Garrett Graff discusses the security surrounding the "Hinkley Hilton" last night.
Andrew Ackerman of the Washington Post: “Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) said Sunday he was satisfied that the Justice Department ended its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, clearing the way for Republicans to advance ... Donald Trump’s pick to lead the central bank, Kevin Warsh. 'I am prepared to move on with the confirmation of Mr. Warsh,' Tillis said on NBC’s 'Meet the Press.' Tillis had previously criticized the probe as an effort to pressure Powell to resign early and to erode the Fed’s ability to set interest rates free from White House interference. On Sunday, Tillis said he had assurances from officials that the case would be reopened only if the Fed’s internal watchdog found evidence of criminal wrongdoing.” An NBC News report is here. MB: I guess we'll see if Trump “officials” are as good as their word.
~~~~~~~~~~
Pooja Salhotra of the New York Times: “A California man was in custody in connection with the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton..., [Donald] Trump said during a news conference Saturday night. The man in custody has not been identified publicly by the authorities, but two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said that he is Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif. The officials asked to remain anonymous because they had not been authorized to disclose the information. The suspect, who was apprehended by the Secret Service, was being charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and with assault of a federal officer, said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. She did not name the suspect, but said he would be arraigned on Monday in Federal District Court and that additional charges were expected. The suspect exchanged gunfire with authorities before being brought under control by the Secret Service. He did not reach the ballroom where [Mr.] Trump and hundreds of members of the media were gathered for the annual event, said the Washington police chief, Jeffery W. Carroll, in a separate news conference Saturday night.” The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “Even if the new ballroom were built, it’s not at all clear that a future White House correspondents’ dinner would be held there. The dinner is a private event, not a government function. That question, however, did not slow the chorus of conservative officials and right-wing commentators who seized on the shooting to argue for the $400 million project.” MB: Oh, it's clear enough to me. Trump would rent out the ballroom to the highest bidder and pocket the receipts on the theory that the ballroom is part of his residence (not that his residence is part of "the People's House"). You know, just as he does at Mar-a-Lardo, his main second home. Cha-ching. Update: See also Patrick's commentary below; he has some specifics on how the scam would work.
Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post describe the chaos that ensued after shots could be heard. The AP has numerous photos of the evacuation here.
Shawn McCreesh & Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald Trump “argued [that] the whole thing was just the latest example of why he needs to build his maximum-security, legally challenged ballroom at the White House. 'I didn’t want to say this,' he said, 'but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a larger room, and it’s a much more secure. It’s got — it’s drone proof, it’s bulletproof glass.'... All week long he had been aiming screeds at the news outlets in the room, but now he was praising the reporters before him, complimenting their outfits, using a polite tone of voice and thanking them for their work. 'You’ve been very responsible in your coverage,' he said.... This was definitely not the message he had planned to deliver to the media [last] night. He said he was going to make what he called the 'most inappropriate speech ever made,' and sounded a bit disappointed that he had been robbed of that opportunity.”
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “The storming of a security checkpoint on Saturday evening by an armed man at the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was the third time in three years that Mr. Trump had faced danger. During the 2024 campaign, he survived two assassination attempts, including a bullet grazing his ear in Butler, Pa.... The outburst of violence is sure to revive questions about the scourge of political violence afflicting the United States, and about whether there is enough security around Mr. Trump, one of the most targeted presidents in history.... There were no metal detectors set up at the hotel’s entrances, and a secure perimeter was only established closer to the ballroom deeper inside the Washington Hilton. A security video posted by Mr. Trump showed the gunman sprinting past the security checkpoint before being captured short of the ballroom....
“Asked on Saturday why he believed he was so often the target of violence, Mr. Trump said it was because of the consequential nature of his presidency. 'I studied assassinations, and I must tell you the most impactful, the people that do the most' are targeted, Mr. Trump said, adding: 'The people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact — they’re the ones that they go after.'”
~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said Saturday that he views his repeated brushes with violence as a sign of his historic significance and is determined not to let the dangers affect him.... 'I’ve studied assassinations, and I must tell you, the most impactful people, the people that do the most ... they’re the ones that they go after,' Trump told reporters at the White House soon after a shooting suspect was apprehended. 'And I hate to say I’m honored by that, but I’ve done a lot.' Trump mentioned Abraham Lincoln, but not Ronald Reagan, who was injured in a shooting outside the same hotel in 1981.... 'I’m here to do a job. As part of the job — it is a dangerous — I can’t imagine that there’s any profession that’s more dangerous. But I love the country, and I’m very proud.'”
Eric Tucker & Alanna Richer of the AP: “The accused gunman who tried to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives traveled across the country before the event and is believed to have been targeting members of the Trump administration, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday. Blanche also said officials believe the suspect traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, where he checked in as a guest to the hotel where one of Washington’s glitziest events was being held Saturday night.” ~~~
An Unusual (Alleged!) Gunman. Joe Marino, et al., of the New York Post: “The gunman who opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night has been identified as Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif. — with ... [Donald] Trump calling him a likely 'lone wolf whack job' who 'looked pretty evil.'... A LinkedIn profile matching his name and photo described him as a teacher at C2 Education, a tutoring and test prep company. C2 awarded him the 'teacher of the month' in December 2024, according to social media posts. Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, according to the LinkedIn profile. A spokeswoman for Caltech told the New York Times that a person named Cole Allen had earned an undergraduate degree in 2017....”
See the top of yesterday's page for numerous updates from a New York Times liveblog of developments. Also linked is the AP liveblog of developments. Two related videos are embedded.
Trump Stops Jarhead & Witless on the Tarmac. Luke Broadwater & Pranav Baskar of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Saturday abruptly called off a trip by two of his top negotiators to Islamabad, Pakistan, the latest sign that Iran and the United States remain far apart on a deal to end the war. The president said he pulled his team from the flight shortly before takeoff, and he told the Iranians they could negotiate by telephone instead. 'They can call me,' Mr. Trump told reporters. 'We have all the cards. We’ve won everything.' Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, had been scheduled to travel to Pakistan on Saturday, along with top aides to Vice President JD Vance, who participated in talks in the Pakistani capital earlier this month.” This is a revision and extension of an item in yesterday's liveblog of developments in the war, linked here yesterday. ~~~
~~~ Susannah George, et al., of the Washington Post: “The scrapped U.S. trip cast more uncertainty over Trump’s efforts to end the war he launched alongside Israel in late February. saying he wanted 'freedom' for the Iranian people and vowing to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” Politico's story is here. Barak Ravid has the story for Axios.
Alan Rappeport & Ephrat Livni of the New York Times: “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared in mid-April that the United States would not extend a waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil. Two days later, on a Friday evening, the Treasury Department quietly issued another 30-day reprieve.... The White House and Treasury Department had no comment on whether the decision ... came directly from ... [Donald] Trump.... Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned the waiver, saying, 'Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war.' Senate Democrats called the 180-degree reversal a 'shameful' decision. Then, on Friday, Mr. Bessent told The Associated Press that the United States did not plan to renew the waiver for sales of Russian oil another time. The current waiver ends on May 16.
“The about-face on Russian oil sanctions underscored the haphazard state of U.S. statecraft as the Trump administration confronts the fallout from the war it and Israel started with Iran. While the United States could once use its financial might to cripple the economies of adversaries, countries such as Russia and Iran have been using their leverage in energy markets to fight back.... The Trump administration rolled out a blitz of sanctions on Friday, targeting 40 shipping firms and vessels that it identified as part of Iran’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers as it broadened its efforts to cripple the Iranian economy. The administration also imposed sanctions on an independent Chinese refinery, Hengli Petrochemical Refinery, which is one of Iran’s largest customers for crude oil and other petroleum products.”
Here's what the Reflecting Pool looked like on a sunny day:
~~~ IOW, it won't reflect much. But it will be rather garish during daylight hours. ~~~
~~~ Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump this week unveiled his rapid project to resurface the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool, saying that a contractor convinced him to use 'American Flag Blue' to cover the pool’s basin.... Major projects on the National Mall are supposed to undergo reviews by federal panels, receive public input and potentially require congressional authorization — none of which appears to have happened with this project.... Some historic preservationists and other experts warned that Trump’s renovations could distort the experience for visitors. Charles A. Birnbaum, who heads the Cultural Landscape Foundation..., noted that the neutral colors used for the pool’s basin were intended to convey greater depth and reflection that could now be threatened by the president’s changes.... But the pool has long been plagued by leaks, algae and other problems that have forced frequent cleanings and multiple renovation projects. The Obama administration announced its own reconstruction of the pool in April 2009, a process that ultimately took several years and cost $34 million.”
The Most Corrupt Administration in U.S. History, Ctd. , et al., of the New York Times: “To build his mammoth White House ballroom..., [Donald] Trump last summer chose Maryland-based Clark Construction. Since then, Mr. Trump has repeatedly sung the company’s praises, even saying he wanted it to refurbish projects all over Washington. In January, government documents show, the Trump administration secretly gave the company a no-bid contract to do another job at a sharply inflated price. The National Park Service wanted to repair two ornamental fountains in Lafayette Park, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. The Biden administration in 2022 had estimated the work would cost $3.3 million. But Mr. Trump’s government agreed to pay Clark $11.9 million to do it, and later added tasks that increased the contract to $17.4 million, the documents show....
“By law, federal agencies are generally supposed to seek competing bids to find the vendor that provides the best deal.... On Friday, Mr. Trump took credit for the repairs. 'The first time Lafayette Park Fountains, opposite the White House, have worked in decades,' he wrote on social media. 'My Great Honor to have funded this project (and many others!), and helped.'... The bill for the fountain repairs is being paid by the government.... Contracting experts said ... that the government had repeatedly used unusual procedures to bypass competition for the project and increase the price it expected to pay.” Thanks to RAS for this gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: So Trump breaks the law by letting a no-bid contract, then inflates the price several times, breaking the law again and again. Then he lies and says he paid for it. He also implied that Clark Construction was building the ballroom for free. That isn't true, either.
Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: “Multiple scientists who serve on an independent board established to guide the nation’s nearly $9 billion basic science funding agency were terminated from their positions Friday by ... Donald Trump. Members of the National Science Board, which helps govern the National Science Foundation, were dismissed in a message from the Presidential Personnel Office thanking them for their service.... The NSF has a long history of supporting technology and research that powers many innovations the world relies on today.... In the president’s budget request last year, there was a proposed 55 percent cut to NSF’s budget. Congress rejected those cuts. The president’s budget request for fiscal year 2027 also proposes a deep cut to NSF.... The shake up on the National Science Board is similar to changes seen on other science-related advisory boards in the federal government since Trump took office for his second term.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)
The Cruel Avarice of Us. Stephanie Nolen of the New York Times: “During ... [Donald] Trump’s first month in office, his administration upended much of the flagship global H.I.V. program that had saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Zambia. The Zambian government went into emergency mode, desperate to ensure that people with the virus could continue to receive lifesaving medications. But other crucial aspects of the program had to be scrapped — interventions that had helped stop the spread of the virus and protected the most vulnerable people.... Today, a pared-down system is operating on reduced U.S. support, and Zambia may lose that help entirely in the next few days. The Trump administration has set an April 30 deadline for the Zambian government to accept a new health funding agreement that is tied to giving the United States expanded access to the country’s mineral resources.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: This "agreement" may happen. (A "contract" is not a contract if one of the parties forces the other to sign it.) A new administration won't change it. We will quietly exploit Zambian natural resources, and the press will ignore it. We will forget about it.
Justin Scheck, et al., of the New York Times: “Every year, the United States Mint sells more than $1 billion of investment-grade gold coins. Each is stamped with an icon like the bald eagle, signifying the government’s guarantee, required by law, that the gold is 100 percent American. 'To hold a coin or medal produced by the Mint is to connect to the founding principles of our nation,' the Mint declares. But a New York Times investigation has found that the government’s program of gold sales is based on a lie. The Mint is actually the last link in a chain that launders foreign gold, much of it illegally mined, for an insatiable market. The Mint buys gold that originates in a Colombian drug cartel mine. It makes Lady Liberty coins out of gold from Mexican and Peruvian pawn shops and from a Congolese mine that is part-owned by the Chinese government, records show. Some Mint gold has come from a company in Honduras that dug up an Indigenous graveyard for the ore underneath.
“Congress in 1985 prohibited the Mint from making bullion out of foreign gold because it wanted to insulate the process from human rights abuses, primarily in apartheid South Africa. The Mint has flouted that law, across Democratic and Republican administrations, despite internal warnings.... The Mint, the biggest name in the global market for investment gold coins, is an example of how the industry’s guardrails have collapsed.... Now, even ... [Donald] Trump’s 24-karat gold coin, commemorating the United States’ 250th birthday, could come from a swirl of non-American gold from any number of sources.” MB: Well, at least that last bit is appropriate. The link is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Federico Rios of the New York Times finds a cartel-run mine operating on a Colombian army base: a harrowing story. ~~~
~~~ Justin Scheck has more on how the Times reporters traced a source of the gold: “... the U.S. Treasury, which overseas the Mint, denied there was any systemic problem.... After we presented our findings, a Treasury spokeswoman said the department is investigating the Mint’s gold procurement and has tightened its sourcing standards to make sure the United States is the 'primary' source of the gold the mint buys.” MB: Very reassuring.
Sophie Hurwitz of Mother Jones: “The US Department of Justice announced Friday that it plans to revive the firing squad as a method of killing in federal capital cases. In a 52-page memo, the department expanded the ways it can apply the death penalty to include using a group of executioners to simultaneously shoot at a condemned person.... The execution of Mikal Mahdi in South Carolina last year was only the fifth such killing since 1976; his lawyers later said the bullets mostly missed Mahdi’s heart, leaving him to die in a manner that violated the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Jim Craig, a lawyer with the MacArthur Justice Center..., [said,] 'The proposal ... is characterized by their attraction to brutality. It’s characterized by their affection for causing visible harm to people. You see it in their foreign policy. You see it in their policing. The firing squad is very physical and visceral in the damage that it does to the person being executed.... They like it because it’s the same kind of video game brutality that they like in every other context of this administration’s barbarism.”
Andrew Weissmann, writing in Just Security, explains why the DOJ's case against the Southern Poverty Law Center appears to be bogus. "On its own terms, the indictment is frail and deficient. Time will tell if this is not worth the paper it is written on, and is serving a very different extra-legal purpose."
Linda Qiu of the New York Times: “... the decline of more than three million [food stamp recipients] since Mr. Trump took office to December 2025 is the result of some of the most consequential changes and the largest funding cut to the program since its inception. Through legislation and regulatory tweaks over the past year, the administration and its allies in Congress have achieved a long-held conservative goal of shrinking the safety net, reshaping how the federal government defines need for low-income beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Among the alterations: who is eligible, who must work to receive benefits, how much beneficiaries will receive, what can be purchased, what grocery stores that accept SNAP must stock on shelves, how states and counties administer the program and how much localities are paid by the federal government.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: When Republicans declare they're opposed to red tape/government regulations because they're so committed to a free market economy, laugh in their faces.
Susanne Craig & Kirsten Grind of the New York Times (April 24): “Over ... three years [beginning in 2018, Elon], Musk borrowed a total of $500 million from his company [SpaceX]. The loan terms were significantly lower than what most banks offered, with an interest rate that fluctuated from less than 1 percent to nearly 3 percent, according to internal SpaceX documents.... The documents did not say how Mr. Musk planned to use the money, which he paid back to SpaceX by the end of 2021. The loans and their exceptionally kind terms, which are not permitted at public companies, were possible only because SpaceX is privately held. They were just one way Mr. Musk has used SpaceX as a kind of piggy bank over the last two decades.... Mr. Musk not only secured loans from SpaceX to himself, but also relied on the firm to shore up at least three troubled businesses in his orbit, The Times found.... The moves benefited Mr. Musk personally and his other businesses to an unusual degree.... Some SpaceX investors — including Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel — have at times been concerned that Mr. Musk prioritized his interests to the detriment of other shareholders....”
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel. Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: “For months, President Isaac Herzog of Israel has deliberated over the politically fraught question of whether to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a pardon in his long-running corruption trial. It’s a highly contentious issue that has divided Israelis and drawn pressure from ... [Donald] Trump, who has aggressively intervened on Mr. Netanyahu’s behalf. But Mr. Herzog does not plan to give Mr. Netanyahu a pardon anytime soon. Instead he will first try to initiate a mediation process to reach a plea deal, according to two senior Israeli officials with direct knowledge of Mr. Herzog’s thinking. Mr. Herzog, the officials said, believes that there are many options beyond the binary pardon-or-no-pardon choice, and that the main role of Israel’s president is to foster unity.”
13 comments:
Great. Another opportunity for Fatty to play the brave martyr. "I fought like hell to go back, but they wouldn't let me..." Oh Jesus...please shut up.
He just can't help with the outrageous lies. When talking about this construction company he's handing extra millions to on an illegal no-bid contract, he says "They offered to do it for nothing. 'Please, sir, we'll do it for nothing. It would be a great honor.'"
Another "Sir" tale. Such a giveaway. And please to be telling me how fixing a couple of fountains constitutes a national emergency.
And not for nothin', but fountains and all this bullshit complaining about how dirty the reflecting pool is on the National Mall and how his Arc de Trump will fix everything.....we are in the middle of a war that is causing international economic distress, our own economy is in the shitter, the government is practically non-existent in many areas. He doesn't have better things to do?
And the latest in the "All the Best People" round up....the DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism is taking gifts from a sugar daddy?
"Robert Bianchi, who owns a federal defense contracting firm in Maryland that’s raked in tens of millions of dollars worth of government of contracts in two years, had a three-month fling with DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism Julia Varvaro — but the relationship “ended badly,” sources claim.
That implosion resulted in Bianchi filing a complaint with the DHS Office of Inspector General to review Varvaro’s conduct — including her allegedly maintaining a profile on the so-called “sugar daddy” website Seeking and having smoked marijuana while serving in the Trump administration."
You would have to work really hard to surround yourself with so many losers, liars, grifters, layabouts, and crooks, but for Trump, it's a piece of cake, just another day in Fat Hitler's Turd Reich.
More on "All the Best People"...this time, with lifetime appointments....
"All 40 of [Trump’s] nominees--every single one-- to lifetime federal judgeships so far have given misleading or false responses to questions about the 2020 election in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Demand Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group, has been analyzing judicial nominees’ written responses to questions from senators on the panel and found they are nearly identical in their strangely worded, evasive characterizations of the election.
All have been directly asked by the committee, “Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?” Instead of just saying yes, they have either pointed to Biden’s “certification” by Congress or said Biden “served” as president. Both responses allow them to skip the part about Biden actually winning the election and move on to him simply becoming president."
Even his phony judges are fucking liars. Can't imagine how honest and just their rulings from the bench will be for the next 20-30 years.
When I saw the news of the gunman at the WHCD, my first thought was that it was staged. My second thought after t**** used it as a justification for building a larger security entrance to the White House is that it really was staged. At least the gunman was nice enough to shoot someone in the vest, and the SS tackled him and took him into custody.
And NYT reporter Luke Broadwater writing "...including a bullet grazing his ear in Butler, Pa" without including the word "allegedly" is irresponsible, unless pictures of the injured ear and miraculous recovery have been posted and I missed them.
DiJiT claims that his bigballroom is needed for prezdenshul events like the WHCA Dinner. That implies that the annual event should be held at the WH, every year. Such venues do not go for free ... and the rates are usually so high as to discourage frequent use. The catering and security costs are fixed, no other providers allowed. Watch this space - DiJiT and friends will try to set up the National Mall Trust as the owner (not GSA, the General Services Administration, which owns most fed real estate) and use the site to squeeze big buck supplicants. A permanent bribery opportunity grift.
No sensible person would call my life a high class operation. I've been known to be rude, thoughtless and occasionally downright cantankerous. Certainly, in my mother's eyes, often socially inappropriate.
But one thing I hope I"m not is tacky. Gold toilets, Arcs de Drumphs, and reflecting pools that look like they've been treated with toilet bowl cleaner and don't reflect?
Makes me want to demonstrate how low class I really am. But it's Sunday, so I'll spare you all.
@Nisky Guy: I would agree with your cynical take -- except I'm more cynical than you are. I don't think it's been established yet (or at least it hasn't been made public yet) who shot the security guard. It could have been "friendly fire."
"Karoline Leavitt being interviewed by FoxNews: “There will be shots fired” tonight."
Why is the president* who encourages the most violence and celebrates the most violence routinely part of the violence? Asks a press who doesn't want confront the true reasons for the increase in political violence in the last decade.
So the gunman is a white graduate of CIT? Doesn't seem like a product of that scary DEI, does he?
Meritocracy all the way.
Tillis may want ask Fat Hitler about that "dropped" case.
"Trump: Jerome Powell Investigation Is “Not Dropped”
“Well, I wanna find out — you know, it’s not dropped. What I wanna look at is, how can a building that I could have done for $25 million cost $4 billion? That’s a big thing, and he was in charge. So, we’ll get to the bottom of it.
“I think Jeanine was fantastic, and she worked with other people on that. I tell you, I want to find out — I have an obligation to find out — this was done during Biden — but I have an obligation to find out — I would have done that building for $25 million, had money left over, and it would have been open a long time ago. I want to find out because, for the country."
The press knows who is really to blame... it is you and me and those darn Democrats pointing out all the illegal and inhumane things Trump and his minions do.
"BASH: You and your fellow Democrats have used some heated rhetoric against the president. Do you think twice about that when something like that happens?
RASKIN: What rhetoric do you have in mind?
BASH: That he's terrible for this country and so on and so forth"
Though of course Bash can't think of or doesn't want to say what she thinks is an egregious violation of social norms from the Democrats because she knows anything she says will be dwarfed by the daily sewage coming out of Trump and company.
This also connects to this "Think of the poor billionaires and their safety" story about Mamdani highlighting taxes on the ultra rich. Just talking about the rich and powerful is violence against those in power. And Democrats should just shut up and allow those people to go about their lives screwing people over without highlighting it for everybody to know/think about.
Post a Comment