Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Former President Jimmy Carter emerged from hospice care to join some of his successors and every living presidential spouse on Tuesday to honor Rosalynn Carter, his wife and partner of more than three-quarters of a century and the nation's first lady from 1977 to 1981.... The former president was unable to address the gathering and so left it to others to express his own feelings. Speaking from the pulpit, family and friends honored Mrs. Carter as her husband's alter ego and most important confidant, with her own strong will behind a shy exterior and a determined commitment to helping the world's most vulnerable." This is an update of a story linked earlier today.
Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "As the host of global climate talks that begin this week, the United Arab Emirates is expected to play a central role in forging an agreement to move the world more rapidly away from coal, oil and gas. But behind the scenes, the Emirates has sought to use its position as host to pursue a contradictory goal: to lobby on oil and gas deals around the world, according to an internal document made public by a whistle-blower.... The ... details in the nearly 50-page document -- obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting and the BBC -- have cast a pall over the climate summit, which begins on Thursday. They are indications, experts said, that the U.A.E. is blurring the boundary between its powerful standing as host of the United Nations climate conference, and U.A.E.'s position as one of the world's largest oil and gas exporters." The BBC's story is here. Thanks to RAS for the link.
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Hunter Biden, the president's son, who is the subject of an investigation by House Republicans into his family, told Congress on Tuesday that he was willing to testify -- but only publicly so that Republicans cannot twist or selectively leak what he says. In a letter to Congress, Abbe D. Lowell, Mr. Biden's lawyer, criticized the Republican inquiry as a 'partisan crusade,' and said he has watched as Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has used 'closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public.'... Mr. Comer quickly rejected the offer, insisting that Mr. Biden first speak to the oversight panel behind closed doors, but said that he could still testify publicly down the road." See also Akhilleus' commentary below.
The View from Under the Bus: Vlad Gets the Trump Treatment. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "For years..., Donald Trump has avoided agreeing with intelligence assessments that Russian President Vladimir Putin interfered on his behalf during the 2016 presidential election. Most infamously, Trump rejected the American intelligence community's assessment about Russia's actions at a press conference in Helsinki, Finland where he stood next to Putin and said, 'President Putin says it's not Russia, I don't see any reason why it would be.' [But in a legal filing in the federal election interference case against Trump, his] attorneys this week ... dispute special counsel Jack Smith's claims that Trump has damaged Americans' faith in the electoral system by essentially arguing that Putin did it first. [Politico's Kyle Cheney notes in an X post, 'Trump wants people to know that it was Russia, not him, who caused Americans to distrust the election system. He will make this case by relying on intelligence community assessments he and his allies have constantly maligned and disputed.']" Thanks to RAS for the link to the Raw Story post.
Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "Attorneys representing ..." Donald Trump are trying to undermine former Vice President Mike Pence's credibility by suggesting he may be in cahoots with Biden administration prosecutors. In a filing flagged by Politico's Kyle Cheney, Trump attorneys suggested that Pence may have felt incentivized to turn on Trump because of leverage held over him by government prosecutors investigating his handling of classified documents. 'In January 2023, Vice President Mike Pence reportedly turned over at least a "dozen" documents bearing classification markings,' the attorneys argue. 'In February 2023, the FBI found at least one additional classified document at Vice President Pence's home.... The potential charges faced by Vice President Pence gave him an incentive to curry favor with authorities by providing information that is consistent with the Biden Administration's preferred, and false, narrative regarding this case.'... Most legal experts predicted that Pence would face no charges at all for his retention of classified documents because, unlike Trump, he cooperated with investigators and did not try to obstruct law enforcement officials...." Thanks to RAS for the link.
The Plot Thickens. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "ABC News reported Tuesday that on Christmas Eve 2020, [Vice President] Pence had momentarily decided against presiding [over the Electoral College vote count].... ABC also reported that Pence has testified that Trump personally suggested that he recuse. 'Not feeling like I should attend electoral count,' Pence wrote in notes obtained by special counsel Jack Smith, according to ABC. 'Too many questions, too many doubts, too hurtful to my friend. Therefore I'm not going to participate in certification of election.' Pence testified that he reversed course after a conversation with his son, who cited the vice president's constitutional duty, according to ABC." Trump's (or rather Ken Chesebro & John Eastman's) idea was to have Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) preside and reject critical states' votes, thus supposedly insulating the administration from the coup. The ABC News story, also linked below, is here.
See You in Court, Fellas. Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Fulton county prosecutors do not intend to offer plea deals to Donald Trump and at least two high-level co-defendants charged in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, according to two people familiar with the matter, preferring instead to force them to trial. The individuals seen as ineligible include Trump, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Aside from those three, the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis has opened plea talks or has left open the possibility of talks with the remaining co-defendants in the hope that they ultimately decide to become cooperating witnesses against the former president...."
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "The political network founded by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch has endorsed Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential nominating contest, giving her organizational muscle and financial heft as she battles Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to be the top rival to ... Donald J. Trump." The AP story is here.
From Tuesday's CNN liveblog of the Israel/Hamas war: "Twelve hostages, comprising 10 Israelis and two Thai citizens, were released by Hamas on Tuesday, according to officials. Thirty Palestinians were also freed from Israeli prisons, officials said." An entry lists the names of those released.
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Marie: Late state today; still posting at 8:45 9:00 am ET.
Rebecca Piccioto of CNBC: "President Joe Biden took aim at corporations Monday for charging prices he said were artificially high even though the rate of inflation has slowed and some shipping costs have fallen. 'Any corporation that has not brought their prices back down, even as inflation has come down, even as the supply chains have been rebuilt, it's time to stop the price gouging,' Biden said at the launch of a new White House supply chain initiative. 'Give the American consumer a break.'... Consumers, said Biden, 'feel like they're being played for suckers. Which they are.'" ~~~
~~~ Here's a White House-issued fact sheet on the supply-chain initiative.
Lisa Friedman & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times (Nov. 26): "resident Biden will not attend a major United Nations climate summit that begins Thursday in Dubai, skipping an event expected to be attended by King Charles III, Pope Francis and leaders from nearly 200 countries, a White House official said Sunday." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yeah, well, President Biden is busy this week, saving Israeli & Palestinian lives AND ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Former President Jimmy Carter will emerge from hospice care to join some of his successors and every living presidential spouse on Tuesday to honor Rosalynn Carter, his wife and partner of more than three-quarters of a century and the nation's first lady from 1977 to 1981, the Carter Center said. Mr. Carter, who turned 99 last month and has rarely been seen in public since entering hospice care in February, made the 140-mile journey from the couple's home in Plains, Ga., to Atlanta for a tribute at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University. President Biden, former President Bill Clinton and all five living first ladies will attend as well." ~~~
~~~ Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "Yet before any of the stars arrived, everyday admirers rushed to see [Rosalynn] Carter's motorcade at each stop of its journey, waving signs broadcasting thanks and love. Crowds formed at the hospital when the hearse carrying her body departed Monday morning. Later, at Carter's alma mater, Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, students laid wreaths of white flowers by a bronze statue of the former first lady perched on a bench.... Monday evening was the public's biggest chance to pay respects to a first lady.... Mourners included Republicans and Democrats, preteens and retirees, locals and tourists.... Teachers, nurses, accountants and soldiers crammed into shuttle buses outside St. Luke's Episcopal Church that ferried people to the repose site at the Carter Center for four straight hours. Anyone could step aboard one of the Leisure Time charters lining Peachtree Street. Signs taped to the windshields read: CARTER GUEST."
Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday said he spoke with Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) 'at some length' during the holiday recess 'about his options' as the embattled lawmaker faces a likely third vote on his expulsion.... Santos, for his part, thinks he will be expelled when a vote hits the floor as soon as this week, which would make him just the sixth House member to be ousted from office in history. 'I know I'm going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor,' Santos said during a conversation on X Spaces on Friday night. 'I've done the math over and over, and it doesn't look really good.'"
Shawn Boburg, et al., in the Washington Post: "After a years-long investigation, U.S. authorities charged [businessman Wael Hana] in September with paying bribes to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, in exchange for actions that benefited Egypt, including Menendez's promise to help keep military aid flowing to the North African nation. Hana, 40, lavished the couple with gold bars, checks and household furnishings between 2018 and 2022, prosecutors allege, while helping to introduce the senator to Egyptian military and intelligence officers and serving as a go-between for their communications. A Washington Post examination, based on records and interviews with dozens of people who know or have worked with Hana, found that his connections to the Egyptian government go back further and are more extensive than previously reported. Those connections help explain how Hana was in a position to capitalize on his relationship with Menendez, until recently the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee....
Spencer Hsu & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Attorneys for Donald Trump have asked a federal judge in Washington to allow them to investigate several U.S. government agencies about their handling of investigations into him and allegations of voter fraud three years ago.... In court papers filed Monday, Trump's legal team sought permission to compel prosecutors to turn over information about the FBI, national security and election integrity units of the Justice Department, as well as the intelligence community and Department of Homeland Security's response to foreign interference and other threats to the 2020 election, in what appeared to be an attempt to resuscitate his unfounded allegation that President Biden's election victory was 'stolen.'... Trump's requests Monday are a legal long-shot.... Courts give U.S. prosecutors broad discretion to decide which evidence reasonably may be helpful to the defense and thus must be turned over. Their obligation to produce evidence is also limited to information available to the prosecution team -- not everything known to the U.S. government at large....
"Separately Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan denied an earlier Trump request to subpoena House members, the National Archivist, and attorneys for Biden and the Homeland Security Department in pursuit of purported 'missing materials' related to a House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.... 'The broad scope of the records that Defendant seeks, and his vague description of their potential relevance, resemble less "a good-faith effort to obtain identified evidence" than they do a general "fishing expedition,"' that the law does not allow, Chutkan wrote." An NBC News story on Chutkan's ruling is here.
~~~ Marie: Experts appearing on MSNBC Monday afternoon & evening noted that Chutkan also pointed out that prosecutors had previously turned over many of the records Trump's lawyers asked for and that Chutkan suggested the Trumpy lawyers do their homework before blindly filing frivolous motions.
Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court mulling Donald Trump's legal liability for Jan. 6 violence is approaching a conspicuous anniversary of inaction. Nearly a year ago, the court considered three lawsuits brought by Capitol Police officers and members of Congress accusing Trump and his allies of inciting the attack that threatened their lives and the government they were sworn to protect.... The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals typically decides cases within four months of oral arguments, but the trio of Trump lawsuits has been sitting on the court's docket with no ruling since they were argued last December.... The three-judge panel, consisting of Obama-appointed Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, Clinton appointee Judith Rogers and Trump appointee Gregory Katsas, heard oral arguments in the case on Dec. 7, 2022."
Pence Fingers Trump. Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "Speaking with special counsel Jack Smith's team earlier this year, former Vice President Mike Pence offered harrowing details about how, in the wake of the 2020 presidential election..., Donald Trump surrounded himself with 'crank' attorneys, espoused 'un-American' legal theories, and almost pushed the country toward a 'constitutional crisis,' according to sources familiar with what Pence told investigators. The sources said Pence also told investigators he's 'sure' that -- in the days before Jan. 6, 2021..., he informed Trump he still hadn't seen evidence of significant election fraud, but Trump was unmoved, continuing to claim the election was 'stolen' and acting 'recklessly' on that 'tragic day.'... Speaking with Smith's team behind closed doors, Pence also offered previously-undisclosed anecdotes and details.... Sources said that in at least one interview with Pence, Smith's investigators pressed the former vice president on personal notes he took after meetings with Trump and others, which investigators obtained from the National Archives." Read on.
Presidential Race 2024
Trump Assists Biden Re-election Campaign. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "... over the holiday weekend [Donald Trump wrote] that he was 'seriously looking at alternatives' to the 13-year-old Affordable Care Act, and that his fellow Republicans should 'never give up' seeking its repeal.... Mr. Trump's social media post surprised even his own aides, who have not developed a plan to alter the country's health care law.... The [Biden] campaign will air TV ads this week in Las Vegas and on national cable that contrast legislation passed by [President] Biden that lowered prices on some prescription drugs with Mr. Trump's proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, said Michael Tyler, the campaign's communications director.... 'My predecessor once again called for cuts that could rip away health insurance for tens of millions of Americans,' Mr. Biden said [Monday]. 'They just don't give up.' Mr. Biden's campaign is in the process of arranging surrogates for the 2024 race -- particularly in North Carolina, a presidential battleground that on Friday will become the 40th state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act." Thanks to RAS for the link. The AP's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Jared Ortaliza, et al., of the Kaiser Family Foundation: "A key takeaway from this [KFF] analysis is that as [Affordable Care Act] Marketplace enrollment has reached record highs with enhanced premium assistance, fewer people are buying coverage off-Marketplace...." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.
Supremes Grant Teensy-Weensy Tiny Little Boost for Voting Rights. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that two Arizona lawmakers must testify about their reasons for supporting state laws requiring proof of citizenship for voting in federal elections. The court's brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. No dissents were noted. The Justice Department, the Democratic National Committee, civil rights groups and others had challenged the state laws, saying they violated federal laws and had been enacted with a discriminatory purpose.... Lawmakers are ordinarily shielded by a legislative privilege from inquiries into their motives for sponsoring or voting for legislation. In September, Judge Susan R. Bolton, of the Federal District Court in Arizona, ruled that a different analysis applied when lawmakers voluntarily injected themselves into a litigation. At first, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit blocked Judge Bolton's ruling but later lifted its stay, allowing depositions of the men to proceed. [Top Arizona] lawmakers [-- who brought the suit --] then asked the Supreme Court to intervene."
A "Gigantic Global Sewer." Liz Alderman of the New York Times: "Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, announced Monday on X ... that she was quitting the social media site because it had devolved into a 'gigantic global sewer' for disinformation, hatred, anti-Semitism and racism, and a 'tool for destroying our democracies.' Without naming Elon Musk directly, she added: 'This platform and its owner intentionally exacerbate tensions and conflicts.' In recent weeks, dozens of advertisers paused their campaigns on X after Mr. Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory this month, and the company could lose as much as $75 million in ad revenue by the end of the year. Mr. Musk has strenuously denied that he is antisemitic or that the site supports disinformation, and visited Israel on Monday in an apparent bid to repair the damage. He met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took him to an Israeli kibbutz where dozens of people were killed during the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7. Mr. Musk was scheduled to meet later with President Isaac Herzog to discuss 'the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online.' Israel also appeared to reach an understanding to deploy Starlink, the satellite internet service Mr. Musk owns, in Gaza for aid agencies to use amid cellular and internet blackouts."
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Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Washington Post: "Despite long advocating small government and local control, Republican governors and legislators across a significant swath of the country are increasingly overriding the actions of Democratic cities -- removing elected district attorneys or threatening to strip them of power, taking over election offices and otherwise limiting local independence. State lawmakers proposed nearly 700 bills this year to circumscribe what cities and counties can do, according to Katie Belanger, lead consultant for the Local Solutions Support Center.... The group's tracking mostly found 'conservative state legislatures responding to or anticipating actions of progressive cities,' she said, with many bills designed to bolster state restrictions on police defunding, abortion, and LGBTQ and voting rights. As of mid-October, at least 92 had passed....
"The urban areas in the crosshairs are mostly majority-minority, with many mayors and district attorneys of color.... The U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution at its annual gathering this summer 'to undertake an all-out campaign' against state preemption, which it identified as racist and punitive." MB: Oh, surely not.
New York. Justice Delayed. But Still. Andy Newman & Nate Schweber of the New York Times: "[Two] men who were convicted were exonerated [Monday] at a Manhattan courthouse. They are the latest in a long string of New Yorkers, overwhelmingly Black and Hispanic, who have had their names cleared after decades in prison. One of the men, Jabar Walker, 49, was convicted of shooting two men in a parked car in 1995 and remained incarcerated even though a man who had testified that he heard Mr. Walker confess recanted in an affidavit. The other, Wayne Gardine, also 49, was convicted in a case where the only evidence against him was the word of a drug dealer who changed his story several times, described the killer as six feet tall when Mr. Gardine is only 5-foot-8, and was known for providing police with information in attempts to get his own criminal cases minimized. Mr. Gardine's case was overseen by a detective who later pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking conspiracy.... Since 1989, at least 115 murder convictions in New York City have been overturned, a substantial portion of the nearly 1,300 overturned nationwide, according to the National Registry of Exonerations."
Puerto Rico. Omaya Pasqual, et al., in the Washington Post: "Health services across ... [Puerto Rico] have been deteriorating for years, contributing to a surge in deaths that reached historic proportions in 2022, an investigation by The Washington Post and Puerto Rico's Center for Investigative Journalism has found.... Puerto Rico, with a population of 3.3 million people, experienced more than 35,400 deaths last year. That's nearly 3,300 more than researchers would ordinarily expect based on historic patterns.... This 'excess mortality' ... resulted in part from a covid spike early last year that killed more than 2,300 people, health data shows. But elevated death rates continued in the months after covid subsided, indicating a broader breakdown as the island lost medical staff and services and younger Puerto Ricans moved away, leaving behind a population that is increasingly elderly and facing age-related health complications." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I tried to figure out just what health insurance coverage was available to Puerto Ricans, and to make a short story shorter, I failed. Puerto Ricans apparently cannot purchase insurance via the ACA Marketplace, and I gather that private insurers are not subject to the requirements Obamacare imposes on them. I'm not even sure if the Medicaid expansion and CHIPS are available, as some now-dated stories indicate Congress has not funded the programs for Puerto Ricans. Eligible Puerto Ricans are covered by Medicare.
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Israel/Palestine
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel has identified an additional 50 female Palestinian prisoners who may be released in exchange for more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, as a fragile pause in fighting stretched into a fifth day. The four-day combat pause mediated by Qatar was extended by 48 hours and could be renewed again.... Since the pause began Friday, 150 Palestinians, 51 Israelis and 18 foreign nationals have been released, the United Nations said, including one American, 4-year-old Abigail Edan. About eight Americans remain in Hamas's hands, according to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. A senior Biden administration official said 'it is extremely important' that Israel avoid 'significant displacement' of civilians when the pause ends. Israel has said it plans to resume its assault in southern Gaza after the pause.... Eleven hostages were released Monday in exchange for 33 prisoners, according to Qatari officials and the Red Cross, which said it returned some detainees to the West Bank about 2 a.m. Tuesday." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here.
John Hudson of the Washington Post: "CIA Director William J. Burns arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for secret meetings with Israel's spy chief and Qatar's prime minister aimed at brokering an expansive deal between Israel and Hamas, said three people familiar with the visit. Burns is pushing for Hamas and Israel to broaden the focus of their ongoing hostage negotiations, thus far limited to women and children, to encompass the release of men and military personnel, too. He is also seeking a longer multiday pause in fighting while taking into account the Israeli demand that Hamas release at least 10 people for every day there is a break in the war, those familiar with the matter said on the condition of anonymity to detail sensitive discussions. Crucially, Burns is pushing for the immediate release of American hostages held by Hamas. U.S. officials put the number of those hostages at eight or nine."
Russia. Robyn Dixon of the Washington Post: "A Moscow court on Tuesday extended the detention of the Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich until at least Jan. 30, prolonging his imprisonment since March on charges of spying, which he, his employer and the State Department forcefully deny. It is the third time Gershkovich's detention has been extended since Federal Security Service (FSB) agents seized him from a restaurant in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Urals where he was on a reporting trip. Gershkovich then was flown to Moscow and has been in Lefortovo high security prison since." The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: As horrifying as the Russian system is, don't think this doesn't or can't happen in our own system. To some extent, it's happening now: People who cannot afford bail, even though they are innocent until proved guilty, sometimes fester in jail for months or years awaiting trial in our overextended criminal "justice" system. Although debtors' prisons have been illegal since 1833, debtors can be and are still thrown in jail with no realistic "get out of jail" card. And if you think Donald Trump won't toss you in jail (privately-owned by the Kushner Klan or some deep-pockets Trump bribers) & throw away the key for no crime at all, let me remind you that our beloved President Abraham Lincoln, and later the Congress, suspended habeas corpus for the duration of the Civil War. So Welcome to the Gulag, U.S.A.
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