November 19, 2025

Eric Tucker & Michael Kunzelman of the AP: “The Justice Department acknowledged in court Wednesday the grand jury that charged former FBI Director James Comey was not presented with a copy of the final indictment, a concession that may further imperil a prosecution already subject to multiple challenges and demands for its dismissal. The revelation is the latest indication of a troubled presentation of the case to the grand jury by an inexperienced and hastily appointed U.S. attorney named to the job just days earlier by ... Donald Trump. Concerns about the process surfaced earlier in the week when a different judge in the case said there was no record in the transcript he had reviewed of the grand jury reviewing the indictment that was actually presented against Comey. Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney in charge of the case, said under questioning that only the foreperson of the grand jury and a second grand juror were present for the returning of the indictment.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, two out of 23 grand jurors formally agreed to the indictment. That is to say, there was no indictment. As I recall, Halligan brought the indictment so quickly because the five-year statute of limitations on the alleged crime was about to run out the very next week. And now time has run out. I won't be surprised if I'm wrong for some good reason, but it seems to me that the case against Comey is moot. Hannah Arendt was right about authoritarians choosing incompetent aides. Sometimes the authoritarians pay for that planned incompetence. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Salvador Rizzo & Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “That means “there is no indictment Mr. Comey is facing,” [one of Comey's attorneys, Michael] Dreeben[,] said ... at [a] hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, arguing that no properly returned indictment was filed before the five-year statute of limitations on Comey’s alleged crimes had expired.... [Dreeben also] argued that Trump has broken down the Justice Department’s traditional independence from the White House by directing prosecutors to seek criminal charges against Democratic officeholders and perceived political enemies, regardless of the evidence. 'An attack by the president of the United States on a perceived political enemy because of his speech is an egregious violation of constitutional principles and is unprecedented in this country,' ... Dreeben ... argued.”

Erik Ortiz of NBC News: “A whistleblower who came forward to House Democrats alleging convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell received preferential treatment at a federal prison camp in Texas says she was not motivated by politics. Instead, 'this was about common human decency and doing what’s right for all inmates,' Noella Turnage, a nurse who worked at Federal Prison Camp Bryan since 2019 until she was fired last week, told NBC News on Monday.... She said the federal Bureau of Prisons fired her on Nov. 10. The decision came a day after the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, wrote a letter to ... Donald Trump saying they had received information from a 'whistleblower' indicating Maxwell was working on filing a 'commutation application' and receiving special treatment not typically afforded to inmates at Bryan.” Thanks to RAS for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When Katie Tur of MSNOW was interviewing Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) Wednesday afternoon, she told Coons about the whistleblower being fired. He said he had been unaware of the situation but would see if he could get Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- who has been a defender of whistleblowers -- to intervene on Turnage's behalf.  

Phillips O'Brien, in a Substack post, puts together reporting from Politico's Playbook & Axios that shows that Trump has been overseeing secret negotiations with Russia to present as a fait accompli -- a "peace plan" Trump plans to ram down the throats of Ukraine and its allies. ~~~

     ~~~ Historian Timothy Snyder has some thoughts. Bottom line: "This war can be brought to an end, but the basic logic remains what it always was: the Ukrainians have to be supported so that Russia no longer aspires to destroy their country. That is the foundation. Negotiations will work when that has been achieved." Obviously, neither Trump nor his ally Putin has any interest in this outcome.

It's hard not to notice how a chunk o' news is about Trump insulting women and being really nice to male sex offenders, alleged and convicted.   

The name of Joyce Vance's Substack site is “Civil Discourse,” so you won't be surprised by what she thinks about Trump's calling a female reporter “Piggy”: “... it’s particularly galling that the president’s response to a legitimate question about the [Epstein] matter is 'Quiet Piggy.' It tells you all you need to know about this president’s attitude toward women. Of course, that hasn’t been in doubt since we saw him on tape saying, 'Grab them by the p*ssy.. He’s called a stream of women who stood up to him, like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Kamala Harris, 'nasty women.' In 2014, Trump called New York Times columnist Gail Collins 'frumpy and very dumb,['] We could be here all night listing the misogyny, but the sad truth is, MAGA doesn’t care. The men like it and the women, inexplicably, are willing to tolerate it.” 

Robert Faturechi & Avi Asher-Schapiro of ProPublica: “Online influencer Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist who has millions of young male followers, was facing allegations of sex trafficking women in three countries when he and his brother left their home in Romania to visit the United States.... But when the Tate brothers arrived by private plane in Fort Lauderdale, Florida..., Customs and Border Protection officials seized their electronic devices.... Interviews and records reviewed by ProPublica show a White House official told senior Department of Homeland Security officials to return the devices to the brothers several days after they were seized. The official who delivered the message, Paul Ingrassia, is a lawyer who previously represented the Tate brothers before joining the White House, where he was working as its DHS liaison. In his written request..., Ingrassia chided authorities for taking the action.... The request to return the electronics to the Tates, he emphasized, was coming from the White House.... Andrew Tate is one of the most prominent members of the so-called manosphere, a collection of influencers, podcasters and content creators who helped deliver young male voters to Trump.” Thanks to RAS for the link. Also, via RAS, this note: ~~~

mr president sir theres a story coming about how you intervened to help a sex criminal. no sir, not that sex criminal you helped….no not that one either…sir, please stop guessing sex criminals that you helped. ill give you a hint sir, hes a trafficker. no sir, not that trafficker a different one. -- Andrew Lawrence, on Bluesky 

Found! A Page from the Trump "Business Plans" Notebook: The Recidivism Plan. (1) Obtain gifts, donations, bribes, etc. from wealthy criminals. (2) Pardon the criminals or at least commute their sentences. (3a) Their only skill is committing financial crimes, but (3b) they're not that good at it. (4) Wait till they get caught again, which they will. (5) Rinse & repeat. ~~~  

~~~ AP: “A New Jersey man whose lengthy prison sentence for fraud convictions was commuted by ... Donald Trump in 2021 is now headed back to federal prison for another fraud conviction. U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp, sitting in Trenton, handed down a 37-year sentence on Friday to Eliyahu 'Eli' Weinstein, 51, of Lakewood, who is also known as Mike Konig. Shipp also ruled that Weinstein must pay $44,294,803 in restitution, which is due immediately, according to court documents. Weinstein was convicted in March on charges he helped defraud dozens of investors out of $35 million. Prosecutors have said Weinstein and others falsely promised investors access to deals involving scarce medical supplies, baby formula and first-aid kits supposedly destined for wartime Ukraine. This marked the third time Weinstein had been convicted in a New Jersey federal court for defrauding investors. The first case involved a real estate Ponzi scheme, and the second stemmed from additional fraud he committed while on pretrial release.” Thanks to RAS for the lead.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “By any and every measure..., Donald Trump is the most corrupt person to ever sit in the Oval Office.... There is a real difference between the unseemly revolving door between business and government — the plum position on a corporate board or an easy lobbying gig — and a new status quo in which business leaders and heads of state give the president actual tribute in order to put themselves in the good graces of the White House.... Trump['s] ... effort to rule the United States as an autocrat is as much about clearing the way for a smash and grab as it is anything else.” The link is a gift link. Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: Donald “Trump's sweeping tariffs took a toll on trade in August, as imports dropped 5.1 percent, to $340.4 billion, after taxes on exports from roughly 90 countries went into effect on Aug. 7, newly released data from the Commerce Department showed Wednesday. U.S. exports were essentially flat, rising 0.1 percent to $280.8 billion. Because of the sharp fall in imports, the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services for the month also dropped sharply, shrinking nearly 24 percent, to $59.6 billion, compared with July. The data, which had been delayed by more than a month because of the government shutdown, gives the first look at trade patterns after Mr. Trump introduced what is effectively a new trading system for the United States.... Altogether, [the tariffs that went into effect August 7,) brought the U.S. effective tariff rate to more than 18 percent, the highest level since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale.”

Greg Jaffe of the New York Times: “Six Democratic lawmakers who served in either the military or the intelligence community are reminding their still-serving counterparts in a short online video that they are obligated to refuse illegal orders. The stark message, posted on Tuesday, was organized by Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former C.I.A. analyst who served multiple tours in Iraq. The lawmakers took turns reading a statement in which they cautioned that the 'threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.' 'Our laws are clear,' said Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a Navy veteran and former astronaut. 'You can refuse illegal orders.' 'You must refuse illegal orders,' added Representative Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, who also served in the Navy.... The video drew a sharp response from Trump administration officials, who charged that it was encouraging the military to rebel against its commander in chief. 'Democrat lawmakers are now openly calling for insurrection,' Stephen Miller..., [Donald] Trump’s deputy chief of staff, wrote on social media.” ~~~

     ~~~ You can watch the video here. 

Mike Isaac of the New York Times: “Lawrence H. Summers, the former Treasury secretary, will step down from the board of the artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI, he and the company said on Wednesday, after Congress released emails last week that showed Mr. Summers had regularly corresponded with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.... Mr. Summers was mentioned in emails with Mr. Epstein in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The two bantered over various topics, including commenting on the intelligence of women in general and frequently discussing Mr. Trump. In other exchanges, Mr. Summers appeared to ask Mr. Epstein’s advice on how to pursue a romantic relationship with Keyu Jin, who Mr. Summers described as a mentee. Dr. Jin, a former professor at the London School of Economics, is the daughter of Jin Liqun, a former high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party and banking executive. In the emails, Mr. Summers wrote to Mr. Epstein that he was effusive in his praise of Dr. Jin’s father and his work.” Politico's report is here.

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This week, some of us are watching Ken Burns' documentary on the American Revolution. Heather Cox Richardson recalls a short speech delivered by another person who remembered the Revolution: President Abraham Lincoln in his Gettsyburg Address, delivered on November 19, 1863: ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the full text of the address. ~~~ 

~~~ There is of course a startling contrast between Lincoln's proposition and the betrayal of the American promise we daily watch unfold in the house Lincoln once occupied. ~~~  

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: Donald “Trump welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s autocratic leader, to the White House on Tuesday, hailing him as a protector of human rights and a frequent phone friend. And in a remarkable Oval Office outburst, Mr. Trump defended him against a U.S. intelligence report that he had ordered the murder of a journalist. It was a chummy scene that underscored the president’s desire to maintain strong relations with Saudi Arabia during a tumultuous period in the Middle East. Mr. Trump’s defense of his guest obscured the crown prince’s role in cracking down on domestic dissent and in the killing and dismemberment of a Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, in 2018. 'We’ve been really good friends for a long period of time,' Mr. Trump told reporters, cabinet officials and members of the Saudi delegation who had gathered there. 'We’ve always been on the same side of every issue.'... As he berated a reporter for asking about Mr. Khashoggi’s murder and about people who have accused the Saudi government of supporting the hijackers behind the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Trump brushed off the killing, appearing even more agitated about the question than his guest of honor....

“On Tuesday, Mr. Trump heaped praise and state-dinner-style honors upon the crown prince.... When his guest arrived at the southern entrance of the White House, military officers on horseback trotted across the drive, flying Saudi and American flags. The treatment was more ostentatious than most visiting dignitaries receive, even for state visits. Adding to the ceremony was a military band, and a flyover that included several F-35 fighter jets. Mr. Trump said on Monday that he intended to sell the advanced aircraft to the Saudis, a decision that would need congressional approval. Other agreements came together, including one on artificial intelligence, a mutual defense pact and an agreement that would eventually offer Saudi Arabia access to the United States’ nuclear technology.”

     ~~~ Marie: When Trump says, "We’ve always been on the same side of every issue," I take that to mean that -- if he were able -- he wouldn't hesitate to order the murder & dismemberment of a reporter who questioned his actions. Evidence of my supposition appears below. ~~~

~~~ “Things Happen.” Michael Birnbaum, et al., of the Washington Post: “...  Donald Trump on Tuesday defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of Washington Post opinion columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying “things happen” and that he did not hold the Saudi leader responsible for the 2018 murder despite a U.S. intelligence report assessing the opposite. Trump’s dismissive language offered the highest-level confirmation yet that Mohammed will face few consequences for the killing, as the crown prince makes his first visit to Washington since Khashoggi was dismembered in a Saudi consulate in Turkey.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: “'Things happen.'... In an Oval Office meeting full of news-making moments, that comment by Mr. Trump was perhaps the most astonishing one....” Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Yes, yes, things happen. Sometimes in the normal course of a day you could stub your toe or get a parking ticket. Who knows? Sometimes you might find a pot of gold. And sometimes you walk into a meeting and darned if the people there don't kill you dead and cut your body into little pieces. Fortunately, we have a president* who is very philosophical about such things. ~~~

~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: “Almost immediately after the joint event began, Trump praised the Saudi leader for 'the job he’s done in terms of human rights and everything else.' Given the horrific human rights record Saudi Arabia has cultivated over the course of many years, the American president’s commendation was appalling.... Trump suggested that Khashoggi had it coming.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's an expanded citation of Trump's remarks on the assassination of Khashoggi (via the NYT): 'You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that." What Trump is saying is that if a person is controversial or unpopular, nobody should get bent out of shape if that person is murdered. ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: “The National Press Club criticized Mr. Trump’s remarks in a statement on Tuesday, saying that the death of Mr.  Khashoggi was 'a direct attack on press freedom.... Statements that appear to minimize or excuse the killing of a journalist have real-world consequences,' the group said. 'They can undermine the essential principle that journalists must be able to work without fear of violence or retribution.'” ~~~

~~~ He Can't Handle the Questions ~~~ 

~~~ Dominick Mastrangelo of the Hill: Donald “Trump attacked an ABC News reporter Tuesday after she asked about the Epstein files, threatening to have the network taken off the air for questioning him about the controversy. After White House reporter Mary Bruce asked about the 2018 death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump blasted her network as 'fake news' and called her 'one of the worst' reporters covering the West Wing. But it was Bruce’s question about why Trump has not released files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that set the president off. [MB: During the interview, Trump refers to] Brendan Carr, [his] Federal Communications Commission chair....” (Also linked yesterday.)  An AP story is here. ~~~

    ~~~ This is a seriously warped, foul, fetid, nasty narcissist who believes himself better than everyone.... He is a vile embarrassment to this country. --- Akhilleus, in yesterday's Comments ~~~

     ~~~ See also Marjorie Taylor Greene's comment on Trump, cited below. ~~~

     ~~~ Jeremy Barr of the Guardian: “Donald Trump, who has a history of making extremely personal attacks on female journalists, referred to a Bloomberg News correspondent as a 'piggy' during a clash onboard Air Force One on Friday. While the remark did not initially get much attention, it picked up some traction on Tuesday and has drawn backlash from fellow journalists, including some who have previously been attacked by Trump themselves.... 'Disgusting and completely unacceptable,' CNN anchor Jake Tapper wrote on X, sharing a clip of the incident. Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson also called the remark 'disgusting and degrading'.... In an interview with the Guardian, [former White House correspondent April] Ryan [-- whom Trump also subjected to his name-calling --] said that Trump’s attack on the Bloomberg reporter was beneath the dignity of the presidency.... [Elisa Lees Muñoz of the  International Women’s Media Foundation said,] 'His appearance-based insults are gendered attacks meant to shut women journalists up....'” 

Porkie Time. Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest. -- Karoline Levitt, statement to the New York Times ~~~ 

~~~ Vivian Nereim of the New York Times: “... the mixing of politics and profitmaking during ... [Donald] Trump’s second term has shattered American norms, shocking scholars who study ethics and corruption. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump [is meeting] with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, engaging in sensitive national security talks with a foreign leader who also oversees a major construction project, known as Diriyah, that is in talks over a potential deal with the Trump family business. Even if that deal never comes to fruition, the Trump family’s real estate and other business interests in Saudi Arabia have flourished during his second term. Since Mr. Trump’s election a year ago, Dar Global, a business partner of the Trump Organization that has close ties to the Saudi government, has announced at least four Trump-branded developments in Saudi Arabia. Other business deals involving Mr. Trump’s family and the Saudi government predate the election.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Russ Choma of Mother Jones outlines some of Trump's business dealings with Saudi Arabia. Or as his headline puts it, "Trump Meets Business Partner In the Oval Office." 

Tyler Pager, et al., of the New York Times: “With the largest U.S. aircraft carrier now positioned in the Caribbean..., [Donald] Trump has approved additional measures to pressure Venezuela and prepare for the possibility of a broader military campaign, according to multiple people.... Mr. Trump has signed off on C.I.A. plans for covert measures inside Venezuela, operations that could be meant to prepare a battlefield for further action, these people said. At the same time, they said, he has authorized a new round of back-channel negotiations that at one point resulted in President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela offering to step down after a delay of a couple of years, a proposal the White House rejected. It is not clear what the covert actions might be or when any of them might be carried out. Mr. Trump has not yet authorized combat forces on the ground in Venezuela....” ~~~

~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “Amid signs that ... [Donald] Trump is mulling sending U.S. troops into Venezuela to remove President Nicolás Maduro from power, the Trump administration has ... describ[ed] him as the leader of a drug cartel called Cartel de los Soles. That refrain comes from a range of critics including Marco Rubio..., who has accused Mr. Maduro of being 'the leader of the designated narcoterrorist organization Cartel de los Soles' and responsible for 'trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.' In July, the Trump Treasury Department officially labeled Cartel de los Soles a global terrorist entity. On Sunday, Mr. Rubio announced that the State Department would essentially do the same.... But ... Cartel de los Soles is not a literal organization, according to a range of specialists in Latin American criminal and narcotics issues.... 

“It is instead a figure of speech in Venezuela, dating back to the 1990s, for Venezuelan military officials corrupted by drug money, they say. The term, which means 'Cartel of the Suns,' is a mocking invocation of the suns Venezuelan generals wear to denote their rank, like American ones wear stars. It is for that reason that the D.E.A.’s annual National Drug Threat Assessment, which describes major trafficking organizations in detail, has never mentioned Cartel de los Soles. Nor has the annual 'World Drug Report” ' by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “‘Cartel de los Soles” is a label that was invented by Venezuelan journalists,' said Phil Gunson ... of the International Crisis Group.... '... There is no such animal. The organization doesn’t exist as such.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If Trump starts a war with Venezuela, it won't be a narco-war. It will be a Marco war. L'il Marco is leading Trump around by the nose on this. 

Juan Perez of Politico: “The Trump administration is implementing its widely-telegraphed plan to shutter the Education Department by transferring critical responsibilities to other federal agencies. Six department offices would be affected by plans to move operations to four separate agencies, according to two people....” (Also linked yesterday.)

He called me a traitor for standing with these women. Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. -- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, at a news conference with victims of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, speaking about Donald Trump, Tuesday ~~~

~~~⭐Jordain Carney, et al., of Politico: “The Senate moved swiftly to approve legislation Tuesday forcing the Justice Department to release more information about the case it built against the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — acting hours after an overwhelming House vote to send the bill to the desk of ... Donald Trump, who spent months trying to kill it. The Senate acted by unanimous consent, which requires signoff from every senator but does not require them to take a roll call vote. Earlier in the day, the House passed the bill on a 427-1 vote.... Tuesday’s votes caps off a months of drama among congressional Republicans and the White House over how to handle the Epstein files, pitting GOP lawmakers between Trump and their own base. That included a long campaign to circumvent House Republican leaders and White House officials who fought tooth and nail to convince members of their party to oppose the measure.... The issue proved increasingly toxic for Republicans — and Tuesday’s vote became inevitable.... Only Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), a fervent Trump loyalist, voted against it.” This is an update of a story linked earlier Tuesday afternoon. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “... the Epstein files — which carry with them a constant reminder of the president’s friendship with a sex offender — have dogged him in a way few other issues have. Nothing Mr. Trump has tried to do to get them out of the news has worked.” The rest of the article is today's Schoolhouse Rock on how a bill becomes a law. ~~~

~~~ Perry Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Justice Department so far has continued to say nothing about how it would respond to [Congress's] demand [to release the Epstein files]. There are many reasons to doubt that a bulk release of the files is imminent.... On Sunday, when Trump did an about-face and said House Republicans should vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files, he notably did not say he favored releasing them. Instead, he said in a social media post that the House 'can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!'... On Friday, Trump ordered [Attorney General Pam] Bondi to launch a new federal investigation related to Epstein — this one aimed at his ties to several prominent Democrats.... That investigation could become a reason for the Justice Department to block release of many files.... Bondi has also said many of the files cannot be released because they contain sensitive victim information and pornographic material.... There would not be much recourse for Congress if the Justice Department refused to hand over the files since the bill does not have any enforcement teeth.” ~~~

~~~ Megan Mineiro & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “The House on Tuesday defeated an attempt to censure Delegate Stacey Plaskett, Democrat of the Virgin Islands, for exchanging text messages with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing.... The 214-209 vote was mostly along party lines. No Democrat supported the effort, though Representative Marcy Kaptur, Democrat of Ohio, voted ‘present.’ Three Republicans, Representatives Lance Gooden of Texas, Andrew Garbarino of New York and David Joyce of Ohio voted against the measure. Another three Republicans voted 'present,' withholding their support from the G.O.P.-led attempt to formally reprimand Ms. Plaskett. The Republican push to punish Ms. Plaskett began after thousands of documents released last week by the House Oversight Committee included copies of text messages she exchanged with Mr. Epstein just before she was to question Michael Cohen, a former friend of Mr. Epstein’s, during a 2019 congressional hearing.” ~~~

     ~~~ According to Politico and the Hill, the three Republicans who voted with Democrats not to censure Plaskett were Don Bacon of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas and Dave Joyce of Ohio. Oh, Congress.gov concurs; Andrew Garbarino voted "present." MB: I wrote to one of the NYT reporters about what looks to me like an error. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The paper has made the correction to which I alerted a reporter, plus one I missed: “An earlier version of this article misstated the positions of Representatives Marcy Kaptur, Democrat of Ohio, and Andrew Garbarino, Republican of New York, on the censure resolution, and omitted one of the Republican opponents. Ms. Kaptur voted no, not present. Mr. Garbarino voted present, not no. One additional Republican, Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, also voted no.” They probably got a boatload of oopsie notes.

---

 

Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “The House on Tuesday officially rebuked Representative Jesús García, Democrat of Illinois, for maneuvering to hand-select his successor, as nearly two dozen House Democrats broke with their party to back a measure that prompted a bitter intraparty spat. The vote was 236 to 183 to pass a resolution by Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Democrat of Washington, that called the behavior of Mr. García 'beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the United States Constitution.' The measure was a rare instance of a lawmaker spearheading an effort to formally condemn a member of her own party, and it opened an angry rift among House Democrats. Most of them denounced Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez for introducing it.... But 22 of them crossed party lines to join Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez in support of her resolution. Another three Democrats voted present, declining to register a position.”

⭐Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: “In a stinging setback for ... Donald Trump and Republicans, a federal court on Tuesday blocked a newly drawn congressional map in Texas that Republicans hoped would have given them an edge in five more House seats. In a 2-1 ruling, a judicial panel issued a preliminary injunction blocking the new map and found the state had to instead use the map it drew in 2021. The ruling is a major victory for Democrats because it will likely allow them to hang onto five seats in next year’s midterm elections. Trump pressed Texas to take the unusual step of redrawing its map in the middle of the decade instead of waiting until the next census is complete in five years.” This is a breaking news story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Nick Corasaniti & David Goodman of the New York Times: “In a 160-page opinion, the court found that 'substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.'... Texas Republicans are likely to appeal Tuesday’s decision, and the case could ultimately make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.” Politico's story is here. The court's opinion & order, via the court system, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Yunior Rivas of Democracy Docket: “... the court found that a July letter sent by the U.S. Department of Justice ... effectively handed voting rights advocates a smoking gun proving it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. It’s a major embarrassment for ... Donald Trump’s handpicked Justice Department leaders including Attorney General Pam Bondi ... and Civil Rights division chief Harmeet Dhillon, a right-wing anti-civil-rights lawyer.... Dhillon insisted that, to address constitutional concerns, Texas had to dismantle minority coalition districts. The court found the directive illegible, legally unsupported, factually inaccurate and focused on race in ways that were constitutionally impermissible. 'It’s challenging to unpack the DOJ Letter because it contains so many factual, legal, and typographical errors,' the judges wrote. 'Indeed, even attorneys employed by the Texas Attorney General — who professes to be a political ally of the Trump Administration — describe the DOJ Letter as “legally unsound,” “baseless,” “erroneous,” “ham-fisted,” and “a mess.”' The judges noted that while Texas insisted the 2025 map was drawn for partisan reasons, the DOJ letter made no such claim and framed its demands entirely around race.” Marc Elias of Democracy Docket represents some of the plaintffs in the case. ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$ cites a big chunk of an article by Ian Millhiser of Vox, which is firewalled. Part of Millhiser's analysis: "Oops." Lemiuex, ever the realist, writes, "The most likely outcome here is that the Roberts Court uses the shadow docket to leap to the rescue of the Republican Party without having to explain itself. But I guess that there’s the possibility ... that there are limits to how ridiculous they’re willing to be made to look." ~~~

     ~~~ Chris Geidner, the Law Dork: "What about California? Tuesday’s Texas map ruling will have no effect — at least not directly — on California’s redistricting authorized under Proposition 50. The Trump administration intervened in a challenge to California’s post-Proposition 50 map, submitting its own complaint in the case. In it, DOJ alleges that the California redistricting is a racial gerrymander that violates the Equal Protection Clause and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Briefing is ongoing and a hearing on the preliminary injunction requests is set for December 3." ~~~

     ~~~ Geidner recommends an article about the California redistricting effort by Rick Hasen & Matthew Cooke. But it's published in Slate, so it's firewalled. However, Hasen has published a big chunk of it on his Election Law Blog. "... the point here is that it was California voters who made the ultimate call. And the evidence leaves no doubt they were acting as naked partisans, not motivated at all by the racial considerations necessary to make out a claim for racial gerrymandering as the Supreme Court has explained it...." ~~~  

~~~ MEANWHILE. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “A campaign to redraw Indiana’s congressional map to boost Republicans seemed to meet its end last week when a top Senate Republican said his chamber did not have the votes to pass new boundaries. But ... [Donald] Trump was not willing to let the issue go.... Over the weekend, Mr. Trump said he would support primary opponents against Indiana Republicans who bucked him on remapping. Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, soon issued a statement pledging to 'support President Trump’s efforts to recruit, endorse and finance primary challengers.'”

Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: “Meta did not break the law when it bought nascent rivals Instagram and WhatsApp, a federal judge said on Tuesday, handing a major win to the $1.51 trillion company and dealing a blow to the government’s efforts to rein in the power of tech giants. Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia said in an 89-page ruling that the company did not create a monopoly in social networking through the acquisitions. The Federal Trade Commission had sued Meta, accusing it of breaking antitrust law by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp in a 'buy or bury' strategy to cement its social networking dominance.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: It turns out there is a real J.D. Vance, someone who appears to have come by the name honestly. Other than that, he is not necessarily a better person than the JayDee with whom we are so unhappily familiar: ~~~

~~~ Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: “... J.D. Vance was sentenced on Monday to two years in prison in connection with threats made against the vice president and ... [Donald] Trump on social media. The man who made the threats, James Donald Vance Jr., 67, of Grand Rapids, Mich., pleaded guilty to three criminal counts in July, according to filings in U.S. District Court in Kalamazoo, Mich. Secret Service agents arrested Mr. Vance — not the vice president — in June after linking him to a series of social media posts in March and April on Bluesky in which he vowed to kill the president and vice president, the authorities said.... The vice president has had a number of names in his life....”

Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Dalliances. Monica Hesse of the Washington Post: Reporters Olivia Nuzzi & Ryan Lizza “helped shape our understanding of politics and politicians in the Trump era. They were also in love, sharing a Georgetown home and a glittering Washington social life as well as a fat contract with Simon & Schuster to co-write a postmortem on the 2020 presidential campaign. But both personal and professional relationships dissolved a little more than a year ago when it was revealed that Nuzzi had entered into a murky 'personal relationship' with vaccine-loathing E. coli-bather Robert F. Kennedy Jr.... She lost her job and parted ways with Lizza.... They both reappeared this week, each with their own literary account of the events.... [Nuzzi's] book got a big feature in the New York Times over the weekend, in addition to [an] excerpt in Vanity Fair.... Lizza wrote in a newsletter installment released Monday night and ominously labeled 'Part 1,' ... that Nuzzi was off having an affair with a presidential candidate three decades her senior.... He’s not even talking about RFK Jr. but about another prior dalliance...[:] former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford.”

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Minnesota. ICE Employee Caught in Sex Sting. Jonah Kaplan of WCCO Twin Cities: "More than a dozen men have been arrested after trying to solicit a minor for sex in Bloomington, Minnesota, police say. According to Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges, officers started the three-day sting on Nov. 5. They used several methods to find people who were attempting to solicit a 17-year-old girl for sex. In all, police arrested 16 men during the investigation... One of the men, [Hodges] said, is an employee for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who could face federal charges. Hodges said the ICE employee works as an auditor."

New York. Dana Rubenstein & Emma Fitzsimmons of the New York Times: “... in the waning weeks of [New York City Mayor Eric] Adams’s administration, the pace of [Mayor Adams's] travel is picking up and the city is footing much of the bill.... In the 48 days between Oct. 6, when he landed in Albania, and Sunday, when he is scheduled to return to New York, Mr. Adams will have spent roughly 27 percent of his time thousands of miles away from the city he governs. And there may be more mayoral travel in the offing: He has discussed with aides his desire to travel to several countries in Africa before his term expires Jan. 1. These journeys are not cheap, in part because he travels with a retinue: a security detail and a variable number of aides. Mr. Adams brought six advisers to Israel, one to Albania and one to Uzbekistan.... Mr. Adams has strenuously defended his mayoral wanderlust, waving off periodic questions about whether it was appropriate to be leaving New York City so frequently, especially after he was indicted on corruption charges that focused, in part, on improper foreign travel.”

Texas. Audrey McAvoy of the AP: “Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday declared one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the U.S. a 'foreign terrorist organization' under a proclamation that he said allows the state to try shutting them down. He also designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations 'a transnational criminal organization'  and said it would not be allowed to buy land in the state. The proclamation also included the Muslim Brotherhood. Neither the CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.”

Texas. Pooja Salhotra of the New York Times: “A federal judge ordered some public school districts in Texas on Tuesday to remove Ten Commandment displays from their classroom walls by next month, a victory for families who had argued that the posters infringed on their religious freedom. The ruling from Judge Orlando L. Garcia, of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, comes after Gov. Greg Abbott signed in June a law requiring school districts to display the Ten Commandments in a  'conspicuous location' in each classroom. The ruling applies to 14 public school districts, including ones in Fort Worth, Arlington and Conroe.”