The Commentariat -- February 11, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Amanda Holpuch of the Guardian: "The US could have averted 40% of the deaths from Covid-19, had the country's death rates corresponded with the rates in other high-income G7 countries, according to a Lancet commission tasked with assessing Donald Trump's health policy record. Almost 470,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus so far, with the number widely expected to go above half a million in the next few weeks. At the same time some 27 million people in the US have been infected. Both figures are by far the highest in the world. In seeking to respond to the pandemic, Trump has been widely condemned for not taking the pandemic seriously enough soon enough, spreading conspiracy theories, not encouraging mask wearing and undermining scientists and others seeking to combat the virus's spread." Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: I have been wondering what sort of number could be attached to Trump's Covid-19 failures. This scientific effort is useful.

Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The Justice Department is now making clear that a leader among the Oath Keepers paramilitary group -- who planned and led others in the US Capitol siege to attempt to stop the Biden presidency -- believed she was responding to the call from ... Donald Trump himself. 'As the inauguration grew nearer, [Jessica] Watkins indicated that she was awaiting direction from President Trump,' prosecutors wrote in a filing Thursday morning. This is the most direct language yet from federal prosecutors linking Trump's requests for support in Washington, DC, to the most militant aspects of the insurrection.... 'Her concern about taking action without his backing was evident in a November 9, 2020, text in which she stated, "I am concerned this is an elaborate trap. Unless the POTUS himself activates us, it's not legit. The POTUS has the right to activate units too. If Trump asks me to come, I will. Otherwise, I can't trust it." Watkins had perceived her desired signal by the end of December.'"

WXYZ Detroit: "Mike Shirkey, the Republican majority leader of the Michigan state senate, was caught on a hot mic Wednesday seemingly walking back an apology he made earlier this week for calling the riots at the U.S. Capitol a 'hoax.' Earlier this week, a video of Shirkey's meeting with Republican leaders from Hillsdale County leaked in which Shirkey referred to the Jan. 6 riots as a 'hoax,' and placed blame on Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, claiming he 'wanted to have a mess.' On Tuesday, Shirkey apologized for those comments, saying that he 'regrets the words that I chose and I apologize for my insensitive comments'. But on Wednesday while on the Senate floor, Shirkey was caught on a hot mic appearing to completely walk back the apology he made the day before. 'Frankly, I don't take back any of the points I was trying to make,' Shirkey said during a conversation with Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In the context of this NYT story, linked here a few days ago, Shirkey's walk-back of a walk-back are especially frightening.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates of the impeachment trial Thursday are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here.

Trump Incites Mob to Attack, Kidnap and/or Murder Pence. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The House impeachment managers opened their prosecution of Donald J. Trump on Wednesday with a meticulous account of his campaign to overturn the election and goad supporters to join him, bringing its most violent spasms to life with never-before-seen security footage from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Filling the Senate chamber with the profane screams of the attackers, images of police officers being brutalized, and near-miss moments in which Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers came steps away from confronting a mob hunting them down, the prosecutors made an emotional case that Mr. Trump's election lies had directly endangered the heart of American democracy. They played frantic police radio calls warning that 'we've lost the line,' body camera footage showing an officer pummeled with poles and fists on the West Front of the Capitol, and silent security tape from inside showing Mr. Pence, his family and members of the House and Senate racing to evacuate as the mob closed in, chanting: 'Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!'" ~~~

~~~ Lauren Gambino & Sam Levine of the Guardian: "Democrats revealed disturbing new recordings of the mob attack on the US Capitol last month as they presented their case on Wednesday in the historic second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. House impeachment managers constructed a timeline which they said showed that the former president was 'singularly responsible' for the deadly assault, which brought a violent mob within footsteps of the nation's political leaders." ~~~

~~~ James Poniewozik of the New York Times: "... the proceeding against ... Donald J. Trump was likely the first to include a parental advisory for graphic violence. Beginning Wednesday's presentation, which included never-before-seen video of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead House impeachment manager, began with a warning: 'We do urge parents and teachers to exercise close review of what young people are watching here, and please watch along with them if you're allowing them to watch.' The chilling footage wasn't much easier for adults -- for anyone, really, who wants to believe that America is a secure, stable democracy. It was horrible, but it was also horribly necessary. In a brutal and deftly edited presentation, the managers presented the attack on the election's certification as a found-footage horror movie." A Washington Post story is here.

Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "The chilling, unseen footage of a riotous mob storming through the U.S. Capitol intent on killing Vice President Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was presented to senators by a nonvoting member of Congress from the Virgin Islands. Del. Stacey Plaskett, a former prosecutor in the Bronx couldn't even vote on the article of impeachment against Trump, but in her role as impeachment manager, she has emerged in the Senate trial as a commanding presence entrusted with the grave task of showing how dangerously close the rioters came to lawmakers and staff members on Jan. 6."

The Washington Post's live updates of the second day of the second Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump are here: "House managers are scheduled Wednesday to begin laying out their case that Donald Trump incited the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, as the historic second impeachment trial of the former president enters its second day in the Senate. The trial could wrap up as early as the weekend." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates of Wednesday's impeachment trial are here. The Guardian's live updates of the second day of the trial are here. The Senate will convene at noon ET for the trial. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: This, for me, was a stomach-churning day. I had no intention of watching the entire presentation, but it was so stunning, I found it difficult to look away.

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "House impeachment managers built their case against ... Donald J. Trump on Wednesday, methodically using video and audio clips to argue that Mr. Trump was responsible for the deadly assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6. Throughout much of the day, the managers let Mr. Trump and his supporters do the talking, showing videos of Mr. Trump's speeches, his Twitter posts and footage of his supporters answering his rallying cries that began months before the attack. Here are some takeaways from the second day of the trial."

** Trump Lashed Out at Pence on Twitter Right After He Found Out Pence Was in Danger. S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump posted a tweet attacking his own vice president for lacking 'the courage' to overturn the election for him ― enraging his Jan. 6 mob even further ― just minutes after learning that Mike Pence had been removed from the Senate chamber for his own safety.... Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told reporters Wednesday night, following the second day of the former president's impeachment trial, that Trump had called for his help in delaying election certification the afternoon of the U.S. Capitol attack but he had told Trump that Pence had just been taken from the Senate and he couldn't talk just then. 'He didn't get a chance to say a whole lot because I said, "Mr. President, they just took the vice president out. I've got to go,"' Tuberville said. According to video footage from that day, Pence was removed from the Senate at 2:14 p.m. after rioters had broken into the Capitol, meaning that when Trump lashed out at Pence at 2:24 p.m., he already knew Pence's life was in danger. 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution,' Trump wrote in his tweet." MB: Thanks for clearing that up, Mr. Potato Head. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Tuberville was using Lee's cellphone to speak to Trump. The reason Tuberville cut the call short was that Lee told him security was evacuating the Senate, & Lee wanted his phone back. It seems likely that Tuberville would have related this emergency evacuation to Trump, too; IOW, yet another signal to Trump that the situation was dire.

A Jury of Co-conspirators. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Trump had a lot of assistance in pushing [his fake election fraud] case, including from the conservative media and his campaign team. But he was also assisted by a large segment of the Republican Senate caucus, the group that is currently being asked to see his behavior after the election as part of an effort to overthrow the results of the presidential election. Nearly half of the Republican caucus ... is being asked to judge that the falsehood they helped propel was an instrumental part of an attempted insurrection against the U.S. government." Bump reprises some of the support GOP senators gave Trump's false claims. ~~~

     ~~~ For Instance, There's This Juror. Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told reporters after viewing the explicit videos of the attack on the Capitol the Senate trial is a 'complete waste of time.'... Asked if he thinks Trump bears any responsibility for the attack, Scott said, 'Look, I've been clear that that I wish the president had said something faster when they broke into it, but, you know, I've watched what he said. He's never said when somebody should break in -- [he] actually said that people should do this peacefully.'" ~~~

     ~~~ AND This Insolent Punk. Samson Amore of the Wrap: "Republican Sen. Josh Hawley's conduct during Trump's second impeachment trial enraged viewers [Wednesday] afternoon after he was seen kicking back with his feet up and ignoring the proceedings -- even though he's a juror on the case. Reporters covering the trial spotted Hawley sitting in the gallery of the Senate chamber instead of on the floor. NBC News' Garrett Haake tweeted that he saw the Missouri senator 'sitting up in the gallery with his feet up on the seat in front of him, reviewing paperwork, throughout the trial.' 'Not once has he paid attention to the impeachment trial,' reporter Hugo Lowell noted." MB: The studio photo of Hawley that accompanies the story makes me think of an insolent punk I used to know; these little fools have no idea they're not the cool dudes they play on teevee. ~~~

     ~~~ AND This One, Who Wants to Have It Both Ways. John McCormack of the National Review: "Texas senator Ted Cruz was one of the 44 Republicans who voted that ... Donald Trump is not 'subject to a court of impeachment for acts committed while president,' but in an article on Fox News, Cruz argues that, in fact, the Constitution does give Congress the authority to impeach and convict a former president. Cruz writes: 'I believe that the better constitutional argument is that a former president can be impeached and tried -- that is, that the Senate has jurisdiction to hold a trial. However, nothing in the text of the Constitution requires the Senate to choose to exercise jurisdiction. In these particular circumstances, I believe the Senate should decline to exercise jurisdiction -- and so I voted to dismiss this impeachment on jurisdictional grounds.'" MB Translation: So let's impeach President Obama.

Jim Acosta & Pamela Brown of CNN: "Advisers to ... Donald Trump say he still has not expressed remorse for the siege at the US Capitol, which could end up being important for Senate jurors to consider after House impeachment managers on Wednesday released new video of the violent mob's assault on January 6. One of the new clips show then-Vice President Mike Pence and his family being hustled away by Secret Service as the siege was under way.... Pence, who plans to keep laying low during the impeachment trial, has not quite patched up his relationship with Trump after what happened, according to a source familiar with the situation." MB: So it's been more than a month since Trump (1) directed a mob to lynch mike pence &, (2) Trump feels no remorse about it. Yet pence hasn't "quite patched up his relationship with Trump"? As for me, I would never "patch up my relationship with" someone who sicced a murderous mob on me. The other cheek I'd turn is on my backside.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "One of the Proud Boys arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol told a court Wednesday that he was duped by ... Donald Trump's 'deception' and 'acted out of the delusional belief' that he was responding patriotically to the commander in chief. Dominic Pezzola, who was indicted last month and charged with conspiracy, urged a federal court to grant his release pending trial, emphasizing that his involvement in the Proud Boys was recent and minimal and that he has no other criminal history. But the most notable part of Pezzola's 15-page motion for leniency was his thorough repudiation of Trump. '[D]efendant acted out of the delusional belief that he was a "patriot" protecting his country ... He was responding to the entreaties of the-then commander in chief, President Trump,' Pezzola's lawyer argued in the filing. 'The President maintained that the election had been stolen and it was the duty of loyal citizens to "stop the steal." Admittedly there was no rational basis for the claim, but it is apparent defendant was one of millions of Americans who were misled by the President's deception.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Anna Massoglia of Open Secrets: "Newly identified payments in recent Federal Election Commission filings show people involved in organizing the protests on Jan. 6 received even larger sums from Trump's 2020 campaign than previously known. OpenSecrets unearthed more than $3.5 million in direct payments from Trump;s 2020 campaign, along with its joint fundraising committees, to people and firms involved in the Washington, D.C. demonstration before a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Recent FEC filings show at least three individuals listed on permit records for the Washington, D.C. demonstration were on the Trump campaign's payroll through Nov. 30, 2020. The Trump campaign paid Event Strategies Inc., a firm named in a permit for the rally that also employed two individuals involved in the demonstration, as recently as Dec. 15, just three weeks before the attacks on the U.S. Capitol. That's according to the most recent FEC filings covering spending through the end of 2020.... But the American public may never know the full extent of the Trump campaign's payments to organizers involved in the protests. That's because the campaign used an opaque payment scheme that concealed details of hundreds of millions of dollars in spending by routing payments through shell companies where the ultimate payee is hidden." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michigan. Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey apologized Tuesday for calling the US Capitol riot a hoax and espousing several conspiracy theories implicating political leadership in a video recorded and posted to YouTube.... In a statement Tuesday, Shirkey acknowledged the video tape was legitimate and apologized for his comments. 'I said some things in a videoed conversation that are not fitting for the role I am privileged to serve,' he said. 'I own that. I have many flaws. Being passionate coupled with an occasional lapse in restraint of tongue are at least two of them.... 'I regret the words I chose, and I apologize for my insensitive comments.'... 'That wasn't Trump people,' Shirkey said of the January 6 riots in a video taken in a restaurant. 'That's been a hoax from day one, that was all pre-arranged,' Shirkey said, asserting that rioters 'went in on separate buses, that was all arranged by somebody that was funding everyone.... Why wasn't there more security? It was ridiculous, it was all staged,' he continued, before pointing to conspiracy theories that Republican leadership -- including Senate Minority Mitch McConnell -- were somehow involved, and questioning how and why some casualties occurred or were recorded." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in Fulton County have initiated a criminal investigation into ... Donald J. Trump's attempts to overturn Georgia's election results, including a phone call he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to 'find' enough votes to help him reverse his loss. On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump's call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter. The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official...." A CNBC story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Haley Messenger of NBC News: "Twitter will uphold its ban on ... Donald Trump, even if he were to run for office again, according to the company's chief financial officer. 'When you're removed from the platform, you're removed from the platform,' Twitter CFO Ned Segal told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday morning. 'Our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence,' Segal said. 'He was removed when he was president and there'd be no difference for anybody who's a public official once they've been removed from the service.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ben Protess & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "In the final months of the Trump administration, senior Justice Department officials repeatedly sought to block federal prosecutors in Manhattan from taking a crucial step in their investigation into Rudolph W. Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine, delaying a search warrant for some of Mr. Giuliani's electronic records.... The actions by political appointees at the Justice Department in Washington effectively slowed the investigation.... Last summer, prosecutors and F.B.I. agents in Manhattan were preparing to seek the search warrant.... But first, the investigators in Manhattan had to notify Justice Department officials in Washington, who must be consulted about search warrants involving lawyers.... While career Justice Department officials in Washington largely supported the search warrant, senior officials raised concerns that the warrant would be issued too close to the election [even though Manhattan agents were seeking the warrants more than 60 days before the election].... But even [after the election], political appointees in Mr. Trump's Justice Department, including officials in the deputy attorney general's office at the time, did not approve...."

Meanwhile ~~~

Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "President Biden and Vice President Harris paid tribute to the contributions of Black service members, acknowledging the barriers they have faced in uniform, on Wednesday during their first official visit to the Pentagon. Speaking to reporters, Biden referred to the service of African Americans from the Revolutionary War to the conflicts of the modern era, even though their actions, as Biden put it, 'were not always recognized or honored appropriately.' The president noted that more than 40 percent of active-duty troops are people of color, a share that remains underrepresented at the military's highest levels.... Biden and Harris later visited an area of the Pentagon that honors pioneering African American troops, including the Tuskegee Airmen, a mostly Black aviator unit that flew sorties during World War II, when the military was still segregated."

Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "President Joe Biden held his first official phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday night, marking an end to weeks of conspicuous silence between the leaders. During the call, Biden confronted Xi about China's 'coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan,' according to a readout of the call. They also discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, among other issues." The New York Times' story is here.

David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Biden announced on Wednesday that he was imposing sanctions that would prevent the generals who engineered a coup in Myanmar from gaining access to $1 billion in funds their government keeps in the United States, and said he would announce additional actions against the military leaders and their families. It was the first concrete step the U.S. government has taken since Mr. Biden demanded that the generals restore democracy and release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation's civilian leader. Noting that protests were growing, Mr. Biden warned that 'violence against those asserting their democratic rights is unacceptable' and that 'the world is watching.'"

Susannah Luthi of Politico: "The Biden administration is withdrawing the federal government's support for a challenge to Obamacare, telling the Supreme Court that the law should remain on the books.... The move will likely have little impact on the outcome of the case, which the justices heard one week after Election Day and could decide on soon."

Sarah Dadouch & Kareem Fahim of the Washington Post: "Saudi Arabia released Loujain al-Hathloul, one of the country's most prominent women's rights activists, from prison on Wednesday in the clearest sign yet that the kingdom's leaders were taking steps to assuage President Biden's complaints about human rights violations. Hathloul, 31, has been among the most visible faces of an unrelenting Saudi crackdown on human rights advocates, dissidents and civil society activists. Her imprisonment, which lasted 1,001 days, and her allegations that she had been tortured, sparked an international outcry. Her release from prison comes at a time when Saudi Arabia faces increased skepticism, if not hostility, in Washington after the election of a new president and after the Democrats won control of the Senate." ~~~

     ~~~ Martin Chulov of the Guardian: "Following a concerted campaign by her relatives and global rights groups, [Loujain al-]Hathloul was granted probation by a judge in Riyadh and released to her family on Wednesday afternoon.... Hathloul became a cause célèbre for leading Democrats in the US during her imprisonment and her case had been championed by Joe Biden during his presidential election campaign. The release of the activist is thought to at least in part be connected to Biden's election win."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

Jennifer Jett of the New York Times: "Instagram took down the account of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the political scion and prominent anti-vaccine activist, on Wednesday over false information related to the coronavirus. 'We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,' Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement. Mr. Kennedy, the son of the former senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, worked for decades as an environmental lawyer but is now better known as an anti-vaccine crusader. A 2019 study found that two groups including his nonprofit, now called Children's Health Defense, had funded more than half of Facebook advertisements spreading misinformation about vaccines." MB: Good. I hope this means that anti-vaxxers will soon find their dangerous message barred from all social media.

Lena Sun & Fenit Nirappil of the Washington Post: "Federal health officials Wednesday urged Americans to consider wearing two masks as one of several strategies to better protect themselves against the threat of more contagious variants of the coronavirus. Two methods substantially boost fit and protection, according to a CDC report and updated guidance on its website. One is wearing a cloth mask over a disposable surgical mask. The second is improving the fit of a single surgical mask by knotting the ear loops and tucking in the sides close to the face to prevent air from leaking out around the edges and to form a closer fit. Both of those methods reduced exposure to potentially infectious aerosols by more than 95 percent in a laboratory experiment using dummies, the report said." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Beth Reinhard of the Washington Post: "Former Washington Football Team cheerleaders who appeared in lewd videos that team employees secretly produced from outtakes of 2008 and 2010 swimsuit calendar shoots have reached confidential settlements with the team.... An August report in The Washington Post [revealed that] about two 10-minute videos set to classic rock hits they said were made without their knowledge. In the videos, some of the cheerleaders' nipples are exposed as they shifted positions and adjusted props, and two cheerleaders' pubic areas are obscured only partly by body paint."

Apparently Reality Chex commentators who periodically complain about right-wing bias on NPR just have not been making compelling criticisms. You all should have asked about dinosaurs. ~~~

~~~ "Newsy Things Considered." Mary Kelly of NPR: "An 8-year-old from Minneapolis recently pointed out a big problem with NPR's oldest news show, All Things Considered. Leo Shidla wrote to his local NPR station: 'My name is Leo and I am 8 years old. I listen to All Things Considered in the car with mom. I listen a lot. I never hear much about nature or dinosaurs or things like that. Maybe you should call your show Newsy things Considered, since I don't get to hear about all the things. Or please talk more about dinosaurs and cool things....' Leo has a point. All Things Considered is about to turn 50 years old. NPR's archivists found the word 'dinosaur' appearing in stories 294 times in the show's history. By comparison, 'senator' has appeared 20,447 times. To remedy the situation, All Things Considered invited Leo to ask some questions about dinosaurs to Ashley Poust, a research associate at the San Diego Natural History Museum." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

CNBC: "First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 793,000 last week as declining Covid-19 cases provided little relief for the jobs market. The total for the week ended Feb. 6 was above the 760,000 forecast from economists surveyed by Dow Jones but a slight decrease from the previous week's upwardly revised total of 812,000."

The Commentariat -- February 10, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in Fulton County have initiated a criminal investigation into ... Donald J. Trump's attempts to overturn Georgia's election results, including a phone call he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to 'find' enough votes to help him reverse his loss. On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump's call, according to a state official.... The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters." A CNBC story is here.

Anna Massoglia of Open Secrets: "Newly identified payments in recent Federal Election Commission filings show people involved in organizing the protests on Jan. 6 received even larger sums from Trump's 2020 campaign than previously known. OpenSecrets unearthed more than $3.5 million in direct payments from Trump's 2020 campaign, along with its joint fundraising committees, to people and firms involved in the Washington, D.C. demonstration before a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Recent FEC filings show at least three individuals listed on permit records for the Washington, D.C. demonstration were on the Trump campaign's payroll through Nov. 30, 2020. The Trump campaign paid Event Strategies Inc., a firm named in a permit for the rally that also employed two individuals involved in the demonstration, as recently as Dec. 15, just three weeks before the attacks on the U.S. Capitol. That's according to the most recent FEC filings covering spending through the end of 2020.... But the American public may never know the full extent of the Trump campaign's payments to organizers involved in the protests. That's because the campaign used an opaque payment scheme that concealed details of hundreds of millions of dollars in spending by routing payments through shell companies where the ultimate payee is hidden."

Haley Messenger of NBC News: "Twitter will uphold its ban on ... Donald Trump, even if he were to run for office again, according to the company's chief financial officer. 'When you're removed from the platform, you're removed from the platform,' Twitter CFO Ned Segal told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday morning. 'Our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence,' Segal said. 'He was removed when he was president and there'd be no difference for anybody who's a public official once they've been removed from the service.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "One of the Proud Boys arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol told a court Wednesday that he was duped by ... Donald Trump's 'deception' and 'acted out of the delusional belief' that he was responding patriotically to the commander in chief. Dominic Pezzola, who was indicted last month and charged with conspiracy, urged a federal court to grant his release pending trial, emphasizing that his involvement in the Proud Boys was recent and minimal and that he has no other criminal history. But the most notable part of Pezzola's 15-page motion for leniency was his thorough repudiation of Trump. '[D]efendant acted out of the delusional belief that he was a "patriot" protecting his country ... He was responding to the entreaties of the-then commander in chief, President Trump,' Pezzola's lawyer argued in the filing. 'The President maintained that the election had been stolen and it was the duty of loyal citizens to "stop the steal." Admittedly there was no rational basis for the claim, but it is apparent defendant was one of millions of Americans who were misled by the President's deception.'"

Michigan. Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey apologized Tuesday for calling the US Capitol riot a hoax and espousing several conspiracy theories implicating political leadership in a video recorded and posted to YouTube.... In a statement Tuesday, Shirkey acknowledged the video tape was legitimate and apologized for his comments. 'I said some things in a videoed conversation that are not fitting for the role I am privileged to serve,' he said. 'I own that. I have many flaws. Being passionate coupled with an occasional lapse in restraint of tongue are at least two of them.... 'I regret the words I chose, and I apologize for my insensitive comments.'... 'That wasn't Trump people,' Shirkey said of the January 6 riots in a video taken in a restaurant. 'That's been a hoax from day one, that was all pre-arranged,' Shirkey said, asserting that rioters 'went in on separate buses, that was all arranged by somebody that was funding everyone.... Why wasn't there more security? It was ridiculous, it was all staged,' he continued, before pointing to conspiracy theories that Republican leadership -- including Senate Minority Mitch McConnell -- were somehow involved, and questioning how and why some casualties occurred or were recorded."

Apparently Reality Chex commentators who periodically complain about right-wing bias on NPR just have not been making compelling criticisms. You all should have asked about dinosaurs. ~~~

~~~ "Newsy Things Considered." Mary Kelly of NPR: "An 8-year-old from Minneapolis recently pointed out a big problem with NPR's oldest news show, All Things Considered. Leo Shidla wrote to his local NPR station: 'My name is Leo and I am 8 years old. I listen to All Things Considered in the car with mom. I listen a lot. I never hear much about nature or dinosaurs or things like that. Maybe you should call your show Newsy things Considered, since I don't get to hear about all the things. Or please talk more about dinosaurs and cool things....' Leo has a point. All Things Considered is about to turn 50 years old. NPR's archivists found the word 'dinosaur' appearing in stories 294 times in the show's history. By comparison, 'senator' has appeared 20,447 times. To remedy the situation, All Things Considered invited Leo to ask some questions about dinosaurs to Ashley Poust, a research associate at the San Diego Natural History Museum."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Washington Post's live updates of the second day of the second Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump are here: "House managers are scheduled Wednesday to begin laying out their case that Donald Trump incited the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, as the historic second impeachment trial of the former president enters its second day in the Senate. The trial could wrap up as early as the weekend." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates of Wednesday's impeachment trial are here. The Guardian's live updates of the second day of the trial are here. The Senate will convene at noon ET for the trial.

"Lie After Lie." Larry Buchanan, et al., of the New York Times: "In hundreds of public statements from Nov. 4, 2020, to Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Trump repeatedly used phrases like 'we won the election' and 'won it by a landslide,' and he said that the election was 'rigged' and 'stolen' by the Democrats. Such assertions have been proven false by the courts and elections officials across the country. Mr. Trump's language later signaled to his supporters that they needed to 'fight' because 'you'll never take back our country with weakness.'... Autocratic movements throughout history have been distinguished by leaders repeating lies and suggestions that whip up anger among supporters, [Yale professor] Dr. [Timothy] Snyder said. 'That is exactly what Trump did.'... Dozens of constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum have said the First Amendment claim is 'legally frivolous' and should not stop the Senate from convicting Mr. Trump.... The Times reviewed hundreds of hours of footage from Jan. 6 of protesters, including the rioters that stormed the Capitol, and found evidence of how they mimicked -- and amplified -- Mr. Trump's words." Includes a 38-minute video of Trump's lies about the election results.

~~~~~~~~~~

Most Senate Republicans Disavow Constitution, Rule of Law. Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Senate is constitutionally permitted to try Donald Trump on the House's charge that he incited the Jan. 6 insurrection, senators voted Tuesday, sidelining the former president's primary defense in the impeachment case against him. The 56-44 vote permits the impeachment trial to move ahead Wednesday, when the House will present its opening arguments in its uphill effort to win Trump's conviction -- which requires a two-thirds vote of the evenly divided Senate. Six Republicans voted with Democrats to support the ability to try a former president, a case that has won support from legal scholars of all ideologies but that Trump's team said was unconstitutional.... House Democrats opened their case Tuesday to convict Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection with a montage of harrowing scenes of violence wrought by the former president's supporters during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.... The shocking footage -- which included the shooting death of rioter Ashli Babbitt and the assault of numerous police officers -- forced senators to relive the moments when many of them fled the violence, fearing for their own safety." Update: The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

Barbara Sprunt of NPR: "The Republicans who voted for the trial's constitutionality were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Cassidy's vote is notable because he was the only senator to switch sides from an early procedural vote on the trial's constitutionality." Cassidy explains his vote:

Alayna Treene & Glen Johnson of Axios: "The made-through-TV impeachment presentation delivered by House managers presented a gripping narrative for the public but the rambling, legalistic rebuttal Donald Trump's attorneys presented won Tuesday with the pivotal Senate jurors.... The House managers are playing the outside game; they know it's a long shot their prosecution will alter the final result, so they're trying to shift public opinion. Trump's defense is playing an inside game -- they're doing just enough to sustain the votes needed to acquit the former president.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: Lead prosecutor Rep. Jamie "Raskin [D-Md.], who lost his son, Tommy, to suicide the week before the [January 6] rampage, brought the urgency of the matter home with chilling personal detail. Speaking through tears, Mr. Raskin narrated the events of Jan. 6 through his own eyes and those of his daughter and son-in-law, who had accompanied him to the Capitol that day ... and became trapped in an office off the House floor as the rioters flooded the building. He recalled the 'most haunting sound I ever heard' as members of the pro-Trump mob pounded 'like a battering ram' on the doors to the House chamber. 'All around me, people were calling their wives and their husbands, their loved ones to say goodbye,' Mr. Raskin recalled. 'Members of Congress, in the House anyway, were removing their congressional pins so they couldn't be identified by the mob as they tried to escape.' He recounted having apologized to his daughter afterward, saying her next trip to the Capitol would be better, and her reply that she never wanted to return to the building. 'Of all the terrible, brutal things I saw and heard on the day and since then, that one hit me the hardest,' he said. 'Senators, this cannot be our future. This cannot be the future of America. We cannot have presidents inciting and mobilizing mob violence against our government and our institutions because they refuse to accept the will of the people.'"

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "'Winning' the impeachment trial means removing any reasonable doubt in the minds of Americans that... Donald Trump incited a riot, that he let it continue in desperate attempt to keep power and that Republicans simply do not care. The House impeachment managers did a masterful job on all points in their opening arguments on Tuesday.... Let's not forget that the only reason the impeachment, which the House voted on before Trump left office, was not sent to trial immediately was because then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his fellow Republicans stalled. They break the hypocrisy meter by turning around and claiming that the Senate, therefore, cannot try Trump now.... It was obvious why Republican Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rick Scott (Fla.), and Rand Paul (Ky.) cravenly averted their gaze [from the video presentation]: The scenes were so disturbing as to render their defense of the former president a moral abomination. The voices of rioters parroting Trump's incendiary words dismantle the notion that rioters were not motivated by Trump.

"... Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), took the Senate through an air-tight argument citing constitutional language, history, precedent and the views of renowned conservative legal scholars to demonstrate why the defense's argument is preposterous. Add in the bumbling, nearly incoherent presentation from the former president's lawyer, Bruce Castor, and the screeching, partisan harangue from his colleague David Schoen (who seemed to threaten violence if Trump is convicted when he said, 'This trial will tear this country apart, perhaps like we have only seen once before in our history'), and it is easy to see there is no real constitutional objection to trying the case."

~~~ Marie: The most infurating argument Castor made, IMO, was this one: "... the section [of the Constitution] I read..., the judgment, in cases of impeachment..., [is] 'shall not extend further than removal from office.' What is so hard about that? Which of those words are unclear?: 'Shall not extend further than removal from office?' President Trump no longer is in office. The object of the Constitution has been achieved. He was removed by the voters," Castor emphasized, as he read from notes. In fact, that is only half of what the Constitution says about "judgment" for impeachment. Section 3.7 of the Constitution reads, "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States...." Emphasis added. Castor's central argument -- the one his reading of notes suggests he prepared for -- was a flat-out lie.

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times outlines five takeaways from the trial's first day. They sound about right.

Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "The Senate's top Republican will not whip his caucus to vote against the conviction of ... Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection. That's according to Bloomberg, which reported late on Tuesday night that [Mitch] McConnell is signaling to Senate Republicans that he will not be holding them to uniform opposition of the incitement of insurrection charge against Trump. That would free GOP Senators to vote to convict...."

Eli Merritt in a New York Times op-ed: "If the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 were sitting today as jurors in the Senate impeachment trial of ... Donald Trump, one thing seems certain.... Acting with vigor and dispatch, they would cast two near unanimous votes: first, to convict the president of an impeachable offense, and second, to disqualify him from holding future federal office. They would vote in this way, unmoved by partisan passions or the defense's claim that the Senate lacks jurisdiction, because they believed as a matter of civic principle that ethical leadership is the glue that holds a constitutional republic together. It was a principle they lived by and one they infused into every aspect of the Constitution they debated that summer in Philadelphia nearly 234 years ago.... They wrote the language of the impeachment powers with a demagogue like Mr. Trump in mind."

Gabby Orr & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "Cocooned at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump watched as his defense attorneys responded to an emotional presentation by House impeachment managers with a series of dry, technical and at times meandering arguments about due process and the constitutionality of the proceedings. As they droned on, he grew increasingly frustrated with the sharp contrast between their muted response and the prosecution's opening salvo.... 'President Trump was not happy with the performance of his legal team in action,' said one of the people familiar with his thinking. It didn't help that his lead attorney..., Bruce Castor..., referred to Trump as the 'former president,' conceding that he had in fact lost the 2020 election when he was removed by 'smart' voters last November. Trump, according to those familiar with his thinking, saw his legal team's performance as a missed opportunity and also was annoyed by the public criticism of his attorneys." ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump ... was furious [with Bruce Castor's performance], people familiar with his reaction said. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the angriest, Mr. Trump 'was an eight,' one person familiar with his reaction said. And while he was heartened that his other lawyer, [David] Schoen, gave a more spirited performance, Mr. Trump ended the day frustrated and irate, the people familiar with his reaction said." ~~~

     ~~~ Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "Trump was almost screaming as Castor struggled to get at the heart of his defense team's argument, which is supposed to be over the constitutionality of holding a trial for a president no longer in office. Given that the legal team was assembled a little over a week ago, it went as expected, one of the sources told CNN. Still, Trump's allies were flabbergasted when the attorneys switched speaking slots at the last minute."

~~~ AP: "Senate Republicans had sharp criticism for ... Donald Trump's lawyers after the opening of his second impeachment trial. Many said they didn't understand Trump's lawyers' arguments as they sought to persuade the Senate to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds.... Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Trump's staunchest allies, said he didn't think the lawyers did 'the most effective job,' while praising Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Democrats' lead prosecutor, as 'impressive.' Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Castor 'just rambled on and on and on.' Both still voted to dismiss the trial, along with 42 other Republican senators." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: A pundit appearing on MSNBC (I was only half-listening, so I don't know who it was) compared Trump's lawyers to mob lawyers who don't put in much of an effort at trial because they know they've already bought the jurors.

The New York Times is liveblogging the first day of Trump's second impeachment trial here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Guardian's liveblog, which also covers other topics, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Rosalind Helderman & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump was 'horrified' when violence broke out at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, as a joint session of Congress convened to confirm that he lost the election, according to his defense attorneys.... But that revisionist history conflicts with the timeline of events on the day of the Capitol riot, as well as accounts of multiple people in contact with the president that day, who have said Trump was initially pleased to see a halt in the counting of the electoral college votes. Some former White House officials have acknowledged that he only belatedly and reluctantly issued calls for peace, after first ignoring public and private entreaties to do so." The report relies on anonymous White House sources, but also cites Sens. Lindsey Graham, Ben Sasse & Mike Lee contradicting assertions Trump was concerned about the violence. "By 1:49 p.m. -- nearly an hour after the Capitol Police chief had urgently requested backup from D.C. police -- Trump remained focused on his recently concluded speech. He tweeted a video of his own remarks, adding the caption, 'Our country has had enough, we will not take it anymore, and that's what this is all about.'... At 2:24 p.m., [13 minutes after his supporters breached the building,] Trump tweeted: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution ... USA demands the truth.'... While Trump's defense attorneys claim he and the White House 'took immediate steps to coordinate with authorities,' the president played no known role in organizing reinforcements that day." (Also linked yesterday.)

Hayley Miller of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump falsely claimed more than 100 times that Democrats had 'rigged' or 'stolen' the 2020 election ahead of January's deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, a HuffPost analysis found.... He made claims of voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities more than 250 times, specifically making baseless claims that voting machines tossed or changed votes at least 45 times.... Trump falsely declared victory at least 40 times, often claiming he won in a "landslide." He peddled these nuggets of disinformation during press conferences and rallies watched by millions of people, or on Twitter to his more than 88 million followers." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Ambulance-Chaser -- The Crazy Eddie of Philly. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Last year, Philadelphia lawyer Michael T. van der Veen filed a lawsuit against ... Donald Trump accusing him of making 'repeated claims' that mail voting is ripe with fraud 'despite having no evidence in support of these claims.' This week, van der Veen is adopting a different posture as part of the team of attorneys defending Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in his Senate impeachment trial. How a longtime personal-injury lawyer found himself at the center of that trial, which opened Tuesday, may say more about his client than his own legal career. Trump struggled to find lawyers to take on his case, parting ways with several who were unwilling to claim that the 2020 election was stolen, as the president is said to have wanted them to do.... In Philadelphia, van der Veen is best-known for his law firm's ubiquitous ads on local news radio station KYW-AM, which are reminiscent of East Coast electronics chain Crazy Eddie's high-octane TV pitches from the 1980s." ~~~

He [Michael van der Veen] also defended a college student who was prosecuted for trying to hack into an IRS database to obtain Trump's tax records. That student saying Mr. van der Veen described Trump to him as a quote, 'f---ing crook,' but he didn't just say 'F', apparently, he said it for real. And now, that man represents Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. -- Rachel Maddow, Tuesday evening

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "A big difference between the second and first impeachment trials of Donald J. Trump is the sound of (relative) silence. The former president is muzzled on social media, and his allies were putting up a scattered defense of him on Tuesday. Even those willing to step forward have, for the most part, abandoned his false claim that the election was stolen, and were defending him on narrow legal or constitutional grounds.... His biggest booster Tuesday morning was ... Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.... 'The Capitol attack was planned and organized, NOT incited in the moment by President Trump, and NO Republican Member was involved," Ms. Greene, who described Jan. 6 as '1776 Day' before the riot, wrote on Twitter. 'We were ALL victims that day. And once again, Trump is the victim of the never ending hate fueled witch hunt.'" ~~~

~~~ Yeah, Well, There's This Guy. Steve Neavling of the Detroit Metro Times: "Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey suggested the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a 'hoax' perpetuated by opponents of ... Donald Trump. The state Senate's top Republican made the bizarre and unfounded claim in a video-recorded meeting at a diner last week with leaders of the Hillsdale County Republican Party, who were discussing censuring him for not taking a bold enough stand against Democrats. 'That wasn't Trump's people. That's been a hoax from day one. That was all prearranged,' Shirkey, a Clarklake Republican, said of the riot. 'It was arranged by somebody who was funding it. ... It was all staged.' There's no evidence that anyone but Trump supporters were behind the riot."

Antonia Farzan of the Washington Post: As Trump's impeachment trial got underway, Palm Beach's town council members debated whether or not Trump could legally take up permanent residence at Mar-a-Lardo. The argument seemed to go in his favor as the town attorney John 'Skip' Randolph submitted a memo opining that Trump's final agreement with the town "did not incorporate a direct prohibition on former President Trump residing at the Club." The council did not make a final decision.

Simon Shuster of Time: "'Let these investigations go forward,' Rudy Giuliani told the presidential headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine, his voice turning impatient. 'Get someone to investigate this.' On the other end of the line, hunched over a speakerphone, two Ukrainian officials listened in disbelief as Giuliani demanded probes that could help his client... Donald Trump, win another term in office. The 40-minute call, a transcript of which was obtained by Time, provides the clearest picture yet of Giuliani's attempts to pressure the Ukrainians on Trump's behalf.... [Giuliani] toggled between veiled threats -- 'Be careful,' he warned repeatedly -- and promises to help improve Ukraine's relations with Trump.... For a year and half, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his aides said little about their interactions with Giuliani, not wanting to anger an emissary of the U.S. President. But now..., the Ukrainians have begun to speak up about the circumstances that led to [Trump's] first [impeachment]. They are also taking steps that could imperil Giuliani and his Ukrainian allies."

Kristen Holmes of CNN: "Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has told those close to him he wants to stay in his role under the new president, two sources tell CNN, despite his troubled tenure at the helm of the US Postal Service and his background as a supporter and donor to ... Donald Trump. President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to remove DeJoy, however, amid months of complaints over mail delivery delays -- including prescription drugs.... The President does not have the power to remove the Postmaster General. Only the Postal Service Board of Governors -- which is comprised of members nominated by the President and confirmed in the Senate -- has the power to do so, and DeJoy continues to have the support of the Trump-appointed board. But Biden has the power to nominate members of the board and to send them to the Senate -- now led by Democrats -- for confirmation. Some lawmakers want Biden to go beyond filling empty seats, and take drastic action by firing the entire board." (Also linked yesterday.)

Meanwhile, Back at the White House

Jim Tankersley, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden on Tuesday pressed business leaders to back his $1.9 trillion economic aid package, but received no public declarations of support for a $15 minimum wage that is part of the legislation and that the president has said is vital to providing relief for struggling Americans. Mr. Biden hosted a group including the top executives of Walmart, Gap Inc. and JPMorgan Chase in the Oval Office as part of his push to rally support for his American Rescue Plan, which the House Education and Labor Committee began debating on Tuesday. But some of the attendees, including Doug McMillon of Walmart and the chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, have said they oppose Mr. Biden's proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour from $7.25. The president acknowledged some disagreements, telling reporters before the meeting that 'we're approaching this issue to see if we can find some common ground.'"

Natasha Bertrand and Daniel Lippman of Politico: President Biden & his national security staff now have access to Donald Trump's secret phone calls with Vladimir Putin. "'It is a national security priority to find out what Trump said to Putin' over his four years in office, said one former national security official who is close to the new president. 'Some things, like what happened in some face-to-face meetings where no American translator or note-taker was present, may never be fully known. But I would be very surprised if the new national security team were not trying to access' the call records."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

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

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here: "A team of World Health Organization scientists said on Tuesday in China that the coronavirus had probably first spread to humans through an animal and was 'extremely unlikely' to have been the result of a lab accident. The findings, delivered after 12 days of field work by the team visiting Wuhan, China, were the first step in a painstaking process to trace the pandemic's origins, a question that is critical to helping prevent a recurrence." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "The pilot carrying NBA star Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and six other people didn't follow his training after flying into clouds and likely became disoriented, federal safety investigators said Tuesday. Pilot Ara Zobayan should have steadied the helicopter, climbed slowly and declared an emergency to get help from air traffic controllers, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said Tuesday. But the investigation into the crash found that he didn't take those steps. Once he was in the clouds, the investigators said Zobayan likely became disoriented as he lost visual references, thinking he was climbing when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside. Federal safety investigators were meeting Tuesday to determine the likely reason a helicopter carrying Bryant plunged into a Los Angeles County hillside last year." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Minnesota. Mohamed Ibrahim & Gretchen Ehlke of the AP: "A 67-year-old man whom authorities said was unhappy with the health care he'd received opened fire at a clinic Tuesday and injured five people, and bomb technicians were investigating a suspicious device left there and others at a motel where he was staying. All five victims were rushed to the hospital. Three remained in stable but critical condition on Tuesday evening, and a fourth had been discharged. The condition of the fifth victim was not immediately known. The attack happened Tuesday morning at an Allina clinic in Buffalo, a community of about 15,000 people roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis. Authorities said Gregory Paul Ulrich, of Buffalo, opened fire at the facility and was arrested before noon." ~~~

     ~~~ New Lede: "A 67-year-old man unhappy with the health care he'd received opened fire at a clinic Tuesday, killing one person and wounding four others, and bomb technicians were investigating a suspicious device left there and others at a motel where he was staying, authorities said."

News Lede

Huffington Post: "Larry Flynt, the founder of Hustler magazine who oversaw a massive porn empire, died Wednesday, according to several media reports. He was 78."

The Commentariat -- February 9, 2021

Late Morning Update:

The New York Times is liveblogging the first day of Trump's second impeachment trial here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Guardian's liveblog, which also covers other topics, is here.

Rosalind Helderman & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump was 'horrified' when violence broke out at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, as a joint session of Congress convened to confirm that he lost the election, according to his defense attorneys.... But that revisionist history conflicts with the timeline of events on the day of the Capitol riot, as well as accounts of multiple people in contact with the president that day, who have said Trump was initially pleased to see a halt in the counting of the electoral college votes. Some former White House officials have acknowledged that he only belatedly and reluctantly issued calls for peace, after first ignoring public and private entreaties to do so." The report relies on anonymous White House sources, but also cites Sens. Lindsey Graham, Ben Sasse & Mike Lee contradicting assertions Trump was concerned about the violence. "By 1:49 p.m. -- nearly an hour after the Capitol Police chief had urgently requested backup from D.C. police -- Trump remained focused on his recently concluded speech. He tweeted a video of his own remarks, adding the caption, 'Our country has had enough, we will not take it anymore, and that's what this is all about.'... At 2:24 p.m., [13 minutes after his supporters breached the building,] Trump tweeted: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution ... USA demands the truth.'... While Trump's defense attorneys claim he and the White House 'took immediate steps to coordinate with authorities,' the president played no known role in organizing reinforcements that day."

Hayley Miller of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump falsely claimed more than 100 times that Democrats had 'rigged' or 'stolen' the 2020 election ahead of January's deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, a HuffPost analysis found.... He made claims of voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities more than 250 times, specifically making baseless claims that voting machines tossed or changed votes at least 45 times....Trump falsely declared victory at least 40 times, often claiming he won in a 'landslide.' He peddled these nuggets of disinformation during press conferences and rallies watched by millions of people, or on Twitter to his more than 88 million followers."

Kristen Holmes of CNN: "Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has told those close to him he wants to stay in his role under the new president, two sources tell CNN, despite his troubled tenure at the helm of the US Postal Service and his background as a supporter and donor to ... Donald Trump. President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to remove DeJoy, however, amid months of complaints over mail delivery delays -- including prescription drugs.... The President does not have the power to remove the Postmaster General. Only the Postal Service Board of Governors -- which is comprised of members nominated by the President and confirmed in the Senate -- has the power to do so, and DeJoy continues to have the support of the Trump-appointed board. But Biden has the power to nominate members of the board and to send them to the Senate -- now led by Democrats -- for confirmation. Some lawmakers want Biden to go beyond filling empty seats, and take drastic action by firing the entire board."

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here: "A team of World Health Organization scientists said on Tuesday in China that the coronavirus had probably first spread to humans through an animal and was 'extremely unlikely' to have been the result of a lab accident. The findings, delivered after 12 days of field work by the team visiting Wuhan, China, were the first step in a painstaking process to trace the pandemic's origins, a question that is critical to helping prevent a recurrence"

Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "The pilot carrying NBA star Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and six other people didn't follow his training after flying into clouds and likely became disoriented, federal safety investigators said Tuesday. Pilot Ara Zobayan should have steadied the helicopter, climbed slowly and declared an emergency to get help from air traffic controllers, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said Tuesday. But the investigation into the crash found that he didn't take those steps. Once he was in the clouds, the investigators said Zobayan likely became disoriented as he lost visual references, thinking he was climbing when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside. Federal safety investigators were meeting Tuesday to determine the likely reason a helicopter carrying Bryant plunged into a Los Angeles County hillside last year." The AP's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

John Hudson of the Washington Post: "President Biden instructed the State Department on Monday to reengage with the United Nations Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from it nearly three years ago because of frustrations that the council repeatedly criticized Israel. In explaining the decision, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ... Donald Trump's withdrawal from the U.N. body in June 2018 'did nothing to encourage meaningful change, but instead created a vacuum of U.S. leadership, which countries with authoritarian agendas have used to their advantage.'"

Jim Tankersley & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The early weeks of the Biden administration have brought a surge of support, in the White House and across party lines in Congress, for what could be the most ambitious effort in a generation to reduce child poverty. The plans vary in duration, design and the amount they would add to the federal debt, but they share a new and central premise in the policy debate over how to help the poor: that sending monthly payments through tax credits to parents, even if they do not earn income from work, is the best way to help feed, clothe and house children from low-income families." ~~~

~~~ Jason DeParle of the New York Times: "Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour -- a proposal included in the package of relief measures being pushed by President Biden -- would add $54 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office concluded on Monday. Normally, a prediction of increased debt might harm the plan's political chances. But proponents of the wage hike seized on the forecast as evidence that the hotly contested proposal could survive a procedural challenge under the Senate's arcane rules. Democrats are trying to add the measure to a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package that is advancing through a process called budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority rather than the 60-vote margin to overcome a filibuster. But reconciliation is reserved for matters with a significant budgetary effect. Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said the forecast of an increased deficit showed that the measure passed the test." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, Robert Reich, an economist & former secretary of labor, appeared on one of the cable networks to question the CBO's findings; he opined the CBO must not have taken into account the increased taxes higher wage-earners would pay & would generate by their increased purchasing power.

Get Out! Evan Perez & Christina Carrega of CNN: "The Justice Department, as soon as Tuesday, is expected to ask US attorneys appointed by ... Donald Trump to submit their resignations, a turnover expected to spare two top prosecutors in Delaware and Connecticut overseeing two sensitive Trump-era investigations, a senior Justice Department official said. In a call Monday night, acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson asked Delaware US Attorney David Weiss to remain in office, where he is overseeing the tax probe of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son. John Durham, appointed as special counsel by former Attorney General William Barr to reinvestigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, will also continue his work, but he is expected to resign as US attorney in Connecticut, the Justice official said. The resignation request is expected to apply to 56 Senate-confirmed US attorneys appointed by Trump."

Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Monday confirmed Denis McDonough as President Biden's Veterans Affairs secretary, choosing a non-veteran but a manager with years of government service to lead the sprawling health and benefits agency. McDonough, 51, was chief of staff during Barack Obama's second term and held senior roles on the National Security Council and on Capitol Hill before that. He told senators at his confirmation hearing that although he is not a veteran, his long career as a behind-the-scenes troubleshooter and policymaker would serve him well at the Department of Veterans Affairs, a massive bureaucracy beset by multiple challenges.... McDonough was confirmed on an 87-to-7 vote."

Natasha Korecki of Politico: "Impeachment? What impeachment? The Biden team has shut down question after question about where Biden stands on this week's trial, even with its massive historical, constitutional and political ramifications. On Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki wouldn't even say whether the president would receive daily updates on the trial's progress." ~~~

Mike DeBonis & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "The House managers prosecuting the case against Trump responded [to a brief by Trump's lawyers], vowing to prove their case in the coming days.... 'The evidence of President Trump's conduct is overwhelming,' the managers wrote. 'He has no valid excuse or defense for his actions.... President Trump violated his Oath of Office and betrayed the American people.'... In their brief filing Monday, the managers blasted [the Trump lawyers'] free-speech argument as 'utterly baseless,' responding that Trump's false claims and incendiary rhetoric were entitled to no such protection. 'When President Trump demanded that the armed, angry crowd at his Save America Rally "fight like hell" or "you're not going to have a country anymore," he wasn't urging them to form political action committees about "election security in general,"' they said, quoting the Trump defense's words. In sum, the managers wrote: 'The House did not impeach President Trump because he expressed an unpopular political opinion. It impeached him because he willfully incited violent insurrection against the government.'"

New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's lawyers on Monday denounced the impeachment case against him as partisan 'political theater,' arguing on the eve of the Senate's trial that he bore no responsibility for the deadly assault on the Capitol and that trying a former president at all was unconstitutional. In a 78-page brief submitted to the Senate, the lawyers asserted that Mr. Trump's speech just before the attack 'did not direct anyone to commit unlawful actions,' and that he deserved no blame for the conduct of a 'small group of criminals' who rioted at the Capitol on Jan 6. after he had urged them to 'fight like hell' against his election loss. They also insisted that the Senate 'lacks jurisdiction' to try him at all because he was now a private citizen, calling such an effort 'patently ridiculous.'" The item is part of the Times' impeachment live blog Monday. Politico's story is here and also includes a link to the brief Trump's lawyers submitted to the Senate. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Trump's Brief Is Bull. Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "Similar to the House Impeachment Managers' pre-trial filing, the [Trump lawyers'] brief relied heavily on a highly-regarded 2001 academic article on late impeachments by Michigan State University law professor Brian Kalt. Unfortunately for Trump's attorneys, Kalt -- who is widely viewed as the leading expert in constitutional law dealing with the presidency, presidential pardons, impeachment, succession, and the 25th Amendment -- immediately responded to the memo by saying it repeatedly distorted and misrepresented his work.... [Kalt's] 133-page article ... is an exhaustive analysis of the history and law relevant to the issue which ultimately concludes that there is a 'solid basis' for post-presidential impeachments.... [After citing some specific examples,] Kalt went on to say that there are 'multiple examples of such flat-out misrepresentations' in the Trump memo, highlighting 'the worst' such instance as the contention that his work espoused the theory that 'when a president is no longer in office, the objective of an impeachment ceases,' a notion expressly rejected as 'deeply flawed' in the article.... In an email to Law&Crime, Kalt said the misrepresentation of his work tainted the credibility of Trump's attorneys before the trial has even begun."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate leadership announced on Monday that they have reached a deal on the framework for former President Trump''s impeachment trial, which will start on Tuesday. 'For the information of the Senate, the Republican leader and I, in consultation with both the House managers and Former President Trump's lawyers, have agreed to a bipartisan resolution to govern the structure and timing of the impending trial,' Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said from the Senate floor.... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) confirmed on the Senate floor that they have reached a deal, noting that it 'preserves due process and the rights of both sides.'... Under the deal, the Senate will debate and vote on Tuesday on whether the trial is constitutional. The effort to declare the trial unconstitutional will fall short after Rand Paul (R-Ky.) forced a vote on the issue late last month. Forty-four GOP senators supported his effort. Opening arguments will start on Wednesday. Under the deal, the House impeachment managers and Trump's team will have 16 hours over two days each to present their case to the Senate.... The deal also leaves the door open to calling witnesses." The Washington Post's story, which gives more of an idea of what to expect, is here. ~~~

~~~ Ali Zaslav, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's lawyer David Schoen is withdrawing his request to not hold the impeachment trial on the Jewish Sabbath, according to a person familiar with trial planning, which had altered the likely schedule for the proceedings. In a letter written to Sens. Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, Schoen wrote, 'Based on adjustments that have been made on the President's defense team, I am writing today to withdraw my request so that the proceedings can go forward as originally contemplated before I made my request. I will not participate during the Sabbath; but the role I would have played will be fully covered to the satisfaction of the defense team.'... This will likely lead to a change in the trial schedule laid out in the resolution that was slated to be passed Tuesday. Text for the resolution, which set the parameters for the trial's length and schedule, included language to pause the trial on Friday evening and resume on Sunday afternoon." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Couldn't find a print story on this, but Rachel Maddow reported last night that Trump has added an ambulance-chaser -- a/k/a personal injury lawyer -- to his impeachment defense team. For you kidz thinking of becoming lawyers, the defense in the Second Impeachment Trial of Donald J. Trump will probably provide a living classroom example of how not to lawyer. They've already written one brief in which they misspelled "United States" in the heading, another in which they extensively misrepresent a prominent legal scholar's writing in order to put forth a spurious Constitutional argument, and have changed the schedule of trial -- twice -- for personal reasons. It can only get worse. Take notes.

Jim Acosta & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "... Donald Trump has been reaching out to aides and advisers to discuss his upcoming Senate impeachment trial, sources familiar with the conversations said, with one of those sources saying Trump thinks there won't be enough Republican senators who'll vote to convict him.... Since leaving office, Trump has been fixated on punishing GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach him in the House.... Ten Republicans, including [Liz] Cheney [Wyo.], voted to impeach Trump. One Trump adviser said the ex-President is seeking what he sees as 'accountability' for Republican House members who turned 'against the people.' The adviser acknowledged that was a twisted view of reality as Trump was the one who was actively attempting to overturn the will of the voters.... Former Trump aides recall the then-President having enjoyed the spectacle created by the riot at the Capitol. Trump was 'loving watching the Capitol mob,' one former senior White House official said." Emphasis added.

Karen Heller of the Washington Post profiles Bruce Castor, one of Trump's top impeachment attorneys and "a magnet for controversy." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "The office of Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, on Monday started an investigation into ... Donald J. Trump's attempts to overturn the state's election results, including a phone call he made to Mr. Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to 'find' enough votes to reverse his loss. Such inquiries are 'fact-finding and administrative in nature,' the secretary's office said, and are a routine step when complaints are received about electoral matters. Findings are typically brought before the Republican-controlled state board of elections, which decides whether to refer them for prosecution to the state attorney general or another agency. The move comes as Fani Willis, the Democratic district attorney of Fulton County, which encompasses much of Atlanta, is weighing whether to begin a criminal inquiry of her own.... The January call was one of several attempts Mr. Trump made to try to persuade top Republican officials in the state to uncover instances of voting fraud that might change the outcome, despite the insistence of voting officials that there was no widespread fraud to be found." Reuters' story is here.

Alanna Richer & Michael Balsamo of the AP: "A man who authorities say is a leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and helped to organize a ring of other extremists and led them in the attack last month at the U.S. Capitol has held a top-secret security clearance for decades and previously worked for the FBI, his attorney said Monday. Thomas Caldwell, who authorities believe holds a leadership role in the extremist group, worked as a section chief for the FBI from 2009 to 2010 after retiring from the Navy, his lawyer, Thomas Plofchan, wrote in a motion urging the judge to release him from jail while he awaits trial. The defense said Caldwell, who has denied being part of the Oath Keepers, has held a top-secret security clearance since 1979, which required multiple special background investigations, according to Plofchan. Caldwell also ran a consulting firm that did classified work for the U.S. government, the lawyer said." MB: If this is true, what kind of "background checks" is the FBI doing on its own employees & contractors?

Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal magistrate judge in Seattle on Monday ordered the release of top Proud Boys organizer Ethan Nordean, rejecting prosecutors' call to detain him pending trial for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Nordean, who went by the alias Rufio Panman, was charged with destruction of government property, as well as a series of lower level charges for trespassing on Capitol Grounds. The government described him as a flight risk -- a passport with someone else's name was found on his bedside dresser -- and a danger to the community. But Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida agreed to release Nordean with a series of conditions, including limiting his travel to within the Seattle area, imposing a curfew and requiring him to follow local Covid masking rules.... Prosecutors say they intend to appeal the ruling and seek a stay of Tsuchida's order. Tsuchida agreed to stay the effect of his decision once they file their appeal."

** "The Republican Party Has It's Own Domestic Army." David Kirkpatrick & Mike McIntire of the New York Times: "Following signals from ... Donald J. Trump -- who had tweeted 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' after a ... show of force in Lansing -- Michigan's Republican Party last year welcomed the support of newly emboldened paramilitary groups and other vigilantes. Prominent party members formed bonds with militias or gave tacit approval to armed activists using intimidation in a series of rallies and confrontations around the state. That intrusion into the Statehouse now looks like a portent of the assault halfway across the country months later at the United States Capitol. As the Senate on Tuesday begins the impeachment trial of Mr. Trump on charges of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol rioting, what happened in Michigan helps explain how, under his influence, party leaders aligned themselves with a culture of militancy to pursue political goals.... The Republican alliance with paramilitary groups shows how difficult it may be for the national party to extricate itself from the shadow of the former president and his appeal to this aggressive segment of its base." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is the most unsettling story I've read in a long time. Charles Pierce's "laboratories of democracy," in at least one case (and I'd guess more) are actually "laboratories of sedition." The Civil War of the 19th century was confined largely to a section of the country; the civil war of the 21st century is bubbling up in every state. And it exists at every level of government, from the ex-president* on down to beat cops. The Republican party, here and there, is a domestic terrorist organization. The fact that the majority of GOP members of the House of Representatives & the vast majority of GOP U.S. senators won't acknowledge that is all the evidence you need. Pretending this is business as usual is a nonsustainable fantasy. I admit it; it's worse than I thought.

Manafort Is Granted Another Get-out-of-Jail Card. Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's attempt to prosecute ... Donald Trump's 2016 campaign chairman was dealt a final blow when New York's highest court said quietly last week it would not review lower court rulings on the case. The court's decision brings to an end the district attorney's quest to ensure that the campaign chairman, Paul J. Manafort, will face state charges for mortgage fraud and other state felonies, crimes similar to those for which he was convicted in federal court and then pardoned by Mr. Trump. When the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat, first brought charges against Mr. Manafort in March 2019, it was widely understood that he was doing so to make sure that Mr. Manafort would face prosecution even if Mr. Trump decided to pardon him.... In October, a New York appeals court found that Mr. Vance's efforts to try Mr. Manafort violated the state's double jeopardy law.... It is possible, though unlikely, that Mr. Manafort may still face federal charges. Last month, Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor from the special counsel's office, argued that the wording of Mr. Trump's pardons had been 'oddly' drafted. Rather than relieving those who had been pardoned from all potential liability for their actions, Mr. Weissmann argued, the language only narrowly covered their convictions.... That might leave the door open to new charges, including on crimes that Mr. Manafort admitted he was guilty of as part of a plea deal." A CNBC story is here.

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "David Correia, whose business ties to Rudolph W. Giuliani had drawn scrutiny, was sentenced Monday to a year in prison for defrauding investors of an insurance start-up that paid the former New York mayor hundreds of thousands of dollars for consulting work while he was ... Donald Trump's lawyer. Correia pleaded guilty in October to duping investors in Fraud Guarantee, the business he started with Giuliani's former associate Lev Parnas. The firm offered fraud protection and 'risk management tools' to other companies, but prosecutors say it was never operational and that, instead, Correia and Parnas used over $2 million in investment capital for personal expenses."

Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), a fixture of the Senate who chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced Monday that he will retire when his term ends in 2022. Shelby, 86, was first elected to the House in 1978 as a Democrat and won election to the Senate in 1986. He switched parties to become a Republican in 1994. Shelby has been a master of steering projects to his home state and also adept at cutting deals with Democrats. He becomes the fourth Senate Republican to announce his retirement in 2022, and the race to replace him will become another test for the direction of the GOP in the post-Trump era." The New York Times' story is here. The Week has an item here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News About Women Who Have Fucked Donald Trump
(Forgive My Indelicacy)

DOJ Drops "Melanie's Revenge" Suit. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department on Monday dropped a lawsuit that asserted that a former senior aide to Melania Trump violated a White House nondisclosure agreement by publishing a tell-all memoir about the former first lady. The department's Civil Division gave no reason for the decision to voluntarily dismiss the suit, brought in October, against Stephanie Winston Wolkoff.... The lawsuit filed under the Trump administration had also sought to seize the profits of Wolkoff's book."

Jim Mustian of the AP: In his new podcast, former Trump consigliere Michael Cohen interviews Stormy Daniels. Describing her sexual encounter with Trump, a memory she said she had repressed for years, Daniels called it "the worst 90 seconds of my life, for sure, because it just made me hate myself." At one point preceding the brief moment of torture, Daniels said she considered a way to escape; "I could definitely outrun him," she thought. Thanks to unwashed for the lead.

The Pandemic, Ctd.

Every day the Washington Post posts on its online front page the number of Americans who have received at least one dose of the vaccination. You don't need a subscription, of course, to check it out.

Gregory Wallace & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will quarantine for 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive for Covid-19, department chief of staff Laura Schiller said in a statement. Schiller's statement says the agent has been in 'close contact' with Buttigieg as recently as Monday morning. Buttigieg tested negative Monday and has not shown any symptoms, the statement said."

Paulina Firozi & Dave Wiegel of the Washington Post: "Rep. Ron Wright (R-Tex.), who had received cancer treatment for years, died Sunday after being hospitalized with covid-19. He was 67.... Wright had announced on Jan. 21 that he tested positive for the coronavirus 'after coming in contact with an individual with the virus last week.' He is the first sitting member of Congress to die after battling covid-19." CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Ivan Pereira of ABC News: "A hacker allegedly took control over a Florida water treatment facility's computer and attempted to tamper with the water supply, investigators said. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a news conference that an 'awful intrusion' into the computer system at Oldsmar's water treatment plant took place Friday afternoon. The computer system, which had remote access capabilities, controls the chemicals and other operations, and a plant manager noticed that someone was raising the levels of sodium hydroxide [i.e., lye] from about 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million, Gualtieri said.... The plant manager who noticed the three to five-minute hack acted quickly to prevent serious damage to the water, Gualtieri said."

News Lede

New York Times: "Mary Wilson, a founding member of the Supremes, the trailblazing group from the 1960s that spun up 12 No. 1 singles on the musical charts and was key to Motown's legendary sound, died on Monday at her home in Henderson, Nev. She was 76."