The Conversation -- April 15, 2024

Here's Criminal Defendant No. 1 entering the Manhattan courtroom for the first day of his 2016 election interference criminal trial. Take a look at his lawyer Todd Blanche who is standing next to Trump; Blanche apparently thinks the Trump Mugshot Scowl is just the right look for discussing criminal matters:

The New York Times' live updates of developments in Trump's 2016 election interference trial are here. Trump has attempted again to out Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case. ~~~

Ben Protess: “Trump's attempt to oust the judge is expected to fail. Trump has argued that the judge, Juan M. Merchan, cannot be fair because his daughter is a Democratic political consultant. Ethics experts disagree.”

Jesse McKinley: “The courtroom which the former president will sit today is not a glamorous scene: wood paneling, neon lights, pleather seats. It is far more 'Fargo' than Mar-a-Lago.”

Maggie Haberman: “Trump’s lawyers have tried impressing upon him the need to behave differently than he did in the previous courtrooms, where he fidgeted, scoffed, made noises and, at the Carroll trial, stormed out during closing arguments. We’ll see if he can sustain it.”

Haberman: “Still photographers have been let into the room to take photos of Trump, who puts on his now familiar, stony scowl.”

Haberman: “Merchan, in his soft-spoken style, is making clear he does not buy Trump’s claims that he is dealing with a biased judge. Trump is squinting toward the bench as Merchan makes clear he is going to reject the recusal motion.”

Susanne Craig: “At 10 a.m. Trump blasted out a fund-raising note asking supporters to 'chip in' to support his campaign. 'They’re just a DEEP STATE plot from RADICAL Democrats to come after you – and I’m the only thing standing in their way!'”

Haberman: “[Joshua] Steinglass, the prosecutor, is doing a lengthy recounting of Trump's comments on the infamous Access Hollywood tape. There is no new information there, but Trump is listening as his own words about grabbing women’s genitals are recounted.... [Todd] Blanche, the defense lawyer, objects strenuously to admission of the language on the tape, as Trump sits with his arms tightly folded over his chest.”

Haberman: “Trump, listening to a tape of himself from fall 2016 in which he says no one has more respect for women than he, mouths: 'True.'”

Kate Christobek: “Justice Juan M. Merchan says that he is denying the prosecutors’ request to introduce other sexual assault allegations against Trump, calling them 'complete rumors, complete gossip, completely hearsay.'”

Jonah Bromwich: “The prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, before the break ended, indicated that the prosecution will ask the judge to hold Trump in contempt for his attacks on witnesses.... Trump on Saturday attacked Michael D. Cohen, his former fixer who is expected to be a star witness, as a 'disgraced attorney and felon.'”

Haberman: “Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack.” (MB: There's definitely something wrong with Trump. This morning Haberman wrote that Trump “appear[ed] at times to be close to sleep.” It's safe to say that almost everyone would stay awake during his own trial.)

Christobek: “Christopher Conroy, a prosecutor with the district attorney’s office, is now discussing Trump’s recent social media posts, which he says attack potential witnesses Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen. He says these are clearly posts about their participation in the trial and violate Justice Merchan’s gag order.... Todd Blanche, Trump’s lawyer, asks for the opportunity to respond in writing but is adamant that the posts do not violate Merchan’s gag order.” ~~~

~~~ Bromwich: “Merchan will not rule until after lunch, he says.” ~~~

~~~ [So it's after lunch.] Christobek: “[Justice Merchan] said he will let the defense respond and then will hear arguments [on violation of the gag order] on April 24.” ~~~

~~~ Bromwich: “Justice Merchan’s delay in hearing arguments about the gag order suggests that Trump could in the meantime continue to attack witnesses and others whom he is not supposed to criticize. During the lunch break, he posted a video of an ally, Laura Loomer, yelling about the judge’s wife.”

Bromwich: “Jury selection is underway. The first trial of an American president has begun.”

Bromwich: “The judge, Juan M. Merchan, is beginning to describe the case to the jurors, another quietly remarkable moment in a day, and a trial, that will be filled with them.”

Alan Feuer: “It’s remarkable that more than half of the potential jurors brought in for a first round of questioning immediately said they could not hear Trump’s case fairly. We knew that it would be hard to pick a jury, but a fail rate of 50 percent or higher right out of the gate is surpassingly rare.”

(MB: Looks like Trump planned a grand finale for Day 1, but it didn't work out. ~~~)

~~~ Haberman: “Shortly before court adjourned for the day, Trump’s campaign sent out a fundraising email falsely claiming he had just stormed out of court.”

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Maxine Joselow & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post (April 12): “President Biden and Donald Trump this week outlined clashing visions for the future of fossil fuel production across the country, underscoring how the nation’s energy policies hinge on the outcome of the 2024 election. The Biden administration on Friday finalized a landmark rule that will require oil companies to pay at least 10 times more to drill on federal lands. The rule from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management represents the first comprehensive update to the federal oil and gas leasing program in more than 30 years, and is intended to generate more money for taxpayers. On Thursday, Trump held a private dinner at his Mar-a-Lago Club and resort with about 20 oil executives from some of the country’s biggest firms, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Continental Resources, Chesapeake Energy and Occidental Petroleum.... In recent months, Trump has also talked with energy executives about the need for fewer regulations on drilling and has asked the executives what they need to drill more oil....”

Katie Mettler, et al., of the Washington Post: “The FBI has opened a criminal investigation focusing on the massive container ship that brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month — a probe that will look at least in part at whether the crew left the port knowing the vessel had serious systems problems, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.” This is a breaking news story at 8:15 am ET. CNN's report is here.

Sex, Lies and Audiotape. Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: “On Monday, Donald J. Trump will go on trial in Manhattan — the first former U.S. president to be criminally prosecuted. The trial, which will begin with jury selection and last up to two months, will oscillate between salacious testimony on sex scandals and granular detail about corporate documents. Mr. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, all of which are tied to the former president’s role in a hush-money payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels.... The prosecutors, from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, have accused Mr. Trump of orchestrating a broader scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by directing his allies to purchase damaging stories about him to keep them under wraps.” This is a longish article that tries to describe the essence of the trial. ~~~

~~~ Kate Christobek of the New York Times describes the jury selection process in Manhattan. MB: I've been in jury pools for high-profile cases (though not this high-profile) in Manhattan, and they are real cattle calls: hundreds of people -- and it's easy to beg off.

~~~ Lauren del Valle and others at CNN have produced a timeline of the events surrounding the 2016 election interference case. Fairly useful, inasmuch as the beginnings of the case are kind of ancient history now.

Finally, an Instance of Voter Suppression to Smile About. Miles Parks of NPR: If Trump is convicted, before the November election, of any of the felony counts he faces, will he be able to vote for himself? It depends.

Presidential Race

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. 'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?' To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked. -- David Sedaris, New Yorker, April 2024, via RAS, via digby

Tom Sullivan, in Hullabaloo, studies up on Donald Trump's version of Pennsylvania history as reported at a rally over the weekend. And other stuff that occurs to Donald. Like where he remarks, "[Robert E. Lee] is no longer in favor. Did you ever notice that?"

Donald Trump always talks about history (or, well, anything) like a fourth-grader doing a book report on a book he didn’t read. -- Mrs. Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian™, via Tom Sullivan ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Few candidates for national office know the histories of every state they visit. Like Trump, they may not know the histories of even states they've lived in (like Pennsylvania, where Trump allegedly went to college). So before these politicians visit a state, they get their speechwriters to come up with some popular stories so they can repeat them for the locals and at least pretend they are impressed with how important the state has been to American history. But not Trump. For him, incoherently spitting out fractured fairy tales suffices. And millions of Americans will vote for him. (IOW, they'll have the shit platter.)

Wherein George Stephanopoulos grills New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) about why he's supporting a candidate for president even if that candidate is convicted of crimes, and even though Sununu himself admits that candidate "contributed to" an insurrection against the United States, and lied about the outcome of the last election. Most elected Republicans suffer from some degree of gut-deprivation syndrome, and Sununu was diagnosed some while back.

Donald Trump Has Been Asking, “Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?” Let's Check. Top News in the NYT, April 15, 2020: “President Trump’s claim that he wielded 'total' authority in the pandemic crisis prompted rebellion ... from governors [and l]egal scholars across the ideological spectrum.... 'When somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total,' Mr. Trump asserted at a raucous press briefing on Monday evening. 'And that’s the way it’s got to be.'”

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

CNN's live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel has vowed to 'exact a price' from Iran after an unprecedented large-scale drone and missile attack over the weekend. Israel's military said 99% of more than 300 projectiles were intercepted by Israel and its partners. Israel's war cabinet meeting ended Sunday without a decision on the size and scope of Israel's response, an Israeli official said. US President Joe Biden and members of his national security team told their counterparts the US will not participate in any offensive action against Iran, according to US officials familiar with the matter. Tehran’s retaliatory attack had been anticipated since a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria earlier this month." ~~~

     ~~~ Here are the New York Times' live updates for Monday.

Steve M.: Say, know what's worse than Iran? Biden! Democrats! Steve checks out Republicans' reactions to the Biden administration's very effective defensive support of Israel and Biden's refusal to increase Mid-Est hostilities by assisting Israel in a counteroffensive against Iran.

The Conversation -- April 14, 2024

Donald Trump Has Been Asking, "Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?" Let's Check. Top News in the NYT, April 14, 2020: "The nation's food supply chain is showing signs of strain, as increasing numbers of workers are falling ill with the coronavirus in meat processing plants, warehouses and grocery stores. The spread of the virus through the food and grocery industry is expected to cause disruptions in production and distribution of certain products like pork, industry executives, labor unions and analysts have warned in recent days."

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** New York Times: "Iran mounted an immense aerial attack on Israel on Saturday night, launching more than 300 drones and missiles in retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike in Syria two weeks ago, and marking a significant escalation in hostilities between the two regional foes. The strikes caused only minor damage to one Israeli military base, and most of the airborne threats were intercepted, Israeli military officials said. The United States said it had helped to shoot dozens of drones and missiles. But the large-scale attack, aimed at targets inside Israel and the territory it controls, opened a volatile new chapter in the long-running shadow war between Iran and Israel." This is the pinned item in a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Here's today's NYT liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's live updates for Sunday are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here: "Iran launched a massive attack of more than 300 drones and missiles toward Israel, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said, adding that 'more than 99 percent' had been intercepted. The ongoing barrage is the first full-scale military assault by Tehran against Israel. President Biden condemned the 'brazen attack,' saying he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and affirmed the United States' 'ironclad commitment' to Israel's security.... Hagari described the attack as a 'major escalation.' Iranian state media said it was retaliation for the Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building this month in Syria that killed seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two senior commanders. Israel and its allies are intercepting the strikes, but a number of Iranian missiles fell inside Israeli territory, causing minor damage to a military base. A young girl was injured in the attack, Hagari said." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Lemire of Politico: "President Joe Biden on Saturday condemned Iranian attacks on the state of Israel and said he would convene fellow world leaders in the day ahead to coordinate a response. In a statement issued after he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said that, in conjunction with U.S. forces, Israel was able to 'take down' nearly all 'the incoming drones and missiles' launched by Iran 'and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq.'... Earlier in the day, the president cut short a weekend trip to his Delaware beach home to return to the White House. His arrival roughly coincided with Iran and its proxies launching their drone and missile strikes."

Rebecca Picciotto of CNBC: "Donald Trump on Saturday took aim at two likely witnesses in his upcoming New York hush money trial, testing the boundaries of a gag order that prohibits such public statements. 'Has Mark POMERANTZ been prosecuted for his terrible acts in and out of the D.A.'s Office. Has disgraced attorney and felon Michael Cohen been prosecuted for LYING?' the former president posted on Truth Social. The social media post is the latest challenge to the limits of a gag order that forbids Trump from making public statements about likely witnesses and jurors." ~~~

     ~~~ Dear Justice Merchan: At the end of the day Monday, please remove Mr. Trump from the courtroom to a cell. Regards, Marie

Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Two days before his first criminal trial was set to begin in Manhattan..., Donald J. Trump on Saturday again framed the charges he faces as a broad attempt by Democrats to keep him from the White House, and he criticized a gag order placed on him by the judge in the New York case. 'Two days from now, the entire world will witness the commencement of the very first Biden trial,' Mr. Trump said at a rally in eastern Pennsylvania, alluding to his frequent and false assertion that President Biden orchestrated the New York case. The case, which Mr. Trump also called a 'communist show trial,' was brought by the Manhattan district attorney's office and has nothing to do with Mr. Biden." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump should be a big fan of the "communist show trial" since (a) it's a specialty of Trump's favorite dictator Vladimir Putin and (b) it's the type of fake trial Trump plans to hold against his perceived political enemies during his "retribution" administration.

Marie: Like me, Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times is not impressed that certain Supreme Court justices go on the lecture circuit to tout how famously the justices get along with one another, no matter how strongly they disagree in their court decisions. "What counts is not how the justices treat one another but how they treat the claims of those who come before them."

Tracey Tully & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "When Senator Robert Menendez was charged last year with corruption after investigators found $486,000 in cash stashed around his house in New Jersey, he offered a simple, 'old-fashioned' explanation: It had been his custom to withdraw cash from a personal savings account to keep at home, a habit he learned from his Cuban immigrant parents. But federal prosecutors, in papers filed late Friday, presented fresh details that they suggested undercut Mr. Menendez's claim. Some of the cash was wrapped in bands showing it had been withdrawn, at least $10,000 at a time, from a bank where Mr. Menendez and his wife 'had no known depository account.' This, prosecutors said, indicated 'that the money had been provided to them by another person.'"

The Conversation -- April 13, 2024

** New York Times: “Iran mounted an immense aerial attack on Israel on Saturday night, launching more than 300 drones and missiles in retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike in Syria two weeks ago, and marking a significant escalation in hostilities between the two regional foes. The strikes caused only minor damage to one Israeli military base, and most of the airborne threats were intercepted, Israeli military officials said. The United States said it had helped to shoot dozens of drones and missiles.” This is the pinned item in a liveblog.

     ~~~ CNN's live updates, also linked below, are here.

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Zach Montague of the New York Times: “President Biden canceled $7.4 billion in student loan debt on Friday as he tries to shore up support with young voters who are disproportionately affected by soaring education costs, but who may be drifting away over his policy on Israel and the war in Gaza. The latest round of relief is part of a strategy by the White House to take smaller, targeted actions for certain subsets of borrowers after the Supreme Court struck down a far more ambitious plan to wipe out $400 billion in debt last year. Mr. Biden said this week that he would make another attempt at large-scale debt forgiveness for about 30 million people, despite Republican opposition and legal challenges. But in the meantime, he has been chipping away at student debt by fixing and streamlining existing programs that have been plagued by bureaucratic and other problems for years.” CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Luke Broadwater & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “In a major turnaround, the House on Friday passed a two-year reauthorization of an expiring warrantless surveillance law that had stalled this week amid G.O.P. resistance stoked by ... Donald J. Trump. The bill would extend a provision known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that is set to lapse next Friday.... The final vote was 273 to 147, with both parties split. One hundred and twenty-six Republicans joined 147 Democrats in favor, while 88 Republicans and 59 Democrats were opposed.... This week [Trump] directed lawmakers ... to 'KILL FISA,' asserting that it had been used to illegally spy on his 2016 presidential campaign. Mr. Trump’s contention was incoherent as a matter of law and policy because there are two types of FISA surveillance and the type that is expiring — Section 702 — has nothing to do with the type the F.B.I. used in its investigation into the links between his campaign and Russia amid Moscow’s covert efforts to help him win the 2016 election.” Politico's report is here. (This is an update of a story also linked yesterday.)

He’s doing about as good as you’re going to do. -- Donald Trump, in an assessment of Mike Johnson's performance as Speaker

And congrats to Trump himself, who made a grammatical error, employed an awkward construction and used an ambiguous colloquialism in a ten-word sentence. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ Michael Gold of the New York Times: “... on Friday, [Speaker Mike Johnson] flew to Florida, where the man who has contributed to many of his challenges threw him a crucial lifeline in his hour of need. 'I stand with the speaker,' ... Donald J. Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago ... as Mr. Johnson stood behind him and nodded along. It was a message the speaker needed at a tenuous moment in his leadership, when he faces the threat from one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal allies, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, of a motion to oust him.... 'He’s doing a really good job under really tough circumstances,' said Mr. Trump, who has helped undermine Mr. Johnson’s legislative agenda by voicing opposition to some of his efforts.... Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly railed against providing more aid to Ukraine, did not fully back Mr. Johnson’s effort to provide additional U.S. military assistance to the nation as it continues to fight against Russia’s invading forces. But he moderated his stance on Friday, saying that the two had discussed the issue and that he believed they might find common ground in offering aid 'in the form of a loan,' an idea the former president has pushed for months.” Politico's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Certainly the first time in history that a Speaker of the House has had to negotiate legislation with the leader of a foreign adversary, in this case, Vladimir Putin.

Don & Mike's Excellent Voter Suppression Bill. Jane Timm of NBC News: "... Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson pitched new legislation to crack down on noncitizen voting on Friday, despite the fact the practice is already illegal and occurs rarely. Johnson said House Republicans would introduce a bill to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, speaking at Mar-a-Lago next to Trump as he seeks to fend off threats from his right flank.... Requiring documentary proof of citizenship could disenfranchise millions of Americans who do not have access to passports or birth certificates. Several states have tried to require documentary proof of citizenship in the past, but federal law currently prohibits it in federal elections.... For Trump, however, the proposal fuses two of his favorite talking points: immigration and voter fraud." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For most Americans, obtaining documentary proof of their citizenship is somewhere between an inconvenience and an impossibility. If you haven't already obtained a copy of your birth certificate for some other purpose, then you'll have to figure out to get a copy and you'll probably have to pay for it. What if your name has changed? (More likely if you're a woman.) What if there's a mistake on your birth certificate? (There's one on mine.) What if your parents were in the military and you were born outside the U.S.? What if you're adopted? What if you're really old (and likely poor) and your birth was never properly registered? What if your state or local agency is too slow in getting the necessary document(s) to you? What if the elections officials question the documentation you provide? ("Hmm, this is just a copy; the certificate must have an embossed seal.") What Don & Mike cynically call "election integrity" is actually a massive disenfranchisement project. Especially affected would be Americans who are poor, who are women, who have moved recently or temporarily (say, for college), or who were born in other countries and naturalized; IOW, more likely Democratic voters.

Merchan Calls Out Trump Chutzpah. Jennifer Peltz & Michael Sisak of the AP: “The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case on Friday turned down the former president’s request to postpone his trial because of publicity about the case. It’s the latest in a string of delay denials that Trump has gotten from various courts this week as he fights to stave off the trial’s start Monday with jury selection.... Pointing to Trump’s two federal defamation trials and a state civil fraud trial in Manhattan within the past year, [Judge Juan] Merchan wrote that the ex-president himself 'was personally responsible for generating much, if not most, of the surrounding publicity with his public statements' outside those courtrooms and on social media.... Trump, meanwhile, said Friday that he planned to testify at the trial, calling the case a 'scam.' 'All I can do is tell the truth,' Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. 'And the truth is, they have no case.'”

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: “Lawyers for ... Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira..., co-defendants of ... Donald J. Trump, argued in federal court in Florida on Friday to dismiss charges of aiding in the obstruction of efforts to recover classified documents.... Judge Aileen M. Cannon considered the defense lawyers’ arguments in her Fort Pierce, Fla., courtroom but ended the two-hour hearing Friday without making a decision on whether the charges against the two men should be dismissed.... Judge Cannon ... suggested that some of their arguments for dismissing the charges were better suited for the jury to consider during the trial.”

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “Donald Trump on Friday urged his followers to support his social media app Truth Social, as its parent company’s stock continues to sink lower. Trump in a post on that app said he believes Truth Social embodies the political 'movement' behind his 'Make America Great Again' presidential campaign slogan, adding that 'it shows the Spirit and Love of our Country.'... Trump Media’s share price on Friday morning dipped below $30, a decline of more than $40 from its roaring start. It ended the trading day up 0.6%, but failed to offset an almost 20% decline on the week. Shares are down nearly 50% so far in April. Trump is nevertheless poised to reap a financial windfall from the company.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This strikes me as a violation of campaign finance laws. Trump is asking people to effectively go around these laws by making their "contributions" to one of his failing businesses instead of to his campaign. And of course people can "contribute" any amount they want. One could argue that the purchase of stocks in Trump Media is similar to buying a MAGA mugshot mug. But a mug is something of value: you can't drink Kool-Aid out of it. Worthless stock is, well, just worthless. As Trump would say, "Nobody's ever seen anything like it."

Presidential Race

“MAGA Mike.” Alex Gangitano of the Hill: “President Biden’s reelection campaign unveiled a video Friday linking former President Trump with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in an attempt to highlight their views on reproductive rights issues. In the video 'MAGA Mike,' first shared with The Hill, the Biden campaign complied remarks from both Republicans about reproductive rights.... The video was released days after Trump said he would not sign a national abortion ban if reelected and such a bill passed Congress, a comment that the Biden campaign quickly dismissed as a lie, citing his record on the issue.” Ad embedded yesterday afternoon. (Also linked yesterday.)

Priscilla Alvarez & Michael Williams of CNN: “Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called the Arizona Supreme Court ruling that banned abortions in almost all cases an 'inflection point' in the fight over abortion rights and pointed the blame at Donald Trump. Harris headed to Arizona to mobilize voters who see November’s election as a referendum on women’s rights, one of the Biden campaign’s key issues in the upcoming election. The vice president has become a go-to voice for the campaign on abortion rights and quickly announced a trip to Tucson after Tuesday’s ruling.” (Also linked yesterday.) A Washington Post story is here.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: “There is definitely something weird about Donald Trump and his supporters constantly asking Americans whether they were better off four years ago. Almost no one in America was better off four years ago in April than they are now....” Bump helpfully advises Trump on how to better frame the question. ~~~

~~~ Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago? Top News in the NYT, April 13, 2020: “President Trump publicly signaled his frustration on Sunday with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, after the doctor said more lives could have been saved from the coronavirus if the country had been shut down earlier.... The tweet came amid a flurry of messages blasted out by the president on Sunday defending his handling of the coronavirus, which has come under sharp criticism, and pointing the finger instead at China, the World Health Organization, President Barack Obama, the nation’s governors, Congress, Democrats generally and the news media.” ~~~

~~~ Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago? Top News in the NYT, April 12, 2020: “Behind Trump's Failure on the Virus: ... Throughout January, as Mr. Trump repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus and focused on other issues, an array of figures inside his government — from top White House advisers to experts deep in the cabinet departments and intelligence agencies — identified the threat, sounded alarms and made clear the need for aggressive action. The president, though, was slow to absorb the scale of the risk and to act accordingly, focusing instead on controlling the message, protecting gains in the economy and batting away warnings from senior officials. It was a problem, he said, that had come out of nowhere and could not have been foreseen.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Matt Viser & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: “The Democratic National Committee has helped cover some of the legal fees that President Biden incurred over the last year amid a special counsel probe into his handling of classified documents, according to recent federal records.... It is unclear whether all the recent payments are related to the Hur investigation [or to other work the attorneys have done for the DNC].... The funds spent on Biden’s legal bills amount to a small fraction of the amount raised so far by the DNC this election cycle, unlike the Trump operation, where about a fourth of the money raised has gone to pay legal bills.”

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “The federal judge presiding over Hunter Biden’s gun case in Delaware on Friday rejected Mr. Biden’s claim that he was being subjected to selective prosecution, saying it was 'nonsensical' that the Biden Justice Department would target the president’s son. Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, has filed a flurry of motions in the Delaware gun case and a separate indictment in California on tax charges, accusing the government of unfairly singling out his client at the instigation of Republicans and seeking to dismiss the charges. None of those challenges have been successful so far. Judge Maryellen Noreika, who scuttled a plea deal reached between prosecutors and Mr. Biden last summer, said that Mr. Lowell failed to provide evidence that prosecutors had been motivated by animus against Hunter Biden.” The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Judge Noreika is being too cute by half. She knows full well that David Weiss -- the special counsel who brought the charges against Hunter -- was a Trump appointee. Weiss became special counsel only when (a) she herself laid waste to the plea deal, and (b) Weiss asked Merrick Garland to make him special counsel. Of course Merrick obliged. (As special counsel, Weiss is not subject to the usual AG supervision.) Oh, and did I mention that Noreika is a Trump appointee, too? All the while these shenanigans were going on, Congressional Republicans publicly (in at least one hearing and who-knows-how-many-times on Fox "News") raked Weiss over the coals for cutting the plea deal with Hunter.

So a Trump appointee cuts a plea deal with Hunter, Trump's Congressional allies complain about it, then a Trump judge blows up the deal, and the Trump prosecutor gets himself made special prosecutor so he can charge Hunter. It is not "the Biden Justice Department" targeting Biden's son. It is the Trump "Justice" Department. Since nearly all Republicans are now Trump lackeys and Trump promises "retribution" against his political rivals, it's pretty fair to say this is very "selective prosecution." Have I mentioned Republicans don't play fair?

Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: “A former United States ambassador accused of working for decades as a secret agent for Cuba in one of the biggest national security breaches in years pleaded guilty on Friday and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Manuel Rocha, 73, pleaded guilty to two charges — conspiring to defraud the United States as a foreign agent and failing to register as a foreign agent — as part of an agreement with the federal government. He also faces three years of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine.... In an unusual turn of events, Judge ... Beth Bloom of Federal District Court in Miami ... expressed deep frustration with prosecutors for not seeking more penalties for Mr. Rocha, such as forfeiture of his assets. She demanded changes to the plea deal from the bench and pressed prosecutors to reveal more about when the government learned that Mr. Rocha had become 'an enemy of the United States government.' Prosecutors said details beyond those made public in the indictment were classified.” A CBS News story is here.

Shaila Dewan & Julie Bosman of the New York Times: O.J. Simpson's “dramatic trial, which prompted national conversations about race, celebrity, policing and discrimination, also served as a landmark moment in America’s evolving understanding of domestic violence. Media coverage of domestic abuse surged afterward, and the fervent attention encouraged many abuse survivors to reach out for help, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Donations to women’s shelters poured in.... Before her death, [Nicole] Brown Simpson had tried to get the police to intervene multiple times, but they rarely took substantive action. In 1989, officers found her badly beaten and arrested Mr. Simpson. He was convicted of spousal abuse, but was let off with a fine and probation.... Shortly after Ms. Brown Simpson’s death, the Violence Against Women Act gained final approval in Congress and became law, and her sister, Denise Brown, helped save it from budget cuts the following year.” ~~~

~~~ Rachel Snyder of the New York Times: “For years now, I’ve had advocates who work with survivors of domestic violence tell me that two events in 1994 changed entirely the landscape for victims’ services in their field: the passage of the Violence Against Women Act and the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson.... Ms. Brown Simpson’s murder thrust onto the national stage the idea that even beauty, wealth and whiteness could not offer protection from an enraged and estranged spouse. Her murder, along with Ron Goldman’s — for a time, at least — shook an entire nation into some kind of recognition that domestic abuse crosses all bounds of race, class, sexual identity, ethnicity, age. But if the murders brought a sudden shock of awareness of the problem, the trial also illustrated how hard it is for victims to obtain justice, even in the face of overwhelming evidence.”

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Florida, Where Cruelty & Abuse Meet Bullying the Vulnerable. Alejandra Borunda of NPR: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a law that prevents cities or counties from creating protections for workers who labor in the state's often extreme and dangerous heat. Two million people in Florida, from construction to agriculture, work outside in often humid, blazing heat. For years, many of them have asked for rules to protect them from heat: paid rest breaks, water, and access to shade when temperatures soar. After years of negotiations, such rules were on the agenda in Miami-Dade County, home to an estimated 300,000 outdoor workers.... The loss of the local rule was a major blow to Miami-Dade activists and workers who had hoped the county heat protection rules would be in place before summer.... Heat risks have grown dramatically in recent years.... The U.S. experienced its hottest-ever summer in 2023, and Florida recorded its hottest-ever July and August." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When is the American Psychiatric Association going to accept Republicanosis as a psychiatric disorder and list it in the DSM?

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Europe. Lorne Cook of the AP: “Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced on Friday an investigation into suspected Russian interference in June’s Europe-wide elections, saying that his country’s intelligence service has confirmed the existence of a network trying to undermine support for Ukraine. 'Belgian intelligence services have confirmed the existence of pro-Russian interference networks with activities in several European countries and also here in Belgium,' said De Croo, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.... He said [a Czech] probe showed that members of the European Parliament were approached and offered money to promote Russian propaganda.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sure makes me wonder if Trump, Miss Margie & their cohort are getting cash payments from Russia in addition to the less direct assistance Russia has been serving up all along.

Israel/Palestine, et al.

CNN's live updates of developments Saturday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The US currently expects that Iran will carry out strikes against multiple targets inside Israel and that Iranian proxies could also be involved in attacks, according to a senior administration official and a source familiar with the intelligence.... Israel said its warplanes targeted 'military buildings' used by Hezbollah fighters in parts of southern Lebanon on Friday. Hezbollah subsequently fired about 40 rockets toward northern Israel.... At least one Palestinian was killed after hundreds of armed Israeli settlers stormed a village in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to homes and cars in one of the largest attacks by settlers this year, according to local officials.

Eli Stokols, et al., of Politico: “President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel 'sooner rather than later,' delivering a pessimistic assessment even as he warned Tehran against taking such an action. Answering questions from reporters after delivering remarks to a convention of civil rights leaders, Biden said his grim outlook was based on intelligence reports that he was not at liberty to describe further. Asked what he would say to Iran about a potential attack, Biden was terse. 'Don’t,' he replied. Expectations for a retaliatory attack have risen in the days since an Israeli strike on an Iranian embassy in Syria killed a number of senior commanders on April 1. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had said that Israel 'must be punished' for the embassy attack though Israel has not claimed responsibility for it.”