January 7, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Marie: RAS raises an excellent point in today's Comments. Why weren't Republicans at least at Thursday's ceremonies honoring the police officers who saved their lives a year earlier? Where was Mitt Romney? Where was Mike Pence, for Pete's sake? Our last image of him might be of his broken, limp body hanging from the gallows in front of the Capitol if not for D.C. and Capitol police. Republicans' ingratitude is stunning.

Nick Niedzwiadek & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday invited President Joe Biden to deliver his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on March 1."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority seemed skeptical on Friday that the Biden administration has the legal power to mandate that the nation's large employers require workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or to undergo frequent testing. A federal workplace safety law, they indicated during a two-hour argument, did not provide legal authority for the sweeping emergency measure. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch said the states and Congress, rather than a federal agency, were better situated to address the pandemic. Justice Amy Coney Barrett said the challenged regulation appeared to reach too broadly in covering all large employers. Justices Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh suggested that the governing statute had not authorized the agency to impose the mandate clearly enough...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Liptak slyly notes that the Supremes have imposed strict Covid protocols for their workplace. But, you know, if a liberal does it, it must be wrong. ~~~

~~~ Oh, Guess What? Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "Ohio's solicitor general, Ben Flowers, participated in Supreme Court oral arguments [against] the Biden administration's vaccine mandates remotely on Friday after testing positive for Covid. He had been vaccinated and boosted against the disease [MB: which almost certainly is why he reportedly had mild symptoms].... The Supreme Court had required participants to take a PCR test Thursday, which detected the virus in Flowers, Irwin said, 'so for that reason, he is arguing remotely.' Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill also made remote arguments before the court against the mandates on Friday 'in accordance with Covid protocols,' according to a statement her office gave to Reuters, but the statement did not elaborate further."

Steve Erlanger of the New York Times: "NATO foreign ministers met virtually on Friday to prepare their responses to Russia's ongoing military buildup near Ukraine amid general skepticism about Moscow's willingness to de-escalate and negotiate in earnest. After the meeting, the NATO secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, warned that 'the risk of conflict is real' involving a further Russian invasion of Ukraine. But he asserted that the 30-member alliance was united in its desire for peaceful diplomacy. If diplomacy fails, he said, the alliance is prepared to continue supporting the integrity and independence of Ukraine both 'politically and practically' while creating 'significant consequences' that 'carry a heavy price for Russia.'... The meeting was a chance to confirm allied agreement about how to respond to varying Russian actions, and, importantly, an opportunity for Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to consult with allies and brief them about the U.S. position before U.S.-Russia bilateral talks next week in Geneva." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I get that isolating Russia as much as possible & imposing harsh economic sanctions are about all its adversaries can do here, short of some form of violence. But looming over these "solutions" -- in my mind -- is what happened when other Western powers, including the U.S., tried to bring Germany to its knees after World War I. It is possible that the Russian people will blame Putin for forcing them into bread lines; on the other hand, they're apt to show some national pride & resent the countries that sanctioned their country -- just as 20th-century Germans did. As for a better solution on dealing with Russian aggression, I don't have one.

Sad News. Dartunorro Clark of NBC News: "Cyber Ninjas, the company that led a partisan review of 2020 ballots in Arizona, is closing down following a scathing report by election officials and the threat of $50,000 a day in fines. 'Cyber Ninjas is shutting down. All employees have been let go,' Rod Thomson, the company's representative, said in a text message Thursday evening. The Florida-based company, founded in 2013, has less than a dozen employees, according to its LinkedIn page.... Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah said he would impose a $50,000 fine against Cyber Ninjas every day until it hands over documents related to the so-called audit after the Arizona Republic newspaper filed a public records request, The Associated Press reported Thursday." MB: Seems to me that even if Cyber Ninjas closes down, principals of the defunct company will have to provide the court-ordered docs or pay the daily fines.

Foiled by the Googles. Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: "Ever since he broke out of Rome's Rebibbia prison 20 years ago where he was facing murder charges, Gioacchino Gammino had managed to evade capture. He fled to Spain, changed his name and cut off ties with his family, creating a new life for himself, at one point working as a chef in an Italian restaurant. But last month, Italian investigators finally tracked down Mr. Gammino, 61, in a town northwest of Madrid, thanks in part to ... Google Maps.... Investigators had used the Google tools to look up a fruit and vegetable store -- 'El Huerto de Manu' -- that they believed could have ties to the fugitive, and happened upon an image of a man standing in front of the store. The man in the image had the same size and build as Mr. Gammino...."

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The Washington Post's live updates of events related to the commemoration of last year's insurrection are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

** Mary Jalonick, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Thursday forcefully condemned Donald Trump's election 'big lie' that sparked the deadly breach of the Capitol by his supporters and continues to motivate deep national division. He marked the anniversary of the insurrection by declaring he will stand and fight for 'the soul of America.' Biden's criticism was blistering of the 'defeated president' who he blamed for the attack that has fundamentally changed Congress and raised global concerns about the future of American democracy. 'For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,' Biden said. 'But they failed.' His voice booming at times, filling the ornate hall with statues of the country's leaders and heroes, he said called on Americans to see Jan. 6 for what it was. 'Democracy was attacked,' Biden said at the Capitol. 'We the people endure. We the people prevailed.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The text of President Biden's speech is here. The text of Vice President Harris's remarks at the Capitol is here. Both via the White House. ~~~

~~~ Tyler Pager & Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: President "Biden's remarks do not mark a permanent shift in strategy about how to handle Trump, according to the president's aides and allies. Rather, they said, Biden felt he had no choice but to directly address Trump's culpability in the Capitol insurrection last Jan. 6 and the threat he poses to democracy. 'You can't talk about what happened on January 6 without talking about the former president's role in it,' Mike Donilon, a White House senior adviser, said in an interview. 'There's no way to be truthful about what happened there without doing that.' Biden and his team also calculated that his speech at Thursday's remembrance event would draw maximum media attention." ~~~

     ~~~ Jeff Zeleny, et al., of CNN: "It was only a little more than a month ago when President Joe Biden, asked about another head-shaking revelation regarding his predecessor, seemed to balk at a mere mention of the man. 'I don't think about the former President,' he claimed, pausing for dramatic effect before walking offstage at the White House. But on Thursday, it was evident Biden has actually been thinking quite a lot about Donald Trump.... Biden ... helped write some of the lines [in Thursday's speech] himself.... The speech harkened back to themes from Biden's campaign, when he repeatedly pledged to 'restore the soul of the nation.' It was, he said again and again, the central reason for jumping back into the political arena on a mission to defeat Trump."

~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The extraordinary moment, in which a sitting president accused his predecessor of holding 'a dagger at the throat of America, at American democracy,' marked a sharp pivot in Mr. Biden's strategy for dealing with Mr. Trump and his continuing promotion of the baseless assertion that the 2020 election was marred by fraud." ~~~

~~~ Marie: On Thursday, Republicans like Lindsey Graham complained about Biden's "brazen politicization" of the insurrection. Really? There was a time, not so very long ago, when every national politician -- no matter his party or political philosophy -- would have spoken out against sedition and insurrection. Politicians may not have given many speeches against attempts to overthrow the government, but that is because such speeches were unnecessary. They did give flowery, "patriotic" speeches, of course, about Constitutional principles and democratic "values." None would have considered the premise of Biden's speech -- that a violent attack on the Capitol was "a dagger at the throat of ... American democracy" -- to be even vaguely controversial. In a country that is not united by race or religion or social and economic experience, the uniting element is a shared adherence to Western democratic principles and norms. Or it was.

~~~ ** Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The president's address began a commemoration that ... only underscored just how riven the country remains a year after rioters armed with hockey sticks, baseball bats, crutches, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, bear spray and stolen police batons broke into the Capitol to disrupt the counting of the Electoral College votes ratifying Mr. Trump's defeat. Democrats ... marked the anniversary with a day of events, including speeches, personal testimony, a panel of historians, videos, moments of silence and a candlelight vigil, while Republicans by and large stayed away and refused to participate. No Republican senators showed up on the floor for a session of remarks recalling that day. Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of Mr. Trump's most vocal critics, was the only elected member of her party to join a moment of silence in the House chamber, bringing along her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "By shunning Thursday's commemoration of the Jan. 6 attack, Republican leaders, as usual, left a vacuum that let the wing nuts speak for the party. Trumpian Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced that they would give 'a Republican response,' on the Jan. 6 anniversary, and in the absence of any other Republican response, theirs became the Republican response.... And so, in a meeting room in the Cannon House Office Building, two flights up from where Democratic lawmakers were at the same time recalling their personal horrors from Jan. 6, the duo spent 37 minutes telling reporters that Jan. 6 was a 'fed-surrection,' a plot perpetrated by the FBI.... In his address Thursday from the Capitol, President Biden asked: 'Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth, but in the shadow of lies? We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation.' But the Republicans' ongoing attempt to disappear Jan. 6 shows that we already are."

Jake Johnson of Common Dreams: "... lofty rhetoric and symbolic commemorations of the deadly Capitol assault won't change the fact that congressional Democrats are running out of time to thwart the GOP's sweeping attacks on the franchise ahead of the crucial 2022 midterms, in which Republicans are well-positioned to gerrymander their way back to control of the House of Representatives.... 'This anniversary calls not only for commemoration, but also for action -- urgently,' Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a statement Thursday. "If Congress fails to pass legislation to secure the right to vote and protect Americans' democratic freedoms, we invite these attacks to continue.'"

Ellie Silverman, et al., of the Washington Post: Harper "White, a 25-year-old legislative assistant and correspondent for Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.), spoke to a crowd of hundreds on Thursday outside the Capitol on the anniversary of a violent mob's entry into the building. [Other speakers included House Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) & Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)]... Less than three miles away [outside the back entrance to the D.C. jail], a much smaller crowd -- including the mother of Ashli Babbitt, the pro-Trump rioter who was killed when she stormed the Capitol last January -- gathered outside the D.C. jail to support people who were charged in the insurrection and are being held there. These rival events reflect the fact that a year after the Capitol riot, much of the country remains divided on what happened."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "Many conservative media outlets covered Thursday's anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot by lobbing criticism at Mr. Biden for his morning speech.... One chief narrative on conservative platforms was the notion that Democrats and mainstream journalists had overblown the attack on the Capitol and were overly fixated on Thursday's commemoration of Jan. 6, which marked the first interruption of the peaceful transfer of power in American history.... Still, there were long stretches where Fox News entirely set aside the subject of the Capitol attack." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Both CNN & MSNBC devoted most of their coverage Thursday to the insurrection & related stories. During a commercial break, I found Fox "News" on the dial: a host & a guest were discussing how George Soros controlled American district attorneys.

Betsy Swan, et al., of Politico: "Then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was inside Democratic National Committee headquarters on Jan. 6, 2021, when a pipe bomb was discovered outside the building, according to four people familiar with her movements that day. Capitol Police began investigating the pipe bomb at 1:07 p.m., according to an official Capitol Police timeline of events obtained by Politico. The timeline says that Capitol Police and the Secret Service evacuated an unnamed 'protectee' at approximately 1:14 p.m, seven minutes later. The four people, among them a White House official and a former law enforcement official, confirmed that Harris was the Secret Service protectee identified in the timeline.... Harris' presence inside the building while a bomb was right outside raises sobering questions about her security that day. It also raises the chilling prospect that the riots could have been far more destructive than they already were, with the incoming vice president's life directly endangered." The Washington Post's story is here.

Mark Moore of the New York Post:"Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday that ... Donald Trump 'gleefully' watched television coverage of the Capitol riot in a private dining room at the White House and praised how his supporters were 'fighting' for him.... 'All I know about that day was, he was in the dining room gleefully watching on his TV as he often did, [saying] "Look at all of the people fighting for me," hitting rewind, watching it again,' Grisham said.&" MB: According to an on-air report I heard, Grisham was not at the White House on Jan. 6 but learned about Trump's reactions from other staff who observed him. ~~~

~~~ Jim Acosta of CNN: "A former Trump White House official said ... Donald Trump initially refused to tweet the words 'stay peaceful' as the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was escalating.... Trump tweeted at 2:38 p.m. ET that day: 'Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!' The tweet came 20 minutes after Trump supporters were smashing through windows and evacuations of lawmakers had begun. The former official ... said Trump did not want to include the words 'stay peaceful' and was 'very reluctant to put out anything when it was unfolding.' Trump was 'letting it play out,' the official said of the violence at the Capitol. Top Trump aides -- including the then-President's daughter, Ivanka, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows -- were pleading with Trump to call off the mob, the ex-aide said. Those officials eventually convinced Trump to include the 'stay peaceful' message in the tweet about the Capitol Police, the former aide added."

About Mo. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, former [Kevin] McCarthy staffer Ryan O'Toole recalled sheltering with lawmakers who were hiding in fear after a mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol.... [However,] 'You had some members express a different view,' he said. 'One member, Mo Brooks for example, was glad. He was cheering on the fact that the 117th congress had started this way. That was much to the dismay of others in the room.'" MB: I suppose the reason Mo thought the attack was a laugh riot was that he (1) had foreknowledge of the insurrection, so (2) was probably still wearing body armor.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: After Ted Cruz rightly called the Capitol insurrection a "terrorist attack" on Wednesday -- and not for the first time -- Fox "News" host & VIP Tucker Carlson criticized Cruz. So Ted asked to appear on Tucker's Thursday night show, whereupon TuKKK "began the interview by calling Cruz a liar -- repeatedly -- and Cruz didn't even directly dispute the premise." Cruz's groveling at Tucker's feet continued from there.

Mean Judge Nixes Insurrectionist's Jamaican Vacay. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: Anthony "Williams, a Michigan man accused of storming the U.S. Capitol a year ago in what he allegedly called the 'proudest day of my life,' can't travel outside the country without a federal judge's approval. So on Thursday, the anniversary of the Capitol riot, he filed a motion to [vacation with his girlfriend in Jamaica]. Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell denied his request within hours.... Williams is indicted on five charges, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and has pleaded not guilty."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Friday are here.

Jacob Bogage & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: "The White House is finalizing details with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver 500 million coronavirus test kits to households across the country, according to four people familiar with the plans, kick-starting a key part of President Biden's response to the raging omicron variant. The administration will launch a website allowing individuals to request the rapid tests.... Officials aim to begin shipping the kits by mid-January."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Friday on the legality of two initiatives at the heart of the Biden administration's efforts to address the coronavirus in the workplace. The challengers -- states led by Republican officials, businesses, religious groups and others -- say Congress has not authorized the measures, adding that they are unnecessary and in some ways counterproductive. The administration says that workplace safety and health care laws have given it ample authority to take bold action in the face of a lethal pandemic."

New Jersey. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "One in every three residents of [an Edison,] New Jersey, nursing home for frail military veterans died as the [corona]virus raced unchecked through the state-run facility.... [One-hundred-one] residents who died in the first eight months of the pandemic.... A state-run veterans home in Paramus ... had an equally devastating death toll: 89. Now, in a sober acknowledgment of failings, New Jersey has agreed to pay $53 million to families of 119 veterans who lived in the two facilities. The families had been preparing to file lawsuits that accused the state of gross negligence. The average payout is expected to be roughly $445,000 as part of an out-of-court settlement that is believed to be the first of its kind nationwide.... Similar lawsuits are pending across the country against private and public nursing homes."

Beyond the Beltway

Oregon Gubernatorial Race. Mike Baker of the New York Times: "Nicholas Kristof, a former New York Times columnist seeking to become the next governor of Oregon, does not qualify to run for the office this year because he failed to meet the state's three-year residency requirement, state officials announced on Thursday. Secretary of State Shemia Fagan said the decision came after the agency reviewed the voting and taxpaying history of Mr. Kristof, including his registration as an Oregon voter in December 2020 after having been previously registered in New York.... Mr. Kristof said that he planned to challenge the decision in court and that he was confident he would prevail." Politico's report is here.

Virginia. Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "A rare confirmation battle is brewing around the nomination of Andrew Wheeler, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency under ... Donald J. Trump, to take a similar role in an incoming Republican state administration in Virginia. Democratic leaders said they would try to block Mr. Wheeler from taking charge of conservation programs, environmental cleanups and climate change initiatives like the ones he opposed as E.P.A. administrator. Resistance to Mr. Wheeler began building just moments after his nomination to be natural resources secretary was announced on Wednesday by Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who will be sworn in on Jan. 15."

Way Beyond

Kazakhstan. Ivan Nechepurenko, et al., of the New York Times: "The authoritarian leader of Kazakhstan said Friday that he had authorized the nation's security forces to 'fire without warning' as the government moved to bring an end to two days of chaos and violence after peaceful protests descended into scenes of anarchy. 'We hear calls from abroad for the parties to negotiate to find a peaceful solution to the problems,' President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in an address to the nation. 'This is just nonsense. What negotiations can there be with criminals and murderers,' he said. 'They need to be destroyed and this will be done.' The government said that order had been 'mainly restored' across the country as Russian troops joined with the country's security forces to quell widespread unrest." ~~~

~~~ Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "... if the turmoil in Kazakhstan has once again exposed the vulnerability of the strongman leaders the Kremlin has trusted to keep order, it has also presented Russia with yet another opportunity to reassert its influence in its former Soviet domain, one of Mr. Putin's most cherished long-term goals. The arrival in Kazakhstan of 2,500 troops from a Russian-led military alliance amid continuing spasms of violent protest was the fourth time in just two years that Moscow has flexed its muscle in neighboring states -- Belarus, Armenia and Ukraine being the other three -- that the West has long tried to woo.... And once Russian troops arrive, they seldom, if ever, go home."

News Ledes

When you walk through the door of opportunity, you have one responsibility, and that is to make sure you leave the door open. -- Sidney Poitier, to a friend, Franklyn Wilson, a former Bahamanian cabinet minister ~~~

~~~ CNN: "Sidney Poitier, whose elegant bearing and principled onscreen characters made him Hollywood's first Black movie star and the first Black man to win the best actor Oscar, has died. He was 94." Update: Poitier's New York Times obituary is here. ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "President Biden, Former President Barack Obama, Harry Belafonte, Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey and others paid tribute to Mr. Poitier. Flags in the Bahamas, where he grew up, were lowered to half-staff." This is a live-blog, with some interesting items.

CNBC: "The U.S. economy added far fewer jobs than expected in December just as the nation was grappling with a massive surge in Covid cases, the Labor Department said Friday. Nonfarm payrolls grew by 199,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That compared to the Dow Jones estimate of 422,000 for the payrolls number and 4.1% for the unemployment rate."

January 6, 2022

Late Morning Update:

The Washington Post's live updates of events related to the commemoration of last year's insurrection are here.

** Mary Jalonick, et al., of the AP: “President Joe Biden on Thursday forcefully condemned Donald Trump’s election 'big lie' that sparked the deadly breach of the Capitol by his supporters and continues to motivate deep national division. He marked the anniversary of the insurrection by declaring he will stand and fight for 'the soul of America.' Biden’s criticism was blistering of the 'defeated president' who he blamed for the attack that has fundamentally changed Congress and raised global concerns about the future of American democracy. 'For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,' Biden said. 'But they failed.' His voice booming at times, filling the ornate hall with statues of the country’s leaders and heroes, he said called on Americans to see Jan. 6 for what it was. 'Democracy was attacked,' Biden said at the Capitol. 'We the people endure. We the people prevailed.'” ~~~

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The New York Times is live-updating events related to the commemoration of the January 6 insurrection.

Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: “President Biden will squarely blame ... Donald Trump for the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and for continuing to propagate falsehoods and unrest over the past year, when he speaks Thursday on the first anniversary of the insurrection. 'President Biden will lay out the significance of what happened at the Capitol, the singular responsibility President Trump has for the chaos and carnage that we saw,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. She added that Biden 'has been clear-eyed about the threat the former president represents to our democracy and how the former president constantly works to undermine basic American values and rule of law.'... Biden and Vice President Harris plan to deliver remarks at 9 a.m. Thursday in Statuary Hall, a marble-filled chamber in the Capitol that was breached by the insurrectionists.”

Katie Benner of the New York Times: “Under pressure from Democrats and a few Republicans to hold ... Donald J. Trump accountable for his role in inspiring the attack on the Capitol, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland [said] on Wednesday..., 'The Justice Department remains committed to holding all Jan. 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.'... Several of the attorney general’s remarks appeared to respond to critics who have urged him to say more about the department’s investigation into what he called 'an unprecedented attack on the seat of our democracy,' and to address whether investigators were scrutinizing Mr. Trump.... Mr. Garland did not mention Mr. Trump or any specific investigation the department might be pursuing.” (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Video of the AG's speech is here. ~~~

~~~ David Rohde of the New Yorker: “Despite Garland’s attempts to divorce the Justice Department from politically charged prosecutions, it is increasingly clear that investigating Trump is becoming the defining issue of his tenure.... In an era when the majority of Republicans falsely believe that the 2020 election was fraudulent and the majority of Democrats think that it was not, Garland will be demonized no matter what action he takes regarding Trump. The Attorney General, based on his speech, continues to believe that he can restore 'normal order' — a Justice Department term for basing decisions on whether to charge defendants strictly on the facts of a case. He continues to believe that the majority of Americans still support [that] principle.... At the moment, that belief, for Garland and all Americans, is an enormous political gamble.” Firewalled. ~~~

The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. -- Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) in announcing her vote to impeach ...

~~~ Lock Him Up. George Conway in a Washington Post op-ed: “If Garland means what he says, then the investigative road must lead prosecutors to the individual most responsible for the events of Jan. 6:... Donald Trump.... As the pawns meet their fates, the man who led them to try to stop the peaceful, democratic transfer of power remains safe in his Palm Beach palace.... Not only did Trump deceive the mob, but also he directed it.... The Justice Department has plenty of statutory tools available [to charge Trump].... Most notably, it could invoke one of the same provisions it has applied to individual rioters: Title 18, section 1512(c)(2) of the U.S. Code punishes 'whoever corruptly … obstructs … or impedes any official proceeding.' The statute makes clear that an 'official proceeding' includes one 'before the Congress.'... The criminal code provides that whoever 'aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures' the commission of an offense, or 'willfully causes … another' to commit an offense, 'is punishable as a principal,' as though they had directly committed the deed himself.”

** President Jimmy Carter in a New York Times op-ed: "One year ago, a violent mob, guided by unscrupulous politicians, stormed the Capitol and almost succeeded in preventing the democratic transfer of power. All four of us former presidents condemned their actions and affirmed the legitimacy of the 2020 election.... However, one year on, promoters of the lie that the election was stolen have taken over one political party and stoked distrust in our electoral systems.... I now fear that what we have fought so hard to achieve globally — the right to free, fair elections, unhindered by strongman politicians who seek nothing more than to grow their own power — has become dangerously fragile at home.... After I left the White House and founded the Carter Center, we worked to promote free, fair and orderly elections across the globe.... I have also seen how new democratic systems — and sometimes even established ones — can fall to military juntas or power-hungry despots." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ghosts of the Insurrection. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “The citadel of democracy is almost inaccessible to the public it is supposed to welcome and serve. The Jan. 6, 2021, assault has shaken the foundations of the Capitol, a symbol of American strength and unity, transforming how lawmakers view their surroundings and one another. A dark mood lingers and the scars will be long in healing.... The events of last year have turned everyday spaces in the Capitol into testaments to what transpired.... For [many lawmakers], the ever-present reminders of the attack are the officers who were charged with repelling it as best they could, sustaining serious injuries as they did so.Much of the time, the once-vibrant Capitol seems eerily empty....”

Mike DeBonis & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: “Ahead of the first anniversary of the Capitol insurrection, several Senate Republicans said they were open to overhauling the presidential vote certification procedure in Congress that was targeted by ... Donald Trump and allies as they sought to overturn his 2020 election loss.... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that changes to Electoral Count Act, the 1887 law governing the congressional certification process, were 'worth discussing,' while several other GOP senators said they were interested in clarifying ambiguous provisions in the statute and potentially raising the threshold for a challenge to a state’s electoral results.... This week’s expressions of support, modest as they are, amount to the most significant Republican backing for modifications to the nation’s democratic infrastructure in response to the stresses of the 2020 election. But top Democrats ... seek to pass a much broader package of election-related legislation. Those bills are aimed at countering new GOP-authored state laws that Democrats say are aimed at making it harder for citizens to vote and easier for legislatures to throw out results they don’t support.” A related Politico story is here. ~~~

~~~ BUT. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: Jiggering with the Electoral Count Act is not enough. "If you are suspicious that Sen. Joe Manchin III is unserious about filibuster reform required to pass essential election reform, you are not alone. With every utterance, the West Virginia Democrat sounds more like he does on the Build Back Better bill — issuing a never-ending stream of objections that are unmoored to political reality and maddeningly vague or contradictory so as to prevent dealmaking.... [Mitch] McConnell knows well that Manchin will take any out when it comes to challenging the filibuster and moving forward with substantive reform.... The ECA covers the election of the president and vice president, so reforming the law would leave every other election at the mercy of Republican partisans.... There are three sets of discrete problems. The first two — election subversion and election suppression — should be resolved through the Freedom to Vote Act (Manchin’s own voting reform bill). The third, the potential for a peaceful presidential coup, requires amendments to the ECA."

Peter Alexander, et al., of NBC News: "Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said she 'cooperated fully' after meeting with the Jan. 6 committee on the eve of the anniversary of the attack on the Capitol.... Grisham has distanced herself from Trump’s orbit since Jan. 6, the day she resigned from the White House in response to the riot."

Brian Schwartz of CNBC: “MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, an ally of ... Donald Trump, said his phone records have been subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the origins of the deadly riot that took place on Jan. 6.... 'I wasn’t there on January 6th and yes they did subpoena my phone records but we filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the January 6th committee and Verizon to completely invalidate this corrupt subpoena,' Lindell said in a text message to CNBC on Wednesday....”

Alayna Treene of Axios: "People in and around former Vice President Mike Pence's office have been particularly cooperative as the Jan. 6 select committee focuses on what former President Trump was doing during the more than three hours the Capitol was under attack, sources familiar with the testimony tell Axios.... Both Pence's former chief of staff Marc Short, and former press secretary Alyssa Farah, who later served as communications director to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, are among those cooperating with the committee. Keith Kellogg also has given a deposition. One source familiar with their involvement said Short, who was subpoenaed by the committee, would not have cooperated without the approval of Pence."

Kyle Cheney of Politico writes that what the January 6 committee knows, and what the public does not, is the timeline of White House communications. "Precision on the timing and order of these exchanges is crucial. Did Donald Trump receive urgent pleas to call off the rioters before he decided to call [Sen. Tommy] Tuberville [R-Ala.] and ask him to continue challenging the election?"

Mark Your Calendar. Caroline Vakil of the Hill: “Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) will be holding a presser on Thursday, the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, after former President Trump announced that he would be canceling his news conference scheduled for the same day. The two conservative members of Congress are set to hold 'a Republican response on the anniversary of the January 6th protests' on Thursday afternoon, according to a release from Gaetz’s office.”

We have seen how people react when they think that an election has been stolen. They storm the U.S. Capitol. They threaten to kill and hang and shoot election workers. And they called other Americans traitors. The American family cannot stand for that. I will not stand for that. -- Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates (R), Wednesday

~~~ Maricopa County (Arizona) Republicans Refute Trump's Big Lie. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: “The November 2020 election in Arizona’s largest county was administered properly and not marred by fraud, the Republican-led local government concluded in a lengthy report released Wednesday. The 93-page document debunks, one by one, vague allegations of potential problems previously identified by the GOP-led state Senate and championed by ... Donald Trump and his allies. County officials said the blunt rebuttal, released on the eve of the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, was intended to highlight the ongoing dangers of unfounded claims of mass election fraud.”

Georgia Republicans Cancel “Homage to Treason.” Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: “A Georgia county's Republican Party called off a prayer vigil intended to honor the insurrectionists who tried to help Donald Trump overturn his election loss. The Cobb County GOP canceled its event scheduled for Thursday, the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, after a barrage of criticism -- which the group called a 'mischaracterization' of their plans, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'Celebrate freedom,' the invitation read. 'The Patriots are Awake, Willing and Eager to Protect Their American Freedom & Liberties.'”

American Terrorists. Blake Hounshell & Leah Askarinam of the New York Times: “Drawing on years of research, [Nathan Kalmoe and Lilliana Mason] warn that rising public support for political violence is creating a toxic public atmosphere that encourages a tiny but growing number to act.... The bottom line, said Kalmoe: 'Millions of Americans — and perhaps tens of millions — think that violence against their partisan opponents is at least a little bit justified.'... According to a February 2021 survey, [Kalmoe & Mason write,] 'Twelve percent of Republicans and 11 percent of Democrats said assassinations carried out by their party were at least “a little bit” justified.'... It’s ... harder to measure how many Americans are ready to actually commit political violence.”

Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "As the nation prepares Thursday to mark the anniversary of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Trump has pushed a majority of his party into a full embrace of his false election fraud charges, while simultaneously leading the ongoing efforts to whitewash the violence carried out that day by a pro-Trump mob. At least 163 Republicans who have embraced Trump’s false claims are running for statewide positions that would give them authority over the administration of elections, according to a Post tally.... Democrats and voting-rights advocates say the threat to democracy that these candidates represent cannot be overstated.... Trump has spent much of his post-presidency marinating in false voting claims and electoral conspiracy theories."

Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: “Everything about [Sean] Hannity’s text messages, part of a trove of documents the House panel received from former chief of staff Mark Meadows after a subpoena, scream one thing: that the prime-time host is not a journalist.... If he really were a journalist, the possible defection of the entire White House Counsel’s Office would have been a world-class scoop. Reporting the news didn’t seem to be on Hannity’s mind.... 'All of us are free to weigh in on public events,' the First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams told me in an email Wednesday, 'but when Hannity advised the president about the ongoing insurrection he did not do so as a journalist but as an ally, a confederate, a teammate, rather than an umpire or observer.'... Hannity himself has said on more than one occasion that he doesn’t consider himself a member of the press.... He even appeared onstage with Trump at a rally in 2018 — something so far outside the bounds of journalistic behavior that it earned a mild reprimand from his normally all-forgiving employers at Fox.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As an expert (Neal Katyal maybe?) said on MSNBC Tuesday, if a reporter happens to see a traffic accident, she -- like anyone else -- is a fact witness. NBC reporter Josh Lederman was one of hundreds of people caught in the Big Snow Jam on I-95 earlier this week. Lederman even reported live from his car; ergo, he was acting as a journalist. But if the state or feds investigate the traffic stoppage (as likely they will [WashPo link]), there's no reason Lederman could not be called as a witness to describe what he observed, experienced (and reported). Similarly, Hannity is a fact witness to what-all was going on in the White House around the January 6 insurrection. As Sullivan notes, even though he was near the center of the biggest attack on a federal facility since the War of 1812, Hannity never reported on what he learned. He was acting as a participant & advisor, not as a journalist, even if, for convenience, he suddenly decides to declare himself a reporter with the protections the First Amendment provides. Indeed, ~~~

    ~~~ Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: “... Hannity covered up what he knew was happening at the White House.... His work over the course of the Trump presidency, though dressed in the trappings of cable news, was indistinguishable from that of a White House consigliere or propagandist.... The Justice Department ... in July issued fresh protections for journalists from intrusive federal investigative methods, and stipulated that the safeguards are limited to 'members of the news media acting within the scope of newsgathering activities.' That’s a scope within which Hannity rarely acts.”

Oh Noes! I missed Tuesday's biggest story: ~~~

~~~ Kate Bennett of CNN: "Melania Trump announced Tuesday morning that she is holding an auction of the white hat she wore during the visit of the French first family, the Macrons, to the White House in 2018. In a statement from her office, Trump said that, in addition to the hat, the auction lot will include a watercolor by Marc-Antoine Coulon -- a French artist who drew her eyes for her NFT last month -- as well as what the statement defines as 'an exclusive digital artwork NFT with motion.' The NFT, the second Trump has sold in less than a month, features the drawing of the hat with some animation. Trump's office says some of the proceeds will go toward an initiative that is a part of the former first lady's Be Best program, but it's not clear how much will be donated. The centerpiece of the auction, the custom white hat, which Trump has signed, was created for Trump by her personal stylist, Hervé Pierre, to match the $2,105 white crepe Michael Kors Collection suit Trump wore for the daytime ceremonies at the White House attended by Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron.... The three items will have an opening bid of $250,000, and bidding will only be accepted via SOL, a form of cryptocurrency." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. Also to Patrick for his commentary. For some reason, both writers seem to suspect there are scams involved here. See yesterday's Comments.

Ryan Johnson in Medium, republished by Popular Resistance on what he sees is the real reason for the U.S. shipping crisis: "I’m a Class A truck driver with experience in nearly every aspect of freight. Think of going to the port as going to WalMart on Black Friday, but imagine only ONE cashier for thousands of customers. Think about the lines. Except at a port, there are at least THREE lines to get a container in or out. The first line is the ‘in’ gate, where hundreds of trucks daily have to pass through 5–10 available gates. The second line is waiting to pick up your container. The third line is for waiting to get out. For each of these lines the wait time is a minimum of an hour, and I’ve waited up to 8 hours in the first line just to get into the port. Some ports are worse than others, but excessive wait times are not uncommon. It’s a rare day when a driver gets in and out in under two hours." Thanks to Bonnie for the link.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Thursday are here: "More than 4,000 children were hospitalized with covid-19 across the United States on Wednesday, Washington Post figures show, marking a new high that towers above previous peaks set during the summer when the delta variant was driving up infections."

Lena Sun & Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Wednesday that children ages 12 to 17 get a Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine booster, expanding protection to adolescents and teens as surging omicron infections threaten to disrupt schools and workplaces across the country. Director Rochelle Walensky endorsed a recommendation that came several hours earlier from the agency’s vaccine advisory panel that urged the boosters for 10 million young people.... The CDC had previously said 16- and 17-year-olds were eligible for a booster but stopped short of saying they should get them." The story is free to nonsubscribers.

Sailing, Sailing over the Ocean Blue -- in a Petri Dish. Hannah Sampson of the Washington Post: "Coronavirus cases have been reported on every cruise ship sailing with passengers in U.S. waters. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all 92 ships with passengers have met the threshold for investigation by the public health agency."

Australia. Liz Clarke, et al., of the Washington Post: "With a medical exemption to mandatory coronavirus vaccination in hand, [professional tennis star] Novak Djokovic landed at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport shortly before midnight Wednesday, eager to launch preparations for the Australian Open and his pursuit of a record 21st major title....However..., the world’s No. 1 player ...was escorted to a windowless immigration room as authorities reviewed potential irregularities with his visa and questions about the legitimacy of the medical exemption granted by state officials in Victoria that enabled him to enter the tournament. Border authorities then canceled his visa.... By midmorning Thursday, Djokovic, 34..., was transferred to a government-approved hotel pending a flight out of the country. Meanwhile, he engaged lawyers to overturn the decision.... Djokovic has not made known his reasons for seeking an exemption from getting vaccinated.... Djokovic and his team have responded to the past two years of pandemic protocols with a mixture of nonchalance and hostility."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Adela Suliman of the Washington Post: “The Pacific Gas and Electric utility company is to blame for the Dixie Fire, which ravaged swaths of Northern California last summer, after a tree fell on electrical distribution lines that it owns and operates, a state investigation found. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, said in a statement Tuesday that its 'meticulous and thorough investigation' determined the Dixie Fire was caused by a tree contacting PG&E distribution lines west of Cresta Dam. The report has been forwarded to the Butte County District Attorney’s Office, the agency added, which will determine whether criminal charges will be filed.”

Way Beyond

Kazakhstan. New York Times: "Paratroopers from a Russia-led military alliance began arriving in Kazakhstan on Thursday to restore order after a night of protests in the Central Asian country turned violent, with the police reporting that dozens of antigovernment demonstrators had been killed and hundreds injured." The link is to a liveblog.

January 5, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Under pressure from Democrats and a few Republicans to hold ... Donald J. Trump accountable for his role in inspiring the attack on the Capitol, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland [said] on Wednesday..., 'The Justice Department remains committed to holding all Jan. 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law -- whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.'... Several of the attorney general's remarks appeared to respond to critics who have urged him to say more about the department's investigation into what he called 'an unprecedented attack on the seat of our democracy,' and to address whether investigators were scrutinizing Mr. Trump.... Mr. Garland did not mention Mr. Trump or any specific investigation the department might be pursuing."

** President Jimmy Carter in a New York Times op-ed: "One year ago, a violent mob, guided by unscrupulous politicians, stormed the Capitol and almost succeeded in preventing the democratic transfer of power. All four of us former presidents condemned their actions and affirmed the legitimacy of the 2020 election.... However, one year on, promoters of the lie that the election was stolen have taken over one political party and stoked distrust in our electoral systems.... I now fear that what we have fought so hard to achieve globally -- the right to free, fair elections, unhindered by strongman politicians who seek nothing more than to grow their own power -- has become dangerously fragile at home.... After I left the White House and founded the Carter Center, we worked to promote free, fair and orderly elections across the globe.... I have also seen how new democratic systems -- and sometimes even established ones -- can fall to military juntas or power-hungry despots."

Oh Noes! I missed yesterday's biggest story: ~~~

~~~ Kate Bennett of CNN: "Melania Trump announced Tuesday morning that she is holding an auction of the white hat she wore during the visit of the French first family, the Macrons, to the White House in 2018. In a statement from her office, Trump said that, in addition to the hat, the auction lot will include a watercolor by Marc-Antoine Coulon -- a French artist who drew her eyes for her NFT last month -- as well as what the statement defines as 'an exclusive digital artwork NFT with motion.' The NFT, the second Trump has sold in less than a month, features the drawing of the hat with some animation. Trump's office says some of the proceeds will go toward an initiative that is a part of the former first lady's Be Best program, but it's not clear how much will be donated. The centerpiece of the auction, the custom white hat, which Trump has signed, was created for Trump by her personal stylist, Hervé Pierre, to match the $2,105 white crepe Michael Kors Collection suit Trump wore for the daytime ceremonies at the White House attended by Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron.... The three items will have an opening bid of $250,000, and bidding will only be accepted via SOL, a form of cryptocurrency." ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. Also to Patrick for his commentary. For some reason, both writers seem to suspect there are scams involved here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Video of an Insurrection. Rep. Jamie Raskin presented this video during Donald Trump's second impeachment trial:

The Washington Post features a series that reports on events before, during & after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol: "... Donald Trump's assault on American democracy began in the spring of 2020, when he issued a flurry of preemptive attacks on the integrity of the country's voting systems. The doubts he cultivated ultimately led to a rampage inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob came within seconds of encountering Vice President Mike Pence, trapped lawmakers and vandalized the home of Congress in the worst desecration of the complex since British forces burned it in 1814. Five people died in the Jan. 6 attack or in the immediate aftermath, and 140 police officers were assaulted. The consequences of that day are still coming into focus, but what is already clear is that the insurrection was not a spontaneous act nor an isolated event. It was a battle in a broader war over the truth and over the future of American democracy." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post also has a page of insurrection photos not frequently published, with commentary from reporters & photojournalists.

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senior Biden administration officials have concluded that the government's Jan. 6 preparations were hampered by a lack of high-level information-sharing and a failure to anticipate how bad the day could be -- lessons they say they are applying today in an effort to prevent another such attack. Those conclusions ... are not formal findings, the officials said. But they offer a kind of road map for how the Biden White House is attempting to prevent similar assaults on the democratic functions of government.... In an effort to keep senior officials on top of security threats in Washington, Biden's National Security Council oversees weekly discussions among federal law enforcement agencies to discuss planned events like protests and any related information that points to possible violence."

** Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "Fox News host Sean Hannity was concerned about ... Donald Trump's strategy and conduct before, during and after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, according to a letter sent to him on Tuesday by the House select committee probing the insurrection. The committee asked Hannity for his voluntary cooperation with their investigation, noting it had received 'dozens' of his text messages sent to and from former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that indicate that he had 'advance knowledge regarding President Trump's and his legal team's planning for January 6th.' In the letter, the panel said it wants to speak with Hannity specifically about his communications with Trump, White House staff and his legal team between December 31, 2020, and January 20, 2021, when President Joe Biden was inaugurated." Update: The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

~~~ ** The full text of committee chair Bennie Thompson & vice-chair Liz Cheney's letter to Hannity is here, via the committee (linked fixed; the linked page also links to a facsimile of the letter). MB: The letter is kind of a bombshell, as Thompson & Cheney indicate that Hannity knew Trump's state of mind before, during & after the insurrection. The funny thing about the tidbits we're getting is that, for the most part, we're learning what people allegedly said to Trump or to others in his inner circle (like Meadows), but we don't learn Trump's reaction. (The exception is the phone call, made during the insurrection, between Trump & Kevin McCarthy.) We sort of have a picture that everyone is talking at Trump, while he said nothing. Especially because of "expletive-laced" nature of the McCarthy-Trump shouting match, I doubt that was the case.

Ryan Nobles & Annie Grayer of CNN: "Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, wants to hear directly from then-Vice President Mike Pence, who certified the 2020 presidential election despite an extensive pressure campaign led by ... Donald Trump and his allies to halt the process. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, wants Pence to voluntarily speak with the panel about what he witnessed on January 6 and the conversations he was privy to in the days leading up to it, which could provide extensive insight to the panel's investigation."

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "For weeks, Rep. Liz Cheney has hinted that the House select committee examining Jan. 6 might urge the Justice Department to consider prosecuting Donald Trump.... Some comments from Cheney herself -- and clarification I've now obtained from a Cheney spokesman -- shed new light on where this is going. The short version: It's likely the committee will explore recommending changes to federal law to further clarify that obstructing the electoral count in Congress is a crime subject to stiff penalties.... The committee wants to determine whether [during the insurrection] Trump indicated a desire to see the mob continue disrupting the electoral count. We don't know if it will prove this."

Nicholas Wu & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The select panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection has issued a subpoena for the phone records of pro-Trump commentator and radio host Sebastian Gorka, who previously had not been known to be of interest to the committee. Gorka filed suit Tuesday, accusing the committee of overstepping its authority and asking a court to block Verizon from turning over the records."

Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Trapped in the gallery of the House, occupying balcony seats off-limits to the public because of COVID-19, roughly three dozen House Democrats were the last ones to leave the chamber on Jan. 6, bearing witness as the certification of a presidential election gave way to a violent insurrection. As danger neared, and as the rioters were trying to break down the doors, they called their families. They scrambled for makeshift weapons and mentally prepared themselves to fight. Many thought they might die. 'When I looked up, I had this realization that we were trapped,' said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'They had evacuated the House floor first. And they forgot about us.'"

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Three more police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol -- including two who aided the evacuation of lawmakers -- have sued Donald Trump, seeking damages for their physical and emotional injuries.... [In all, ten officers have] sue[d] Trump and accuse[d] him of instigating the attack."

Hmm. Trumpolini Chickens Out. Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Former President Trump is scrapping a planned news conference on the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The former president had planned to use the Thursday news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., as counterprogramming for a scheduled prayer service at the Capitol to commemorate the events of Jan. 6. In a statement, Trump blamed the House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 riot for the cancellation. He said he would instead touch on many of the themes he had planned to discuss at the news conference during a rally in Arizona set for Jan. 15." ~~~

     ~~~ Felicia Sonmez & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "According to a person familiar with the matter, Trump wanted to make a scene and deride reporters at the event but had been told repeatedly by his advisers it could be the kind of coverage he doesn't want. Trump also did not know exactly what he wanted his message to be, and his team was taken aback by how many reporters were planning on attending, according to the person...."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Three more police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol -- including two who aided the evacuation of lawmakers -- have sued Donald Trump, seeking damages for their physical and emotional injuries.... [In all, ten officers have] sue[d] Trump and accuse[d] him of instigating the attack."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday night floated smaller changes to the Senate rules that would stop short of the filibuster reforms being pushed for by many of his Democratic colleagues. Manchin, coming out of a meeting with Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats involved in the negotiations, didn't pledge to vote for any specific rules reforms but appeared open to smaller changes.... One idea Manchin said he would support would be getting rid of the 60-vote hurdle currently required to start debate on legislation. Manchin has raised potentially scrapping the procedural roadblock in talks he's had with GOP senators on the Senate's rules.... But Manchin indicated that he still wants to keep a supermajority requirement to end debate, but that he was supportive of changing it from requiring 60 votes needed to break a filibuster to three-fifths of senators present and voting." MB: IOW, "Watch me pretend I'm a reasonable guy open to filibuster reform as I flip the bird at all you liberal wusses."

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) predicted Republicans would move to impeach President Biden 'whether it's justified or not' if they retake the House in this year's midterm elections. The White House responded Tuesday by calling on Cruz to work with Democrats toward bipartisan agreement on policy matters instead of 'name-calling' and making political predictions. Cruz's comments, which he made during a podcast appearance late last month, underscore the extent to which rising partisan hostility has paralyzed Washington."

Take This Job & Shove It. Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The number of Americans quitting their jobs is the highest on record, as workers take advantage of strong employer demand to pursue better opportunities. More than 4.5 million people voluntarily left their jobs in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That was up from 4.2 million in October and was the most in the two decades that the government has been keeping track.... Much of the discussion about the increase in quitting, sometimes referred to as the Great Resignation, has focused on white-collar workers re-evaluating their priorities in the pandemic. But job turnover has been concentrated in hospitality and other low-wage sectors, where intense competition for employees has given workers the leverage to seek better pay."

Frances Robles & Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: "The United States has charged a retired Colombian commando with taking part in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti -- the first suspect to face U.S. prosecution in the crime. Mario Palacios was detained at an airport in Panama on Monday and flown from there to Miami, after previously agreeing to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement, according to federal prosecutors. He appeared before a federal judge on Tuesday and was charged with conspiring to kidnap or kill outside the United States. He was held without bond."

Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "Toyota Motor unseated General Motors as the top-selling automaker in the United States last year, becoming the first manufacturer based outside the country to achieve that feat in the industry's nearly 120-year history. That milestone underlines the changes shaking automakers, which face strong competition and external forces as they move into electric vehicles. And it came in a tumultuous and strange year in which automakers contended with an accelerating shift to electric vehicles and struggled with profound manufacturing challenges. New car sales have been damped by a severe shortage of computer chips that forced automakers to idle plants even though demand for cars has been incredibly robust."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "Public school officials in Chicago canceled classes for Wednesday amid a clash with the teachers' union, whose members had threatened to stay home in a bid to force instruction online during a coronavirus surge. Union members had criticized the district's response to the Omicron variant, which has pushed cases in the city to record levels, and said conditions in classrooms were unsafe. The Chicago Teachers Union said late Tuesday night that 73 percent of members who voted favored pausing in-person instruction." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here.

Some Thoughts about Covid from the Stupidest Senator. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) this week doubled down on his campaign to promote the so-called 'natural immunity' that occurs after one has been infected by Covid-19. During an interview with WCPT, Johnson said that vaccine scientists are wrong to think that they 'can create something better than God.' The Wisconsin Republican recalled that he had tested positive for Covid-19 last year while being free of symptoms."

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Luis Ferré-Sadurní & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York will not be prosecuted in the criminal case involving allegations that he groped a former aide in the Executive Mansion in 2020, the Albany County district attorney announced on Tuesday. The announcement came on the heels of recent decisions by district attorneys in Nassau and Westchester Counties not to bring charges against Mr. Cuomo on other sexual misconduct allegations. And it brought to an end the only criminal charge thus far related to a blistering report from the state attorney general that led to his resignation in August. While the Albany district attorney said he was 'deeply troubled' by allegations against Mr. Cuomo made by the former aide, Brittany Commisso, his statement underscored the difficulties of building a criminal case out of them.... David Soares, the Albany County district attorney, said in a statement[,] 'While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial.'"

Way Beyond

Canada. Catherine Porter & Vjosa Isai of the New York Times: "The Canadian government announced Tuesday that it had reached what it called the largest settlement in Canada's history, paying $31.5 billion to fix the nation's discriminatory child welfare system and compensate the Indigenous people harmed by it. The agreement in principle forms the basis for a final settlement of several lawsuits brought by First Nations groups against the Canadian government. Of the overall settlement, 40 billion in Canadian dollars, half will go toward compensating both children who were unnecessarily removed, and their families and caregivers, over the past three decades. The rest of the money will go toward repairing the child welfare system for First Nations children -- who are statistically far more likely to be removed from their families -- over the next five years to ensure families are able to stay together."

News Ledes

AP: "A large house fire in Philadelphia[, Pa.,] early Wednesday killed 13 people, including seven children, and sent two people to hospitals, fire officials said. Officials said at a news conference later in the morning that there were four smoke detectors in the building but that none were operating. Firefighters and police responded to the fire at a three-story rowhouse in the city's Fairmount neighborhood around 6:40 a.m. and found flames coming from the second-floor windows, fire officials said. The house had been converted into two apartments, police said. The fire was brought under control after less than an hour."

CNN: "Amtrak passengers traveling through Virginia were delayed for about 30 hours Monday night after trees downed during a winter storm blocked the train's path. About 120 passengers were on the Crescent Train 20 when it was stopped north of Lynchburg, Amtrak spokesperson Christina Leeds told CNN.... While trains and automobiles are on the move again, Virginia is still recovering from the storm. More than 187,000 customers were still without power as of early Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us."