September 11, 2025

As the U.S. retreats into the 19th century, Brazil joins the 21st: ~~~ 

Ana Ionova & Jack Nicas of the New York Times: “Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of overseeing a failed conspiracy to overturn the 2022 Brazilian election in a coup plot that included disbanding courts, empowering the military and assassinating the president-elect. Four of the five justices weighing the case voted to convict Mr. Bolsonaro and seven co-conspirators, including his running mate, defense minister and Navy commander, in a forceful rebuke by one of the very institutions the men sought to overthrow. Mr. Bolsonaro, 70, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison, though his lawyers are likely to request house arrest because of his health problems. The conviction is a landmark ruling for Latin America’s largest nation. In at least 15 coups and coup attempts with links to the military since Brazil overthrew its monarchy in 1889, Thursday marked the first time the leaders of one of those plots have been convicted.” Thanks to Ken W. for the lead.

Paul Waldman: "Political violence is a complex problem, and a great many people can be blamed for contributing to it. But no one bears more responsibility than Donald Trump, and we should never forget it for a moment.... Trump is not calling for the violence to end and seeking to calm the nation, because he doesn’t want the violence to end and he doesn’t want the nation to be calm. Nor do his most important supporters, many of whom are right now calling for violent retribution for Kirk’s death." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Here's something to give us a more positive view of who we are: ~~~

RFKJ Is a Phony. Benjamin Mueller & Dani Blum of the New York Times: “Since taking office in February, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ... has effectively restricted access to Covid shots, installed skeptics to influential posts and ousted the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after she defied his orders on inoculations. But Mr. Kennedy has applied a far lighter touch to what he and his Make America Healthy Again movement have described as the other major scourge plaguing American children: pesticides and unhealthy foods. Far from cracking down on food and farming practices, Mr. Kennedy’s MAHA commission report on Tuesday defended existing pesticide review procedures and, in some cases, called for loosening food regulations, even as the report promised future steps to clean up what children eat. To many scientists — and some of Mr. Kennedy’s own followers — the gap between the health secretary’s use of his authority over food quality and his pummeling of vaccines has created a jarring split screen.”

~~~ Tracey Tully, et al., of the New York Times: “Nadine Menendez, the wife of New Jersey’s former senator, was sentenced on Thursday to four and a half years in prison for her role in a scheme to trade her husband’s political clout for cash, gold and a Mercedes-Benz. In an emotional address before the judge imposed the sentence, Ms. Menendez, 58, laid blame for much of her conduct on her husband, Robert Menendez, once one of the country’s most powerful Democrats. 'I put my life in his hands and he strung me like a puppet,' she said through tears.... The judge, Sidney H. Stein of Federal District Court, largely dismissed her effort to distance herself from the crimes, calling her a 'central participant.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gosh, that's funny, Nadine, because Bob blamed you for all that criming. 

RAS found the new, Supreme-court-approved Miranda script: ~~~

 

From a New York Times liveblog, also linked earlier: “The authorities on Thursday released two images of a person they are seeking as they investigate the fatal shooting of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, indicating that they had not been able to identify him through facial recognition or other technology and needed the public’s help.... The authorities have described him as a person of interest. State and federal officials also said they had found ... imprints of a forearm, a palm and a shoe.... The weapon used to kill Mr. Kirk ... was a 'high-powered bolt-action rifle' that investigators later found in a wooded area near the campus of Utah Valley University..., said Robert Bohls, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Salt Lake City office. Officials referred to the person they were hunting as a man throughout a news conference on Thursday morning. [Utah's public safety chief Beau] Mason said the person being sought 'blended in well' at the campus because he appeared 'to be of college age.'” ~~~

~~~ These are the images the FBI released: ~~~

 

      ~~~ Here's the AP's story. ~~~

~~~⭐Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic: “Rather than condemning violence and calling for unity, the president of the United States accused his political opposition of being accessories to murder ... and threatening to use the full power of the government to attack it.... It is possible that, in the history of America’s radicalization spiral, the horrifying, cold-blooded assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk will be recorded as only the second-most-dangerous event of September 10, 2025. If so, the more significant development will instead have been the speech that evening by ... Donald Trump.” Thank you to akaWendy for this gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I think Chait is right here. If I'm right -- and he's right -- then he's done a great service in calling out Trump in this way. If you don't have time to read his essay now -- it's not long -- figuratively dog-ear it, and read it later. ~~~ 

~~~ Paul Campos in L$&M: "The reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk illustrates a number of things about the state of the nation, none of them good. First, the instantaneous transformation of a hatemongering propagandist for Donald Trump’s ongoing neo-fascist attempt to destroy liberal democracy in this country into a kind of innocent victim of overheated political rhetoric is all but clinically insane. I realize Ezra Klein is kind of a hate object for a lot of LGM commenters despite the fact that he often does excellent work, but this right here [--a NYT column titled 'Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way" --] is a catastrophic failure of judgment and analysis." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: Unlike Campos, I've never pegged Klein as a liberal; he has some ideas that jibe with liberal objectives, to be sure, but he seems to like to think of himself as "independent" or "open-minded" or "receptive to alternative ideas." I'm all for thinking outside of the box -- I'm an admirer of Steve M., for instance -- but there has always been something wrong with Klein's radar. His idea of open-minded seems to include, "But maybe those MAGA folks are right!" I used to blame it on his youth, but he's not a kid anymore (he's 41). Klein's "open-minded" inclinations' occasionally do prompt some seemingly original ideas worth exploring, but mostly they're gibberish dressed up in "reasonable"-sounding rhetoric but ignoring vital factors that would blow up his arguments. 

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Marie: Sorry, I've posted new links up to nearly 10:30 am ET. 

Nicholas Riccardi & Ali Swenson of the AP: “Charlie Kirk, who rose from a teenage conservative campus activist to a top podcaster and ally of ... Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday during one of his trademark public appearances at a college in Utah. He was 31. Kirk died doing what made him a potent political force — rallying the right on a college campus, this time Utah Valley University. The event was kicking off a planned series of Kirk college appearances from Colorado to Virginia dubbed 'The American Comeback Tour.' His assassination was one of an escalating number of attacks on political figures, from the assassination of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota to last summer’s shooting of Trump, that have roiled the nation. Trump announced Kirk’s death on his social media site....” ~~~

~~~ Hannah Shoenbaum, et al., of the AP: “Authorities say Kirk was killed with a single shot from a rooftop on Wednesday. Whoever fired the gun then slipped away amid the chaos of screams and students fleeing the Utah Valley University campus. Federal, state and local authorities were still searching for an unidentified shooter early Thursday and working what they called 'multiple active crime scenes.'... Two people were detained Wednesday but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, Utah public safety officials said.... The shooter, who [Utah Gov Spencer] Cox [R] pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments. ~~~ 

~~~ Glenn Thrush & Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: “Hopes for the fast capture of the person who fatally shot the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah evaporated on Wednesday when Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, announced that the authorities had released a man he had described as a central subject of a multiagency manhunt.... Two hours earlier, Mr. Patel had stoked expectations of a fast end to the search by congratulating state, local and federal officials for taking into custody the subject for the horrific shooting today.'... The backtrack was a source of significant embarrassment for the F.B.I. director on a day when three former F.B.I. agents filed a lawsuit [stories linked below] against Mr. Patel that portrayed him as a partisan neophyte more interested in social media, and swag, than in the day-to-day operations of the nation’s flagship law enforcement agency. That the director of the F.B.I., historically known for careful messaging on fluid investigations — and deferring to local leaders — would personally take the lead in releasing information about the shooting was unusual. It was even more unusual that he chose to post that information minutes before Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah and officials from the F.B.I. and local law enforcement were scheduled to provide the first on-camera briefing on the shooting. Moments after Mr. Patel’s post, Beau Mason, the commissioner of Utah’s Department of Public Safety, told reporters that his agency and the F.B.I. would be working together 'to find this killer,' suggesting the search was ongoing.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Ken Dilanian, who is a straight, seasoned NBC News reporter, and not given to melodrama, repeatedly expressed astonishment on-air that Patel would make such a colossal mistake -- falsely telling the public that a "suspect was in custody," when in fact authorities were in the process of interviewing "a person of interest" (i.e., a different, lesser subject of inquiry) & were about to or had just released that person. Moreover, Andrew Weismann, who is a former FBI general counsel, said on-air that he was amazed that so late in the day, the FBI had not yet gone live with a tip line to help law enforcement find the assassin. One reporter said that Patel had fired the head of the FBI's Utah field office, so a "green"  person was now in charge of that operation. "The nation’s flagship law enforcement agency"? Not really. Trump filled his car with clowns, and here is but one place it shows. ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: “...  by Wednesday evening, Mr. Trump’s shock [at Charlie Kirk's assassination] had turned to fury. In a video address from the Oval Office, Mr. Trump declared it a 'dark moment for America' and faulted the media and the 'radical left' for language used to describe people like Mr. Kirk. 'For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,' said Mr. Trump, who one day earlier had been face-to-face with protesters in Washington who called him Hitler. 'This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.'... In the late afternoon, Mr. Trump signed a proclamation lowering the flags to half-staff in Mr. Kirk’s honor through Sunday.” ~~~

     ~~~ Tamara Keith of NPR: "Trump drew a throughline from the assassination attempt at his campaign rally last year to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the 2017 shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise at a congressional baseball practice. Trump did not include any examples of political violence against Democrats, such as the June attack in Minnesota that killed a state lawmaker and left another wounded or the 2022 hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She wasn't home at the time, but was the intended target.... Back in 2017, early in his first term, Trump approached the attack on Scalise with far more political restraint, delivering a two-minute speech that did not mention the political affiliation of the attacker." A video of Trump's Oval Office speech is embedded in the article; MB: I didn't watch. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Once again, Trump has earned that asterisk after "president." He cannot do the presidential stuff. While all living former presidents and other political leaders were issuing statement that condemned violence and offered the proverbial "thoughts and prayers" for Kirk's family, Trump made a political speech attacking his political opponents. And of course there are few elected officials who use the sort of incendiary language Trump himself spews almost daily. His attack on the media and the "radical left" is projection. ~~~

~~~ Madison Kircher & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: “Scrolling online in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday afternoon offered a feeling of whiplash as raw footage of the event collided with pointed reactions from users across the political spectrum.... Almost immediately, there were heartfelt messages from the left and the right, and a broad sense of anguish about political violence. At the same time, there were also instant political divisions over Mr. Kirk on social media feeds, with posts simultaneously reflecting America’s polarization and further fueling it. Even before authorities named a suspect, or any motivation for the killing, some people were taking sides, with the online world acting as a megaphone for a flood of heightened emotion, rampant speculation and, in some cases, misinformation.” ~~~

~~~ Li Zhou of the Huffington Post: “In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing on Wednesday, right-wing commentators and activists pledged to avenge the act of violence and called for payback in explicit statements baselessly blaming 'the left.' 'Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us. And what are we going to do about it?' Fox News host Jesse Watters said in a Wednesday segment. Trump ally and right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer chimed in as well via a post on X, writing: 'The best way President Trump can reinforce Charlie’s legacy is by cracking down on the Left with the full force of the government.' Others, including conservative activist Christopher Rufo, Christian nationalist William Wolfe and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, expressed similar sentiments. These comments frequently laid the responsibility for Kirk’s killing at the feet of Democrats and “the left,” despite limited information about the unidentified shooter and their motive.” ~~~

     ~~~ Anna Merlan, et al., of Mother Jones: “...  while many simply expressed their grief for Kirk and his family, and politicians on both sides of the aisle condemned the killing, some public figures used the moment to make incendiary claims..... Some ... stok[ed] outrage, particularly against 'the left,'  whom — despite lacking any evidence as to the shooter’s identity and motive they blamed for the killing.... Elon Musk posted to his 225 million followers, 'The Left is the party of murder.'... Laura Loomer sent a barrage of posts to her 1.7 million followers. In one, she called for the Trump administration to 'shut down, defund, & prosecute every single Leftist organization,' adding, 'The Left is a national security threat.' After Kirk’s death was confirmed, she wrote: 'They sent a trained sniper to assassinate Charlie Kirk....'” ~~~ 

~~~ Charlie Nash of Mediaite: “MSNBC senior political analyst Matthew Dowd was reportedly dropped by the network on Wednesday after he blamed Charlie Kirk for his own assassination live on-air. Citing an unnamed network source, CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter reported on [X on] Wednesday evening that Dowd was 'no longer an MSNBC political analyst,' just hours after MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler issued an apology over his comments. 'During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable,' said Kutler in an MSNBC statement. “We apologize for his statements, as has he....'... Dowd said, 'He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech.... And I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.... You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have, and then saying these awful words, and then not expect awful actions to take place....'”

~~~ Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post: “A reporter from the website Florida Politics was suspended Wednesday after he asked a question about Charlie Kirk that incensed Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.).... Before Kirk’s death was announced, A.G. Gancarski texted Fine about the incident.... The recently elected congressman, who had Donald Trump’s endorsement, sponsored a bill when he was a state senator to permit concealed carry of firearms on college campuses in Florida.... Gancarski said he 'was wondering if Charlie Kirk getting shot affects your position on campus carry? If gun control had been in play could the tragedy have been avoided?' 'I learned that Charlie Kirk was shot 23 minutes ago. I am repulsed that you would even think to ask a political question when all anyone should be doing is praying for his survival,' Fine replied. 'Never contact me again.' Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics, announced that he 'immediately suspended' the reporter a short time later.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: In case you didn't notice the contrast, what you see here are (a) left-leaning organizations punishing contributors for making ill-timed remarks, and (b) the right going batshit and making insane claims when nobody knows who the assassin is or what his/her motives might be or who the "they" are who supposedly sent the "trained sniper" to kill Kirk. BTW, I heard an expert on MSNBC say it didn't take a well-trained marksman to hit a target from the distance the shooter hit Charlie Kirk. Then there was this: ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Solender & Kate Santaliz of Axios: "A moment of silence on the House floor over the shooting death of ... Charlie Kirk gave way to a shouting match Wednesday between Republicans and Democrats. The commotion began when Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) rose following the moment of silence to ask that the House also say a prayer for Kirk.... Democrats then shouted 'what about the kids in Colorado,' referring to a school shooting in Colorado that also occurred Wednesday afternoon. Boebert responded that she was about to reference that tragedy before she was interrupted. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who worked as Kirk's director of Hispanic engagement at Turning Point USA, then stood up and yelled at Democrats: 'You caused this!' That prompted a raucous Democratic response, with Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), a leader on the gun violence prevention task force, shouting, 'Pass some gun laws!'... House Administration Committee ranking member Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) told Axios that saying a prayer on the House floor in response to a tragedy is something "we don't even do for fallen members.'" Related AP story linked below under "Colorado." 

Andy Newman & Maya King of the New York Times: “At 14 minutes to 9 on Thursday morning, for thousands of people in New York City and across the region, time will stop and silence will descend, filled by memories of another balmy blue-sky morning two dozen years ago. Then, on a memorial plaza near the bottom of Manhattan, survivors and relatives of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept. 11 attack will begin reading the names of the dead, as New York’s most somber annual event takes place for the 24th time. The toll from the attack continues to grow: Deaths over the years from illnesses caused by the toxic materials in the air and in the rubble at ground zero have almost certainly surpassed those on Sept. 11 itself. Tributes to the victims and their families took place across the city this week as law enforcement groups and organizations supporting survivors prepared to mark the anniversary.” ~~~

     ~~~ If you want to watch the ceremony, the AP is casting it live on this YouTube page. 

Inflation Up, Unemployment Up. Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Prices consumers pay for a variety of goods and services moved higher than expected in August while jobless claims accelerated, providing challenging economic signals for the Federal Reserve before its meeting next week. The consumer price index posted a seasonally adjusted 0.4% increase for the month, double the prior month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.9%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective readings of 0.3% and 2.9%.... On employment, the Labor Department reported a surprise increase in weekly unemployment compensation filings to a seasonally adjusted 263,000, higher than the 235,000 estimate and up 27,000 from the prior period." The Washington Post's report is here.

How to Lose Friends. Daisuke Wakabayashi & River Davis of the New York Times: “In the span of 24 hours last week..., [Donald] Trump managed to roil both South Korea and Japan, two longtime allies that less than two months earlier had said they would invest a combined nearly $1 trillion in the United States in exchange for lower tariffs. Last Thursday, U.S. immigration officials raided the construction site of a major Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia, a flagship project by two of South Korea’s most prominent companies. Hundreds of South Korean citizens were arrested and detained.... On the same day, Mr. Trump signed an executive order enacting a trade deal he had struck with Japan in July, committing Japan to invest $550 billion in the United States. The order ... came with a memorandum ... stating outright that Mr. Trump, not Japanese officials, will select how the $550 billion will be invested.... These events were the latest display of how Mr. Trump is using the negotiations over trade to pursue his agenda, despite the diplomatic, political and economic consequences for America’s closest allies. In both Japan and South Korea, increasingly vocal leaders in government and business feel their countries were strong-armed and are questioning whether it still made sense to comply with Mr. Trump’s demands.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump is a man who can barely survive without constant flattery, so it is downright amazing that he can't see past his debilitating narcissism to notice that humiliating others is not an effective negotiating tactic. ~~~

     ~~~ Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump temporarily delayed the repatriation of more than 300 South Korean workers to South Korea after the Hyundai-LG raid in Georgia to explore whether they could stay in the United States to educate and train American workers, South Korean officials said Thursday. The 316 South Koreans were released from their detention facility Thursday and are scheduled to arrive home Friday afternoon. They were initially set to leave on a chartered Korean Air flight Wednesday, the day that South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington and requested their 'swift release.'... Cho learned from Rubio that Trump had halted the release to 'understand Seoul’s position on whether they should stay to educate and train U.S. workers or return home, given that the detained South Korean nationals are all skilled workers,' a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said.... Cho told Rubio that Seoul wanted to bring the South Korean nationals home and they could return at a later date, according to the Foreign Ministry. Washington agreed to that, the ministry said.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It is worth emphasizing that these workers -- while perhaps not properly documented -- had not come to the U.S. "to take Americans' jobs," as Republicans and anti-immigrant activists like to say, but to train U.S. workers to do new, highly-skilled jobs. That is, the South Koreans were here specifically to create new well-paying jobs for Americans. So it is inexplicable that ICE would raid the plant, then cuff, shackle, detain and humiliate hundreds of South Koreans rather than calmly negotiate an international agreement. Well, okay, not inexplicable. It's Trump, and everybody associated with him is a buffoon. As Lee writes, 

“Trump’s apparent intervention underscores the contradictions that South Koreans have pointed out in the week since the raid: His administration wants advanced companies from countries like South Korea to invest in the United States but hasn’t provided the visa framework to enable them to set up their high-tech factories.... [South Korean] officials say they had repeatedly asked congressional leaders to resolve the visa issue for South Korean companies.”

Alan Feuer & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “The White House has exerted extraordinary influence over decisions at the F.B.I., issuing political loyalty tests and directly ordering the firings of agents targeted by ... [Donald] Trump and his allies, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by three former bureau officials who accused the administration of illegally dismissing them. The sprawling suit, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, provides a disturbing account of what it describes as efforts by Mr. Trump’s top aides to strip the bureau of its century-long history of independence. It paints an unflattering portrait of the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, as a middleman executing the orders of top Justice Department and White House officials, including Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s chief domestic policy adviser. The former officials who brought the suit — Brian J. Driscoll Jr., Steven J. Jensen and Spencer L. Evans — once occupied senior positions in the F.B.I. They accused Mr. Patel of dismissing them as part of 'a campaign of retribution' for their 'failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty.' 'Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the F.B.I. over protecting the American people,' the lawsuit said....

“The lawsuit describes Mr. Patel and his top deputy, Dan Bongino — right-wing influencers with far less experience than any of their predecessors — as almost cartoonish figures more interested in social media or handing out oversized 'challenge coins' than in running the day-to-day operations of the nation’s flagship law enforcement agency.” Politico's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

   ~~~ You can read the lawsuit here (not firewalled). MB: I haven't scanned it yet, but Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico call it “an eye-popping indictment of the bureau by people who occupied some of its most senior and sensitive positions for years.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Charlie Savage & Helene Cooper  of the New York Times: “A Venezuelan boat that the U.S. military destroyed in the Caribbean last week had altered its course and appeared to have turned around before the attack started because the people onboard had apparently spotted a military aircraft stalking it, according to American officials.... Mr. Trump announced the strike last week, saying it took place in international waters and had killed 11 people who he said were transporting drugs 'heading to the United States' and were part of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.... While the White House has not provided a detailed legal rationale, it has put forward the outlines of a novel argument that using lethal military force was permissible under the laws of armed conflict to defend the country from drugs because 100,000 Americans die annually from overdoses.... Many legal specialists, including retired top military lawyers, have rejected the idea that Mr. Trump has legitimate authority to treat suspected drug smuggling as legally equivalent to an imminent armed attack on the United States. Even if one accepted that premise for the sake of argument, they added, if the boat had already turned away, that would further undermine what they saw as an already weak claim of self-defense.” Looks like a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Noah Robertson of the Washington Post: “Democrats are amplifying pressure on the Trump administration to produce evidence that last week’s military strike in the Caribbean Sea killed 11 drug smugglers, which the president has claimed, as lawmakers from both parties question the legal basis for the surprise use of force. On Wednesday, more than 20 Democrats petitioned ... Donald Trump to clarify a host of facts about the operation, including the military assets involved and how the administration confirmed the targets were part of a drug network. Their outreach followed a closed-door briefing by the Pentagon to bipartisan staff from the principal national security committees, a meeting that two people familiar with the matter characterized as vague and unsatisfying.”

Fake Emergency Ends, Guard Stays. Jenny Gathright of the Washington Post: “When ... Donald Trump’s 30-day emergency control of D.C. police officially expires Wednesday, he will no longer have the power to direct D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) to provide him with whatever police services he deems necessary — a milestone that Bowser has framed as imperative for the city. But as Trump’s unprecedented flex of presidential authority over public safety in the nation’s capital winds down, other notable interventions in the city, including the National Guard presence and aggressive immigration enforcement, can continue [because of an order Bowser issued last week]. D.C. will also remain uniquely vulnerable to federal incursion — as evidenced by actions in Congress on Wednesday, when lawmakers considered a slate of bills to overhaul the city’s criminal justice policies and further restrict its limited home rule.” ~~~

~~~ Meagan Flynn & Olivia George of the Washington Post: “The House Oversight Committee advanced a raft of bills on Wednesday that would roll back D.C. home rule and overhaul its criminal justice system to the greatest extent in 30 years — including by removing the city’s elected attorney general and installing a presidential appointee as the city’s top legal officer. The committee voted in favor of 16 proposals largely along party lines.” ~~~

~~~ Alex Horton of the Washington Post: “The National Guard, in measuring public sentiment about ... Donald Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., has assessed that its mission is perceived as 'leveraging fear,' driving a 'wedge between citizens and the military,' and promoting a sense of 'shame' among some troops and veterans, according to internal documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The assessments ... underscore how domestic mobilizations that are rooted in politics risk damaging Americans’ confidence in the men and women who serve their communities in times of crisis. The documents reveal, too, with a rare candor in some cases, that military officials have been kept apprised that their mission is viewed by a segment of society as wasteful, counterproductive and a threat to long-standing precedent stipulating that U.S. soldiers — with rare exception — are to be kept out of domestic law enforcement matters.... A National Guard official acknowledged the documents are authentic but downplayed their sensitivity, saying the assessments are intended for internal use and were inadvertently emailed to The Post last week.” MB: Oops! (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Gold of the New York Times: “Senate Republicans narrowly blocked an unexpected effort on Wednesday by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files and put Republican senators on record on an issue that has divided their party. All but two Republican senators — Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rand Paul of Kentucky — blocked consideration of Mr. Schumer’s measure, which would have required the Justice Department to fully and quickly release its material related to Jeffrey Epstein.... Though it failed, Mr. Schumer’s proposal brought the contentious debate over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, which has roiled the House, to the chamber that has largely avoided it.” 

Let's just buy Senate Republicans a big ole rubber stamp: ~~~

~~~ Colby Smith & Tony Romm of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s pick to join the Federal Reserve moved a step closer to joining the central bank on Wednesday, as the Senate Banking Committee advanced his nomination to the full Senate despite mounting concerns about his commitment to upholding the institution’s longstanding political independence. The 13-11 vote could allow Stephen Miran to be in place for the Fed’s next two-day meeting, which takes place Sept. 16-17. Mr. Miran ... was tapped to fill what could be one of the shortest stints on the Board of Governors [-- about four months --] after Adriana Kugler abruptly stepped down from the Fed last month. He has moved through the confirmation process at warp speed as Republican lawmakers try to get him seated ahead of the Fed’s vote on interest rates next week.... But perhaps the biggest break with tradition involves Mr. Miran’s stated plans to remain tied to the White House while he serves at the Fed. Rather than resign his post advising the president on economic policy as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Mr. Miran said, he would instead take a unpaid leave of absence. That would enable him to return to the administration once his term at the central bank was complete.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Daniel Wu & Liam Bowman of the Washington Post: “Democrat James Walkinshaw was sworn into Congress on Wednesday [by Speaker Mike Johnson], a day after defeating Stewart Whitson in a special election to represent Virginia’s 11th District. The election was held to succeed Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia), who died of esophageal cancer in May. Walkinshaw is Connolly’s former chief of staff....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, as Michael Gold of the NYT wrote at the bottom of the story linked above, "Mr. Walkinshaw has vowed to sign the [House discharge] petition [to release the Jeffrey Epstein files], which would bring the number of signatories to 217." Two-hundred-eighteen members must sign the petition in order to force the vote. 

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a transgender boy may use the boys’ bathroom in a South Carolina public high school while he pursues a challenge to a state law requiring students to use the bathrooms for their sex as 'determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth.' The court’s brief order was unsigned and gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. It applied to a single student and stressed that it was 'not a ruling on the merits of the legal issues presented in the litigation.' Rather, in rejecting South Carolina’s request to bar the student from the boys’ bathroom for now, the order said the state had not cleared the high bar for securing an emergency ruling in its favor. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch noted dissents but did not offer reasons.” MB: Well, they're squeamish about overt public discussions that relate to sex. ~~~

     ~~~ The half-page ruling is here (and not firewalled). 

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post on the Atlantic excerpt (gift link below) of Kamala Harris's new book: “The headline is that she now regrets not having attempted to dissuade Biden from running for a second term.... But the excerpt also reveals, with uncharacteristic candor, Harris’s own resentment of how she was treated by Biden and his team over the four years that she served as his vice president. In her narrative, she was constantly being undercut by them, shoved into the background and rarely defended when she was under attack.... Biden’s team disputes that characterization. His former White House chief of staff Ron Klain told me in a text that he found the portrayal unfairly harsh.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's a gift link to the Atlantic excerpt from akaWendy, also linked yesterday.  

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Colorado. Colleen Slevin & Matthew Brown of the AP: “A student shot two of his peers Wednesday at a suburban Denver high school before shooting himself and later dying, authorities said. The handgun shooting was reported around 12:30 p.m. at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado, about 30 miles west of Denver in the Rocky Mountain foothills. Shots were fired both inside and outside the school building, and law enforcement officers who responded found the shooter within five minutes of arriving, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said. None of the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting fired any shots, Kelley said.”

Massachusetts. Jenna Russell of the New York Times: “Mayor Michelle Wu won a majority of votes in Boston’s preliminary mayoral election on Tuesday, easily surpassing her closest competitor, Josh Kraft, a political newcomer.... Both will advance to the general election in November, according to The Associated Press. Boston holds a nonpartisan preliminary election instead of party primaries, with the goal of winnowing the field of candidates to two.... Early results showed Ms. Wu, a progressive Democrat who was the first woman and person of color elected to lead the city of 650,000, winning about 65 percent of the vote. Mr. Kraft, a fellow Democrat and philanthropist, had about 30 percent as of 9 p.m. The race between Ms. Wu, 40, and Mr. Kraft, 58, took a combative tone from the start. Mr. Kraft, a son of the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, has assailed the mayor for months with claims that she has snarled city traffic by expanding bike lanes, allowed the opioid crisis to fester unchecked and obscured ballooning costs of a contentious stadium redevelopment project. Ms. Wu has called attention to her rival’s privileged background and his recent move to the city from its upscale suburbs, criticizing him in a recent statement for his 'relentlessly negative campaign and his attempt to buy this election.'” (Also linked yesterday.)

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⭐Russia/Poland, et al. Michael Schwirtz & Qasim Nauman of the New York Times: “More than a dozen Russian drones entered Poland overnight, prompting NATO to scramble fighter jets to shoot them down in what Western officials described on Wednesday as a dangerous escalation of the war in neighboring Ukraine. It was the first time in the history of NATO that alliance fighters had engaged enemy targets in allied airspace, officials said. The drone incursion prompted Poland’s government to invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty, a rarely used mechanism triggered when a member is under threat that prompts a formal discussion within the alliance.... The crossover into Poland came amid a large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine, officials said. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, as many as 415 drones were launched in that attack, and at least eight were detected crossing the border with Poland.” This is an update of a story linked earlier today. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Leo Sands & Victoria Bisset of the Washington Post: “Poland accused Russian forces of violating its airspace with hostile drones overnight in the course of conducting attacks on Ukrainian targets, and it activated Article 4 of NATO’s treaty.... Under NATO’s founding treaty, any member can unilaterally invoke Article 4. It allows allies to register their concerns but stops short of a formal request for assistance and does not oblige fellow members to take any action. Instead, it triggers a consultation mechanism — giving members a chance to 'exchange views and information, and discuss issues prior to reaching agreement and taking action.' This could pave the way for joint NATO action, but it does not necessitate it.” (Also linked yesterday.)

U.K. Oh My. Victoria Bisset of the Washington Post: “British Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired the U.K. ambassador to the United States on Thursday, after 'additional information' came to light about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The British Embassy in Washington said that emails written by Peter Mandelson showed 'that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.' 'In particular Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information,' the statement continued. 'In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes he has been withdrawn as Ambassador with immediate effect.' The decision followed reports in the British press this week, which The Washington Post could not independently verify, that Mandelson had expressed his support for the financier in an email correspondence in 2008.” At 8:00 am ET, this is a developing story. ~~~

     ~~~ Holly Ellyatt of CNBC: “U.S. lawmakers released a number of documents this week that revealed Mandelson’s apparent close friendship with Epstein, including a letter from Mandelson in which he called the disgraced financier his 'best pal.'... Trump, known to be something of an Anglophile, is coming to the U.K. next week for a state visit.”