The Commentariat -- July 31, 2021

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here.

Killing Their Constituents to Thwart Biden. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Not only are Republicans resisting Mr. Biden's push to end the pandemic, some of them are actively hampering it. Republican governors slow-walked vaccination efforts and lifted mask mandates early. In Washington, G.O.P. leaders like Steve Scalise, the second-ranking House Republican -- who himself didn't get vaccinated until about two weeks ago -- mocked public health guidance that even vaccinated people should wear masks indoors as 'government control.' There's little Mr. Biden can do."

Florida. Rich McKay of Reuters (republished in AOL): "Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order on Friday blocking mask mandates in the state's schools, saying parents had the right to decide if their children would wear face coverings. The move by DeSantis, a Republican who has opposed strict COVID-19 rules on residents and businesses, overrules a requirement by two Florida counties, Broward and Gadsen, that students cover their faces when they return to class next month. 'In Florida, there will be no lockdowns, there will be no school closures, there will be no restrictions and no mandates in the state of Florida,' DeSantis said in announcing his executive order during a speech in southwest Cape Coral."

Sophie Kasakove of the New York Times: "For almost a year, a federal moratorium on evictions allowed tenants who suffered economic losses from the coronavirus pandemic to stay in their homes. Now, the moratorium's scheduled expiration at midnight on Saturday has left renters around the country packing their belongings and facing an uncertain future as they search for housing options. Already, homeless shelters have been adding beds in preparation for an influx of people in need of a safe place to live.... The protections were extended several times but also had a catch: Rent payments were delayed, not forgiven..... Through June, however, local governments had distributed just $3 billion of the nearly $47 billion in rental assistance that Congress made available, according to the Treasury Department."

Karen DeYoung & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration announced Friday that it will impose further sanctions on elements of the Cuban government over the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations earlier this month, as President Biden sought ways to help activists communicate freely and receive financial help from abroad. The Treasury Department announced penalties on two security officials and a police unit that the Biden administration blames for attempts to harm or silence protesters."

The New York Times' Olympics updates for Saturday are here. The Washington Post's live Olympics updates for Saturday are here.

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Maeve Sheehey of Politico: "Attorney General Merrick Garland urged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to reverse his day-old executive order that aims to restrict migration at the border following a rise in Covid-19 cases. The attorney general called Abbott's order 'both dangerous and unlawful' in a Thursday letter to the governor. 'The Order violates federal law in numerous respects, and Texas cannot lawfully enforce the Executive Order against any federal official or private parties working with the United States,' Garland wrote.... Garland's letter also said Texas does not have authority to interfere with the federal government's 'broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Justice Department sued Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Friday in an effort to block an executive order that severely limits the transportation of migrants in the state, calling the order unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed a day after Attorney General Merrick B. Garland sent a letter to Mr. Abbott telling him that he must rescind the executive order, which bars private transportation suppliers from providing ground transit to many migrants and makes it harder for them to reach their final destinations in the United States.... The department said that the order obstructed the federal government's ability to administer immigration law and asked the court to 'declare the executive order to be invalid and enjoin its enforcement.'... Mr. Abbott said in a statement that he had 'no intention' of abdicating 'the authority under long-established emergency response laws to control the movement of people to better contain the spread of a disaster, such as those known to have Covid-19.'" Politico's story, by Josh Gerstein, is here.

Alan Suderman & Eric Tucker of the AP: "The Russian hackers behind the massive SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign broke into the email accounts of some of the most prominent federal prosecutors' offices around the country last year, the Justice Department said Friday. The department said 80% of Microsoft email accounts used by employees in the four U.S. attorney offices in New York were breached. All told, the Justice Department said 27 U.S. Attorney offices had at least one employee's email account compromised during the hacking campaign. The Justice Department said in a statement that it believes the accounts were compromised from May 7 to Dec. 27, 2020.... [The breach] was first discovered and publicized in mid-December.... Jennifer Rodgers, a lecturer at Columbia Law School, said office emails frequently contained all sorts of sensitive information, including case strategy discussions and names of confidential informants, when she was a federal prosecutor in New York."

Clare Foran, et al., of CNN: "The Senate took the next step on Friday to bring up a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal that will fulfill key priorities in President Joe Biden's agenda. Senators voted 66-28 on a motion to proceed, a vote that will open up the legislative package to potential changes through the amendment process. It remains to be seen whether any amendments will be agreed to since they are expected to be subject to a 60-vote threshold. Bill text still has not yet been formally unveiled, and amendments are not expected to be considered until Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offers up the finalized deal as a substitute amendment, which could happen at some point later Friday afternoon. The expectation is that there could be amendment votes over the weekend." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Wherein House Republicans Play a Part originally conceived & played by Boris Badenov: ~~~

~~~ Mariam Kahn, et al., of ABC News: "House Democrats' attempt to pass an extension of the eviction moratorium via unanimous consent request failed late Friday ahead of a six-week recess. The moratorium will end Saturday. The measure was objected to by Republicans, none of whom supported the bid."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "After Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy this week decried the House's new face mask requirement, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) replied with a considered response: 'He's such a moron.'... Such an incendiary charge by Pelosi demands a fact check: Is McCarthy, in fact, a moron? Let's weigh the evidence.... [After recounting quite a list of McCarthy's remarks, Milbank concludes] Pelosi's claim earns the rating 'mostly true.'"

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton blew up at an alleged January 6 insurrectionist who refused to wear a mask & follow other conditions of his release pending trial. MB: I'm getting to like Judge Walton.

Donald's Very Bad Hair Day:

Lordy, Let There Be Leaks! Rebecca Beitsch & Naomi Jagoda of the Hill: "The Justice Department on Friday said the Treasury Department must turn over former President Trump's long-sought tax returns to the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee. In a Friday memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), acting Assistant Attorney General Dawn Johnsen said that the Treasury Department was required to defer to the congressional committee. 'The statute at issue here is unambiguous: "Upon written request" of the chairman of one of the three congressional tax committees, the Secretary "shall furnish" the requested tax information to the Committee,' Johnsen wrote in the 39-page memo." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "The 39-page opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel dealt a sharp legal blow to a yearslong campaign by Mr. Trump to keep his tax information secret, reversing a Trump administration position that had shielded the documents from Congress. Rejecting that view, the Biden administration opinion said that a request for the tax information first lodged in 2019 by the House Ways and Means Committee was legitimate and that the Treasury Department had no valid grounds to refuse it.... A highly litigious and determined protector of his financial records, Mr. Trump could seek an injunction in the coming days to try to stop the transfer, setting off a new round of legal wrangling that could take weeks or longer to resolve. The Treasury Department notified a Federal District Court judge in Washington overseeing the dispute late Friday that it had reached an agreement with the House to hand over the documents, and both sides requested that the court give Mr. Trump until Tuesday to decide. Even if handed over to Congress, Mr. Trump's tax information may not become public immediately or at all."

** Katie Benner of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump pressed top Justice Department officials late last year to declare that the election was corrupt even though they had found no instances of widespread fraud, so he and his allies in Congress could use the assertion to try to overturn the results, according to new documents provided to lawmakers.... The exchange unfolded during a phone call on Dec. 27 in which Mr. Trump pressed the acting attorney general at the time, Jeffrey A. Rosen, and his deputy, Richard P. Donoghue, on voter fraud claims that the Justice Department had found no evidence for.... 'Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me' and to congressional allies, Mr. Donoghue wrote in summarizing Mr. Trump's [remarks]. Mr. Trump did not name the lawmakers [who would help him overturn the election], but at other points during the call, he mentioned Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, whom he described as a 'fighter'; Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who at the time promoted the idea that the election was stolen from Mr. Trump; and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, whom Mr. Trump praised for 'getting to bottom of things.'" MB: Oh, you boys are gonna be subpoenaed.... ~~~

“In a moment of foreshadowing, Mr. Trump said, 'people tell me Jeff Clark is great, I should put him in,' referring to the acting chief of the Justice Department's civil division, who had also encouraged department officials to intervene in the election. 'People want me to replace D.O.J. leadership.' 'You should have the leadership you want,' Mr. Donoghue replied. But it would not change the department's position on a lack of widespread election fraud, he noted. Mr. Donoghue and Mr. Rosen did not know that Mr. Perry had introduced Mr. Clark to Mr. Trump. One week later, they would be forced to fight Mr. Clark for their jobs in an Oval Office showdown." Read the whole article. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: David Corn of Mother Jones pointed out on MSNBC Friday that Trump was threatening Rosen & Donoghue in this part of the conversation; if they wouldn't play ball with him, he'd hand off the ball to somebody who would.

~~~ Devlin Barrett & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: Richard Donoghue's "notes were released to Congress this week and made public on Friday -- further evidence of the pressure Trump brought to bear as he sought to throw out President Biden's election victory. In one Dec. 27 conversation, according to the written account, acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen told Trump the Justice Department 'can't + won't snap its fingers + change the outcome of the election.' The president replied that he understood that, but wanted the agency to 'just say the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen,' according to notes of the conversation taken by another senior Justice Department official, Richard Donoghue.... Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said the notes 'show that President Trump directly instructed our nation's top law enforcement agency to take steps to overturn a free and fair election in the final days of his presidency.'" CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ David Graham of the Atlantic: "The violence of [January 6] has taken center stage, but these notes help put it in context: The angry crowd was just one part of ... Donald Trump's long-running effort to overturn the results of the election in the House of Representatives.... Trump's coup attempt started ... in the wee hours of November 4, when Trump said at the White House..., 'Frankly, we did win this election.'... In November and early December, the focus of Trump's efforts was pressuring state officials in places such as Arizona and Georgia to decline to certify results in favor of Biden, and pressing Attorney General William Barr to cast doubt on the results. But Barr [and pivotal state Republican officials declined.... Once Barr was pushed aside, The Washington Post reported this week, Trump began a daily campaign to pressure Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen into doing what Barr would not, trying to place new claims of fraud before the Justice Department. Unbeknownst to Rosen, Trump was also orchestrating a plan to topple him.... All Trump wanted was some semi-independent arbiter to declare the election fraudulent.... [So then Trump pressured pence to decertify the election results. ] If the election couldn't be decided based on the results, then it would go to the House of Representatives. Though Democrats held a majority there, the presidency would have been decided by state delegations, of which Republicans controlled more.” Firewalled, but hey, it's the end of the month. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Graham's post is of a piece with what I was thinking. But I see the January 6 insurrection not as the culmination of Trump's efforts to overturn the election, but as his Hail Mary pass, a last-ditch effort when all else had failed. BTW, among the unsung heroes who saved the Constitution, are these people: "Mr. Pence has spent hours with parliamentarians and lawyers in recent days. His allies said they expect him to carry out his constitutional duties on Wednesday." (From a January 5 NYT article.) If those unnamed "parliamentarians & lawyers" had advised pence differently, it's possible the election would have been thrown to the House to decide, where Jungle Gym Jordan, et al., would have tried to engineer the coup. ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "It's long been tricky to determine if Trump actually believes the nonsensical, conflicting or obviously false claims he pushes forward; that he used his familiarity with them as something of a validator in his conversation with [Jeffrey] Rosen suggests that, to at least some extent, he does.... What [Richard] Donoghue's notes suggest is that Trump had fully bought into the effort that would eventually become his Alamo: having Republican legislators block the electoral-vote counting due to take place at the Capitol on Jan. 6.... That he mentioned ['R. Congressmen' to Rosen] at all does suggest more integration than had previously been indicated." It's up to the House select committee to try to figure out how far the R. Congressmen's assistance went.~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Melanie Zanona, then of Politico, reported on December 21, "... Donald Trump huddled with a group of congressional Republicans at the White House on Monday, where they strategized over a last-ditch effort to overturn the election results next month, according to several members who attended the meeting.... The group also met with Vice President Mike Pence, who will be presiding over the joint session of Congress..., as well as members of Trump's legal team. 'It was a back-and-forth concerning the planning and strategy for January the 6th,' [Rep. Mo] Brooks said in a phone interview." So this was a plan hatched before Christmas, & several members of Congress were part of it. BTW, it seems to be a good idea to call Mo Brooks to find out what's up, because he just might spill the beans without much prodding.

Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Washington Post began tracking fatal shootings by on-duty police officers in 2015, the year after a White officer in Ferguson, Mo., shot and killed a Black 18-year old.... Since Ferguson, departments across the country have taken steps toward reform, but these efforts have been inconsistent and incomplete.... After police kill someone, they also often shape what the public learns about the killing.... Despite a push since 2015 for police body cameras and the periodic emergence of surveillance footage or bystander cellphone video, more than 80 percent of fatal police shootings still were not filmed, according to The Post's database.... Since The Post began tracking cases, Black people have been shot and killed at higher rates than White people." This is a long report. BTW, if you're wondering why the Post is tracking these shootings, it's because the federal government isn't.

Alex Traub of the New York Times: "Richard D. Lamm, who as a Colorado state legislator led fights to pass the nation's first abortion rights law in the years before Roe v. Wade and to block the 1976 Winter Olympics from being held in his state, and who went on to serve three terms as Colorado's governor, died on Thursday in Denver. He was 85."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Erin Banco & Adam Cancryn of Politico: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has collected data that suggest fully vaccinated Americans who contract the Delta variant can spread Covid-19 as easily as unvaccinated people infected with the variant. The hotly anticipated study helped convince the agency to revise its guidance on mask-wearing earlier this week, when it said vaccinated people should wear masks indoors in areas with high levels of Covid-19 transmission. But CDC had not made the data underlying its decision public until now." The New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Carolyn Johnson, et al., of the Washington Post: "A sobering scientific analysis published Friday found that three-quarters of the people infected during an explosive coronavirus outbreak fueled by the delta variant were fully vaccinated. The report on the Massachusetts cases, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, offers key evidence bolstering the hypothesis that vaccinated people can spread the more transmissible variant and may be a factor in the summer surge of infections. The data, detailed in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, helped persuade agency scientists to reverse recommendations on mask-wearing and advise that vaccinated individuals wear masks in indoor public settings in some circumstances.... The outbreak started in early July in Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, a tourist destination known for its party scene. The July Fourth holiday atmosphere proved ideal for superspreader events." ~~~

~~~ Laura Strickler of NBC News: "At least 125,000 fully vaccinated Americans have tested positive for Covid and 1,400 of those have died, according to data collected by NBC News. The 125,682 'breakthrough' cases in 38 states found by NBC News represent less than .08 percent of the 164.2 million-plus people who have been fully vaccinated since January, or about one in every 1,300. The number of cases and deaths among the vaccinated is very small compared to the number among the unvaccinated. A former Biden adviser on Covid estimated that 98 to 99 percent of deaths are among the unvaccinated. But the total number of breakthrough cases is likely higher than 125,683, since nine states, including Pennsylvania and Missouri, did not provide any information, while 11, like Covid hotspot Florida, did not provide death and hospitalization totals. Four states gave death and hospitalization numbers, but not the full tally of cases."

Dave Philipps & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Late Thursday night, the Pentagon announced that all military and civilian employees would be asked to prove they were vaccinated or submit to mandatory masks, physically distancing and regular testing, as well as travel restrictions, just as President Biden demanded of the rest of federal civilian employees. The new requirements take the armed forces one step closer to a mandate. Compulsory shots are standard operating procedure for the military, which, starting in boot camp, requires troops to get vaccinated for at least a dozen diseases. For now, though, the military is trying to navigate how to get more troops to take the shot without simply issuing an order. Of the 1,336,000 active-duty members of the military, about 64 percent are fully vaccinated, above the 60 percent of Americans over 18 who are fully vaccinated. But for the military, that rate is unacceptably low, because it is difficult to deploy troops who have not been vaccinated to countries with stringent local restrictions, and because a surge of the virus among troops can cripple readiness."

Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: "... facing renewed pandemic restrictions, and with encouragement from government leaders, a growing number of the country's biggest companies have been embracing [vaccine mandates]. On Friday, Walmart and the Walt Disney Company introduced new requirements that some employees be vaccinated. They followed similar announcements this week from Google, Facebook, Uber and others.... Even as the companies announced new requirements, large groups of workers were left out of the mandates.... The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission first issued guidance in December that employers could mandate vaccines -- and reiterated that message in June.... Recent court decisions have upheld employers" rights to require vaccinations...."

Beyond the Beltway

Wisconsin. And the Beat Goes On. Scott Bauer of the AP: "The highest ranking Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly said Friday that he was expanding a probe into the 2020 presidential election, saying it will take more investigators and time than originally planned. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos signed contracts in June with two retired police detectives and a former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice to handle the investigation. But those two investigators quit earlier this month, Vos confirmed for the first time Friday, leading him to 'take a different tack.' Vos has designated retired Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman as a 'special counsel' and empowered him to hire as many investigators as he wants, with the goal of completing the probe this fall."

Louisiana Swamp Story. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "Lawrence Handley, 53, a business executive from Lafayette, La., pleaded guilty this week to three criminal charges after a plot to kidnap his estranged wife went badly awry. Schanda Handley was at home with her daughter and a neighbor when two men showed up at the door, dressed in ... blue uniforms. They had a carpet steamer and asked Ms. Handley if they could demonstrate it for her. When she said no, the men forced their way into her house at gunpoint, put a hood over her head and handcuffed her and her neighbor, she said. Then they pushed Ms. Handley into a van and drove off, leaving Ms. Handley's 14-year-old daughter and the neighbor behind. The kidnappers [-- Sylvester Bracey and Arsenio Haynes --] had been hired by Lawrence ... Handley, who was planning to have Ms. Handley driven to his camp near Woodville, Miss..., prosecutors said.... But as the men drove east on Interstate 10 on Aug. 6, 2017, with Ms. Handley handcuffed in the back, sheriff's deputies noticed the van was swerving and tried to stop it, prosecutors said. The men ... drove off the interstate, turned down a dead-end gravel road, and were penned in by the police.... Both men tried to escape by swimming through a canal, prosecutors said. They drowned.... Handley ... faces 15 to 35 years in prison." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sounds borrowed from the plot of "Fargo," albeit with fewer twists & turns. A terrific Coen brothers film, BTW. Funny thing, Lawrence Handley is nearly a deadringer for actor William H. Macey, who played the kidnap schemer in the film. And yeah, I know the story has squat to do with politics, but I couldn't resist sharing it. If it weren't a true story, I would have filed it under "Infotainment."

The Commentariat -- July 30, 2021

Afternoon Update:

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

Erin Banco & Adam Cancryn of Politico: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has collected data that suggest fully vaccinated Americans who contract the Delta variant can spread Covid-19 as easily as unvaccinated people infected with the variant. The hotly anticipated study helped convince the agency to revise its guidance on mask-wearing earlier this week, when it said vaccinated people should wear masks indoors in areas with high levels of Covid-19 transmission. But CDC had not made the data underlying its decision public until now." The New York Times story is here.

Clare Foran, et al., of CNN: "The Senate took the next step on Friday to bring up a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal that will fulfill key priorities in President Joe Biden's agenda. Senators voted 66-28 on a motion to proceed, a vote that will open up the legislative package to potential changes through the amendment process. It remains to be seen whether any amendments will be agreed to since they are expected to be subject to a 60-vote threshold. Bill text still has not yet been formally unveiled, and amendments are not expected to be considered until Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offers up the finalized deal as a substitute amendment, which could happen at some point later Friday afternoon. The expectation is that there could be amendment votes over the weekend."

Maeve Sheehey of Politico: "Attorney General Merrick Garland urged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to reverse his day-old executive order that aims to restrict migration at the border following a rise in Covid-19 cases. The attorney general called Abbott's order 'both dangerous and unlawful' in a Thursday letter to the governor. 'The Order violates federal law in numerous respects, and Texas cannot lawfully enforce the Executive Order against any federal official or private parties working with the United States,' Garland wrote.... Garland's letter also said Texas does not have authority to interfere with the federal government's 'broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration.'"

Donald's Very Bad Hair Day:

Lordy, Let There Be Leaks! Rebecca Beitsch & Naomi Jagoda of the Hill: "The Justice Department on Friday said the Treasury Department must turn over former President Trump's long-sought tax returns to the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee. In a Friday memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), acting Assistant Attorney General Dawn Johnsen said that the Treasury Department was required to defer to the congressional committee. 'The statute at issue here is unambiguous: "Upon written request" of the chairman of one of the three congressional tax committees, the Secretary "shall furnish" the requested tax information to the Committee,' Johnsen wrote in the 39-page memo."

** Devlin Barrett & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump pressed senior Justice Department officials in late 2020 to declare the election corrupt even as those officials pushed back, warning the president that many of the claims he was hearing about voter fraud were false, according to notes taken by an aide who participated in the discussions. The notes were released to Congress this week and made public on Friday -- further evidence of the pressure Trump brought to bear as he sought to throw out President Biden's election victory. In one Dec. 27 conversation, according to the written account, acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen told Trump the Justice Department 'can't + won't snap its fingers + change the outcome of the election.' The president replied that he understood that, but wanted the agency to 'just say the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen,' according to notes of the conversation taken by another senior Justice Department official, Richard Donoghue.... Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said the notes 'show that President Trump directly instructed our nation's top law enforcement agency to take steps to overturn a free and fair election in the final days of his presidency.'" CNN's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Katie Benner of the New York Times: “Mr. Trump did not name the lawmakers [who would help him overturn the election], but at other points during the call, he mentioned Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, whom he described as a 'fighter'; Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who at the time promoted the idea that the election was stolen from Mr. Trump; and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, whom Mr. Trump praised for 'getting to bottom of things.'" MB: Oh, you boys are gonna be subpoenaed.

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Nicholas Fandos & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "President Biden and the top Democrats in Congress are expected to meet at the White House on Friday to discuss their party's faltering efforts to pass major voting rights legislation, according to two congressional aides familiar with the plans. Mr. Biden's meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York comes at a crucial moment, as activists are pushing the president to use his power and Democrats' control of Congress to protect voting rights while they have the chance.... In June, [Senate] Republicans successfully stalled Democrat' marquee elections legislation, called the For the People Act, by filibustering> it."

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden's success at propelling an infrastructure deal past its first major hurdle this week was a vindication of his faith in bipartisanship and a repudiation of the slash-and-burn politics of ... Donald J. Trump, who tried and failed to block it. Having campaigned as the anti-Trump -- an insider who regarded compromise as a virtue, rather than a missed opportunity to crush a rival -- Mr. Biden has held up the promise of a broad infrastructure accord not just as a policy priority but as a test of the fundamental rationale for his presidency. His success or failure at keeping the bill on track will go a long way to determining his legacy, and it could be the president's best chance to deliver on his bet that he can unite lawmakers across the political aisle to solve big problems, even at a time of intense polarization.... The measure still has several hurdles to clear, including anger from progressives in the House who are upset at the concessions Mr. Biden made to court Republicans, and skepticism from G.O.P. lawmakers who could still balk at a bill Mr. Trump has repeatedly panned." ~~~

~~~ But Biden Can Be Convinced There Are Limits to Bipartisanship. Rebecca Beitsch & Rafael Bernal of the Hill: "President Biden on Thursday unequivocally backed Democratic efforts to include immigration in the budget as a way to navigate narrow margins in the Senate. 'I think we should include in the reconciliation bill the immigration proposal,' Biden told reporters as he left the White House to accompany first lady Jill Biden to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The statement came immediately after a meeting with Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) legislators and others who have worked on immigration reform. The meeting was originally set up to discuss the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Earlier this week, Biden said 'it remains to be seen' whether immigration could be included as part of a reconciliation bill, though lawmakers on Thursday said the president in their meeting voiced his strong backing for efforts to include it."

Jada Yuan of the Washington Post: "For the second time this year, President Biden has cleared his schedule to accompany his wife, Jill Biden, to a medical procedure. The first lady was walking along the ocean on Oahu, Hawaii, near Honolulu, last weekend when she 'stepped on an object on the beach which became lodged in her left foot,' her spokesman Michael LaRosa said in a statement. White House officials haven't specified what the object is -- A shell? A piece of broken glass? -- but the condition has become serious enough to require a trip to the hospital.... The first lady was in Hawaii to tour a pop-up coronavirus vaccination clinic at a high school in Waipahu and to attend a barbecue with 75 service members at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. It was the final stretch of her five-day trip to cheer on Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics -- a trip that started with vaccination-related events in Anchorage.... In April, President Biden accompanied the first lady to an outpatient center near George Washington University, where she underwent what the White House said was 'a common medical procedure.'"

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Congress on Thursday rapidly cleared a $2.1 billion emergency spending package that will avert a Capitol Police funding crisis sparked by the Jan. 6 riot and also provide urgent funds to evacuate and resettle Afghans who aided U.S. forces during the 20-year war in their homeland. Leaders of the Capitol Police and National Guard units warned of imminent cuts if Congress did not act to backfill expenditures made in the wake of the Capitol attack, and lawmakers responded swiftly by congressional standards, delivering a bipartisan package that advanced to the Senate floor with relatively little drama. The Senate voted 98-0, and the House followed suit hours later, 416-11. The White House released a statement Thursday supporting the bill, indicating President Biden will sign it."

Marianne Levine of Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that all 50 Democrats will vote to move forward on the party's $3.5 trillion social spending proposal.... The New York Democrat has long insisted that the Senate will pass both the bipartisan bill and a budget blueprint for the multitrillion-dollar legislative package before the chamber leaves for the August recess.... The final price tag on the bill is not yet clear. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) said Wednesday that while she will vote to move forward, she does not support legislation that costs $3.5 trillion, angering progressives in her party. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), another moderate Democrat, said last week that while he was committed to advancing the bill, he reserved the right to do 'whatever the hell I want' on final passage. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are already waging a messaging war against the social spending bill."

Vanessa Williams of the Washington Post: "Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) became the third member of Congress to be arrested during nonviolent protests [at the Hart Senate Office Building] aimed at rallying support for federal voting legislation that activists say are necessary to push back against new restrictive state laws.... Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) was arrested at the Hart Senate Office Building last week. The week before, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was cuffed with zip ties and briefly detained.

Eric Schmitt & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "The first group of Afghans promised refuge by the Biden administration for helping the United States during the 20-year war in Afghanistan landed on American soil early Friday, starting a new life chapter after years of waiting. About 250 Afghan interpreters, drivers and others who worked with the U.S. military, as well as their family members, arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington after traveling more than 30 hours from Kabul, the Afghan capital, officials said. From Dulles, they were bused to Fort Lee, Va., south of Richmond, where they will stay at a hotel on the base for about a week to complete their processing before being resettled in the United States permanently, officials said. The late-night arrival marked the vanguard of an initial group of about 2,500 Afghans being evacuated under threat of Taliban reprisals in an effort the White House calls Operation Allies Refuge." The Hill's story is here.

Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy grew 1.6 percent in the second quarter, returning to prepandemic size.... That is a remarkable achievement, exactly a year after the economy's worst quarterly contraction on record. After the last recession ended in 2009, G.D.P. took two years to rebound fully.... Vaccinations and federal aid helped lift the U.S. economy out of its pandemic-induced hole this spring. The next test will be whether that momentum can continue as coronavirus cases rise, masks return and government help wanes.... Other economic measures remain deeply depressed, particularly for certain groups: The United States still has nearly seven million fewer jobs than before the pandemic. The unemployment rate for Black workers in June was 9.2 percent." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Rachel Siegel & Andrew Van Dam of the Washington Post: "The U.S. economy was officially back and fully recovered from the coronavirus pandemic as of June, although a recent surge in cases could bring new uncertainty. The economy grew at an annual rate of 6.5 percent in the quarter ending in June, below forecasts of at least 8 percent, as coronavirus vaccinations and unleashed consumer spending added momentum to the recovery. The lower-than-expected figures reflect an economy struggling with supply-chain backlogs that have hamstrung business productivity by lowering inventories of basic goods and materials and pushing prices higher, economists say." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Jason DeParle of the New York Times: "The huge increase in government aid prompted by the coronavirus pandemic will cut poverty nearly in half this year from prepandemic levels and push the share of Americans in poverty to the lowest level on record, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of a vast but temporary expansion of the safety net. The number of poor Americans is expected to fall by nearly 20 million from 2018 levels, a decline of almost 45 percent. The country has never cut poverty so much in such a short period of time, and the development is especially notable since it defies economic headwinds -- the economy has nearly seven million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic. The extraordinary reduction in poverty has come at extraordinary cost, with annual spending on major programs projected to rise fourfold to more than $1 trillion. Yet without further expensive new measures, millions of families may find the escape from poverty brief. The three programs that cut poverty most -- stimulus checks, increased food stamps and expanded unemployment insurance -- have ended or are scheduled to soon revert to their prepandemic size."

A Stunt that Failed. Meagan Flynn of the Washington Post: "D.C. jail officials turned away GOP members of Congress who showed up Thursday at the jail, saying they intended to inspect the treatment of suspects detained in the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Trailed by cameras from right-wing news organizations, Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.) and Louie Gohmert (Tex.) crowded into the lobby of the D.C. detention facility demanding to be let inside as members of Congress. A D.C. jail official told them they were 'obstructing entrance into this facility' and appeared to accuse the members of trespassing. 'We're the people that vote on whether or not to fund you, at what level, and we're trespassing?' Gohmert responded. The D.C. detention center is not a federal facility and is fully funded by D.C. taxpayers -- but Congress has oversight over D.C.'s budget. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the District's nonvoting representative in Congress, said their 'attempt to basically try to break into the D.C. jail is an abuse of their authority over the District.'"

Here's more on that New York state senate candidate/Capitol insurrectionist (a Hill story was linked yesterday): ~~~

~~~ Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Moments after Daniel Christmann climbed through an open window to get into the Capitol on Jan. 6, the former New York state senate candidate took out his phone to record the insurrection for his Instagram followers, prosecutors said. That afternoon, Christmann walked around the building taking videos he posted to his @dannyforsenate account, according to a 19-page criminal complaint that was unsealed Wednesday. In the following days, private messages obtained by federal authorities show Christmann bragged about participating in the riot, explaining to those messaging him on Instagram how he reached unauthorized areas. When Christmann later became aware that authorities arrested two people he knew who were inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, he began reaching out to Facebook friends to ask them to delete any videos showing him on the grounds that day, prosecutors said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Steve M. reviews the right's new excuse for the January 6 "unpleasantness": it "was ... not a serious problem because the insurrectionists had no real plan for seizing control of the government -- [a] ... talking point, intended to be widely distributed to serious-minded, well-informed citizens who presumably aren't buying talk of bamboo in the ballots and satellite vote switching from Italy." MB: I did timely read Christopher Caldwell's NYT op-ed, which Steve reviewed, & decided not to link it, even as an example of stupid, because his thesis was so worthless. Let me just add that the January 6 insurrection, unlike the occasional bombings & bank robberies by 1960s leftists (which Steve also mentions) differ drastically from the January 6 insurrection in that no prominent politicians supported the '60s radicals, while the then-POTUS* and many Congressional Repubicans support the January 6 "tourists" and "protesters." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, essmeier, commenting on Steve M.'s post, refutes the right's argument that the insurrectionists were not dangerous because they did not have a plan. essmeier lays out the plan:

"1. Break into the Capitol
"2. Kill Pence and Pelosi
"3. ???
"4. Win!"

Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump is lashing out at Capitol Police officers who survived the January 6th insurrection, according to a new report in The Daily Beast. 'In his retelling, Ashli Babbitt -- who was shot and killed trying to enter the House chamber on Jan. 6 -- wasn't so much a rioter as she was an 'innocent, wonderful, incredible woman.' And, in Trump's mind, some of the police officers who defended the Capitol that day aren't the real heroes, calling them liberal "p*ssies" who loathe MAGA, and outliers within a broadly pro-Trump law enforcement community,' The Beast reported." MB: Who's a pussy? The so-called "pussies" withstood hours of unrelenting physical & verbal assaults by Trump's supporters; Trump ducked when one man rushed the stage at one of his 2016 rallies and hid behind Secret Service agents, some of whom subdued the man. And where was Braveheart McDonald -- who promised to lead his troops to the Capitol insurrection -- during the melee? Why he was home in his plush public housing watching the teevee as his followers beat up the "pussies."

Laurence Tribe, in a Washington Post op-ed, explains why the DOJ's decision not to defend Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in a lawsuit re: Brooks' actions on January 6, filed by Eric Swallwell (D-Calif.), is bad news for Donald Trump.

Zachary Petrizzo of Salon: "MyPillow CEO and fervent Donald Trump supporter Mike Lindell says he's pulling all of his advertisements from Fox News after the network refused to run a spot for his 'cyber symposium,' which he claims will provide enough proof of industrial-scale election fraud to propel the former president back into office.... 'I am pulling everything!' Lindell said. 'Fox [News] denied the [cyber symposium] ad, and they based it on "pending litigation."' The pillow maven told Salon exclusively last week that he planned to get back at the conservative network for their failure to promote -- or cover, or even mention, for that matter -- the 'cyber symposium,' which is set to overtake Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Aug. 10-12. Fox spurning the event apparently launched the idea for Lindell to run custom ads geared towards drumming up support among conservatives ahead of the gathering.... MyPillow commercials have been a staple on Fox News for years -- indeed, the company was one of the network's largest sponsors last year, according to advertising data from market research firm iSpot.tv." ~~~

~~~ Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Trump-loving MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has been the most fervent promote[r] of election conspiracy theories, and journalist Anne Applebaum has grown so alarmed that she's deemed him 'a clear threat to the nation.' In a new piece for The Atlantic [firewalled], Applebaum ... writes that he's spending a fortune ... in his quest to undermine the 2020 election and reinstall ... Donald Trump to the White House. 'Along with Bannon, Giuliani, and the rest of the conspiracy posse, he is helping create profound distrust in the American electoral system, in the American political system, in the American public-health system, and ultimately in American democracy,' she writes. 'The eventual consequences of their actions may well be a genuinely stolen or disputed election in 2024, and political violence on a scale the U.S. hasn't seen in decades.'"

Michael Brown of the Washington Post: "Carl Levin, a six-term Democratic senator from Michigan who was an influential leader on national security and whose intellect and integrity made him one of the most widely respected lawmakers of recent times, died July 29 at a hospital in Detroit. He was 87.... A Harvard-trained lawyer who wore reading glasses perched on the end of his nose, Mr. Levin was known for scholarly analysis of issues, sound-bite-free discourse and a collaborative approach to legislating that earned him the trust of colleagues who did not share his liberal political philosophy.... His brother Sander M. Levin, older by three years, was a Democratic congressman from the Detroit area, and the two served simultaneously for more than three decades." Update: Carl Levin's New York Times obituary is here. An AP obituary is here.

Sarah Bailey of the Washington Post: "Defrocked Catholic cardinal Theodore McCarrick was criminally charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy during a wedding reception at Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1974, according to court documents obtained by The Washington Post. The charges make McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, D.C., the highest-ranking Catholic official in the country to face criminal charges for alleged sex abuse. McCarrick, 91, was for years one of the country's most connected and influential Catholic leaders before allegations of his behavior were made public in 2018, and he was later expelled from the priesthood."

Valeriya Safronova of the New York Times: "For a certain subset of Britney Spears fans, who call themselves her 'Army,' there is no cause greater than emancipating Ms. Spears from the conservatorship that controls her life and finances. Thirteen years into the legal arrangement, which Ms. Spears recently described as 'abusive,' her devotees are watching a movement that was once on the fringes of pop culture turn into one of the year's biggest news stories. Even politicians are paying attention: 'I am squarely and unequivocally in the camp of FreeBritney,' Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said on his podcast this month. The growing support for Ms. Spears speaks to the power of fan devotion, unleashed in the modern age through social media. The celebrity may be the famous one, but her followers, or stans (see: Nicki Minaj's Barbz, Beyoncé’s BeyHive, Rihanna's Navy), have the power to mobilize thousands of people online to support a cause." MB: This appears to be one of those rare instances in which a silly fan group does something useful. So good for these fans.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden on Thursday sought to revive the nation's stalled push to vaccinate Americans against the surging Delta variant of the coronavirus, announcing new requirements for federal workers to be vaccinated and urging local and state governments to offer $100 to anyone willing to get a shot voluntarily. His announcement included only federal civilian employees, but hours later the Pentagon said members of the military would also be subject to the same rules: Get vaccinated or face regular testing, social distancing, mask wearing and limits on official travel. Although those steps fall short of a mandate, Mr. Biden also ordered the Defense Department to move rapidly toward one for all members of the military, a step that would affect almost 1.5 million troops, many of whom have resisted taking a shot that is highly effective against a disease that has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 Americans." ~~~

** Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must 'acknowledge the war has changed.' The document is an internal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slide presentation, shared within the CDC and obtained by The Washington Post. It captures the struggle of the nation's top public health agency to persuade the public to embrace vaccination and prevention measures, including mask-wearing, as cases surge across the United States and new research suggests vaccinated people can spread the virus. The document strikes an urgent note, revealing the ... [need for a better] defense against a variant so contagious that it acts almost like a different novel virus, leaping from target to target more swiftly than Ebola or the

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Thursday called on Congress to act 'without delay' to extend a national eviction moratorium that is set to expire Saturday. The White House said Biden is not able to act on his own because of a Supreme Court ruling. In a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would have 'strongly supported' a move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to again extend a moratorium that began nearly 11 months ago in response to the pandemic, particularly given the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus." The AP's story is here. And here is Psaki's statement. (Also linked yesterday.)

Such Principled Tough Guys. Scott Wong of the Hill: "Nearly 40 maskless House Republican lawmakers walked across the Capitol and onto the Senate floor in protest of the Capitol physician's decision to reinstate a mask mandate in the lower chamber but not in the upper chamber. Republicans complained that the policy, backed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats, is inconsistent, infringes on personal liberty, and is based on politics, not science. However, the body of the 100-member Senate is less than a quarter of the size of the 435-member House, and all but a handful of senators are vaccinated while dozens of House Republicans have refused to say whether they got the vaccine.... The GOP lawmakers, who have Senate floor privileges as members of the House, tried to time their protest with a speech by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on individual freedom." ~~~

~~~ Mike Lillis of the Hill: "Congressional aides and visitors to the House side of the Capitol will face arrest if they're not wearing masks, the head of the U.S. Capitol Police announced this week. In a Wednesday letter to his officer corps, Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger ordered that they enforce the new mask guidelines across the Capitol complex. Those new rules, installed by the Capitol physician earlier in the week, include a mask mandate on the House side of the Capitol and all House office buildings.... Although the same mask mandate applies to members of Congress, the same strict enforcement will not. Rather, Capitol Police are asked to report recalcitrant lawmakers to supervising officers 'who will, in turn, refer the matter to the House Sergeant at Arms,' wrote Manger, who took over as head of the Capitol Police just a week ago."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "The 27 member states of the European Union altogether have now administered more coronavirus vaccine doses per 100 people than the United States, in another sign that inoculations across the bloc have maintained some speed throughout the summer, while they have stagnated for weeks in the United States." MB: Thanks, Freedumb Fighters! You're killing us. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here.

~~~ Case in Point. Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "... the communications by Turning Point USA and its affiliate, Turning Point Action, reflect the increasingly hard line [against Covid vaccinations] taken by the group, which describes itself as the 'largest and fastest-growing youth organization in America' and claims a presence on more than 2,500 college and high school campuses. Its dire warnings about a government-backed inoculation program -- now a major theme of its Facebook ads, which have been viewed millions of times -- illustrate how the Trump-allied group is capitalizing on the stark polarization around vaccine policy. Experts say the messages, many of which steer online audiences to donation pages, threaten to undermine vaccine confidence among young people, who have already proved particularly reluctant to roll up their sleeves." MB: It's true that death is a rather drastic "Turning Point," so the name is appropriate for the kids and those whom they may infect. (Also linked yesterday.)

Carolyn Johnson & Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "Executives of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer predicted Wednesday that vaccine boosters would soon be needed, a declaration that came on the same day the company published data showing that its coronavirus shots remained robustly protective six months after vaccination, providing nearly complete protection against severe disease. Hours later, Israeli health officials moved toward making boosters available for older residents. Pfizer's paper, which has not yet undergone peer review, showed a slight drop in efficacy against any symptomatic cases of covid-19..., from 96 percent protection in the first two months after vaccination to 84 percent after four months."

Missouri. Gina Harkins of the Washington Post: "When Faisal Khan left the St. Louis County council meeting Tuesday after promoting a new mask mandate, he said he was shoulder-bumped and pushed by people in the aisle. When he made it through the door, the St. Louis County Department of Health's acting director ... was surrounded by an 'angry mob,' he said, and called an expletive and a brown b-----d. Others mocked his accent.... St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones (D) and County Executive Sam Page had announced on Monday a new face mask requirement for indoor public places and transportation. Covid-19 rates in the region have crept up to levels not seen since February, and Khan said during Tuesday&'s council meeting that infections from the new delta variant have reached an all-time high.... Khan said when he walked into the crowded St. Louis County council meeting to find so many people packed into the chamber without face masks, he immediately feared it would become a superspreader event.... Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) also filed a lawsuit on Monday to stop the newly imposed mandate," and some council members said only they had the authority to impose a mandate. Or not.

Wisconsin. Scott Bauer of the AP: "A Republican-controlled committee plans to block the University of Wisconsin from instituting COVID-19 testing, masking and vaccination protocols on campuses across the state, a move that comes as health officials sound warnings about the rapidly spreading, highly contagious delta variant. [Committee chair] State Sen. Steve Nass said Wednesday that he will be moving to require the university to get approval from the Legislature before enacting any virus-related regulations.... UW System interim President Tommy Thompson, a former Republican governor and U.S. Department of Health Services secretary, reacted to the proposal by saying 'the biggest threat to in-person classes this fall would be actions that strip the UW System of the tools it has so successfully utilized to date to address outbreaks and reduce the spread of COVID-19.'"

Marie: I wonder if the people who are incensed that the CDC is recommending mask-wearing again because of an increase in the number & severity of Covid cases have trouble with "regulators" like traffic lights. Do they sit at the intersection shouting, "What? What? A minute ago I could drive right ahead and now you're telling me I have to sit here & let these people going a whole 'nother way zip past right in front of me."? And how do they handle situations where there is no clear regulation. Do they walk out in front of an oncoming vehicle because a minute ago the roadway was clear?

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "The Arizona Senate returned nearly 2.1 million ballots to the control of the state's largest county Thursday as the GOP-led recount of votes cast in the 2020 presidential election drew to a rocky close, marked by upheaval that is likely to further undermine public confidence in its conclusions, set to be announced next month.... Meanwhile, Twitter on Tuesday suspended a string of accounts that had been promoting the ballot review, including one that had been billed as the audit's official handle, saying that they violated company policies on 'platform manipulation and spam.' Also this week, a previously supportive Republican state senator announced that she believed the audit has been 'botched' -- the third member of a 16-member caucus to express reservations over a process that was ordered up by the chamber's GOP leadership." ~~~

~~~ Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "A private contractor [Cyber Ninjas] conducting a Republican-commissioned review of 2020 presidential ballots in Arizona's largest county announced late Wednesday that it has collected more than $5.7 million in private donations to fund the process. The controversial ballot review, which included a hand recount of Maricopa County's nearly 2.1 million ballots and a review of ballot tabulating machines, has been underway since April. It was ordered by the state's Republican-led Senate, which agreed to spend $150,000 in taxpayer money to fund the audit. But the Senate allowed Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based firm hired to lead the process, to collect donations as well." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Haiti. Frances Robles of the New York Times: Haiti's former first lady Martine Moïse speaks about the night her husband was assassinated & she was left for dead. "... she needed to speak, she said, because she did not believe that the investigation into his death had answered the central question tormenting her and countless Haitians: Who ordered and paid for the assassination of her husband?"

Japan. The New York Times' live updates of the Tokyo Olympics Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's liveblog of Olympics highlights Thursday is here.

The Commentariat -- July 29, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Ben Casselman of the New York Times: "The U.S. economy grew 1.6 percent in the second quarter, returning to prepandemic size.... That is a remarkable achievement, exactly a year after the economy's worst quarterly contraction on record. After the last recession ended in 2009, G.D.P. took two years to rebound fully.... Vaccinations and federal aid helped lift the U.S. economy out of its pandemic-induced hole this spring. The next test will be whether that momentum can continue as coronavirus cases rise, masks return and government help wanes.... Other economic measures remain deeply depressed, particularly for certain groups: The United States still has nearly seven million fewer jobs than before the pandemic. The unemployment rate for Black workers in June was 9.2 percent." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Siegel & Andrew Van Dam of the Washington Post: "The U.S. economy was officially back and fully recovered from the coronavirus pandemic as of June, although a recent surge in cases could bring new uncertainty. The economy grew at an annual rate of 6.5 percent in the quarter ending in June, below forecasts of at least 8 percent, as coronavirus vaccinations and unleashed consumer spending added momentum to the recovery. The lower-than-expected figures reflect an economy struggling with supply-chain backlogs that have hamstrung business productivity by lowering inventories of basic goods and materials and pushing prices higher, economists say."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Thursday called on Congress to act 'without delay' to extend a national eviction moratorium that is set to expire Saturday. The White House said Biden is not able to act on his own because of a Supreme Court ruling. In a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would have 'strongly supported' a move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to again extend a moratorium that began nearly 11 months ago in response to the pandemic, particularly given the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus." The AP's story is here. And here is Psaki's statement.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "The 27 member states of the European Union altogether have now administered more coronavirus vaccine doses per 100 people than the United States, in another sign that inoculations across the bloc have maintained some speed throughout the summer, while they have stagnated for weeks in the United States."

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "... the communications by Turning Point USA and its affiliate, Turning Point Action, reflect the increasingly hard line [against Covid vaccinations] taken by the group, which describes itself as the 'largest and fastest-growing youth organization in America' and claims a presence on more than 2,500 college and high school campuses. Its dire warnings about a government-backed inoculation program -- now a major theme of its Facebook ads, which have been viewed millions of times -- illustrate how the Trump-allied group is capitalizing on the stark polarization around vaccine policy. Experts say the messages, many of which steer online audiences to donation pages, threaten to undermine vaccine confidence among young people, who have already proved particularly reluctant to roll up their sleeves." MB: I suppose when a kid or someone he infects dies, that a "Turning Point."

Marie: How stupid are the pod people that they can't figure out that they & their GOP masters are drags on society, the economy, health & well-being, U.S. leadership & prestige, you-name-it?

Here's more on that New York state senate candidate/Capitol insurrectionist (a Hill story is linked below): ~~~

~~~ Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Moments after Daniel Christmann climbed through an open window to get into the Capitol on Jan. 6, the former New York state senate candidate took out his phone to record the insurrection for his Instagram followers, prosecutors said. That afternoon, Christmann walked around the building taking videos he posted to his @dannyforsenate account, according to a 19-page criminal complaint that was unsealed Wednesday. In the following days, private messages obtained by federal authorities show Christmann bragged about participating in the riot, explaining to those messaging him on Instagram how he reached unauthorized areas. When Christmann later became aware that authorities arrested two people he knew who were inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, he began reaching out to Facebook friends to ask them to delete any videos showing him on the grounds that day...."

The New York Times' live updates of the Tokyo Olympics are here.

Arizona. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "A private contractor [Cyber Ninjas] conducting a Republican-commissioned review of 2020 presidential ballots in Arizona's largest county announced late Wednesday that it has collected more than $5.7 million in private donations to fund the process. The controversial ballot review, which included a hand recount of Maricopa County's nearly 2.1 million ballots and a review of ballot tabulating machines, has been underway since April. It was ordered by the state's Republican-led Senate, which agreed to spend $150,000 in taxpayer money to fund the audit. But the Senate allowed Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based firm hired to lead the process, to collect donations as well."

~~~~~~~~~~

** Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Senate Democrats and Republicans banded together on Wednesday to advance a roughly $1 trillion proposal to improve the country's aging infrastructure, overcoming months of political deadlock on one of President Biden's signature economic policy priorities. The day of breakthroughs began with news of a deal, as a bipartisan bloc of 10 negotiators coalesced around a package to upgrade the nation's roads, bridges, pipes, ports and Internet connections. The announcement from some of the group's leaders, including Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), capped off a series of frenetic talks that nearly collapsed amid behind-the-scenes battles about the new spending and how to pay for it. With that once-elusive agreement finally in hand, the Senate hours later then took its first formal legislative step. Lawmakers voted 67-32 to put themselves on track to begin debating infrastructure reform this week, clearing the first of many hurdles toward adopting a proposal that the White House has described as historic." ~~~

     ~~~ Emily Cochrane & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The 67-to-32 vote, which included 17 Republicans in favor, came just hours after centrist senators in bot parties and the White House reached a long-sought compromise on the bill, which would provide about $550 billion in new federal money for roads, bridges, rail, transit, water and other physical infrastructure programs. Among those in support of moving forward was Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader and a longtime foil of major legislation pushed by Democratic presidents. Mr. McConnell's backing signaled that his party was -- at least for now -- open to teaming with Democrats to enact the plan. The deal still faces several obstacles to becoming law, including being turned into formal legislative text and clearing final votes in the closely divided Senate and House. But the vote was a victory for a president who has long promised to break through the partisan gridlock...." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's story is here. It is an update of a story linked yesterday. Politico's story is here. ~~~

Joe Biden is the President who showed the real art of making a deal. -- Cedric Richmond, advisor to Joe Biden, on MSNBC Wednesday night ....

     ~~~ AND the Vote Was a Big Defeat for the Marqués de Mar-a-Lardo. Olafimihan Oshin of the Hill: Donald "Trump lambasted Senate Republicans for reaching a deal with their Democratic counterparts on "major issues" involving an infrastructure proposal.... 'Hard to believe our Senate Republicans are dealing with the Radical Left Democrats in making a so-called bipartisan bill on "infrastructure," with our negotiators headed up by SUPER RINO [Republican in name only] Mitt Romney,' Trump said. Trump said any passage of such a measure would be a win for the Biden administration and Democrats, alluding to such a vote being 'heavily used in the 2022 election.' 'It is a loser for the USA, a terrible deal, and makes the Republicans look weak, foolish, and dumb. It shouldn't be done. It sets an easy glidepath for Dems to then get beyond what anyone thought was possible in future legislation,' the former president said." ~~~

     ~~~ Meredith McGraw of Politico: Donald Trump "encouraged GOP lawmakers to abandon the talks [on the infrastructure bill] and criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for even entertaining them. Senate Republicans have said, in interviews, that they have directly asked the former president not just to tone down his criticism but to actually support the infrastructure deal.... The former president has threatened lawmakers who support the deal..., 'Republican voters will never forget their name, nor will the people of our Country.'... Trump's efforts to derail any infrastructure package have, so far, mostly been met with a shrug on Capitol Hill.... Trump tried and failed to pass an infrastructure bill so many times over the course of his presidency that his attempts were reduced to a punchline. Now out of office, Trump is trying to ensure that ... Joe Biden suffers the indignity of the 'infrastructure week' jokes as well.... The self described dealmaker came to realize the trickiness of negotiating a massive spending package in Washington, and he repeatedly sabotaged his own efforts to reach a deal by spinning off track with self-inflicted political controversies."

Katie Williams & Maegan Vazquez of CNN: President "Biden made his first formal remarks to staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday -- an address at a moment of quiet but profound change for a workforce that was buffeted by the fierce political winds of the Trump era. After four years of bitter criticism by ... Donald Trump, who accused the intelligence community of 'Nazi'-like practices and said top leaders should 'go back to school,' the intelligence community has sought to quietly return to business-as-usual under a decidedly more conventional president. And Biden, in turn, has vowed to never politicize the intelligence community's work, installing senior leaders who are seen as far less overtly partisan than either of Trump's final two national intelligence directors. 'You've served the American people no matter which political party holds power in Congress or the White House,' Biden told staff at the ODNI. 'It's so vital, so vital that you are and should be totally free of any political pressure or partisan interference. It's basic. And I want to be absolutely clear that my administration is getting us back to the basics.... I'll never politicize the work you do. You have my word on that,' he added." (Also linked yesterday.)

Josh Gerstein & Zach Montellaro of Politico: "The Justice Department on Wednesday issued another warning aimed at states conducting or considering audits of ballots tallied in last year's election, reminding election authorities that allowing ballots to be mishandled can violate federal law. While the Biden administration 'guidance' document carries no formal legal weight and may not strike fear into local officials, the Justice Department used the release of the legal analysis to press their campaign of saber-rattling against Republican-led audits of the 2020 vote in Arizona and other states, as well as voting changes many GOP-controlled states are pursuing as part of purported anti-fraud efforts. 'Jurisdictions have to be careful not to let those ballots be defaced or mutilated or lost or destroyed as part of an audit,' said a Justice Department official.... 'Election audits are exceedingly rare. But the Department is concerned that some jurisdictions conducting them may be using, or proposing to use, procedures that risk violating the Civil Rights Act,' the memo says. 'We are keeping a close eye on what's going on around the country,' the official said, alternately referring to the reviews as 'audits' or 'so-called audits.'" More on the Arizona fraudit linked under Beyond the Beltway.

Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde (Ga.) defended his description of rioters walking through the Capitol on Jan. 6 appearing to look like a 'normal tourist visit' during a committee meeting on Tuesday. The heated exchange occurred hours after four police officers appeared before the select committee probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.... Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the select panel, confronted Clyde during a Rules Committee meeting about his previous comments regarding the insurrection, in which he said people 'would actually think it was a normal tourist visit' if they had not known the footage was from Jan. 6. 'Do you stand by your statement that they were tourists?' Raskin asked Clyde. The GOP lawmaker, however, refused to answer the question, claiming that Raskin had read an 'interpretation' of his statement.... [Raskin read back Clyde's original statement.] 'And I stand by that exact statement, as I said it,' Clyde responded." Includes video. MB: Photos taken January 6 show Clyde helping to barricade the House doors against the advancing horde normal tourists. (Also linked yesterday.)

Taegan Goddard of Political Wire: "Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) told Slate he had been wearing body armor at the 'Save America' rally before the Capitol attack on January 6.... Said Brooks: 'I was warned on Monday that there might be risks associated with the next few days. And as a consequence of those warnings, I did not go to my condo. Instead, I slept on the floor of my office. And when I gave my speech at the Ellipse, I was wearing body armor.'" OR, as Jim Newell of Slate, who interviewed Brooks, put it in a tweet, "... Mo Brooks was wearing body armor when giving his very peaceful Ellipse speech at the very peaceful 1/6 rally' Newell's interview, which is firewalled, is here.

** Josh Dawsey & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump called his acting attorney general nearly every day at the end of last year to alert him to claims of voter fraud or alleged improper vote counts in the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the conversations. The personal pressure campaign, which has not been previously reported, involved repeated phone calls to acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen in which Trump raised various allegations he had heard about and asked what the Justice Department was doing about the issue.... Rosen told few people about the phone calls, even in his inner circle. But there are notes of some of the calls that were written by a top aide to Rosen, Richard Donoghue, who was present for some of the conversations..., people said. Donoghue's notes could be turned over to Congress in a matter of days, they added, if Trump does not file papers in court seeking to block such a handover. In addition, both Rosen and Donoghue could be questioned about the conversations by congressional committees examining Trump's actions in the days after the election.... ~~~

~~~ "The phone calls came in late 2020 and early 2021, when Trump and his supporters were furiously pressing for officials at all levels of the government to intercede in the usually routine process of certifying the election results -- asking them to either launch new investigations, support unverified allegations of fraud or manipulation of vote counts, or otherwise throw up roadblocks to Democrat Joe Biden becoming president." MB: At the same time, of course, Trump was also pressuring local elections officials, state legislators & Mike Pence to change or refuse to certify the official presidential election results. So after he failed in his attempts to manipulate the levers of the government he headed to flip the election results, Trump resorted to encouraging a popular insurrection to unlawfully install him for another term. I think Trump's "state of mind" and "intention" on January 6 are pretty clear.

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) acknowledged Wednesday that he spoke with ... Donald Trump on Jan. 6, increasing the likelihood that he will be called to testify before the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. 'I spoke with him on Jan. 6,' Jordan, a staunch Trump ally, said during an interview with Spectrum News, in which he was asked to clarify previous comments about whether the two had communicated on the day of the attack."

Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "A former New York state Senate candidate is facing four charges in connection to his alleged role in the Jan. 6 riot, CNBC reported. Daniel Christmann was arrested on Wednesday in Brooklyn and faces charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or ground; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. According to a federal criminal complaint..., footage was found of Christmann entering the building through a window. The complaint also shows comments that Christmann made on his Instagram account where he confirmed that he had entered the Capitol."

Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday offered the most direct signal yet that it will begin to dial back its emergency support for the economy in the near future, as its chair, Jerome H. Powell, made it clear that policymakers will do so deliberatively and with plenty of warning. Fed officials voted to leave both of their key policy supports intact before wrapping up their two-day July meeting, holding interest rates near zero and continuing government-backed bond purchases unabated. Those two tools fuel economic demand by making money cheap to borrow and spend. But they spent the meeting debating when and how to slow the bond-buying program, which is expected to be the first step toward a more normal policy setting as the economy rebounds strongly from its pandemic stupor. A decision isn't imminent, but officials used their July policy statement to signal that one is coming."

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Federal prison officials have allowed Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor accused of sexually abusing hundreds of girls and women, to avoid paying financial penalties that are part of his sentence -- even as he spent more than $10,000 from his Federal Bureau of Prisons account while behind bars, according to a new court filing. The spending details are contained in a prosecutor's motion Wednesday that seeks to force the Bureau of Prisons to turn over Nassar's current prison account balance to help cover a court-ordered payment of $5,300 to the federal Crime Victims Fund.... The Washington Post reported last month that the bureau allows inmates to keep unlimited amounts of money in their accounts and effectively shields much of that money from collection..., leaving the Justice Department in the odd position of having to file court cases to force one of its own agencies to turn over money owed to crime victims or for other debts."

Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield, in a New York Times op-ed, explain why they're proud that the company they founded -- Ben & Jerry's -- and which they no longer control, decided to end the sale of their ice cream in Palestine's occupied territories.

Annals of, uh, Journalism, Ctd. Their Goal Is Spit-Takes. Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Gawker is back. Again. The website known for blunt, gossipy coverage of celebrities, tech entrepreneurs, media figures and anyone else with an inflated ego went live on Wednesday, two years after a failed reboot attempt. The editor in chief is Leah Finnegan, a former executive editor of The Outline, a news site that shut down last year. She has also worked as an editor at Gawker and The New York Times. 'The current laws of civility mean that no, it can't be exactly what it once was,' Ms. Finnegan wrote of Gawker in a note to readers published Wednesday, 'but we strive to honor the past and embrace the present. We are here to make you laugh, I hope, and think, and do a spit-take or furrow your brow,' she continued, asking readers to consider the site's new incarnation 'with an open mind and an open heart.'"

The Pandemic, Ctd.

It's Official. Kevin McCarthy Is a Moron. Marianna Sotomayor & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "House Republicans on Wednesday angrily criticized a new order from the Capitol Hill physician to wear masks inside the Capitol due to the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, leading Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy a 'moron' over his argument that the decision was not based on science. Many House Republicans refused to wear masks on the House floor during a series of morning votes, before they called for the chamber to adjourn as GOP members rebuffed attempts by staff to get them to put on a mask.... '... The threat of bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state,' McCarthy tweeted shortly after [Capitol physician Brian] Monahan sent his email [outlining the new policy] Tuesday night. Asked Wednesday morning by NBC News about McCarthy's comment, Pelosi responded: 'He's such a moron.'... Many Republicans have declined to say whether they have been vaccinated, although they represent areas with the biggest spikes in infections."

Margaret Talev of Axios: "The most hardcore opponents of coronavirus vaccination -- the group who say they'll never get one -- tend to be older, whiter and more Republican than the unvaccinated Americans who are still persuadable, according to an analysis of our Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index." MB: Can't figure out why that is. ~~~

~~~ Oriana Gonzalez of Axios: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to use money from his reelection campaign to run radio ads on over 100 Kentucky stations in the coming days to promote getting vaccinated for COVID-19, Reuters reports."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.

Marie: In Tuesday's thread, Akhilleus pointed out that Rep. Margie Greene (GQP-Ga.) is upset that some liberal-type establishments may start banning potential customers with "staff infections." I meant to point that out earlier Wednesday, but I guess I let myself accidentally forget because I recently wrote "phase" where I meant "faze." My excuse is I don't have a staph to correct my spelling errors.

U.K. Karla Adam & William Booth of the Washington Post: "Coronavirus cases are plummeting in Britain. They were supposed to soar. Scientists aren't sure why they haven't.... The trajectory of the virus in Britain is something the world is watching closely and anxiously, as a test of how the delta variant behaves in a society with relatively high vaccination rates. And now people are asking if this could be the first real-world evidence that the pandemic in Britain is sputtering out -- after three national lockdowns and almost 130,000 deaths." The article includes several theses for the reason for the drop in cases -- including the possibility is that Brits just aren't getting tested.

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Allan Smith & Jane Timm of NBC News: "The Republican serving as liaison between the Arizona state Senate and the private company conducting a partisan ballot review said Wednesday that he intended to resign, then walked it back. Ken Bennett, a former Arizona secretary of state, said he'd decided to resign when it became clear he would not regain access to the Phoenix fairgrounds where the private company, Cyber Ninjas, continues its examination of millions of ballots cast last November in Maricopa County.... Bennett ... was first barred from entering the audit site Friday after he shared some results with outside election experts, according to The Arizona Republic. Those experts told the paper that what they reviewed indicated the auditors' vote tally was in line with the results reported by the county.... Bennett's announcement comes as another public-facing element of the audit -- its Twitter account ... -- was permanently suspended by Twitter along with seven other pro-audit accounts that promoted ... Donald Trump's lies about last fall's vote. The suspensions were first reported by BuzzFeed News." MB: So everything is going very smoothly.

New York. Luis Ferré-Sadurní & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "One of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's top lawyers, a central figure in the state attorney general's investigation of the governor, will resign from her post next week just as the sexual harassment inquiry may be nearing an end. Judith L. Mogul has served as special counsel to the governor since 2019 and was one of the senior Cuomo aides who handled a sexual harassment complaint lodged by Charlotte Bennett, a former executive assistant to Mr. Cuomo." Mogul was one of two staff to whom Bennett had related her allegations against Cuomo.

Way Beyond

Japan. The New York Times' live updates of the Olympics games Wednesday are here.