Afternoon Update:
Russ Bynum of the AP: "Jurors on Wednesday convicted the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was chased and fatally shot while running through their neighborhood in an attack that became part of the larger national reckoning on racial injustice. The convictions for Greg McMichael, son Travis McMichael and neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan came after jurors deliberated for about 10 hours. The men face minimum sentences of life in prison. It is up to the judge to decide whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole." The article breaks down the charges & verdicts for each charge. ~~~
~~~ Update. The Washington Post story is here: "The three men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in coastal Georgia last year were convicted of murder Wednesday, in a case that once went 74 days without arrests and that many saw as a test of racial bias in the justice system. The decision was read to the court shortly after 1:30 p.m., after less than two days of deliberations. Members of Arbery's family cried out with joy. Travis McMichael, his father, Greg McMichael, and their neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan were all convicted of felony murder in the shooting of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man -- meaning they committed felonies that caused his death. They were also found guilty of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and attempt to falsely imprison. But Bryan and the elder McMichael were acquitted of malice murder, which involves intent to kill. Each defendant now faces a potential penalty of life in prison without parole. All men still face federal hate crime charges."
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "... among [Kevin McCarthy's] most audacious assertions [made last Thursday night & Friday morning during his marathon House floor speech] was that [President] Biden was to blame for the country's failure to quell the pandemic. Mr. McCarthy used this line of attack even as members of his own Republican Party have spent months flouting mask ordinances and blocking the president's vaccine mandates, and the party's base has undermined vaccination drives while rallying around those who refuse the vaccine." Other Republicans are making the same charges.
** Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump ventured into the safe confines of Sean Hannity's show on Tuesday night, where he disclosed that Kyle Rittenhouse had visited him at Mar-a-Lago. 'Really a nice young man,' the former president declared.... But what came next is more troubling -- and more revealing about the Trump movement's darker impulses. 'He should not have had to suffer through a trial,' Trump said, suggesting Rittenhouse had almost been killed by one of his victims and had rightly killed first. 'He should never have been put through that.'... In Trump's telling, the very act of apparently seeking to dispense vigilante justice -- and thus provoking a situation that led to the killing -- amid violence connected to racial justice protests is precisely what should never have been subjected to rule-of-law scrutiny.... Writing at the Atlantic, Adam Serwer connects this tendency to elements of right-wing gun culture that rely on constant invocations of leftist tyranny to inspire and justify preparation for armed resistance to it." ~~~
~~~ Marie: That is, to "preserve the rule of law," Trump & his ilk say "good people" have to gun down liberals who protest the status quo. When a former president* says something like this, none of us is safe. When he said the Charlottesville neo-Nazis & white supremacists were "good people," this is what he meant. When he said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without consequence, he meant, "shoot a liberal" or "shoot a person of color."
Gabby Orr of CNN: "A pair of payments [totaling $121,670] the Republican National Committee made to a law firm representing ... Donald Trump [regarding his business practices] is raising questions among former and current GOP officials about the party's priorities in a critical election year and its ability to remain neutral -- as long-standing RNC rules require -- in the 2024 presidential primary.... Some RNC members and donors accused the party of running afoul of its own neutrality rules and misplacing its priorities. Some of these same officials who spoke to CNN also questioned why the party would foot the legal bills of a self-professed billionaire who was sitting on a $102 million war chest as recently as July and has previously used his various political committees to cover legal costs.... 'This is not normal. Nothing about this is normal, especially since he's not only a former President but a billionaire,' said a former top RNC official."
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Josh Boak & Colleen Long of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered 50 million barrels of oil released from America's strategic reserve to help bring down energy costs, in coordination with other major energy consuming nations, including India, the United Kingdom and China. The U.S. action is aimed at global energy markets, but also at U.S. voters who are coping with higher inflation and rising prices ahead of Thanksgiving and winter holiday travel. Gasoline prices are at about $3.40 a gallon, more than 50% higher than a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association. The government will begin to move barrels into the market in mid to late December. But the action is unlikely to immediately bring down gas prices significantly as families begin traveling for the holidays. Gasoline usually responds at a lag to changes in oil prices, and administration officials suggested this is one of several steps toward ultimately bringing down costs." (Also linked yesterday.)
Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "President Biden plans on Wednesday to nominate Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, to become the agency's permanent leader after months without one, according to a person familiar with the matter. Ms. Young, a deputy director who has been the interim leader since spring, would officially take the helm at a critical time for the office, which oversees the federal budget and shapes a host of regulations.... The post has languished for months as one of the few high-level openings in the administration after the White House in March pulled its initial pick for budget director, Neera Tanden, who drew bipartisan criticism in part over vitriolic tweets targeting congressional members from both parties." CNN's report is here. MB: Uh-oh, another woman of color. Let's see what Sen. Foghorn Leghorn can do to disparage Young. Luckily, Kennedy will knock Young with "folksy humor," as is appropriate for a senator playing a cartoon character.
Teaganne Finn of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's Build Back Better package would raise, not lower, taxes for millionaires, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation in a major correction from the group's original analysis. The committee an official scorekeeper of tax-related legislation, originally estimated that the $1.7 trillion safety net and climate change bill would give millionaires a net tax cut in 2022, but the revised estimates released Tuesday show millionaires' average tax rate going up by 3.2 percentage points next year." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** A Bad Day for White Nationalists. Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "Jurors on Tuesday found the main organizers of the deadly right-wing rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 liable under state law for injuries to counterprotesters, awarding more than $25 million in damages. But the jury deadlocked on federal conspiracy charges. The case in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville was brought by nine plaintiffs, four men and five women, including four people injured in the same car attack that killed one counterprotester, 32-year-old Heather Heyer.... All were seeking compensatory and unspecified punitive damages.... The defendants, 10 individuals and 14 organizations, were a mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who used the rally in Charlottesville to mobilize supporters and show that they were a force on the streets, not just on the internet. This developing story will be updated." The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) NPR's story is here.
A Bad Day for White Nationalists, Ctd. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House committee investigating the Capitol attack issued subpoenas on Tuesday to three militia or paramilitary groups, including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, that investigators believe have information about the deadly siege on Jan. 6. The subpoenas were issued to the Proud Boys International, L.L.C., and its chairman Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio; the Oath Keepers and its president Elmer Stewart Rhodes; and the 1st Amendment Praetorian and its chairman Robert Patrick Lewis.... Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, said in a statement[,] 'We believe the individuals and organizations we subpoenaed today have relevant information about how violence erupted at the Capitol and the preparation leading up to this violent attack.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Politico's story is here.
Aaron Davis, et al., of the Washington Post: "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is increasingly focused on law enforcement failures that preceded the insurrection, scrutinizing in particular multiple warnings of possible violence that went unheeded by the FBI, according to people familiar with its work and individuals who have been contacted by the committee. Donell Harvin, the former head of intelligence for D.C.'s homeland security department, said he has met twice in the past two weeks with committee investigators, who he said appeared intent on understanding how information was shared between agencies in the weeks before the attack. Harvin -- whose team was in charge of assessing threats to D.C. -- said he told committee investigators that he did not learn of the warnings received by the FBI in advance of Jan. 6 until months after the Capitol siege. 'I told them that I think there needs to be a big discussion about how we look at domestic intelligence, because right now, it's fragmented,' he said."
Trumpettes Used Burner Phones to Plan Insurrection Event. John Wright of the Raw Story: "Organizers of the Jan. 6 'Stop the Steal' rally reportedly used 'burner phones' purchased with cash to communicate with former president Donald Trump's team -- including his son Eric Trump, daughter-in-law Lara Trump, chief of staff Mark Meadows, and campaign consultant Katrina Pierson. 'Kylie Kremer, a top official in the "March for Trump" group that helped plan the Ellipse rally, directed an aide to pick up three burner phones days before Jan. 6, according to three sources who were involved in the event,' Rolling Stone reported Tuesday night. 'One of the sources, a member of the "March for Trump" team, says Kremer insisted the phones be purchased using cash and described this as being "of the utmost importance."'" The Rolling Stone story, by Hunter Walker, is firewalled. MB: Gosh, most people who use burner phones are criminals engaged in criminal activity who are trying to hide their criminal communications from law enforcement. ~~~
~~~ Rayne of emptywheel: "Sending someone who isn't a Kremer to buy a burner phone with cash to evade tracing suggests Kylie Kremer knew exactly what the role of her organization, Women to Save America First, was within the framework of the insurrection.... Why was [Mark] Meadows involved in any way given his role as the Chief of Staff, which should have been wholly separate from any campaign-related effort? Whether Meadows interacted with Kremers or other members of the conspiracy as COS (a Hatch Act violation) or as a campaign member (not shielded as executive acts), he's thoroughly shot through any claim to immunity or privilege.... The purchase of the burner phones ... look like an overt act to advance a conspiracy (18 USC 371)." Rayne wonders if there's a domestic terror indictment in Meadows' future.
Uneasy Lies the Head upon MyPillow. Josephine Harvey of the Huffington Post: "MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on Tuesday released a copy of his long-promised Supreme Court complaint to overturn the 2020 presidential election, though it had not actually been filed and it listed the plaintiff as '[insert your state].' The pillow magnate turned conspiracy theorist has vowed again and again that he would file an election fraud complaint directly to the U.S. Supreme Court that would somehow reinstate Donald Trump as president.... On Tuesday evening, he published a copy of the complaint on his website, though it appeared to be missing some essential components and he had apparently failed to get any state attorneys general to sign on to it. 'We are in unchartered territory as a Nation. The November 2020 election was stolen,' the complaint begins, before launching into a series of false and debunked allegations about supposed illegal voting in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Pennsylvania.'" Also, too, the fourth word of the complaint in an error. Mike no doubt means "uncharted." MB: Would this be called a "draft complaint" or a "daft complaint"?
Judge Still Troubled by Freedom of Press. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "A New York trial court judge [-- Charles D. Wood of State Supreme Court in Westchester County --] on Tuesday declined to lift an order that temporarily prohibits The New York Times from publishing or pursuing certain documents related to the conservative group Project Veritas. The judge said at a hearing that he needed additional time to consider arguments and asked for additional briefs next week. The outcome of the hearing leaves in place, for now, an order that The Times and national First Amendment advocates have denounced as a highly unusual instance of a court's intruding on constitutional protections for journalists. Project Veritas has argued that the order does not amount to a major imposition."
Zach Dorfman of Yahoo! News: "In the final month of his presidency, Donald Trump signed off on key parts of an extensive secret Pentagon campaign to conduct sabotage, propaganda and other psychological and information operations in Iran, according to former senior officials who served in his administration.... The plan, which eventually grew to a 200-page package of options, involved 'things that would cause the Iranians to doubt their control over the country, or doubt their ability to fight a war,' said a former senior defense official.... Trump acknowledged that it would have to be carried out by the incoming Biden administration, according to the former official. It is unclear whether the Biden administration has continued to pursue the Trump-approved operations.... Some in the Pentagon, especially within the Joint Staff, impeded the execution of these plans for years, according to former officials.... The last-minute push was the culmination of years of frustration by Trump administration officials over how to wage the shadow conflict with Iran. 'The Joint Staff and CIA were obstructing everything,' said [a] former senior defense official."
Debbie Cenziper, et al., of the Washington Post: "Despite mounting concerns about discriminatory policing, the Trump administration aggressively recruited local law enforcement partners and courted sheriffs who championed similar views on immigration policy, according to dozens of internal ICE emails obtained by The Post.... [A] White House gathering in September 2018 was part of a two-day media and lobbying blitz by the Federation for American Immigration Reform to promote border control and immigration enforcement, including a contentious national program known as 287(g) that for years has drawn support from >... [some] sheriffs. Operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the program empowers state and local law enforcement officers to act with federal authority: questioning, reporting and detaining undocumented immigrants. Although ICE promised that the program would focus only on serious criminals, pro-immigration groups have repeatedly warned that the partnerships enable hard-line sheriffs to target undocumented immigrants leading peaceful lives." (Also linked yesterday.)
Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee is pushing back against a state party leader's call for Ronna [Romney] McDaniel to resign as RNC chairwoman over her outreach to the LGBTQ community. The episode underscores the tension between the national party and some influential parts of the GOP base -- particularly Christian conservatives -- on the issue of LGBTQ rights. In a statement to The Washington Post, RNC spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman John Bennett is 'lying' about the steps the national party plans to take as part of McDaniel's recent move to form the first-ever 'RNC Pride Coalition.'... The Daily Beast reported earlier Tuesday that Bennett sent a lengthy fundraising email in which he said McDaniel 'MUST Change Course or RESIGN' if 'she cannot or will not stand for who we say we are.'" MB: Because who we are is white, straight & Christian. Or something.
Jan Hoffman of the New York Times: "A federal jury in Cleveland on Tuesday found that three of the nation's largest pharmacy chains -- CVS Health, Walmart and Walgreens -- had substantially contributed to the crisis of opioid overdoses and deaths in two Ohio counties, the first time the retail segment of the drug industry has been held accountable in the decades-long epidemic. After hearings in the spring, the trial judge will determine how much each company should pay the counties. The verdict -- the first from a jury in an opioid case -- was encouraging to plaintiffs in thousands of lawsuits nationwide because they are all relying on the same legal strategy: that pharmaceutical companies contributed to a 'public nuisance,' a claim that plaintiffs contend covers the public health crisis created by opioids. The public nuisance argument was rejected twice this month, by judges in California and Oklahoma in state cases against opioid manufacturers."
Dollar-and-a-Quarter Tree Store. Nathaniel Meyersohn of CNN: "Dollar Tree will soon be $1.25 tree. The company -- one of America's last remaining true dollar stores -- said Tuesday it will raise prices from $1 to $1.25 on the majority of its products by the first quarter of 2022. The change is a sign of the pressures low-cost retailers face holding down prices during a period of rising inflation. Dollar Tree (DLTR) said in a quarterly earnings release Tuesday that its decision to raise prices to $1.25 permanently, however, was 'not a reaction to short-term or transitory market conditions.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd., Brought to You by the Unvaccinated
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "... more people in the United States have died from Covid-19 this year than died last year, before vaccines were available. As of Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded 386,233 deaths involving Covid-19 in 2021, compared with 385,343 in 2020. The final number for this year will be higher.... Covid-1 has also accounted for a higher percentage of U.S. deaths this year than it did last year: about 13 percent compared with 11 percent. Experts say the higher death toll is a result of a confluence of factors: most crucially lower-than-needed vaccination rates, but also the relaxation of everyday precautions, like masks and social distancing, and the rise of the highly contagious Delta variant."
Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to reinstate its coronavirus vaccination or testing requirement for private businesses 'as soon as possible' and to get rid of an earlier ruling that has temporarily blocked one of the White House's signature policies, set to take effect in January. Dozens of legal challenges primarily from Republican-led states, private employers and conservative groups have been consolidated before a single court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Before the cases were combined this month, a different set of judges halted the policy, finding that the Labor Department exceeded its authority and caused 'economic uncertainty' and 'upheaval' for businesses that 'threatens to decimate their workforces.'... The conservative-leaning 6th Circuit could respond at any time. Regardless of its ruling, the case is likely to be decided by the Supreme Court."
Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning on Jan. 22, the administration planned to announce. A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings the rules for essential travelers in line with those that took effect earlier this month for leisure travelers, when the U.S. reopened its borders to fully vaccinated individuals."
How Could This Have Happened? Maya Lang of the Guardian: "Seven anti-vaccine doctors fell sick after gathering earlier this month for a Florida 'summit' at which alternative treatments for Covid-19 were discussed. 'I have been on ivermectin for 16 months, my wife and I,' Dr Bruce Boros told the audience at the event held at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, adding: 'I have never felt healthier in my life.' The 71-year-old cardiologist and staunch anti-vaccine advocate contracted Covid-19 two days later, according to the head event organizer, Dr John Littell.... I think they had gotten it from New York or Michigan or wherever they were from,' [Littell] told the [Daily] Beast. 'It was really the people who flew in from other places.' He also said: 'Everybody so far has responded to treatment with ivermectin ... Bruce is doing well.' The Beast said sources close to Boros said he was gravely ill at his Key West home."
Beyond the Beltway
State Legislatures Have Already Decided the 2022 Elections. Ashlyn Still, et al., of the Washington Post: "From Texas to Oregon, competitive congressional districts are disappearing. As states finalize new borders ahead of the 2022 midterms, state legislatures are approving maps they hope will advantage one party in the coming struggle to control the narrowly held U.S. House. In the 15 states that approved new congressional district maps as of Monday morning, the number of districts where the 2020 presidential margin was within five percentage points has fallen from 23 to just 10, according to a Post analysis. The new maps in those states have already netted a double-digit increase in solidly Republican seats compared with previous maps there."
Florida. Tim Fitzsimons of NBC News: "Brian Laundrie died from a gunshot wound to the head and his manner of death was a suicide, according to a statement from the Laundrie family attorney.... Investigators [had] named him a 'person of interest' in [Gabby] Petito's disappearance...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Georgia. Tim Craig & Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Jurors began deliberations just before noon Tuesday in the murder trial of the three men accused of killing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery last year. Judge Timothy Walmsley read jurors their instructions after prosecutors made their final rebuttal to the defense's closing argument. Cobb County senior district attorney Linda Dunikoski told jurors that the three White men -- Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan -- jumped to conclusions about a 'Black man running down the street' before pursuing Arbery in pickup trucks and confronting him in their suburban Georgia neighborhood. Rebutting the defense's closing arguments Tuesday morning, she called part of their strategy 'offensive' and clashed with them over the meaning of a law central to the case -- Georgia's since-overhauled statute allowing citizen's arrests." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times liveblogged developments in the trial of three men accused of killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Also linked yesterday.)
Hawaii. Maria Cramer of the New York Times: "A man was forced to spend more than two years in a psychiatric hospital, where he was medicated until he became 'catatonic,' an ordeal that began after the police in Hawaii mistook him for another person wanted for a crime, according to a federal lawsuit. Joshua Spriestersbach, 50, was homeless in May 2017 and fell asleep outside a shelter in Honolulu, where he had been waiting in line to get food. An officer woke him up and arrested him on a warrant for a crime he had not committed. It was the third time in six years that the police in Honolulu had confused Mr. Spriestersbach for another man who was wanted on drug-related charges." The Honolulu Star-Advertiser story is here. MB: Spriesterbach is living with his sister in Vermont now. I hope he wins his suit & gets enough money out of it to put his life back in order.
Missouri. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "A judge on Tuesday exonerated [Kevin Strickland] after more than 43 years in prison, making his case the longest confirmed wrongful-conviction case in Missouri's history -- and one of the longest-standing such convictions in the nation's history. He was released shortly after the judge issued his decision. Strickland was convicted of the 1978 murders of Sherrie Black, 22, Larry Ingram, 21, and John Walker, 20, even though no physical evidence linked him to the crime scene, family members provided alibis and the admitted killers said he was not there. The case was built on the testimony of Cynthia Douglas, the sole survivor and eyewitness, who later attempted multiple times to recant her testimony because she said she was pressured by police.... While legal experts and elected officials in both parties supported Strickland's case for exoneration, top Republicans in Missouri pushed back. Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R), who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2022, said he believed Strickland committed the murders." An AP story is here.
New York. Jeffery Mays & Annie Correal of the New York Times: "New York City lawmakers are poised to allow more than 800,000 New Yorkers who are green card holders or have the legal right to work in the United States to vote in municipal elections and for local ballot initiatives. The bill, known as 'Our City, Our Vote,' would make New York City the largest municipality in the country to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Wisconsin. Mitch Smith, et al., of the New York Times: "The authorities in Waukesha accused Darrell E. Brooks, 39, of killing six people and wounding more than 60 others in the attack at the parade on Sunday evening. They said he had been fleeing a nearby domestic dispute that may have involved a knife -- an apparent reference to the earlier incident at the park. Mr. Brooks, who cried at the defense table in his first court appearance on Tuesday afternoon, was charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide and ordered held on $5 million cash bail. Prosecutors said they learned of the sixth death, of an 8-year-old boy, on Tuesday and intended to file another homicide charge." MB: After ending the lives of six people and ruining the lives of countless others, Darrell is feeling sorry for himself because he will never get out of jail again. Fucking sociopath.
News Lede
CNBC: "The ranks of those submitting jobless claims tumbled to their lowest level in more than 52 years last week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. New filings totaled 199,000, a number not seen since Nov. 15, 1969, when claims totaled 197,000. The report easily beat Dow Jones estimates of 260,000 and was well below the previous week's 270,000." Emphasis added.
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