Trump.... [Gableman's] investigation had drawn bipartisan scorn, and his firing generated bipartisan praise."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "The Kremlin has condemned calls to ban all Russian travelers after [Ukraine's President] Zelensky told The Washington Post he wants Western countries to deny visas to Russians in a bid to deter Moscow from annexing Ukrainian territory. In a nightly address, Zelensky renewed his appeal for a ban.... Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States 'is concerned' by reports of British, Swedish and Croatian nationals being charged by 'illegitimate authorities in eastern Ukraine.' Pro-Moscow separatists in the east have tried foreign nationals for fighting alongside Kyiv.
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