The Conversation -- February 22, 2024

Kevin Liptak & Michael Williams of CNN: "President Joe Biden met Thursday with the wife and daughter of the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, the White House said, as the president prepares to levy additional sanctions against Russia. After the meeting, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin himself will be sanctioned. 'I had the honor of meeting with his wife and daughter and, to state the obvious, he was a man of incredible courage,' Biden told reporters of Navalny. 'We're gonna be announcing sanctions against Putin, who is responsible for his death, tomorrow.' Biden said it was clear from the meeting that Navalny's wife would 'continue to fight.'... Dasha Navalnaya, Navalny's daughter, is a student at Stanford University. In a statement, the White House said Biden 'expressed his admiration for Aleksey Navalny's extraordinary courage and his legacy of fighting against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia in which the rule of law applies equally to everyone.'"

For those of us keeping track of developments in The Stupidest Senator contest, I'm here to report Tommy Tuberville just took the lead. First, bear in mind that Mr. Potato Head is a senator from Alabama, and the Alabama supreme court decision has made front-page news all over the country (even in Santa Rosa, Florida, which is apparently Mr. Potato Head's home -- in violation of the Constitution): ~~~

~~~ Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Thursday that he is 'all for' the Alabama Supreme Court's decision that frozen embryos are children. He also said he opposes the effects of the ruling. And that he supports fertility treatments like IVF that are now being denied to women across his state as a result of the court's ruling. And that he wants to read the legislation more closely before saying more -- except there is no legislation. The Alabama senator delivered this spectacular series of responses in the span of three minutes when asked for his reaction to the court's unprecedented decision on Tuesday.... 'I was all for it,' the Republican senator said cheerfully. 'You know, you just gotta look at everything going on in the country. It's just an attack on families, an attack on kids. You know, anything we can do for the future of our young people because they're our No. 1 commodity.'... 'We need to have more kids,' he continued. 'We need to have an opportunity to do that. I thought this was the right thing to do.'... His remarks made no sense.... When it was pointed out that Alabama health clinics are halting IVF treatments as a result of the court decision, Tuberville started talking about abortion...." And so forth. Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I couldn't find a video of Tuberville's nonsensical remarks, but this one will do in its stead:

Ken Ritter & Rio Yamat of the AP: "A former FBI informant accused of lying about multimillion-dollar bribery allegations against President Joe Biden and his son Hunter and purportedly having links to Russian intelligence was again taken into custody Thursday, two days after a judge said he could be freed ahead of trial, his attorneys said in court documents. The arrest during a meeting Thursday morning with his lawyers came after prosecutors appealed a ruling allowing 43-year-old Alexander Smirnov, who holds dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship, to be released with a GPS monitor ahead of trial on charges alleging he lied to the FBI. He was taken into custody on a warrant for the same charges issued in California, where the case was originally filed, his lawyers said. Several sealed entries were listed in the court docket, but no additional details about his return to custody were immediately available."

Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) on Wednesday criticized his Republican colleagues for using a former FBI informant's claims in their impeachment inquiry even though the statements hadn't been verified. 'We were warned at the time that we received the document outlining this witness's testimony.... We were warned that the credibility of this statement was not known,' Buck said on CNN's 'The Source.' 'And yet, people, my colleagues went out and talk to the public about how this was credible and how it was damning and how it proved President Biden's -- at the time Vice President Biden's -- complicity in receiving bribes,' he added."

Engoron to Trump: Fuggedaboudit. Kara Scannell of CNN: "The judge overseeing the $355 million civil fraud case has denied Donald Trump's request to delay the judgment for a month. Judge Arthur Engoron told lawyers for Trump and the New York attorney general of his intentions in an email sent Thursday. Once the judgment is officially entered, it will start the 30-day clock for Trump to file an appeal. During that period, Trump will need to put up cash or post bond to cover the $355 million and roughly $100 million in interest he was ordered to pay the state."

Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "President Biden on Wednesday said several foreign leaders have told him he has to beat former President Trump, the likely GOP nominee, in November. 'As I walk out of meetings, a head of state will find an excuse to come up close ... and say, "You've got to win,"' Biden recalled at a fundraiser in San Francisco. 'Not because I'm so special,' he added. '"You've got to win because my democracy is at stake if the other guy wins,"' the president said, quoting heads of state. 'Nine heads of state have done that with me.'" (Since Biden does not claim any of the heads of state addressed him as "sir," I assume his recollections are true.)

Robert Frank of CNBC: "The nation's millionaires and billionaires are evading more than $150 billion a year in taxes, adding to growing government deficits and creating a 'lack of fairness' in the tax system, according to the head of the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS, with billion of dollars in new funding from Congress, has launched a sweeping crackdown on wealthy taxpayers, partnerships and large companies. In an exclusive interview with CNBC, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said the agency has launched several programs targeting taxpayers with the most complex returns to root out tax evasion and make sure every taxpayer contributes their fair share."

Kelly Garrity of Politico: "The future of the Republican Party isn't Donald Trump, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday. 'It won't be his party forever. Right? It just won't. At some point, Donald Trump won't be here forever,' Sununu said during Politico's Governors Summit.... 'Let me put it a different way: Assholes come and go. But America is here to stay,' he said.... During the interview, Sununu, a moderate and self-described 'pro-choice' Republican, also panned an Alabama Supreme Court ruling granting legal personhood to frozen embryos as 'scary.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sununu is not as pro-choice as he advertises. Before Dobbs, in June 2021, "... Sununu signed the most regressive anti-reproductive health care budget in New Hampshire history, ignoring public opinion and opposition from more than 200 of the state's leading medical experts," Planned Parenthood reported The budget "include[d] an extreme abortion ban, medically unnecessary ultrasound requirements, criminal penalties for doctors, and inadequate funding for the NH Family Planning Program." Still, it would seem he knows an asshole when he sees one.

Alexander Smith of NBC News: “Vladimir Putin is a 'crazy SOB,' President Joe Biden said Wednesday -- a direct stab at the Russian leader that drew a furious reaction from the Kremlin. In comments at a fundraiser in San Francisco, Biden also took aim at ... Donald Trump, ridiculing his likely opponent in the November presidential election for comparing himself to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last week.... The Biden administration is set to announce a major sanctions package Friday to hold Russia accountable."

Nathan Layne of Reuters: "Lara Trump, who Donald Trump has endorsed to be the new co-chair of the Republican National Committee, said on Wednesday that the organization needed to raise $500 million for the 2024 general election and did not rule out using raised funds to pay her father-in-law's mounting legal fees.... Trump's daughter-in-law said the party needed a strong fundraising push to help Trump in his bid to return to the White House and for congressional races also up for grabs.... Lara Trump was asked by media at Wednesday's event whether she would use funds raised by the RNC to pay legal fees for her father-in-law's numerous criminal and civil cases. In response, she said she didn't know whether it would be allowed under RNC rules but could see such payments as being in line with the interests of the party's rank-and-file members." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gee, just last week Lara said that "every single penny" the RNC raised would go to re-electing Donald Trump; now she's mentioning money for Congressional candidates. But it's worth noting that the $500MM figure she hit on tracks rather closely with what Donald has to pay, not in legal fees, but in penalties, interest & compensation in civil suits he lost recently.

Mike Allen of Axios: "New York Times investigative reporters Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner -- who in 2018 revealed tax data about then-President Trump that documented widespread tax dodges -- will be out Sept. 10 with a book, 'Lucky Loser,' that draws on new confidential records and insider interviews.... 'Over the final era of his business career,' Buettner says, 'the less his judgment was involved in a project, the greater its chances of success.'" MB: Let's hope some of the reporters' findings get baked into undecided voters' minds, and helps them realize what a loser Trump is.

Charles Blow of the New York Times: "If you don't think this country is sliding toward theocracy, you're not paying attention.... In his concurring opinion [in the Alabama embryos case], the chief justice of the court, Tom Parker, wrote, 'Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.'... The Alabama decision ... essentially turns cryopreservation tanks into frozen nurseries. The idea is absurd and unscientific. It is instead tied to a religious crusade to downgrade the personhood of women by conferring personhood on frozen embryos.... The only thing that seems to be temporarily stopping congressional Republicans from pushing for a national abortion ban ... is that the issue of reproductive choice is an electoral loser for their party." See Akhilleus' commentary in today's thread.

Russia. Anton Troianovski & Ivan Nechepurenco of the New York Times: "Russian authorities have declared that the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny died of natural causes but are refusing to release his remains until his mother agrees to a 'secret funeral,' Mr. Navalny's mother and his spokeswoman said on Thursday. Lyudmila Navalnaya, Mr. Navalny's mother, said she had been 'secretly' taken to a morgue Wednesday night, 'where they showed me Aleksei.' She was shown a medical report on Mr. Navalny's death that said he died of natural causes, according to the Navalny team's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh.... [Ms. Navalnaya] said the authorities warned that if she did not 'agree to a secret funeral,' then 'they will do something with my son's body.' 'They're blackmailing me,' Ms. Navalnaya said in a video posted on her son's YouTube channel. 'They are setting me conditions on where, when and how Aleksei should be buried.'"

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Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: "Starting Wednesday, President Biden will email 153,000 student loan borrowers enrolled in his signature repayment plan to let them know their debts -- totaling $1.2 billion -- have been forgiven. The notice makes good on the administration's promise to accelerate forgiveness for borrowers with low original balances who are enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (Save) plan. Rather than wait 20 to 25 years for relief through other income-driven repayment plans, enrollees in the Save plan who borrowed less than $12,000 can have their debt wiped clean after 10 years of payments. The Education Department had originally planned to begin forgiveness in July but started identifying eligible borrowers this month." (Also linked yesterday.)

Myah Ward of Politico: "The Biden administration is considering a string of new executive actions and federal regulations in an effort to curb migration at the U.S. southern border, according to three people familiar with the plans. The proposals under consideration would represent a sweeping new approach to an issue that has stymied the White House since its first days in office and could potentially place the president at odds with key constituencies. Among the ideas under discussion include using a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar migrants from seeking asylum in between U.S. ports of entry. The administration is also discussing tying that directive to a trigger -- meaning that it would only come into effect after a certain number of illegal crossings took place, said the three people...."

Dog Bites Man. 24 Times. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The Secret Service had to 'adjust our operational tactics' to protect President Biden because the first family's dog kept biting agents, including one who required six stitches and another whose blood spilled onto the floor of the White House, according to newly released internal emails posted online. The agency recorded at least 24 biting episodes between October 2022 and July 2023 involving Commander, a German shepherd who became the terror of the West Wing, Camp David and the president's homes in Delaware, about half of which required medical attention, according to the documents. Commander was banished from the White House last fall to an undisclosed location." MB: IMO, it should not have taken 24 incidents to remove the dog. CNN's story is here.

David Sanger of the New York Times: "American intelligence agencies have told their closest European allies that if Russia is going to launch a nuclear weapon into orbit, it will probably do so this year -- but that it might instead launch a harmless 'dummy' warhead into orbit to leave the West guessing about its capabilities. The assessment came as American intelligence officials conducted a series of rushed, classified briefings for their NATO and Asian allies, as details of the American assessment of Russia's intentions began to leak out. The American intelligence agencies are sharply divided in their opinion about what President Vladimir V. Putin is planning...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Undeterred, House Republicans Remain Putin/Trump Tools

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "President Biden's younger brother James, in a lengthy opening statement at the start of a deposition for the House Republican-led impeachment inquiry, said Joe Biden had no role in any of his business dealings that are now under scrutiny. 'I have had a 50-year career in a variety of business ventures,' he said, according to a copy of his opening statement obtained by The Washington Post. 'Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities. None.' He testified that he has kept his professional life separate from their personal relationship, adding, 'I never asked my brother to take any official action on behalf of me, my business associates, or anyone else.'... The appearances of James and Hunter Biden before the Oversight and Judiciary committees could provide Republicans with a final chance to alter the trajectory of an impeachment inquiry that so far has produced mostly exculpatory statements, despite Republicans' efforts to prove that the president benefited improperly from his family's businesses." (Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear before committee investigators next week.) ~~~

~~~ Andrew Feinstein of the Independent: "... over the course of [a] year, it has become increasingly apparent that the sources of whatever 'dirt' Republicans claim to have can all be traced back to ... Donald Trump.... James Biden's testimony largely squares with what was said under oath by a former associate of [President] Biden's son Hunter, an ex-US Navy officer called Tony Bobulinski.... Just hours before Mr Trump and Mr Biden met for their final general election debate [in 2020], reporters covering the debate were summoned by the president's campaign to ... [meet] Mr Bobulinski, who proceeded to ... claim that Mr Biden had been a co-stockholder in a failed business venture his son had explored with a Chinese energy conglomerate. But when Mr Bobulinski appeared before [James] Comer and [Jim] Jordan's panels last week, he was unable to produce any evidence backing up his claims.... [Bobulinski] was represented during his House interview by Stefan Passantino, a Republican elections lawyer and former Trump White House attorney who ... pushed former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to conceal testimony during the House's investigation into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.... Mr Passantino [was then and] is still on the Trump campaign payroll...."

Glenn Thrush & Ken Vogel of the New York Times try to profile Alexander Smirnov, the FBI informant who falsely claimed "the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had arranged to pay $5 million bribes to both President Biden and his son Hunter. The explosive claim was leaked to Republicans, who made Mr. Smirnov's allegations a centerpiece of their now-stalled effort to impeach President Biden, apparently without verifying the allegation.... Little is known about Mr. Smirnov beyond a few public records and snippets of biography in papers filed in federal court in Las Vegas, where he lives and was taken into custody on Thursday."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The cast of characters Republicans have sought out to substantiate President Biden's purported corruption over the years has come to include half a dozen convicted and accused criminals, as well as multiple people the U.S. government has linked to Russia, corruption and subverting American democracy.... [For instance, one such] witness was Gal Luft, who the government said had skipped bail after his indictment for alleged arms trafficking and foreign lobbying violations was handed down months earlier. Days before the indictment was unsealed, House GOP impeachment leader Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) called Luft a 'a very credible witness on Biden family corruption.'" Do read on. MB: The list of dodgy "witnesses" is shocking, and elected Republicans' collaboration with them is far more problematic than Hunter Biden's opportunistic business ventures. Hunter has never been elected to anything, unlike the suspect GOP gang who are collaborating with foreign spies and criminals.

David Kurtz of TPM: "The implications of this Russian operation are staggering, especially for the willing Republicans and right-wing media stooges who were the useful idiots propagating the disinformation for years. The James Comers, Chuck Grassleys, Jim Jordans of the world have been trafficking in this stuff as the purported basis for a Biden impeachment, which is itself tightly yoked to Trump's campaign for re-election. Right-wing outlets, most notably Fox News, have been amplifying the claims not dozens or hundreds but thousands of times over the past several months.... We're nearly a decade into Putin's sustained, unrelenting attack on American democracy through misinformation and mischief. Among other things, the Republican Party and its standard bearer have been successfully enmeshed in it and thoroughly compromised."

But the Laptop! digby republishes a portion of a (firewalled) "memo" by Josh Marshall of TPM: There is "a larger canvas that goes back to the 'Hunter Biden laptop' and really all the way back to 2015, a continuing Russian information operation that has been ongoing for almost a decade.... Russia's effort to meddle in the 2016 election was obviously bad. And Rudy Giuliani's dumpster diving in Ukraine and other parts of the former USSR in 2018 and 2019, which led to Donald Trump's first impeachment, was probably hoovering up Russian disinformation too.... For years I&'ve continued saying, against what seems like the unified thinking of every reporter, editorialist and credentialed smart person, that the fabled 'Hunter Biden Laptop' was obviously the product of a Russian influence operation. The story was absurd on its face. Somehow Hunter Biden decided in a drugged-up fugue that he needed to take his laptop to a computer repair shop. He then forgot about it. The legally blind owner of the repair shop decided to crack it open and look at the files (as one does, of course) and then somehow managed to get the contents to Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon.... This entire thing has been based on Russian plants and intelligence operations from the start. Every bit of it."

Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "The real Russiagate ... has always been the ongoing Russian efforts to ratfuck American elections with the active collaboration of the Republican Party and in many cases the mainstream political press[.]... [BUT] Fake scandal on A1 [of the New York Times] for days on end, story on how it was all malicious bullshit on A16 -- same as it ever was."

Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: "Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov mocked House Republicans on Wednesday for their pursuit of impeachment charges against President Biden. 'This is the path that they've chosen to take, and honestly I'm surprised that they have this high of a threshold for humiliation,' Tarlov said during an appearance on the network. 'Every witness they have called has decimated their argument.'... Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Wednesday told reporters on Capitol Hill that the Smirnov indictment 'doesn't change the fundamental facts' of his caucus's case against the president. 'It's so embarrassing,' Tarlov, who serves as a liberal panelist on the popular table talk program 'The Five,' said. 'I think [Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)] was spot on when he said this impeachment really ended yesterday, when we found out that we have a Russian asset that is foundational to this impeachment inquiry.'"

Marie: Over the past few days, I have seen clips of Gym Jordan referred to a "1023" as the core document in his impeachment inquiry. (And here's Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) releasing a 1023 [July 2023] as "proof" Joe Biden "engaged in a scheme" with a Ukrainian businessman.) A 1023 is an FBI form that records raw, unverified information obtained from a source. Allegations on a 1023 should not be the "core" of any investigation. It is in no way a reliable record of something that happened. It is a "tip." It is not "evidence." A prosecutor might put a 1023 into evidence as part of the paper trail to explain why the FBI undertook a line of inquiry and how they later developed evidence of the crime being prosecuted. But the DOJ would not be presenting the 1023 itself as evidence of a crime or other wrongdoing.

Tom Winter, et al. of NBC News: "Federal prosecutors mistakenly claimed in a court filing that a photo of sawdust they found while searching Hunter Biden's electronics was cocaine, attorneys for the president's son said Tuesday." MB: Things that look more like cocaine than sawdust: sugar, salt, white sand. Look forward to court filings of photos of Hunter's sugar bowl, salt shaker, trip to Florida Panhandle beach.

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's attorneys Wednesday requested a month-long delay in enforcement of a civil fraud judgment of more than $350 million against the former president, saying they had concerns with a proposal drafted by the state attorney general's office.... [New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur] Engoron, in an email exchange with [a Trump attorney], indicated there was 'no need for a motion or conference on this' because the judgment the attorney general proposed mirrored the terms of his order. The judge, however, invited Trump's side to provide specific disagreements with the proposed document. Trump's lawyers cited two items they said were incorrect and requested more time to evaluate the document and propose any other changes due to what they considered inaccuracies." ~~~

~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “... Donald Trump is gearing up to fight a massive fine in the New York business fraud case that threatens to erase most of the cash he says he has on hand. But first, he has to secure a bond -- and that might not be so easy.... This is typically up to 120% of the judgment plus the current interest. At that rate, Trump's original ruling with interest would indicate he will need to secure a bond worth more than $540 million. But it's unlikely that the real estate baron will be able to use his properties as collateral.... 'Who ever is going to bond [Trump] is committing that they're going to make good on that judgment,' said New York business attorney David Slarskey. 'Who's going to do that?'... Every day, the accruing interest adds $87,502 to Trump's bill." MB: I heard on the teevee that Trump is bond-shopping.

Steve Karnowski of the AP: "A federal judge on Wednesday affirmed a $5 million arbitration award against MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell in favor of a software engineer who challenged data that Lindell said proves China interfered in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and tipped the outcome to Joe Biden. Lindell said he plans to appeal.... Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the 2020 election, launched his 'Prove Mike Wrong Challenge' ... in August 2021. Lindell offered a $5 million reward through Lindell Management for anyone who could prove that 'packet captures' and other data he released ... were not valid data 'from the November 2020 election.' Robert Zeidman entered the challenge with a 15-page report that concluded the data from Lindell don't 'contain packet data of any kind and do not contain any information related to the November 2020 election.'... A panel of three arbitrators last April unanimously ordered Lindell to pay Zeidman $5 million, concluding that he had satisfied the contest rules."

Presidential Race

Florida Grapes Are Sour. Henry Gomez of NBC News: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told backers of his unsuccessful presidential bid Wednesday that ... Donald Trump should not play 'identity politics' when picking a 2024 running mate.... The 34-minute chat, organized by DeSantis political allies, was notable for how candid -- and, at times, critical -- the governor was in sharing concerns about Trump, whom he endorsed for the GOP nomination immediately upon suspending his own campaign last month.... While assessing Trump's vice presidential prospects, DeSantis denied any interest in being chosen." He also said that in a second Trump presidency*, neither his staff nor right-wing media would hold Trump accountable for his errors.

Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: Donald Trump & his allies are planning massive, militarized deportations & detention camps for undocumented immigrants, should he be re-elected. "... his deportation proposal is one part of his emerging platform that experts, current and former government officials and others described as especially alarming, impractical and prone to significant legal and logistical hurdles.... Reflecting on the ideas Trump and his team discussed during his presidency, former Immigration & Customs official Jason Houser said, 'Their ideas were psychotic.'... 'Trump is following the 20th century dictator's playbook of dehumanizing vulnerable groups in order to isolate them and justify cruelty by the state,' Genevieve Nadeau, a former DHS lawyer, said in a report by the nonpartisan organization Protect Democracy." (Also linked yesterday.)

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Alabama. Anna Betts of the New York Times: "The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system announced on Wednesday that it was pausing in vitro fertilization treatments as it evaluated the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling that frozen embryos should be considered children. 'We are saddened that this will impact our patients' attempt to have a baby through I.V.F.,' a statement from the health system said, 'but we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for I.V.F. treatments.'"

Arizona/New York. Arizona GOP Prosecutor Fears Manhattan D.A. Will Release Murder Suspect. Chelsia Marcius of the New York Times: The Republican prosecutor of Maricopa County, Arizona, Rachel Mitchell, has refused to extradite a murder suspect to Manhattan because she believes Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg would release the suspect, who also is accused of stabbing two Arizona women. "Emily Tuttle, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bragg, called Ms. Mitchell's statement a grave insult. 'It is deeply disturbing that D.A. Mitchell is playing political games in a murder investigation,' Ms. Tuttle said in a statement. She also noted that killings and shootings had dropped since Mr. Bragg took office. 'New York's murder rate is less than half that of Phoenix, Ariz., because of the hard work of the N.Y.P.D. and all of our law enforcement partners,' Ms. Tuttle said.... Ms. Mitchell became the county's top prosecutor in a 2022 special election and is currently running for a second term. On her campaign website she inveighs against President Biden and big cities that she claims 'turn a blind eye to rising crime.'" Mitchell is white. The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hmmm. Is this because Bragg is prosecuting that nice Donald Trump or because Bragg is Black? Or both?

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China, et al. Christian Shepherd, et al., of the Washington Post: "A trove of leaked documents from a Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing's intelligence and military groups are carrying out large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments, companies and infrastructure -- exploiting what the hackers claim are vulnerabilities in software systems from companies including Microsoft, Apple and Google. The cache ... offers an unprecedented look inside the operations of one of the firms that Chinese government agencies hire for on-demand, mass data-collecting operations. The files -- posted to GitHub last week and deemed credible by cybersecurity experts ... -- detail contracts to extract foreign data over eight years and describe targets within at least 20 foreign governments and territories, including India, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Taiwan and Malaysia." The New York Times report is here.

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas was war here: "The leaders of 19 U.N. organizations outlined urgent steps they said were needed to salvage the humanitarian operation in Gaza, which the head of the World Health Organization described as a 'death zone' amid spiraling violence and deteriorating conditions. Iran and Lebanon are among a dozen countries slated to speak Thursday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the legality of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.... Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet, said in a news briefing that efforts are being made to promote a new hostage deal and that there are 'promising early signs of possible progress.' Asked to comment on Gantz's remarks, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, 'We do think that there is space to reach an agreement here.' The Gaza Health Ministry accused Israeli forces of delaying the evacuation of 110 patients from Nasser Hospital, the site of a multiday raid by the Israeli military." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here.

News Lede

Washington Post: "A nationwide cell service outage is preventing some AT&T customers from making or receiving calls, including emergency calls, some 911 centers say. The website DownDetector reported more than 38,000 AT&T outages as of 7 a.m. Eastern time, with the first reports coming in shortly after 4 a.m. The site also saw a smaller number of outages for Verizon and T-Mobile." CNN's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times Update: "AT&T said on Thursday it was working to fully restore its network after being hit by a widespread outage for hours early Thursday that disrupted service for thousands of users across the United States.... A spokesman did not respond to questions about what had caused the outage or when service would be back.... Reports surfaced early Thursday that FirstNet, the network AT&T maintains for emergency services personnel, had experienced outages, but AT&T said around 10:30 a.m. that the network was fully operational."

The Conversation -- February 21, 2024

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: "Starting Wednesday, President Biden will email 153,000 student loan borrowers enrolled in his signature repayment plan to let them know their debts -- totaling $1.2 billion -- have been forgiven. The notice makes good on the administration's promise to accelerate forgiveness for borrowers with low original balances who are enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (Save) plan. Rather than wait 20 to 25 years for relief through other income-driven repayment plans, enrollees in the Save plan who borrowed less than $12,000 can have their debt wiped clean after 10 years of payments. The Education Department had originally planned to begin forgiveness in July but started identifying eligible borrowers this month."

Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: Donald Trump & his allies are planning massive, militarized deportations & detention camps for undocumented immigrants, should he be re-elected. "But his deportation proposal is one part of his emerging platform that experts, current and former government officials and others described as especially alarming, impractical and prone to significant legal and logistical hurdles.... Reflecting on the ideas Trump and his team discussed during his presidency, former Immigration & Customs official Jason Houser said, 'Their ideas were psychotic.'... 'Trump is following the 20th century dictator's playbook of dehumanizing vulnerable groups in order to isolate them and justify cruelty by the state,' Genevieve Nadeau, a former DHS lawyer, said in a report by the nonpartisan organization Protect Democracy."

David Sanger of the New York Times: "American intelligence agencies have told their closest European allies that if Russia is going to launch a nuclear weapon into orbit, it will probably do so this year -- but that it might instead launch a harmless 'dummy' warhead into orbit to leave the West guessing about its capabilities. The assessment came as American intelligence officials conducted a series of rushed, classified briefings for their NATO and Asian allies, as details of the American assessment of Russia's intentions began to leak out. The American intelligence agencies are sharply divided in their opinion about what President Vladimir V. Putin is planning...."

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Behold the Useful Idiots. They Are Serving Members of Congress. Marie: Jim Comer, Jim Jordan & other GOP House leaders are not only meddling in the 2024 presidential election, they have been doing so under the guidance of Russian intelligence operatives. These powerful members of the House are essentially willing dupes of & mouthpieces for Vladimir Putin. ~~~

~~~ Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN: "Prosecutors ... said [FBI informant] Alexander Smirnov has been 'actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections' after meeting with Russian spies late last year.... Smirnov claims to have 'extensive and extremely recent' contacts with foreign intelligence officials, prosecutors said in [a federal court] filing [in Nevada]. They said he previously told the FBI that he has longstanding and extensive contacts with Russian spies, including individuals he said were high-level intelligence officers or command Russian assassins abroad. Prosecutors with special counsel David Weiss' team said Tuesday that ... in a post-arrest interview last week, 'Smirnov admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about Businessperson 1,' referring to President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden....

"The false information that Smirnov reported, prosecutors wrote, '... targeted the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties in the United States. The effects of Smirnov's false statements and fabricated information continue to be felt to this day,' prosecutors said, making an apparent reference to the turmoil in Congress over the discredited bribery allegations -- which were a key element of the GOP impeachment probe." ~~~

     ~~~ Glenn Thrush & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A former F.B.I. informant accused of making false bribery claims about President Biden and his son Hunter -- which were widely publicized by Republicans -- claimed to have been fed information by Russian intelligence, according to a court filing on Tuesday.... 'He is actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November,' [prosecutors said in the filing].... [Some of Alexander Smirnov's] allegations, which prosecutors now say were brazen fabrications motivated by Mr. Smirnov's animosity toward the president, were widely promoted by congressional Republicans who cited it as a justification for their now-stalled effort to impeach Mr. Biden.... Also on Tuesday, Hunter Biden's legal team filed motions in federal court arguing that the arrest of Mr. Smirnov -- while unrelated to the charges Mr. Biden faces -- has tainted the public's perception of their client, making fair trials impossible." ~~~

     ~~~ The government's filing is here, via the federal courts. MB: Russia's compromising of top House Republicans should be the scandal of the year, but it isn't, because Donald Trump has generated so many other scandals. I advise against President Biden & Hunter Biden's holding their breaths while waiting for abject apologies from Comer, Jungle Gym & the rest of the miscreants. In the meantime, I do wonder (1) how long Trump/Garland-appointed special prosecutor David Weiss has known Smear-nov was lying about the Bidens and (2) when he clued in Comer, Jordan & the other Keystone Kops. And do you suppose Merrick the Unready is having the slightest qualms about appointing two Biden-bashers -- Weiss & Robert Hur -- as special counsels to "investigate"/trash his own boss and family? A fish rots from the head down, Merrick. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Marie: I see Dan Goldman agrees with me: ~~~

     ~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Rep. Dan Goldman [D-N.Y.] did not mince words in his Tuesday night appearance on CNN, where he and host Anderson Cooper discussed news that the source for the Biden bribery scandal had ties to Russian intelligence, which he directly connected to charge the House GOP as 'operating at the behest of Russian Intelligence and Vladimir Putin.'"

Tom Friedman of the New York Times: "... Donald Trump could sell white flags at $1,000 a pop that say, 'We surrendered Ukraine to Russia,' autographed by him and the House and Senate MAGA sycophants he's assembled to deny Ukrainians the weapons they need to stave off Vladimir Putin's onslaught. For an extra $500, you could get a white flag autographed solely by Trump and J.D. Vance and emblazoned with Vance's immortal words, 'I don't really care what happens to Ukraine.' Or one signed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, big enough to sum up his worldview: I was for Ukraine aid until I was against it, but I could be for it again if Trump is not against it. This is a matter of principle for me. Either way, it's all Biden's fault.[']... For an extra $1,000, a giant white surrender flag, made from the softest Sea Island cotton, signed by Lindsey Graham, that says: 'I gave up the principles of John McCain and a free Ukraine because Trump told me to. But I got a round of golf at Trump's West Palm Beach course. Can I still be on "Meet the Press"?'... I've never seen so many people in one party behave with so little respect for themselves or the nation's interests at one time." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, how sad it is when a leading both-siderist/centrist loses faith in one side! Is that a teensy white flag I see, Tom?

Michael Luciano of Mediaite: Tuesday night, "... Donald Trump claimed on Fox News that he was not required to hand over government documents he kept after leaving office.... Trump ... falsely insisted the Presidential Records Act gave him the right to take the documents. 'I was allowed to do what I did,' he said. 'Absolutely allowed.'... [Trump then claimed he would have handed over the docs:] 'We were talking and then all of a sudden they raided Mar-a-Lago.'" MB: Of course, Trump is lying here, too. As we all know, he went to great lengths to hide the documents, involving two of his staff, who are not under indictment with him. I think what he's doing here is setting up a fake defense: trying to show he had no consciousness that he was doing anything wrong; then pretending it was his intention to comply with the National Archives & FBI demands. Yeah, government stooges set up Honest Don for a fall.

The Contemptuous Mr. Navarro. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge Tuesday threatened to hold former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro in contempt of court for failing to return dozens if not hundreds of presidential records to the National Archives, giving him one month to turn over emails from his time in office that he has withheld despite court orders. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Navarro to return the records last March after the Justice Department sued, saying ... Donald Trump's trade and manufacturing policy adviser used at least one nonofficial email account to do government business and failed to copy emails in an official account or respond to the archivist's request for their return.... In a six-page opinion Tuesday, Kollar-Kotelly said her review of a sampling of 50 emails and their attachments found that at least 24 percent and potentially up to 56 percent of the records did in fact assist in the discharge of presidential duties."

Presidential Race

Natalie Allison & Lisa Kashinsky of Politico: "Delivering what her team billed as a 'state of the race speech' [Tuesday,] a defiant [Nikki] Haley vowed to remain in the race even as she polls far behind [Donald] Trump in upcoming primaries across the map.... Haley unleashed a torrent of criticism against the former president, calling him a 'bully' who's 'getting meaner and more offensive by the day.' She argued that Trump is 'completely distracted' from the campaign as he splits his time in courtrooms. She repeated her oft-used refrains that Trump has 'gotten more unstable and unhinged.' And the former U.N. ambassador painted Trump as weak on national security, bashing him for 'inviting' Russian President Vladimir Putin to 'invade NATO countries.'... 'I feel no need to kiss the ring,' Haley said." ~~~

~~~ Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung predicted Tuesday that Nikki Haley would 'kiss ass' to former President Trump when she 'quits' the presidential race." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Check yesterday's Comments. D in Md found just the right accessory to wear for that kiss-ass moment. Cheung is such a tasteful guy, isn't he?

Patrick Svitek, et al., of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump and some of his allies continue to compare his legal problems to the plight of Alexei Navalny, while the former president has yet to condemn the Friday death of the imprisoned Russian dissident who was President Vladimir Putin's strongest critic. 'It's a form of Navalny,' Trump said a Fox News town hall on Tuesday, responding to a question from Laura Ingraham about the $355 million fine against his businesses after a New York civil trial. 'It's happening in our country too.'... Trump has long fueled concerns that he is too cozy with Putin, but the latest episode is part of an especially stark chapter.... Those comments -- as well as Trump's handling of Navalny's death -- have given his last serious presidential primary rival, Nikki Haley, a new opening to criticize Trump and highlight her foreign policy experience as his onetime U.N. ambassador." A Politico story is here.

M.L. Nestel of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump burned through $3 million of campaign cash to pay attorneys as one super PAC bailed out another, according to the Daily Beast. The Trump-backing 'Save America' PAC confirmed they had only collected $8,508 from donors spanning the entire month of January, according to the Daily Beast.... Public findings released on Tuesday by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) that the Trump campaign raised about $8.8 million, spent about $11.5 million and reported a loss of more than $2.6 million in January. In contrast, Trump's rival former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley flexed $11.5 million in fundraising for January. That marks the first time where Haley's outraised Trump, the outlet confirmed."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a challenge to new admissions criteria at an elite public high school in Virginia that eliminated standardized tests, clearing the way for the use of a policy intended to diversify the school's student body. As is its custom, the court gave no reasons for turning down the case. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued a dissent, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, that was harshly critical of an appeals court's ruling in the case upholding the new criteria and rejecting the challengers' argument that they unlawfully disadvantaged Asian Americans." A CBS News story is here. MB: Sorry, boys, you should know your place of business is otherwise occupied this term trying to clean up on Aisle Trump. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Insufferable Sam Writes Another Bigoted Screed. Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Tuesday renewed his criticisms of the Supreme Court's landmark decision recognizing the right to same-sex marriage, saying that people who oppose homosexuality risk being unfairly 'labeled as bigots and treated as such.' The justice included his warning in a five-page statement explaining why the court had rejected a request to hear a Missouri case about people removed from a jury after voicing religious objections to gay relationships. The case, Justice Alito wrote, 'exemplifies the danger' from the court's 2015 decision, Obergefell v. Hodges. The ruling, he added, shows how 'Americans who do not hide their adherence to traditional religious beliefs about homosexual conduct will be 'labeled as bigots and treated as such' by the government." MB: You're right, Sam. You are a nasty bigot, and I will treat you as such. I don't think the shame is on me. And you wrote this all down for the record, Sam, because why??? ~~~

     ~~~ Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime: "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito complained about the impact of legalizing same-sex marriage on 'society' in a statement about a case that does not have anything to do with same-sex marriage on Tuesday. The underlying case was an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by a lesbian prison guard -- which she won. On Tuesday, in orders, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal filed by the Missouri Department of Corrections over part of the jury selection process." Emphasis added.

Jon Stewart is very sorry he trashed President Biden last week, then takes pointers from TuKKKer Carlson on how to interview a diabolical world leader who tells remarkable whoppers:

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Alabama. Roni Rabin & Azeen Ghorayshi of the New York Times: "An Alabama Supreme Court's ruling that frozen embryos in test tubes should be considered children has sent shock waves through the world of reproductive medicine, casting doubt over fertility care for would-be parents in the state and raising complex legal questions with implications extending far beyond Alabama. On Tuesday, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said the ruling would cause 'exactly the type of chaos that we expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for politicians to dictate some of the most personal decisions families can make.' Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as President Biden traveled to California, Ms. Jean-Pierre reiterated the Biden administration's call for Congress to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law.... Infertility specialists and legal experts said the ruling had potentially profound effects, which should be of concern to every American who may need to access reproductive services like in vitro fertilization.... Reproductive medicine scientists also blasted the ruling, saying it was a 'medically and scientifically unfounded decision.'" ~~~

     ~~~ An AL.com story (Feb. 16) is here. Thanks to Forrest M. for the link.

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: ";U.S. officials are expected to defend Israel at the International Court of Justice on Wednesday as part of six days of hearings on the legality of what the court has called 'occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.'... The ICJ hearings deal with the broader topic of control of the occupied West Bank, annexed East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, but they could put added pressure on Israel over its military campaign in Gaza. Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen fired two anti-ship missiles at a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid to Yemen on Monday, U.S. Central Command said. One of the missiles caused minor damage, but the MV Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned bulk carrier, successfully unloaded its grain at the port of Aden, Centcom said."

Farnaz Fassihi, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States on Tuesday cast the sole vote against a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have called for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, saying it feared it could disrupt hostage negotiations. It was the third time Washington wielded its veto to block a resolution demanding a stop to fighting in Gaza, underlining America's isolation in its continued, forceful backing of Israel.... Thirteen Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, which was drafted by Algeria, while Britain abstained."

Russia

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "For more than two decades, [Yulia] Navalnaya has shunned any open political role for herself, saying that her purpose in life was to support her husband [Aleksei Navalny] and to protect their two children. That changed on Monday. Ms. Navalnaya faces a distinct challenge in trying to rally a disheartened opposition movement from abroad, with hundreds of thousands of its adherents driven into exile by an increasingly repressive Kremlin that has responded to any criticism of its invasion of Ukraine two years ago with harsh jail sentences. Her husband's political movement and his foundation, which exposed corruption in high places, were declared extremist organizations in 2021 and barred from operating in Russia. While not dismissing the difficulties, friends and associates believe that Ms. Navalnaya, 47, has a shot at succeeding through what they call her combination of intelligence, poise, steely determination, resilience, pragmatism and star power." (Also linked yesterday.)

Serhii Korolchuk, et al., of the Washington Post: "A man found riddled with bullets and run over by a car last week in Spain is Russian defector Maksym Kuzminov, who flew a military helicopter to Ukraine in a dramatic operation, according to Ukrainian officials. The body was found at the entrance to a residential complex in Villajoyosa, in Alicante, and witnesses told local media that gunmen shot him several times, then ran him over and escaped in a car. Spanish police ... now believe [this is] ... potentially the latest example of Russian special services carrying out an assassination on European soil. The spokesman for Ukraine's intelligence service, Andriy Yusov, confirmed to The Washington Post on Tuesday that the body was that of Kuzminov.... According to [a Russian television documentary aired last month]..., Russia's military intelligence, known as GRU, had already received an order to eliminate him." (Also linked yesterday.)

Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Russia's Federal Security Service announced Tuesday the arrest of a 33-year-old [Los Angeles] woman on treason charges, accusing her of taking part in pro-Ukraine protests outside Russia and of sending aid to Kyiv. The woman, a dual American-Russian citizen, was not identified in a statement issued by the Federal Security Service, or FSB, which said she 'was involved in providing financial assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against the security of our country.'... The FSB statement said the woman repeatedly took part in public protest actions outside Russia 'in support of the Kyiv regime.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

The Conversation -- February 20, 2024

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a challenge to new admissions criteria at an elite public high school in Virginia that eliminated standardized tests, clearing the way for the use of a policy intended to diversify the school's student body. As is its custom, the court gave no reasons for turning down the case. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued a dissent, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, that was harshly critical of an appeals court's ruling in the case upholding the new criteria and rejecting the challengers' argument that they unlawfully disadvantaged Asian Americans." A CBS News story is here. MB: Sorry, boys, you should know your place of business is otherwise occupied this term trying to clean up on Aisle Trump.

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "For more than two decades, [Yulia] Navalnaya has shunned any open political role for herself, saying that her purpose in life was to support her husband [Aleksei Navalny] and to protect their two children. That changed on Monday. Ms. Navalnaya faces a distinct challenge in trying to rally a disheartened opposition movement from abroad, with hundreds of thousands of its adherents driven into exile by an increasingly repressive Kremlin that has responded to any criticism of its invasion of Ukraine two years ago with harsh jail sentences. Her husband's political movement and his foundation, which exposed corruption in high places, were declared extremist organizations in 2021 and barred from operating in Russia. While not dismissing the difficulties, friends and associates believe that Ms. Navalnaya, 47, has a shot at succeeding through what they call her combination of intelligence, poise, steely determination, resilience, pragmatism and star power."

Serhii Korolchuk, et al., of the Washington Post: "A man found riddled with bullets and run over by a car last week in Spain is Russian defector Maksym Kuzminov, who flew a military helicopter to Ukraine in a dramatic operation, according to Ukrainian officials. The body was found at the entrance to a residential complex in Villajoyosa, in Alicante, and witnesses told local media that gunmen shot him several times, then ran him over and escaped in a car. Spanish police ... now believe [this is] ... potentially the latest example of Russian special services carrying out an assassination on European soil. The spokesman for Ukraine's intelligence service, Andriy Yusov, confirmed to The Washington Post on Tuesday that the body was that of Kuzminov.... According to [a Russian television documentary aired last month]..., Russia's military intelligence, known as GRU, had already received an order to eliminate him."

Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Russia's Federal Security Service announced Tuesday the arrest of a 33-year-old [Los Angeles] woman on treason charges, accusing her of taking part in pro-Ukraine protests outside Russia and of sending aid to Kyiv. The woman, a dual American-Russian citizen, was not identified in a statement issued by the Federal Security Service, or FSB, which said she 'was involved in providing financial assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against the security of our country.'... The FSB statement said the woman repeatedly took part in public protest actions outside Russia 'in support of the Kyiv regime.'"

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Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's most formidable opponent, vowed on Monday to carry on her husband's crusade against the Russian regime, striving to build 'a free, peaceful, happy Russia, a beautiful Russia of the future, which my husband dreamed of so much.' Navalnaya, 47, made her announcement in a video statement on YouTube, in which she accused Russian authorities of fatally poisoning Navalny in the Arctic prison where he died suddenly on Friday at age 47. 'Putin did not only murder the person, Alexei Navalny,' she said, clad in black and her voice occasionally trembling during the dramatic video address. 'He wanted, along with him, to kill our hope, our freedom, our future.' Navalnaya also accused the Russian authorities of refusing to hand over Navalny's body to his 69-year-old mother so they could cover up the cause of death." ~~~

~~~ Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post: "Navalny's death was simultaneously shocking and unsurprising. He joins a long, tragic history of Kremlin opponents swallowed up by the gulag, but his message was so potent and his skills as a messenger so incomparable that it was easy to imagine he could share in Mandela's story of eventual liberation and political victory. That was not to be.... Russia, for now, is undeniably Putin's country. Entering the third year of his full-blown war in Ukraine, the Russian president has withstood international sanctions, geopolitical isolation from the West and a prominent mercenary's brazen insurrection. The edifice of his power remains intact, while those who threaten it face even harsher consequences than in an earlier phase of his rule." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, Back in the U.S.S.A., Putin's Puppet Speaks. Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Days after the death of the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny was first reported, Donald J. Trump broke his silence in a social media post on Monday that barely mentioned Mr. Navalny and that did not condemn President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Instead, he used Mr. Navalny's death to suggest that his own legal battles amounted to political persecution. It was a note he hit first on Sunday, when he shared screenshots of an opinion essay that compared his relationship with President Biden to the one between Mr. Navalny and Mr. Putin. 'The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country,' the former president wrote on Truth Social on Monday, using an alternative spelling of Mr. Navalny's given name. He pointed to what he called 'CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction.'" ~~~

~~~ Nick Robertson of the Hill: "Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) went after former President Trump on Monday for his response to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, calling Trump's comments 'beneath the dignity of a human being.' ... 'You wonder, what does Putin have on Donald Trump that he always has to be beholden to him, his buddy in vileness?' Pelosi said in an MSNBC 'Inside with Jen Psaki' interview on Monday." ~~~

~~~ Nick Robertson of the Hill: "If Trump is elected, there'll be celebrations in the Kremlin,' [Trump's national security advisor John] Bolton said in an MSNBC 'Inside with Jen Psaki' interview Sunday. 'There's no doubt about it because Putin thinks that he is an easy mark.'" ~~~

~~~ Stephen Collinson of CNN: "Trump's bizarre deference to Putin is not new – his genuflecting was a frequent theme of his presidency. But it is even more striking now, given the Russian leader's status as an accused war criminal who launched an unprovoked invasion of a democratic neighbor. After propping up Ukraine for two years with billions of dollars in aid and ammunition, a US decision to walk away and leave it to Putin would represent a stunning change of course.... The refusal of pro-Donald Trump Republicans in Congress to extend a military lifeline for Ukraine, and the former president's return to attacking NATO allies in ways that align with Putin's goals, show that Trump is already reshaping geopolitical realities months before his possible White House return." ~~~

~~~ Putin's Puppet's Puppets. Nicholas Riccardi of the AP: "The GOP has been softening its stance on Russia ever since Trump won the 2016 election following Russian hacking of his Democratic opponents.... Now the GOP's ambivalence on Russia has stalled additional aid to Ukraine at a pivotal time in the war.... [Mike] Johnson, the House speaker, issued a statement calling Putin a 'vicious dictator' and pledging that he 'will be met with united opposition,' but he did not offer any way forward for passing the aid to Ukraine.... Sergey Radchenko, a professor at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies, noted that Russia for decades has hoped the U.S would lose interest in protecting Europe: 'This was Stalin's dream, that the U.S. would just retreat to the Western hemisphere.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Riccardi makes up some excuses as to why the GOP chooses to let Putin have his way, as if these politicians had some philosophical reason not to confront Russian aggression and authoritarianism. Ha! While I will warrant that these sniveling cowards -- like Putin -- much prefer power grabs over democratic values, the underlying "philosophy" that guides their approach to Russia is "Oh, please, don't let Trump primary me!" They would sell the world to Russia for the price of their crappy little fake "public service" jobs. ~~~

~~~ While Ukrainians Die. Here's that grinning prick Mike Johnson, vacationing in Florida (prophetically next to the "Exit" sign) with his puppet master:

Posting this while Ukrainians are running out of ammo, freezing, and taking heavy losses is really…. Something. Enjoy it today. History will remember it tomorrow. @SpeakerJohnson https://t.co/1mVOQHVxki

— Jim Hendren (@JimHendren1) February 20, 2024

... looks like a couple of banana munching primates showing off their newly discovered opposable thumbs. -- Akhilleus, in today's Comments (and he has more to say about these two Corinthians therein)

Mad Dog Jim Comer should hire contributor RAS to his investigative staff. Comer has spent more than a year trying to link Joe Biden to Hunter Biden's various international business schemes. One after another of Comer's claims of sensational evidence has collapsed. But today, RAS finally found a real Biden family scandal, one involving attempted murder, a knife fight & a suspect presidential pardon by historians' favorite president: ~~~

~~~ CBS/AFP: "Abraham Lincoln pardoned President Biden's great-great-grandfather after a late-night Civil War-era brawl, documents reportedly show.... The court-martial records in the U.S. National Archives ... detail the trial of Moses J. Robinette after a fight with fellow Union Army civilian employee John J. Alexander on March 21, 1864. Robinette was charged with attempted murder after the tussle in the Army of the Potomac's winter camp in Virginia, when Alexander overheard him saying something about him to a cook, and rushed at him. The two men scuffled, and Robinette drew his pocketknife, leaving Alexander with several cuts before others intervened.... The 42-year-old, who had been hired by the Army as a veterinary surgeon, insisted that Alexander 'possibly might have injured me seriously had I not resorted to the means I did.' But military judges convicted him and sentenced him to two years' hard labor. Three Army officers petitioned Lincoln to overturn his conviction, claiming the sentence was unduly harsh and that Robinette had been defending himself against someone 'much his superior in strength and size.' Lincoln agreed, and signed the pardon on Sept. 1 that same year." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

    ; ~~~ The Washington Post story, by historian David Gerleman, is here and includes more details. (Also linked yesterday.)

Mad Dog Comer Will Not Let Go of Imaginary Bone. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: Rep. Jim "Comer (R- Ky.) has suggested that two Ukraine-related documents referenced in special counsel Robert K. Hur's report concerning Joe Biden's handling of classified documents might have ended up informing or been part of emails found on the laptop that the president's son Hunter left at a computer repair shop in Delaware.... Notwithstanding Comer's hyperbolic statements on television, it would be incorrect to suggest that the Ukraine documents in the Hur report indicate Hunter Biden had access to classified information or distributed classified information to 'our enemies' in exchange for cash. These documents simply are on the same subject -- Ukraine. But as we have shown, the Hur report says they are not especially secret or important. As Emily Litella would say: 'Never mind.'" MB: Comer's new claim, of course, comes after the FBI charged his supposed star witness last week with lying to investigators about having information that would compromise President Biden. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race

"A Vote for Trump Is a Vote for Putin." Bill Kristol in the Bulwark: "Those who seek to save the country from a Trump second term can and should hammer home Trump's fondness for Putin..... A broad coalition of political forces in the United States, ranging from Mike Pence on the right to Bernie Sanders on the left, is anti-Putin. Against them stand Donald Trump and some of his acolytes, who are pro-Putin. The likely nominee of one of our two major political parties is pro-Vladimir Putin. This is an astonishing fact. It is an appalling fact. It has to be a central fact of the 2024 campaign."

Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "Since the start of January, the United States has counted six mass killings, its rate of firearm-wrought bloodshed outpacing every other wealthy nation by far. The candidates vying for the GOP nomination ... make no mention of safeguarding access to the weapons used in attack after attack after attack.... Trump... call[ed] himself 'the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House.... 'During my four years, nothing happened,' Trump told a gathering of NRA members this month in Pennsylvania. 'And there was great pressure on me having to do with guns. We did nothing.'... [Recently Nikki] Haley said the national media had rushed in to 'define' the massacre [at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, S.C., that occurred when Haley was governor]. 'They wanted to make it about guns,' she said. 'They wanted to make it about racism ...' It was about guns, the [Rev. Eric Manning] thought. It was about racism." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I do wish gun-control advocates who give lip service to the Second Amendment would cut it out. Until the winger Supremes decided D.C. v. Heller in 2008, only radical NRA-types believed the Second Amendment guaranteed a right of individuals to own firearms. Heller was a radical rereading of the Amendment, and sensible justices should strike it down. I blame Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, & Alito and their accomplices for the murders-by-gun of thousands of Americans.

The Clock Is Ticking, Clarence. Ramon Vargas of the Guardian: "The late-night talkshow host John Oliver has offered to pay Clarence Thomas $1m annually -- as well as give him a $2m tour bus -- if the Republican judge resigns from the US supreme court. Oliver made the proposal on Sunday's episode of his HBO show Last Week Tonight, saying the supreme court justice had 30 days to accept or it would expire.... 'Lot on your plate right now, from stripping away women&'s rights to hearing January 6 cases ... and you deserve a break, you know, away from the meanness of Washington. So you can be surrounded by the regular folks whose lives you made demonstrably worse for decades.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: They're talking about it on TV news, so I guess this is news: ~~~

~~~ George Anthony Kitara Ravache Devolder Santos Sues Because Somebody Else Used Fake Names. Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: "George Santos sued late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel on Saturday, accusing Kimmel of hiding his identity while soliciting videos from the disgraced ex-congressman over the celebrity video-sharing service Cameo, which Kimmel then used to mock Santos on air. Kimmel announced in December that he pranked Santos by sending him fictitious requests on Cameo, which allows users to request brief greeting videos from celebrities and popular figures. Kimmel, allegedly using accounts not under his real name, asked Santos to speak on several bizarre topics, including congratulating a blind woman for passing a driving test.... Santos obliged, not knowing Kimmel was the recipient, and Kimmel aired the videos on his late-night talk show in December in a segment called 'Will Santos Say It?'... Cameo's community guidelines state that users may not sign up using false identities."

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Florida. Beth Mole of Ars Technica: "Florida health officials on Sunday announced an investigation into a cluster of measles cases at an elementary school in the Fort Lauderdale area with a low vaccination rate, a scenario health experts fear will become more and more common amid slipping vaccination rates nationwide.... At Manatee Bay Elementary School, the number of children at risk could be over 100 students. According to a Broward County vaccine study reported by the local CBS outlet, only 89.31 percent of students at Manatee Bay Elementary School were fully immunized in the 2023/2024 school year, which is significantly lower than the target vaccination coverage of 95 percent." ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "The cynical anti-vaxxism DeSantis adopted as he ratcheted up his de facto presidential campaign will have horrible effects on his state long after his political career died an ignominious death[.]"

Wisconsin. Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin signed into law on Monday new legislative maps that could drastically alter the state's balance of power, giving Democrats a chance to win control of the state's legislature for the first time in more than a decade.... Despite the state being a battleground in national races, Republicans, aided by heavily gerrymandered maps, have controlled both of the state's legislative chambers since 2011. They now hold about two-thirds of the seats in both the Senate and the Assembly. But Democrats look likely to pick up seats under the new maps, which will be used during the November election. The maps outline an almost even split between Democratic- and Republican-leaning districts: 45 are Democratic-leaning, 46 are Republican-leaning, and eight are likely to be a tossup.... While Democrats have long sought to overturn the previous maps, their hopes were renewed when the state's Supreme Court flipped to a 4-to-3 liberal majority in August after Justice Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal former Milwaukee County judge, was sworn in. Justice Protasiewicz won the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history in April, during which she was openly critical of the Republican-drawn maps and argued that they were 'rigged.' Progressive groups filed a lawsuit challenging those maps one day after she was sworn in. In December, the court ruled 4-to-3 that the legislative maps favoring Republicans were unconstitutional....

"Democrats in the state have also sued to challenge the state's congressional maps and, shortly after the court called for new statewide maps, they asked it to take up the matter." The NBC News report is here. MB: Notice how Democrats aim for democracy and fairness while Republicans aim (often successfully) for undemocratically-engineered power. Politicians, like the rest of us, are flawed people, but some are more flawed than others.

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Haiti. David Adams & Andre Paultre of the New York Times: "A Haitian judge has indicted 51 people for their roles in the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, including his wife, Martine Moïse, who is accused of being an accomplice, despite being seriously wounded in the attack. A 122-page copy of the indictment by Judge Walther Voltaire that was provided to The New York Times does not accuse her of planning the killing nor does it offer any direct evidence of her involvement. Instead, it says that she and other accomplices gave statements that were contradicted by other witnesses, suggesting that they were complicit in the killing. The indictment also cites one of the main defendants in the case in custody in Haiti, who claimed that Mrs. Moïse was plotting with others to take over the presidency.... The official charge against Mrs. Moïse is conspiracy to murder."

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The International Court of Justice on Monday began six days of public hearings into Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, in proceedings that could intensify international pressure on Israel over its military campaign in Gaza. In his remarks, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, choked back tears as he called on the court to rule that Israel's presence in occupied Palestinian territories is illegal, a finding that he said would contribute to 'paving the way to just and lasting peace.'... The Gaza Health Ministry accused Israel of turning Nasser Hospital into a 'military barracks,' and endangering lives amid a days-long raid that Israel has described as a 'precise and targeted' effort aimed at finding hostages and taking out militants.... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday responded to what he called international pressure 'to force upon us a Palestinian state,' which he said would endanger the existence of Israel." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here.

U.K./U.S. Megan Specia of the New York Times: "Since 2019, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been held in a high security prison in southeast London while his lawyers fight a U.S. extradition order. Now, that particular battle may be nearing its end. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Mr. Assange's case returns to a British court for a two-day hearing that will determine whether he has exhausted his right to appeal within the U.K. and whether he could be one step closer to being sent to the United States. In America, Assange, 52, faces charges under the Espionage Act of 1917 that could amount to a sentence of up to 175 years in prison, his lawyers say, although lawyers for the United States government had previously said that he was more likely to be sentenced to between four and six years."