May 7, 2026

⭐Pema Levy of Mother Jones: "When the Supreme Court delivered a death blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act last month, endangering the project of multiracial democracy that flowed from the Second Reconstruction of the 1960s, it did so by using many of the same logical — and illogical — devices the high court deployed to help end the first Reconstruction. From the late 19th century, the Roberts court borrowed the false naïveté and judicial supremacy that define some of that era’s darkest opinions. There are obvious echoes between Louisiana v. Callais, in which Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion finished off the VRA, and the notorious Plessy v. Ferguson decision, in which the court blessed Jim Crow. The Roberts court is in many respects a neoconfederate court, and it repeatedly applies the tactics and ideas of the 1880s and 1890s court, whose members likewise could not abide a robust vision of equality.... Just as Plessy denied the discriminatory reality of segregation..., Callais ignores the inseparability of race and party affiliation, asserting that partisan gerrymandering is race-neutral when it is demonstrably not."

Alabama. Come Hell or High Water. Anna Barrett & Andrea Tinker of the Alabama Reflector: "The Alabama Legislature on Wednesday passed legislation that could set new primary dates for the state amid protests within the Statehouse and flooding that led the Alabama Senate to quickly pass its bill before a mass evacuation of the building. HB 1 ... would allow for a new special election if the U.S. Supreme Court lifts an injunction preventing the state from redrawing congressional maps before 2030. SB 1 ... affects two Montgomery-area Senate districts. The legislation drew sharp criticism from Democrats, who said the bills aimed to reduce Black political representation in the Legislature.... House members debated for five hours over the measure. 

"The Senate late Wednesday appeared to be heading for a similarly lengthy debate. But a storm ... led to flooding in the building, which prompted an abrupt end of debate and a vote on the bill. Water burst into the first floor of the building around 5 p.m. and flooded the area around the Statehouse. Staff and lawmakers’ cars swam in the lowered parking deck behind the Statehouse. There was water pouring in from the sides of glass doors into the hallway of the first floor." Thanks to RAS for the link. See also RAS' commentary in Thursday's thread.

Trump Is Still Lying His Fat Ass Off. Warren Strobel, et al., of the Washington Post: “A confidential CIA analysis delivered to administration policymakers this week concludes that Iran can survive the U.S. naval blockade for at least three to four months before facing more severe economic hardship, four people familiar with the document said, a finding that appears to raise new questions about ... Donald Trump’s optimism on ending the war. The analysis by the U.S. intelligence community, whose secret assessments on Iran have often been more sober than the administration’s public statements, also found that Tehran retains significant ballistic missile capabilities despite weeks of intense U.S. and Israeli bombardment, three of the people familiar with it said.” The link is a gift link.

Tony Romm of the New York Times: “A panel of federal judges on Thursday found ... [Donald] Trump had violated the law when he imposed a 10 percent tariff on most U.S. imports, dealing yet another legal setback to the White House in its efforts to wage a trade war without the express permission of Congress. In a split ruling, the Court of International Trade found that Mr. Trump had wrongly invoked a decades-old trade law when he applied those duties beginning in February. The president imposed the levies after his previous set of punishing tariffs was struck down by the Supreme Court. The decision appeared to place, for now, strict new limits on Mr. Trump’s trade powers, which he has wielded aggressively in the hopes of resetting relationships with allies and adversaries, raising new revenue and encouraging more domestic manufacturing. The next steps in the case are less clear, given that the administration always envisioned the across-the-board tariff as a temporary solution, one that would buy time for Mr. Trump to craft a perhaps more lasting set of higher rates using other legal authorities.”

The FBI Director Is Huddled in a Closet in the Fetal Position. Carol Leonnig & Ken Dilanian of MS NOW: "FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the polygraphing of more than two dozen former and current members of his security detail, as well as other staff, and has been described as being in panic mode to save his job and find leakers among his team, according to two people briefed on the development. Patel walled himself off from some senior bureau leaders this week after multiple media reports raised red flags about his leadership, according to three people familiar with his recent actions. Two of the people told MS NOW that the director ordered the polygraphing this week of former and current security detail members, as well as several information technology staff. The director has also avoided meeting this week with some key operational leaders of the bureau, the people said, raising concerns inside the FBI about Patel’s ability to stay abreast of pressing threats and investigations in order to make the best decisions.”  

Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “A federal appeals court panel signaled on Thursday that it would not clear the way for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to punish Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, for warning active-duty service members not to follow illegal orders. Two of the three judges on the panel that heard the case appeared likely to side with Mr. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut who has sued Mr. Hegseth.... That would be enough to uphold a federal judge’s ruling from February that the Trump administration had 'trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees' in seeking to penalize him for his comments. The Justice Department had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn the lower court’s order. That ruling had temporarily blocked Mr. Hegseth from disciplining the senator for his remarks in a video released in November with several other Democratic members of Congress who served in the military or intelligence agencies. 'Our laws are clear,' Mr. Kelly said in the video. 'You can refuse illegal orders.' After ... [Donald] Trump accused Mr. Kelly of sedition and called for him to be hanged, Mr. Hegseth echoed the accusation, censured the senator and initiated a disciplinary procedure that could result in the reduction of his military rank and pension.”

Tennessee Erases All the Black People, Ctd. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: “Gov. Bill Lee [R] of Tennessee signed a new congressional map into law on Thursday that slices up Memphis to scatter Black voters into neighboring districts, a move intended to eliminate the state’s last Democratic House seat. It is the first map crafted since the Supreme Court weakened the remaining provision of the Voting Rights Act, by making it difficult for states to craft majority-minority districts that would not be considered racial gerrymanders.... The new map, passed over angry, loud protests that sought to at least slow the vote, splits Memphis and Shelby County into three separate districts, blasting apart the seat of Representative Steve Cohen, Tennessee’s last House Democrat. It also aims to shore up the seat of Representative Andy Ogles, a Republican who was facing a well-funded Democratic challenger, by shifting the boundaries around the liberal city of Nashville. Mr. Lee’s signature came just hours after the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly approved the new maps.” Politico's report is here.

Motoko Rich of the New York Times: “Amid growing tensions between ... [Donald] Trump and Pope Leo XIV, the pontiff met privately with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican on Thursday morning. They discussed 'the situation in the Middle East and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere,' according to a statement from Tommy Pigott, the spokesman for the State Department. The meeting, in the pope’s private library at a palace that overlooks St. Peter’s Basilica, took place days after ... [Mr.] Trump escalated his attacks on Leo, who has consistently criticized the U.S.-Israeli-led war in Iran.” MB: I hope the Pope didn't take Mario's confession because Leo probably would have assigned Mario enough penance to keep him busy for rest of his life atoning for the sins he's committed since January 2025. (And don't be getting after me for casting the first stone; I'm hardly without sin, but I would have a helluva time catching up to Mario's catalog of transgressions.) 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Just as Donald Trump is of the impression that Article II of the Constitution gives him a right to do whatever he wants in the U.S., so too does U.S. military might give him the option to do whatever he wants all over the world. This particular misimpression is not working out well for him -- or for us. It is not only the Iranians who have either ideas. So too do the Saudis, the Israelis and most of the rest of the world. 

Trump's hyperbole is so laughable, he sounds like a comedian making a satirical remark. Heather Cox Richardson: “On social media, Trump’s account continued to whipsaw between pressing for an end to the war and threatening apocalyptic destruction if Iran doesn’t agree to U.S. demands. 'Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption,' he wrote, 'the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran. If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP'.”

     ~~~ Marie: “Legendary Epic Fury?” Good grief! If I spoke of my “legendary backhand” or my “legendary wit” or whatever, I'd be making fun of myself for some flub. But poor ole Trump is serious. He means to say that Epic Fury (a hilarious name in and of itself) actually is legendary -- which is temporally impossible inasmuch as a two-month-old project isn't old enough to be a legend. BTW, read on in Richardson's post: I would have guessed the speaker of Iran's parliament -- Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf -- was a sober-sided cutthroat; apparently he is a ruthless, corrupt tyrant and generally horrible human being. But he does know how to make fun of Trump.    

MBS Is Not Cooperating with Donald's Erratic Program. Mosheh Gains, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after a key Gulf ally suspended the U.S. military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two U.S. officials. Trump surprised Gulf allies by announcing “Project Freedom” on social media Sunday afternoon, the officials said, angering leadership in Saudi Arabia. In response, the Kingdom informed the U.S. it would not allow the U.S. military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase southeast of Riyadh or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort, the officials said. A call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue, the two U.S. officials said, forcing the president to pause Project Freedom in order to restore U.S. military access to the critical airspace."

Bibi Is Not Cooperating with Donald's Erratic Program. Suzan Haidamous, et al., of the Washington Post: “Israeli forces launched an airstrike against a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in Beirut’s southern suburbs Wednesday, the first attack near the Lebanese capital since the start of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire last month. 'No terrorist has immunity; the long arm of Israel will reach every enemy and murderer,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The identity of the target was not immediately clear. A Hezbollah official told The Washington Post that there appeared to be fatalities and a search-and-rescue operation was underway.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Yesterday' New York Times liveblog of developments in the Iran war are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Donald in Fantasyland. Qasim Nauman & Erica Green: Donald “Trump pressed Iran on Wednesday to agree to a peace plan, issuing fresh threats even as an Iranian official dismissed a proposal to end the war as a 'list of American wishes.' The conflicting accounts of diplomacy came a day after Mr. Trump abruptly paused a U.S. military operation to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing what he said was “great progress” in talks. In public, there was little sign that the weeks of diplomacy aimed at reaching a deal to reopen the vital waterway and end the war were bearing fruit. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Mr. Trump offered safe passage for vessels through the strait if Iran 'agrees to give what has been agreed,' without elaborating. 'If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,' he threatened, warning that further U.S. attacks would be 'at a much higher level and intensity.'... Earlier Wednesday, oil prices fell sharply after Mr. Trump announced that the United States was pausing its days-old naval operation to escort ships through the strait.”

This seems to be another part of Trump's program to pretend we're winning his war against Iran: ~~~

~~~ Evan Hill, et al., of the Washington Post: “Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East since the war began, hitting hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defense equipment, according to a Washington Post analysis of satellite imagery. The amount of destruction is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government or previously reported. The threat of air attacks rendered some of the U.S. bases in the region too dangerous to staff at normal levels, and commanders moved most of the personnel from these sites out of the range of Iranian fire at the start of the war, officials have said.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: I accidentally clicked on this firewalled Daily Beast column, so I'll go with it: ~~~

     ~~~ David Rothkopf of the Daily Beast: "Not since Vietnam have we seen a more systematic effort by an administration to lie about the nature, costs, consequences, and results of a war than we have seen from the White House on Iran. What we have here is an illegal, unnecessary war wrapped in a strategic fiasco inside a huge cover-up. At any other time in our history, the scope and scale of this would generate a scandal, major congressional hearings, and, in the end, result in the likely firing of the Secretary of Defense. Senior military officers, should they be found to have aided and abetted in the cover-up, would also be forced out of their jobs.... [The Post's] revelations alone would be enough to trigger outrage at any other time in history." Rothkopf goes on to outline the essential lies Trump & Hegseth tell about the war, their rationales and the war's progress. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Donnie & Pete's lies about war show the efficacy of lying about everything all the time. By the time they got to lying about a hot war, everybody expected them to lie, so the lies themselves are not even vaguely shocking. 

How Trump's Predictable Blunders Are Helping China Beat the U.S. Alexandra Stevenson & Murphy Zhao of the New York Times: “As the war in Iran drags on, China has deepened its influence with fuel-starved neighbors, offering to ease shortages while pushing its renewable energy technology.... Unlike the rest of the region, China is dealing from a position of strength. It is the world’s largest importer of crude oil, but it has amassed huge reserves, spent decades reducing its dependence on foreign oil and poured hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy technology.... Since the war began, Beijing has held high-level talks with officials from the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh. 

“China’s message has been consistent: It did not start the war and does not want the Strait of Hormuz closed off — but it does offer an alternative to fossil fuels. Beijing has cast itself as the leader of a future powered by renewable and domestically sourced energy, in contrast to ... [Donald] Trump’s embrace of oil and natural gas, which leaves much of the world exposed to volatility in regions like the Middle East.”

Adam Sella of the New York Times: “The U.S. military said on Tuesday that it had struck another boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three people and bringing the death toll to at least 190 in the monthslong campaign against those who the United States alleges are engaged in drug smuggling at sea. U.S. Southern Command, led by Gen. Francis L. Donovan of the Marine Corps, announced the attack in a social media post on Tuesday evening. The post cited unspecified intelligence, and said the boat was traveling on 'known narco-trafficking routes' and was 'engaged in narco-trafficking operations.' It included a 28-second video showing an attack on a moving boat.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Bibi Is Not Cooperating Anywhere. Reuters, published by NBC News: "An Israeli air strike has killed the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator in U.S.-mediated talks over Gaza’s future, a senior Hamas official said on Thursday, as leaders of the militant group held talks in Cairo aimed at safeguarding their truce with Israel. Azzam Al-Hayya, son of Khalil Al-Hayya, succumbed to his injuries on Thursday after being struck in an Israeli attack on Wednesday night, said senior Hamas official Basim Naim. He is the fourth son of Hamas’ exiled Gaza chief to have been killed in Israeli attacks."

It sounds pretty good in the original German: ~~~ 

~~~ Cat Zakrzewski, et al., of the Washington Post: “The White House hosted a reception Wednesday night for the organization that manages donations to ... Donald Trump’s ballroom, highlighting the president’s unceasing drive for a legally embattled project that polls show is broadly unpopular. Amid a war with Iran, surging gas prices and backlash to his immigration policies, Trump dedicates extensive time to the ballroom. He made calls for a new ballroom a key focus of his remarks following the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner last month, arguing that it was needed for security. A division president from Clark Construction, one of the largest construction firms in the region, now works most days out of a trailer on the White House grounds.... Some evenings the president calls him into the Oval Office to go over details for more than an hour at a time.... Out of hundreds of lawsuits and appeals involving the administration, the challenge to the ballroom is the only one where the president has personally dictated multiple legal filings. Spending time on the ballroom is how Trump likes to unwind at the end of a long workday, a person familiar with the conversations said.”

The Sheeples Remain Locked in the Fold. Nick Corasaniti & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: “Even as ... [Donald] Trump’s popularity sags amid an unpopular war and soaring gas prices, his success Tuesday in ousting a group of Republican state lawmakers in Indiana who had crossed him showed that he continued to hold a viselike grip on a critical core of the Republican base. For all the talk of divisions within the MAGA movement over the war in Iran, the results in Indiana on Tuesday showed that Mr. Trump can still inspire the kind of voters who will turn out to vote when he asks them to. In this case, it was for revenge: The challengers Mr. Trump backed defeated at least five of the seven Republicans incumbents in the Indiana Legislature who had defied his call to draw new congressional maps ahead of the midterms.... In these races, Mr. Trump and his allies were able to vastly outspend the incumbents and weaponize the bully pulpit of the presidency over little-known state lawmakers.”

Paul Waldman on the fall of the Cult of Trump. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: “A federal judge has released a suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein that was sealed for years as part of the criminal case of his cellmate. 'They investigated me for months — FOUND NOTHING!!!' the note begins, adding that the result was charges going back many years. 'It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye,' the note continued. 'Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!!' the note reads. 'NO FUN,' it concludes, with those words underlined. 'NOT WORTH IT!!' Mr. Epstein’s cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, said he discovered the note in July 2019 after Mr. Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth wrapped around his neck. Mr. Epstein survived that incident, but he was found dead weeks later at age 66 in the now shuttered Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan.” (Also linked yesterday.) A Politico story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If this is indeed a suicide note, how is it that a person who could manipulate so many people -- including ultra-wealthy men, presidents of universities, sophisticated urbanites and heads of state -- could write such a crap suicide note? I mean, on my worst day -- and one assumes that a day spent contemplating suicide is a bad day -- I'm sure I'd come up with something better than "Watcha want me to do." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Akhilleus did some expert forensic analysis and figured out who really wrote the Epstein "suicide note." (Hint in today's Comments.)

Steve Thompson of the Washington Post: “A Texas man was charged Wednesday in a shooting this week near the Washington Monument just after a motorcade carrying Vice President JD Vance passed. Federal prosecutors have identified the suspect as Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas. Documents filed in U.S. District Court in D.C. include these moment-by-moment photographs of what happened.... Marx faces charges of assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.” ~~~

     ~~~ A CBS News report shows a number of the same still photos that appear in the WashPo report. 

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: “An employee of the Federal Aviation Administration was set to appear in federal court on Tuesday on charges of threatening to kill ... [Donald] Trump after allegedly using his government-issued work computer for his plans. The Justice Department accused Dean DelleChiaie, 35, of Nashua, N.H., of using his work computer in January to conduct a series of suspicious searches, including how to smuggle a gun into a federal building, the details of previous assassination attempts against Mr. Trump, and the phrase 'I am going to kill Donald John Trump.'” MB: Among his other shortcomings, Mr. DelleChiaie does not appear to be a very bright guy. (Also linked yesterday.)

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “Jack Smith, the special counsel who twice indicted ... [Donald] Trump, accused the Justice Department of having been 'corrupted' by Trump loyalists he claimed were demolishing its credibility and seeking to undermine the rule of law. Mr. Smith’s remarks, made last month in a private discussion at the Cosmos Club in Washington, represented his sharpest criticism of the department since leaving his post early last year. They came at a time when Mr. Trump is demanding Mr. Smith be prosecuted for his work as special counsel — an outcome Mr. Smith believes is likely, according to people familiar with his thinking. 'We have a Department of Justice today that targets people for criminal prosecution simply because the president doesn’t like them,' Mr. Smith said in the hourlong discussion on April 20, according to a video obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Smith, speaking in the deliberate cadence of a prosecutor delivering a closing argument, cited what he cast as the wholesale erosion of the department’s tradition of independence from the White House. 'We have a department that fails to investigate cases because they might uncover facts that are inconvenient narratives the president would like to press,' he said.” (Also linked yesterday.) Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Say, maybe Jack Smith should be the attorney general in the next administration.

Anthony Faiola & Stefano Petrelli of the Washington Post: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Thursday with Pope Leo XIV with relations between the Vatican and the White House at a low point over ... Donald Trump’s repeated, direct criticism of the U.S.-born pontiff who has emerged as a leading global critic of the war in Iran and of the administration’s invocation of God in pursuing military action that has resulted in the deaths of thousands. Trump’s criticism, including a new broadside on Monday, has fomented an unprecedented rift that now divides the world’s leading political superpower and the leadership of its largest Christian faith.... The Holy See, in its stoic way, has taken deep offense at Trump’s missives.... Asked if the breach between the United States and the Vatican is at its widest point, a senior Vatican official said: 'Vatican diplomacy wouldn’t say that, but in formal terms, I think it’s fairly obvious.'”

Trump's Personal Lawyer/Acting Attorney General Wants to Intervene in E. Jean Carroll Case. Nikki Ramirez of Rolling Stone (Australia): "Donald Trump’s Justice Department will push the Supreme Court to allow it to interfere in the $83.3 million judgement granted to E. Jean Carroll in her defamation suit against the president. According to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg, the DOJ is hoping the court will bless a plea to swap Trump with the federal government as the party responsible for the judgement. The government cannot be sued for defamation, however, which means that if the Supreme Court allows the DOJ to substitute itself for the president, the case would be dismissed and Trump would be let off the hook. The DOJ is arguing that it should be able to step in because Trump, it claims, was acting as a government employee when he defamed Carroll. It’s yet another example of the Trump administration working on behalf of Trump rather than the American people."

Marie: You may recall that last month, akaWendy brought us a story in the Atlantic by Sarah Fitzpatrick about Kash Patel's excessive drinking, unexplained absences & erratic behavior. This report, which cited a lot of specifics and many sources, upset the FBI director quite a bit. So, even after suing the Atlantic for defamation, he decided to use FBI resources to do something about it. ~~~

~~~ Let's Play “Is This FBI Investigation Legitimate or Not Legitimate?” Episode 1. Ken Dilanian & Carol Leonnig of MS NOW: "The FBI has launched a criminal leak investigation focusing on an Atlantic magazine journalist who wrote a deeply unflattering account last month of Director Kash Patel’s work habits, two people familiar with the matter told MS NOW. The sources said the so-called insider threat investigation is highly unusual because it did not stem from a disclosure of classified information and because it is focused on leaks to a reporter. The agents involved are part of an insider threats unit based in Huntsville, Alabama.... Typically, leak investigations look into government officials who may have disclosed state secrets or classified documents. Journalists who receive and publish such information have typically only been involved as potential witnesses....& There is deep concern about this approach among some of the FBI agents assigned to the matter, said the sources....” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ David Graham of the Atlantic: “... legal commentators from across the political spectrum have concluded that [Patel's defamation suit] is weak and likely to fail.... Filing a flimsy civil lawsuit as a private citizen is Patel’s right, though it is also plainly an inappropriate attempt to smother unflattering reporting. But if Patel’s bureau has launched a criminal investigation into a reporter, employing the power of the federal government, that would be a significant escalation.... [Donald] Trump himself has demonstrated either ignorance of or disregard for the First Amendment, saying that negative coverage of him is 'really illegal.'... Neither Patel nor anyone else has publicly alleged any violation of the law on [reporter Sarah] Fitzpatrick’s part in any other venue. Nor does his lawsuit or any public statement allege that Fitzpatrick reported classified information.... This situation lacks even a pretense of national-security threat.” Thanks again to akaWendy for this gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: And here's a link to an article by Fitzpatrick which the Atlantic dropped yesterday afternoon shortly after new of the FBI investigation of leaks to Fitzpatrick broke. Fitzpatrick wrote this story based on tips she got as a result of her earlier article about Kash Patel's excessive drinking. This gift link comes to us courtesy of akaWendy.  ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Fitzpatrick of the Atlantic:“... it is not unusual for [Kash Patel] to travel with a supply of personalized branded bourbon. The bottles bear the imprint of the Kentucky distillery Woodford Reserve, and are engraved with the words 'Kash Patel FBI Director,' as well as a rendering of an FBI shield. Surrounding the shield is a band of text featuring Patel’s director title and his favored spelling of his first name: Ka$h.... In some cases, the 750-milliliter bottles bear Patel’s signature, with '#9' there as well.... Patel has given out bottles of his personalized whiskey to FBI staff as well as civilians he encounters in his duties, according to eight people.... Patel has distributed his self-branded bottles while on official business, including during at least one FBI event. He and his team have transported the whiskey using a DOJ plane, including when he went to Milan during the Olympics in February.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Let's Play “Is This FBI Investigation Legitimate or Not Legitimate?” Episode 2. Gregory Schneider, et al., of the Washington Post: “The FBI on Wednesday raided the Portsmouth offices and a cannabis retail business co-owned by state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate and one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, as part of an ongoing corruption investigation, according to two federal law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.... Officials ... said it involved allegations of bribery. One of those officials said the investigation began during the Biden administration. Lucas, 82, (D-Portsmouth) is an outspoken political figure who has touted her cannabis dispensary in provocative social media posts and often trolls Republicans and ... Donald Trump. She is known for her rough-and-tumble background, which includes becoming a teenage mother and working as a shipfitter at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to reporting on MS NOW, Lucas was the central force behind Virginia's successful redistricting campaign. So naturally, Trump would be all in for "investigating" her. And, BTW, isn't it a remarkable "coincidence" that Fox "News" just happened to have a reporter down in Portsmouth, Virginia, about 200 miles from the studios in Washington, D.C.? ~~~

      ~~~ Update: Carol Leonnig reported on MS NOW that an investigation of Lucas did begin during the Biden administration. Trump's 3rd-runner-up Miss Colorado Lindsey Halligan urged prosecutors to bring a case again her, but they said they weren't ready, that they didn't have enough evidence.

     ~~~ Marie: As Chris Hayes said last night, "Trump and Blanche & Patel -- the entire administration from the White House on down -- have forfeited any -- any -- presumption of regular order or good faith. In fact, they have created a presumption contrary to that. You must assume ... that what they're doing is retaliation."

Let's Play “Is This FBI Investigation Legitimate or Not Legitimate?” Episode 3. Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post: “The Justice Department announced Wednesday it has launched an investigation into the Democratic prosecutor of Virginia’s largest county, following years of complaints from conservatives that his office is too lenient with criminal defendants who are in the country illegally. Harmeet K. Dhillon, an assistant attorney general and head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a news release that her office sent Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano a letter notifying him of the investigation.”

Let's Play “Is This FBI Investigation Legitimate or Not Legitimate?” Episode 4. Tim Balk of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Georgia ruled Wednesday that the federal government did not have to return 2020 election records seized by the F.B.I., rejecting a request from Fulton County that the materials be returned. After F.B.I. agents carried out an extraordinary seizure of about 660 boxes of records from Fulton County’s elections hub, county officials responded in early February by filing a lawsuit demanding the return of the documents and describing the search as unconstitutional. But Judge J.P. Boulee of the Federal District Court in Atlanta wrote in his order that while he found elements of the case 'troubling,' the county had not met the bar required for him to compel the government to return the records. 'This Court acknowledges that the events leading up to this case are, in a variety of ways, unprecedented,' Judge Boulee, who was appointed to the federal bench during ... [Donald] Trump’s first term, wrote in his 68-page order. But he said that the county had not shown that the federal government had displayed “callous disregard” for the constitutional rights of the county.” An AP report is here.

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “The state police in Illinois said on Tuesday that they were investigating the fatal shooting of a man by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last summer in suburban Chicago. The shooting of the man, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, who was from Mexico, came in the midst of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration in the Chicago area, and it immediately drew outrage from residents and local officials. Federal officials claimed that Mr. Villegas-Gonzalez, who they said was in the country illegally, drove a Subaru into officers and dragged an officer while fleeing a traffic stop in Franklin Park, Ill., near O’Hare International Airport. The agency said one officer had been severely injured. But video of the shooting, which took place on Sept. 12, raised questions about aspects of that account. Footage reviewed by The New York Times showed Mr. Villegas-Gonzalez attempting to flee from officers. But it did not show Mr. Villegas-Gonzalez, 38, hitting an officer with his car, and an officer was heard on one of the videos saying his own injuries were 'nothing major.'” (Also linked yesterday.)

Here's another way Trump and his DHS immigration crackdown are hurting the jobs market for U.S. citizens: ~~~ 

~~~ Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump’s immigration raids and checkpoints are weighing on the labor market, leading to fewer jobs for U.S.-born men without a college degree as well as undocumented immigrants, according to an economic study out this week. Increased immigration arrests led to 4 to 5 percent lower employment of undocumented immigrants, especially among men, who made up 90 percent of arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonpartisan research organization. The study also found that one U.S.-born worker with a high school degree or less loses a job for every six undocumented male workers who leave their jobs.... [The] paper validates prior research showing that immigration enforcement hurts U.S.-born workers. The [researchers] found that job losses for U.S.-born workers were concentrated in industries that rely heavily on undocumented men, including agriculture, construction and manufacturing.... The paper’s findings clash with messaging from the Trump administration, which has stated over the past year that American workers benefit from the immigration crackdown.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This makes sense. Many of the men who are working on my house are foreign-born and most are Hispanic. (I haven't asked if they're here legally, and I don't care. They're doing the work well, and they're pleasant about it.) If my contractors, who are native-born citizens who probably have 40 generations of U.S. ancestors behind them, could not get these Hispanic workers to work on my house, then the contractors would be out a job, too.  

Kyle Cheney of Politico: “An Atlanta-based federal appeals court became the latest to reject ICE’s efforts to lock up — without an opportunity for bond — the vast majority of people the Trump administration is seeking to deport. A divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said ICE’s push violated decades-old immigration laws intended to require the detention of recent border-crossers. But last year, ICE reinterpreted that law to apply to virtually anyone without lawful status, even if they have lived in the country for decades without incident.... The administration’s interpretation, [the majority opinion] note[s], would subject millions of people — many with jobs, U.S. citizen children and spouses, no criminal records and unbroken attendance at immigration proceedings — to mandatory mass detention without bond. No prior administration believed it had this authority, the [judges] noted.”

Michael Gold & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “Howard Lutnick..., [Donald] Trump’s commerce secretary, was grilled by lawmakers ... during a closed-door interview..., for several hours on Wednesday over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender, after documents released by the Justice Department revealed that Mr. Lutnick had misrepresented his relationship with Mr. Epstein.... The commerce secretary’s name appeared in more than 250 documents in the Epstein files, a review by The New York Times found.... According to two people familiar with his testimony, Mr. Lutnick said in his opening statement that he had met Mr. Epstein only three times: once for coffee and a tour of Mr. Epstein’s home in New York after they became neighbors, once when Mr. Lutnick and his family were invited to Mr. Epstein’s island in 2012 and once to discuss a construction project on Mr. Epstein’s home in New York that might have had an impact on Lutnick’s residence.

“After hours of questioning, Democrats told reporters that Mr. Lutnick did not admit to misleading Americans about his ties to Mr. Epstein, including when he said on a podcast last year that he was never in the room with Mr. Epstein again after their first meeting.... Before Mr. Lutnick’s interview, Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the committee’s chairman, acknowledged that Mr. Lutnick 'wasn’t 100 percent truthful' about whether or not he had be on the island. After Republicans finished questioning Mr. Lutnick, Mr. Comer said that he was satisfied that Mr. Lutnick was being 'forthcoming' about his interactions with Mr. Epstein. But he did not directly answer a question about whether Mr. Lutnick explained the discrepancy in his accounts.” (An earlier version of this article, which was an item in a liveblog, was linked yesterday.) MB: I heard on the teevee that Lutnick refused to testify under oath, which is to say he intended to lie to Congress. 

Charles Pierce of Esquire: If a strain of the hantavirus, which has killed three passengers aboard a Dutch cruise ship, makes it to the U.S., "surely we can't rely on Secretary Roadkill to protect us. This is a truly frightening development. Thirty-eight percent of people who develop symptoms will die from it, and there is no cure for it." MB: It looks as if Esquire gives you one freebie a month. So this is it for me.

We’re not simply part of the political process, and there’s a reason for that, and I’m not sure people grasp that as much as is appropriate. -- Chief Justice John Roberts, remarks Wednesday ~~~

~~~ The Chief Justice Wants You People to Know that the Supreme Court Is Beyond Reproach. And It's a Shame You Are Too Thick to Comprehend the Justices' Pureness of Heart. Lawrence Hurley of NBC News: “Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday defended the Supreme Court from what he believes are misconceptions held by the American people that he and his colleagues are 'political actors' who are making decisions based on policy, not law. Speaking at a conference for lawyers and judges in Hershey, [Pennsylvania,] Roberts said the Supreme Court is required to make decisions that are not popular and bemoaned that there is not a better understanding among the public of how the court operates.” MB: John Roberts may couch his self-regard in more polite, more elevated language than does Donald Trump, but the leaders of two of three branches of government are equally arrogant. Roberts, like Trump, is comically high on his own supply. 

Anna Sussman in a New York Times op-ed: “Government support for parents can help, but overall, people are having fewer children both in countries that offer very little and in those renowned for their generous family benefits; moreover, the trend holds among those who are struggling to make ends meet and among those who ... have advanced degrees and salaried jobs. What unites these disparate cultures, policy environments and demographics, researchers are now realizing, is young people’s inescapable and crushing sense that the future is too uncertain for the lifelong commitment of parenthood.... We are living in a time of spectacular uncertainty.” 

Joseph Goldstein & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: “Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who has been diagnosed with pneumonia, is applying for free medical care through a federal program for emergency workers and others exposed to toxins following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to his lawyer. More than 152,000 people have been enrolled in the initiative, the World Trade Center Health Program, which pays for medical research and provides free medical care to people affected by the terrorist attacks. Beneficiaries have access to doctors who specialize in Sept. 11-related illnesses, and the patients don’t face co-payments or deductibles.... 

“[Mr. Giuliani] oversaw the cleanup of the collapsed World Trade Center and made frequent visits in the first three months after the attack. His leadership was hailed. But in the years that followed, examinations of his time in office showed that in the push to reopen the financial district, his administration overlooked or played down the health dangers and environmental hazards near ground zero.... Mr. Giuliani rarely wore a mask at the Trade Center site. And his administration rarely forced cleanup workers to wear masks or respirators....”

     ~~~ Marie: Those of us who have the good fortune to reach an advanced age are sometimes surprised by how aging affects us. I wonder if Rudy is introspective enough to notice how Irony has just slapped him upside the head and burrowed into his lungs. Whether or not he understands his own complicity in his illness, and as much as I dislike him for other good reasons, I do not begrudge his receiving the care he needs for an illness that well may have been caused by the environmental hazards he did little to acknowledge. 

Your Not-Trump Video of the Day (Wednesday): ~~~

     ~~~ Here's a bonus. And here's another. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Tim Balk of the New York Times: “... Stephen Colbert ... air[ed] an interview with former President Barack Obama on Tuesday night as Mr. Colbert’s canceled CBS show heads toward its final episode this month. Mr. Obama used the interview to go after Mr. Trump, but never mentioned him by name. He urged Democrats to avoid sounding like academics when talking to voters. And he talked about aliens. Here are five notable moments from Mr. Colbert’s interview with Mr. Obama, which was filmed in early April at Mr. Obama’s soon-to-open presidential center on the South Side of Chicago and aired on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.' (A White House spokesman, Davis Ingle, responded to the interview by issuing a statement insulting Mr. Obama and Mr. Colbert, saying, 'Only pathetic trainwrecks like Stephen Colbert would waste their time interviewing one of the worst presidents in history.')” MB: They really don't know how to behave. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Kandell of the New York Times: “Ted Turner, the media mogul who cut a brash and vivid figure on the American scene of the late 20th century by dominating the cable television industry, creating the 24-hour news cycle with CNN, and extending his restless reach into professional sports, environmentalism and philanthropy, died on Wednesday at his home near Tallahassee, Fla. He was 87.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

California Governors Race. Soumya Karlamangla & Laurel Rosenhall of the New York Times: “What began as a tame, hourlong debate on Wednesday between seven candidates running for California governor morphed by the second half into a flurry of barbs during the last televised face-off before the June 2 primary. The debate, held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, was the second in two days in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom to run the nation’s most populous state. Two Republicans and five Democrats took the stage for the event, hosted by NBC Los Angeles and the local Telemundo station, seeking enough support to be among the two top vote-getters next month.”

Maine Senate Race. Katie Glueck of the New York Times: “Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican seeking re-election in one of the most hotly contested races in the nation, disclosed in an interview published Wednesday that she had long had what she called a benign essential tremor. 'I have had it for the entire time that I have served in the United States Senate,' Ms. Collins, 73, told News Center Maine, a local outlet.... Her remarks came amid mounting online scrutiny — pushed in particular on the left — of the shakiness that is often detectable when Ms. Collins speaks, and questions about whether it has worsened with time. In a statement, Ms. Collins said it was something she had 'lived with for decades.... The tremor is occasionally inconvenient, and sometimes the subject of cruel comments online, but it does not hinder my ability to work.'...” ~~~

     ~~~ Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is responding after a viral internet clip of her violently shaking during an interview with Fox News posted on Tuesday. 

~~~ Tennessee Erases All the Black People. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: “Tennessee Republicans on Wednesday proposed a congressional map aimed at diluting the state’s lone majority-Black district, a swift response to last week’s Supreme Court ruling that weakened a landmark voting rights law. The new map slices up Memphis, a majority-Black city, and Shelby County into three districts and will most likely give Republicans the ability to flip Tennessee’s lone remaining Democratic seat, which includes the city.” (MB: This is not the same Shelby County that was the plaintiff in the infamous Shelby County (Alabama) v. Holder where Johnny & the Supremes gutted the preclearance requirements of the Voting Rights Act.) ~~~

~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “In the name of a colorblind Constitution and the equal protection of the laws, then, the Supreme Court has given the green light to a gleeful attempt to end Black political representation at the state and federal levels.... The 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution ... [are] meant to secure the political equality of all Americans [bit] are being raised as weapons to deprive them of just that.... To the extent that the Supreme Court claims broad authority to say what our Constitution means, it is in large part because we have given this authority to the justices through our indifference.”