Rachel Leingang & Edward Helmore of the Guardian: “Millions of people have turned out for the No Kings protests, the second iteration of a coalition that marched in June in one of the largest days of protest in US history.... The rallies are a turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats seemed at a loss as to how to counter Republicans’ grip of the White House and both houses of Congress after stinging national election losses.... In Chicago, at Grant Park’s Butler Field, at least 10,000 people assembled, many with signs opposing federal immigration agents or mocking Trump.... More than 200,000 Washington DC-area residents rallied near the US Capitol. In many cities, protesters wore inflatable animal costumes – a Dada-esque theme created during immigration enforcement protests in Portland, Oregon, to counter the administration’s narrative of a city under the grip of lawlessness and chaos.... In Georgia, at least 10,000 people had filled the field of the Atlanta Civic Center in preparation for a march to the state capital by mid-morning.”
Taped in Portland, Oregon, about a week ago. Thank you, Portland. Thank you, Woody: ~~~
~~~ And thank you, Jeanne, Akhilleus & akaWendy. (See their comments at the end of today's thread.)
Corina Knoll of the New York Times: “Thousands of protesters gathered in cities and towns across the nation on Saturday to condemn a president they view as acting like a king, part of a daylong mass demonstration against the Trump administration. By noon, a large crowd had flooded Times Square in New York amid a carnival-like atmosphere with colorful signs, one that announced 'I Pledge Allegiance to No King.' Protesters sported costumes, including the inflatable frog ensemble that activists in Portland, Ore., began wearing to poke fun at the White House’s attempt to portray activists as anarchists or domestic terrorists. 'No more Trump!' the crowd chanted as they waved American flags.” ~~~
~~~ The New York Times has photos & some video here. ~~~
~~~ Mike Pesoli & Gary Fields of the AP: “Protesting the direction of the country under ... Donald Trump, people gathered Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for 'No Kings' demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling 'Hate America' rallies. With signs such as 'Nothing is more patriotic than protesting' or 'Resist Fascism,' in many places the events looked more like a street party. There were marching bands [and] a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution’s 'We The People,' preamble that people could sign.... 'They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,' Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraiser at his club.”
Eric Schmitt, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has decided to repatriate two survivors of a deadly U.S. strike this week on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea rather than prosecute them or hold them in military detention, people with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday. The men who survived were being returned to their home countries, Colombia and Ecuador, the people ... said.... It was not clear if the government of either nation would prosecute the men upon their return, or simply release them.... [Donald] Trump has previously described people aboard suspected drug-smuggling boats, which the United States has targeted in several deadly airstrikes since early September, as 'unlawful combatants.' He has claimed the authority, widely disputed by legal experts, to summarily kill such suspects in military strikes as if they were enemy soldiers in a war. It was a sharp break from the traditional handling of maritime smuggling, in which the Coast Guard would intercept boats and arrest people if suspicions proved accurate.” MB: They really don't know WTF they're doing.
Quinta Jurecic of the Atlantic: “Idealism helped motivate Trump’s opponents during his first term. But it has the potential to carry even more weight during his second, given how the president’s anti-democratic project is not as constrained as it was the first time around. As [Ezra] Levin of Indivisible told me, 'The real enemy in an authoritarian breakthrough moment is nihilism and cynicism and fatalism.' This idea was a regular subject of the philosopher Hannah Arendt, who famously argued that totalitarian regimes depend on eroding their subjects’ sense of political possibility. Such governments, she wrote, aim not 'to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.'” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.
We already have a king. Now I think we have a self-crowned queen, too. And it isn't Melanie. ~~~
~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “The Department of Homeland Security has purchased two Gulfstream private jets for Kristi Noem, the secretary, and other top department officials at a cost of $172 million.... The jets, which a department official said were needed for safety, are the latest expenditures on behalf of Ms. Noem to draw scrutiny from Democrats and other critics who have noted her lavish spending ... during her time in public life.... It was not immediately clear where the funding for the jets came from. In a letter..., Representatives Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, and Lauren Underwood of Illinois, the top Democrat overseeing its homeland security panel, asked Ms. Noem to 'clarify the funding source.'... [Ms. Noem] faced criticism this year from Democrats for staying rent-free at the waterfront home reserved for the Coast Guard’s commandant, as reported by the Washington Post, which also noted her frequent use of the Coast Guard’s private jet for personal travel.... [A spokeswoman] said the secretary had paid 'tens of thousands of dollars' to reimburse the government for personal travel on the jet after the publication of the Post story.”
Jordain Carney & Ry Rivard of Politico: “The IRS recently filed notices of a federal tax lien against Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia — the latest example of ongoing financial troubles that have trailed the former governor, members of his family and their network of businesses over the years. One of the documents from the IRS ... lists Justice and his wife, Cathy, as having a total balance of more than $8 million in unpaid assessments.... The tax periods listed on the latest IRS document are 2009, 2017 and 2022, the first of which was before Justice was governor and all of which were before he announced his Senate bid.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I don't see how someone can pretend to be an upstanding representative of the people when he owes $8MM in back taxes, some dating back more than a decade. (I wonder how JayDee will brush that off? Elderly indiscretion?)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Katie Tarrant of the Washington Post: “Millions of people are expected to attend 'No Kings' protests across the country Saturday, according to organizers, voicing anger at what some say they see see as increasingly authoritarian governance by the Trump administration. This is the second round of 'No Kings' gatherings since ... Donald Trump returned to office in January. The first, in June, which took place on the president’s birthday, drew more than 5 million protesters, organizers said. They expect Saturday’s turnout to be larger, fueled by increasing tensions over the government’s expanded use of the military to fight crime, particularly in Democratic-run cities. In his speech to top military leaders at Quantico last month, Trump repeatedly insisted the United States was 'under invasion from within.'”
Marines to Celebrate No Kings Day by Shooting at Californians. Laurel Rosenhall of the New York Times: “The Marines plan to fire 155-millimeter artillery shells over a major freeway in Southern California on Saturday as part of a demonstration at Camp Pendleton to celebrate the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary. The plans to fire over the freeway triggered outrage by Gov. Gavin Newsom late Friday night after his office had been under the impression days earlier that the celebration would not involve firing munitions across Interstate 5, a heavily traveled corridor between Los Angeles and San Diego. 'This is a profoundly absurd show of force that could put Californians directly in harm’s way,' Mr. Newsom said in a statement to The New York Times. He criticized ... [Donald] Trump and said the lack of coordination among state, federal and local officials was creating a dangerous situation. The artillery demonstration, to be attended by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and military officials, will take place on the same day that anti-Trump activists plan to hold 'No Kings' protests across the country, including in Southern California.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: AND if the Marines do kill a few folks driving by, as JayDee would say, “Like, that’s what kids do.” So nice he and Drunk Pete will be there to observe the slaughter.
~~~ Doktor Zoom of Wonkette: “... after ignoring months of protests against Dipshit Hitler’s authoritarian takeover, Republicans are finally noticing how little Americans want the whole 'Trump can do anything he wants' thing. That’s why they’re doing their damnedest to portray the nationwide No Kings rallies planned for Saturday as a terrible threat, a scary gathering of 'antifa' radicals who all hate America.... One of the stupidest talking points the administration has been pushing — not simply about No Kings, but about all protests against Trump — is the notion that some malign shadowy hand is behind Americans’ discontent with Trump. Americans could never object to what he’s doing unless some sinister bad guy — usually George Soros, but often just 'they' — led them astray.... It’s really quite impressive how many impossible things you have to believe before breakfast in order for any of this Trumped up 'antifa is planning a Hate America rally this weekend' to make sense — and even then, it still makes no sense.” Includes list! (Also linked yesterday.) (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico: “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is deploying the state’s National Guard to Austin ahead of this weekend’s planned No Kings rally in the Texas capital, he announced Thursday, as top Republicans around the country vilify the protests as Antifa-linked and led by the radical flank of the Democratic Party.... In addition to the National Guard, Abbott is surging Texas Rangers, state troopers and Department of Public Safety personnel to Austin, whom he said would be 'supported by aircraft and other tactical assets.'... 'Sending armed soldiers to suppress peaceful protests is what kings and dictators do — and Greg Abbott just proved he’s one of them,' Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a statement.... The first wave of No Kings protests in June was overwhelmingly peaceful and went on almost entirely without incident.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here's the KXAN (Austin) report, which akaWendy linked the other day. She wonders why Abbott has targeted Austin: "Weird, especially that the 4 other Texas cities have larger populations than Austin and will likely have comparable turnouts." (Also linked yesterday.)
Quote o'the Week: The Democrat Party's main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals. -- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, yesterday (thanks to RAS for the link)
Some People Prefer Kings, But Not the One We've Got. Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post: “Each year, some 5,000 to 6,000 Americans living abroad call it quits with the U.S. The reasons most often cited are tax-related and logistical, according to immigration lawyers who handle renunciation cases.... Even former British prime minister Boris Johnson, born in New York to British parents, renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2016 after complaining of an 'absolutely outrageous' IRS bill from the sale of his London house. But increasingly, according to lawyers who handle such cases and the chatter in online forums--a Facebook group called 'Renounce U.S. Citizenship — Why and How' has almost 3,000 members -- renouncers cite unhappiness with U.S. politics and policy as part of their motivation.... 'I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for the election,' [a] London man said. ;I just couldn’t understand, and still can’t, how a third of Americans can think a felon and sex offender is the right guy for the job.'”
Friday Night News Dump: Trump Pardons Santos. Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: “Former Representative George Santos of New York, the disgraced Republican fabulist whose lies made him an object of national scorn, was released from a federal prison on Friday night after ... [Donald] Trump commuted his seven-year sentence for fraud. His lawyer, Joseph Murray, said that Mr. Santos was released from the Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in New Jersey after 10 p.m. on Friday night.... In a social media post, Mr. Trump suggested that politics had been a major factor in his decision, commending Mr. Santos for sharing his views and contrasting him with Democrats. Calling the former congressman 'somewhat of a “rogue,”’ Mr. Trump said that he believed that Mr. Santos’s sentence was excessive given the nature of his financial crimes. The president also suggested he had been moved by Mr. Santos’s accounts of being in prison, which he had published in a regular column in a local Long Island newspaper.” The AP report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is Trump's most "confessional" pardon yet. Santos is a mini-Trump. He's a demented narcissist; everything he says is a lie; the biggest whoppers he tells are self-aggrandizing; he's a criminal fraudster who cheats people out of their money; he has no sense of ethics or morals; and apparently his get-out-of-jail card was his whining incessantly about how horribly he was being treated. This is Trump symbolically pardoning himself, though I don't think he's self-aware enough to realize it. ~~~
~~~ "President Commutes Sentence of Career Criminal as a Reward for Voting Republican." Paul Campos in LG&$: "Every week there’s at least one scandal, and usually more, that would have been considered an administration-destroying event for just about any other president –even the Republicans! We are in a bad bad place." ~~~
~~~ Selective Prosecution/Commutation. Marcy Wheeler notes that Trump's pardon of Santos compromise his DOJ's charges against New York Attorney Letitia James. For one thing, Trump pardon attorney Ed Martin " — the guy who has been literally stalking her in a dirty old man trench coat — ... boasted of his role in the commutation." For another, "Even if she did what is alleged (and all the evidence suggests she did not), any benefit to James herself would be less than $19,000. Meanwhile, Santos defrauded identified victims — some of them vulnerable seniors — of almost $375,000, along with $200,000 in ill-gotten gains himself." And this: "... Trump declared that, 'at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!' Alleged Democratic fraudsters get charges whereas far more dangerous Republican fraudsters win a Get Out of Jail Free card. It couldn’t be more clear."
He Just Can't Stop. Jack Ewing & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Friday signed a proclamation that will impose a new 25 percent tariff on imported trucks, including big pickups and long-haul semis, extending duties that already apply to smaller vehicles. The president also announced a 10 percent tariff on imported buses. Once these duties go into effect on Nov. 1, virtually all categories of vehicles not made in the United States will be subject to higher tariffs than when Mr. Trump took office. The latest tariffs apply to every category of truck. Many of these vehicles were already being made in the United States, but some come from countries like Mexico, including some large pickups made by Ram, a unit of Stellantis. Parts for these trucks will also face higher tariffs, as car parts already do, though some exemptions will apply.”
Michael Birnbaum & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Friday called for Russia and Ukraine to stop fighting at their current positions to settle the bitter war between the two nations — a proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he accepted as a starting point for further talks. The proposal was made during a West Wing meeting between the two leaders where Trump sought to replicate his success earlier this month in halting the fighting between Israel and Hamas. It was the latest effort by the U.S. president to cast himself as a global peacemaker, but his chances of success were far from clear as he gears up to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in coming weeks.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Daniel Dale of CNN: “... Donald Trump made multiple false claims to the press during a Friday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.... Trump repeated his previous fake history about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, saying that Russia failed to win the war in a mere week because it decided to invade through muddy ground rather than simply using highways.... Trump repeated his regular false claim that he has 'solved' or 'ended' eight wars. That figure is a significant exaggeration – counting two disputes that weren’t actually wars and one war that is still running. (You can read more here.) He also delivered a version of a false claim he started making on Thursday – suggesting no other president has ever ended a war.... This narrative is nonsense. US presidents have played a major role in ending various wars by winning those wars, including World War I, World War II and the Gulf War. In addition, presidents have brokered numerous peace agreements in wars not being fought by the US.” Et-cetera, et-cetera.
Here's Another Nice Mess You've Gotten Us Into, Donnie! Eric Schmitt & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The U.S. Navy has rescued two survivors of an American military strike on a semi-submersible vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and is holding them aboard a Navy ship there, two U.S. officials said on Friday. The Navy for now is detaining the two people aboard a warship in international waters, marking the first time the military has found itself holding prisoners from President Trump’s six-week-old campaign of targeting suspected drug runners as if they were combatants in a war. The Trump administration now faces a dilemma about whether to release the two people, claim it can hold them as indefinite wartime detainees, or transfer them to civilian law enforcement officials for prosecution — a major and messy set of new legal and policy problems that could bring judicial scrutiny to the legally contested basis for its unfolding military campaign.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “A bipartisan group in the Senate is planning to force a vote on legislation that would bar the United States from engaging in hostilities inside Venezuela without explicit authorization by Congress. The measure faces long odds given the unwillingness of most Republican lawmakers to challenge ... [Donald] Trump, who would be all but certain to veto it. But a vote on the legislation, which is required, would put Congress on the record on whether to rein in Mr. Trump’s escalating and legally questionable military campaign against Venezuela. Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia and Adam B. Schiff of California, both Democrats, have teamed with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, on the resolution, worried that the Trump administration’s order of covert C.I.A. action in Venezuela could be the first step toward an all-out war.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Me, Me, Me, Me. About That Arc de Trumpf. Ashley Ahn of the New York Times: “If ... [Donald] Trump gets his wish, a new triumphal arch will rise on a Washington roundabout across from the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary next year.... Triumphal arches have long been erected to celebrate notable figures or significant events, dating back to ancient Romans, who used them to honor emperors or victorious generals, said Jason Montgomery, an architect and urban designer based in Washington, D.C.... Mr. Montgomery urged the administration to hold a 'national conversation' before starting construction of the triumphal arch, noting that the monument would belong to the American people.... Mr. Trump suggested he saw it differently. When asked on Wednesday who the arch was for, Mr. Trump said, 'Me.'”
Very Sensible! Tim Balk of the New York Times: “The federal agency responsible for managing the U.S. arsenal of nuclear bombs and warheads plans to furlough 1,400 workers by Monday, the Energy Department said Friday, as the government shutdown’s effects stretch into a third week. The Energy Department said in a statement that about 400 workers would remain at the agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration, to protect 'property and the safety of human life.' The agency, which is semiautonomous but overseen by the Energy Department, was created in 2000. It is responsible for maintaining America’s nuclear stockpile and for preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world. Its precursors include the Atomic Energy Commission and Energy Research and Development Administration. The agency employs nearly 100,000 contractors and subcontractors, according to the Energy Department. It had never furloughed any government employees during a government shutdown, the department said.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I have complete faith that the Trump administration knows exactly what it's doing and that those 400 remaining workers will be able to do the work of 1,800 employees. And if not, well, what could happen?
Ray Hartmann of the Raw Story: "The Trump administration is engaging in language similar to that of Nazi Germany when it talks of denying healthcare to migrants in the United States illegally, Dr. Craig Spencer, who lectures on the history of health and eugenics at Brown University, told The Daily Beast on Friday. 'It’s not a stretch to say this administration is touting a eugenics agenda, which was perfected by the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s and later adopted by the Nazis...,' Spencer told the outlet. The language of Trump’s government, Spencer said, is 'almost the same on immigration, access to healthcare, and who deserves the fruits of government,' and its 'logical conclusion — while they won’t say it out loud — is letting certain people die.
⭐David McSwane & Hannah Allam of ProPublica: "Current and former national security officials ... describe the legions of masked immigration officers operating in near-total anonymity on the orders of the president as the crossing of a line that had long set the United States apart from the world’s most repressive regimes. ICE, in their view, has become an unfettered and unaccountable national police force. The transformation, the officials say, unfolded rapidly and in plain sight. Trump’s DHS appointees swiftly dismantled civil rights guardrails, encouraged agents to wear masks, threatened groups and state governments that stood in their way, and then made so many arrests that the influx overwhelmed lawyers trying to defend immigrants taken out of state or out of the country." Read on.
Greg Sargent of the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: "As ... Donald Trump’s consolidation of authoritarian power escalates, he and his allies have been employing undisguised state-sponsored propaganda to a degree unmatched by any president in modern times.... This is driven home by an interesting new letter that Senator Chris Murphy sent Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about a horrifying incident that unfolded during Trump’s occupation of Chicago. A federal agent shot a woman multiple times after she allegedly menaced the agents with her car. Marimar Martinez, who didn’t have life-threatening injuries, is a U.S. citizen. This incident has been subjected to a barrage of state-manufactured misinformation, and it turns out that MAGA influencer Laura Loomer also was involved in that effort." The details in this story are worth reading.
Mark Berman & Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a lower-court ruling and allow ... Donald Trump to deploy troops in Illinois, ramping up federal efforts to send the National Guard into the Chicago area. Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in a filing with the high court that Trump officials wanted 700 troops to protect immigration authorities in Chicago.” (Also linked yesterday.) The AP story is here.
Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: “Seven Tennessee officials sued on Friday over the deployment of the National Guard in Memphis, the latest lawsuit against the push to send troops to Democratic-led cities perceived as overrun with crime. The lawsuit was brought by the mayor of surrounding Shelby County, as well as six local and state lawmakers in Tennessee. It is backed by Democracy Forward, a national liberal-leaning legal nonprofit that has helped support dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration, and the National Immigration Law Center.... Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal of Davidson County Chancery Court denied a request for an immediate temporary restraining order against further deployment and instead set a Nov. 3 hearing for the case.”
Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “The University of Virginia became the fifth school to rebuff a White House proposal to give universities preferential treatment if they uphold a set of White House demands. The White House offered the proposal to nine universities last week, asking them to sign on to a list of requirements laid out in a 10-page document in exchange for funds. In declining to sign on to the agreement, Paul G. Mahoney, Virginia’s interim president, said that while the university agreed with many principles outlined in the proposal, it wanted 'no special treatment' in funding.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Friday Night News Dump. DOJ Fires Another U.S. Attorney. Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: “A federal prosecutor who resisted ... [Donald] Trump’s demands to bring charges against Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, was fired along with her deputy on Friday evening.... The dismissal of the prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, was the latest fallout from attempts by career Justice Department officials to pump the brakes on Mr. Trump’s wide-ranging efforts to seek retribution against his perceived political opponents. Ms. Yusi, who oversaw major criminal cases in the Norfolk office of the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia, had pushed back against Mr. Trump’s public calls for Ms. James to be indicted, telling colleagues that she had not found probable cause to file charges, the people familiar with the matter said. It was not immediately clear why her deputy, Kristin G. Bird, had also been fired....
“The U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia, which has traditionally handled some of the country’s most significant terrorism and national security cases, has been battered by dismissals and resignations, stemming from the cases against Ms. James and [former FBI director James] Comey.... Maya Song, the office’s former first assistant U.S. attorney, was fired in the wake of Mr. Comey’s indictment, as was her replacement, Maggie Cleary, a well-known conservative lawyer in Virginia. Mr. Comey’s son-in-law, Troy Edwards Jr., who handled national security cases, resigned in protest shortly after the indictment was returned. And Mr. Edwards’s boss, Michael P. Ben’Ary, was dismissed after a pro-Trump social media influencer wrongly accused him in an online post of having questioned the indictment of Mr. Comey.” The ABC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: The ABC News story says third-runner-up Miss Colorado USA/Trump lawyer/U.S. attorney trainee Lindsey Halligan fired Yusi & Bird. The Times story never specifies it was Halligan who handed them the pink slips.
Luis Ferré-Sadurní & Olivia Bensimon of the New York Times: “Federal agents arrested two Venezuelan men on Thursday outside a Times Square hotel in New York City that is being used as a migrant shelter, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which accused the men of belonging to a Venezuelan gang. Video shot by a witness ... shows about a dozen federal agents in plain clothes arresting several people on West 44th Street, around the corner from the entrance of the Row NYC, a hotel that is home to more than 800 migrant families.... A spokeswoman for D.H.S., the parent agency of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said the two men arrested were in the country illegally and were part of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang that the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The partner of one of the men who was arrested denied that he had gang ties.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'm so curious as to how FBI & ICE immediately know a detainee -- or even someone they are seeking to detain -- is a gang member. According to Googles Art Intel, "Tren de Aragua members do not have specific identifying tattoos." So does Tren de Aragua issue gang ID cards?
Beth Reinhard, et al., of the Washington Post: “The House Oversight Committee released a new tranche of documents Friday collected as part of its ongoing investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The files feature call logs; schedules of meetings between Epstein and prominent figures in the arts, technology and business; as well as the transcript of an interview the committee held with Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. labor secretary who served as the top federal prosecutor in South Florida when Epstein received a widely criticized plea deal nearly two decades ago. One redacted call log appears to show two undated calls from someone listed as 'Donald Trump.'” ~~~
~~~ Hailey Fuchs of Politico: “Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee took a victory lap Friday after releasing a transcript of their recent interview with former U.S. attorney Alex Acosta regarding Jeffrey Epstein, saying it provides evidence ... Donald Trump was not involved in the case against the late convicted sex offender. 'Acosta NEVER talked to Trump about Epstein,' the Republican majority of the Oversight Committee said in a post on X, attaching a screenshot of Acosta’s interview from September.... Oversight Democrats, however, had a starkly different takeaway from Acosta’s interview, with Sara Guerrero, a Democratic spokesperson, arguing his remarks suggested a lack of contrition for his part in the case.“The transcripts of Alex Acosta’s interview confirm what we’ve known all along: he has no remorse for his mishandling of the Epstein case,' Guerrero said in a statement.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: So, as I understand it, the Republicans argument is, "The cops never interrogated the suspect, so he can't be guilty." Their argument gets worse. The Miami Herald reporters (story linked below) write that Acosta also never spoke with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell. It isn't just that he didn't talk to Trump; he didn't talk to anybody. Well, there was this one guy: a subordinate -- who was then dating one of Epstein's lawyers! -- advised him on the case. Another subordinate wrote an exhaustive memo in support of indicting Epstein on 60 counts -- but Acosta couldn't recall reading that. ~~~
~~~ Julie K. Brown & Claire Healy of the Miami Herald: "Jeffrey Epstein had multiple appointments, phone calls and dinners with Matthew Menchel — the Miami U.S. Attorney’s office chief criminal prosecutor who spearheaded Epstein’s sweetheart deal in 2007, newly released documents show. A tranche of over 8,500 pages of records from Epstein’s estate — released by the House Oversight Committee Friday — show that Epstein’s calendars and emails reflect that Menchel, who left the DOJ in 2007, had multiple meetings or dinners with Epstein in 2011, 2013 and 2017. Lawmakers also referred to a photograph of Menchel on a ski trip with Epstein sometime in the 2000s, but didn’t produce the photo.... After publication, Menchel told the Herald that he never skied with Epstein.He did not deny that he had met with Epstein after he left the US Attorney’s Office....
"[Alex] Acosta [at one time told] federal investigators he could not recall ever reading [an 82-page] memo [from a subordinate proposing a 60-count sex-trafficking indictment against Epstein], and that he relied on Menchel and others to know the details of the case. Acosta testified that he never met Epstein or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.... In his comments before the committee, Acosta also reiterated that he trusted Menchel, who proposed the plea deal with Epstein’s lawyers.... Acosta was asked about Menchel at least 17 times during his testimony before the House Oversight Committee. He indicated that he had not been aware that Menchel had a prior romantic relationship with one of Epstein’s lawyers and that Menchel should have told him so that they could have discussed whether there was a conflict of interest." The link is a gift link.
Maegan Vazquez & Brianna Tucker of the Washington Post: “New York Republican Party officials on Friday voted to suspend its Young Republicans chapter after racist and antisemitic chat messages shared among its members were made public, offering an unfiltered look at how some of the GOP’s up-and-coming leaders communicate in private and triggering a debate within the party over how to respond.... A formal notice from [state party chair Ed] Cox to the Young Republican National Federation — a political organization aimed at Americans ages 18 to 40 — leaves the door open for the suspension to be lifted at an undetermined time.” The AP's story is here. MB: Cox, BTW, knows his racists. He married Tricia Nixon in the White House Rose Garden before those tapes were released; the tapes recorded Nixon using plenty of racial slurs.
He's Sorry Now. David Chen of the New York Times: “A Vermont Republican legislator who faced bipartisan condemnation after participating in a long-running group chat that was peppered with racist and antisemitic language announced on Friday that he would resign. State Senator Samuel Douglass, 26, was one of a dozen young Republican Party activists from around the country who had participated in the texts, which were first reported on Tuesday by Politico. And while some participants worked for Republican lawmakers or held government posts, Mr. Douglass was the only elected official.... According to Politico, Mr. Douglass ... had responded to a message about 'a very obese Indian woman; by writing, 'She just didn’t bathe often.' His wife, Brianna, participated in the chat, too, and posted an antisemitic remark.” Politico's story is here.
He's Sorry, Too. Heather Knight of the New York Times: “Marc Benioff apologized on Friday for saying ... [Donald] Trump should send the National Guard to San Francisco after a week of being hammered by the city’s leaders and even some of his fellow tech titans for the remarks. 'I do not believe the National Guard is needed to address safety in San Francisco,' Mr. Benioff, the Salesforce founder and chief executive, posted on X. He added that he made the remarks out of caution as his annual Dreamforce conference ramped up in the city and brought an extra 50,000 people downtown. 'I sincerely apologize for the concern it caused,' he wrote. 'It’s my firm belief that our city makes the most progress when we all work together in a spirit of partnership.'... He had said in the phone interview ... that he was never a progressive and had been a longtime Republican before switching to become an independent. He also heaped praise on Mr. Trump, saying he fully supported him and that he had told him so at length at a dinner at Windsor Castle hosted by King Charles. Mr. Benioff’s company counts the U.S. government as its biggest customer. The contracts the company has with a host of departments, including the Army and Coast Guard, are worth billions of dollars. Salesforce has been avidly seeking additional contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement....”
Alec Dent of the Washington Post: “The head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund is pitching Elon Musk and his tunneling business on an idea for a 'Putin-Trump Tunnel' connecting Russia with Alaska. In a post on X, Kirill Dmitriev, who serves as a special envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, proposed using Musk’s the Boring Company to create the undersea tunnel, which he described as a “70-mile link symbolizing unity.... Donald Trump was noncommittal when asked about the idea by a reporter during a lunch Friday at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky focused on ending his country’s war with Russia.... Zelensky told Trump he was 'not happy about this' when asked by Trump for his thoughts on a potential tunnel.”
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Florida. Anumita Kaur of the Washington Post: “A Florida city council member has drawn the ire of national Indian American groups, members of Congress and local residents after he published a stream of social media posts disparaging Indians in the United States and calling for their mass deportation. Palm Bay council member Chandler Langevin, who was elected last year, lambasted Indians in posts on X, writing over about three weeks this fall that Indians come to the U.S. to 'drain our pockets' and then return to India, 'or worse … to stay.' Outrage over his comments has upended the community and rippled beyond it. Since Sept. 29, residents and members of regional and national Indian American groups have flooded meetings at Palm Bay’s city council chambers, released statements denouncing his remarks and demanded his resignation. Late Thursday, Langevin’s fellow council members voted 3-2 to censure him.... Palm Bay, on Florida’s eastern coast, has also sent a letter to [Gov. Ron] DeSantis demanding that he remove Langevin from office. DeSantis’s office has not responded to the letter....”
Maine Senate Race. Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: “Graham Platner (D), a U.S. Senate candidate from Maine, responded dismissively to a cartoon about sexual assault in the military and downplayed the challenges service members face in reporting sexual assault in unearthed Reddit posts from 2013.... In a separate thread about a video promoting underwear designed to prevent rape, Platner urged people to avoid alcohol so they don’t end up in a dangerous situation.... The posts ... are part of a large cache of online messages that were deleted shortly before Platner launched his insurgent bid to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine. CNN first reported that the oyster farmer and Marine Corps combat veteran ridiculed rural White Mainers as 'actually' racist and stupid in 2020 and described himself as a communist on the platform.... Platner disavowed the comments in a Friday interview with The Post that marked his first public remarks on the posts about sexual assault. 'I don’t want people to judge me off the dumbest thing I said on the internet 12 years ago,' he said. 'I would like people to engage with who I am today.' He said he rarely served alongside women in the male-dominated infantry and has since come to see sexual assault in the military as a crucial issue.”
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U.K. The Grand Old Duke of York Turns in His Coronet. Caroline Davies of the Guardian: “Prince Andrew has agreed to give up his use of the Duke of York title, he said in a statement released through Buckingham Palace. He will also give up use of his honours as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, meaning his only remaining title will be that of prince, which cannot be removed as he was born the son of a queen.... Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, will also not use her title and be known simply as Sarah Ferguson. The titles of their two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will remain unaffected. The agreement was made after high-level meetings at Buckingham Palace as aides were said to have finally reached a 'tipping point'.” Thanks to akaWendy for the link. The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
10 comments:
Jimmy Kimmel has about six dozen protest sign nickname guides for
No Kings Day signs, like, Dictator Tot, Groper Cleveland, Presidementia,
The Lyin' King.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DP7dSVGgfaE/
There was never any chance that the Phineas T. Bluster who occupies the WH was going to give Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.....never....He's saving them for fishing boats..
Ken,
Especially after someone helped Putin set up a phone call right before FH's meeting with Zelensky. It is well known by now that Fat Hitler mostly remembers who he spoke to last on a subject. I don't know if it is true, but somewhere I saw someone claiming that FH asked Putin on the call if he should give tomahawk to Ukraine. It is the kind of stupid our Oval Office resident would do.
"You know who is hating No Kings?"
Politics Girl on why No Kings matters.
Quinta Jurecic, for The Atlantic, writes thoughts on No Kings Day: BE CRINGE. SHIT MATTERS
"Cringe “implies a kind of naïveté that so often gets coded as feminine,” wrote the New York Times columnist Lydia Polgreen, “a silly belief that human beings, through sincere effort, might actually improve themselves and the world.” Such a belief might seem uncool. But it can be a powerful tool with which to cut through the nihilism of Trump and those around him, which draws its power from its insincerity, its refusal to distinguish between truth and falsehood, its willingness to mock and degrade previously treasured beliefs.
.....
As Levin of Indivisible told me, “The real enemy in an authoritarian breakthrough moment is nihilism and cynicism and fatalism.” This idea was a regular subject of the philosopher Hannah Arendt, who famously argued that totalitarian regimes depend on eroding their subjects’ sense of political possibility. Such governments, she wrote, aim not “to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.”
"
^Is that why the magas disparage Mamdani so...he sparks ideas of political possiblity....
The juvenile show of force cooked up by those two sterling examples of manhood, the couch fucker and Mr. Makeup, provides a perfect example of what No Kings is all about. Making big noises with live ammunition in order to try to scare the little people into submission by demonstrating the awesome power of the king is the essence of authoritarianism. In another time and place, he would be sending in stormtroopers to bust heads or ordering his Cossacks to charge into the marchers. But it also shows something else: desperation, and fear. Fear that perhaps all the king’s horses and the all the king’s men, might not be enough to make Fatty king again.
Hey, it’ll give us all something else to laugh about at our local No Kings march. Our group was told it would be cool to bring pots, pans, kazoos, noisemakers, stuff to bang on, signs, funny costumes, and a combined sense of humor and righteousness. It is, after all both a protest and a celebration. A protest against that fat little man and his small minded, wicked hearted courtiers and evil advisors, and a celebration of democracy, decency, humanity, and solidarity.
As the French say, “Fuck the begrudgers!” (At least that’s what someone once told me…).
No kings!
Just got back from our No Kings. My signs said "No Kings from Queens or anywhere else" and the other side said "Dissent IS American" and we all had upsidedown flags and flag glasses and we marched about a mile from a park near the prison (haha) to downtown Lancaster (PA). There were thousands of us in the park, lined up, and it took an hour to leave the park since they had to cross us at every
intersection, chanting and signs and children and some Fck Trump signs and some blowup plastic animals and clever sayings everywhere. Daughter wore a frog hat to honor Oregon, and there were seven of us. It was NOT a hate America rally-- it was a LOVE AMERICA rally. For sure, there were a lot of signs of hatred aimed at Mango Moron, but also hatred of everything they are doing to us the last 9 months and before. It was a lot of fun and a togetherness thing-- this one was much larger than the June one-- and no one is happy about the shutdown and the crap being flung by the guys in congress etc. But everyone had their own pet peeves and it was very much a solidarity event. We all appreciated each other's expressions. It was great.
The No Kings March in my area went off beautifully. Couldn't count the numbers but it was well over a thousand in a hugely blood red area, so not bad. Plenty of Trump supporters screaming at us and calling us fascists, which is pretty funny given the fact that (1) we're supposed all be Antifa members, and (2), if we were fascists, we'd all be Fat Hitler voters.
A few things were thrown at us, no response from the police, but I'm guessing, had any of us responded, it would have been RED ALERT! Arrest them all! We did see a number of Trumpies with video cameras recording all of us, likely for pinpointing "traitors" to Fatty for later retribution. Fuck 'em.
Just checked to see how the local media covered No Kings. No Kings, No Coverage. Two TV stations and a local paper. The local paper had six photos with no real story. One local TV station had a story whinging about local road closures this morning and early afternoon for "an event". Couldn't even say what it was for.
The traitors have the media locked down tighter than Melanie's grimace around Christmastime.
We had fun though. And it was cathartic to see so many people in this blood red area that went for Fatty by a significant number show up to tell him he's not our king.
No Kings in my area went off beautifully. NPR's report is here: Austin No Kings
Like last June, DPS checked bags of people entering the capitol grounds. Otherwise, there was not much of any police presence. After a few speeches by our elected officials, we walked down the avenue to the park. Beto turned up on the walk mingling, chatting, posing with folks for selfies. Music (Woody Guthrie standards!) and more speeches, including a short one by Beto.
It was a good day!
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