…meanwhile…

The economy slowed to a 1.1% GDP annual growth rate, the Commerce Department reported this week, off from +2.6% annually for the fourth quarter of 2022. Are we entering a recession?

Russia Strikes Central Ukraine – At least 17 Ukrainian civilians, including three children, were killed when two Russian missiles hit an apartment building in Uman, AP reports. Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at central and eastern Ukraine early Friday.

•••

Pence Speaks to Grand Jury – Former Vice President Mike Pence has been reluctant to speak out against his former boss, even as the ex-veep ponders a run against Donald J. Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. But on Thursday, he appeared before a federal grand jury investigating ex-President Trump’s actions leading up to the January 6^th Capitol insurrection. Trump had tried to block Pence, who refused the former president’s demands to overturn the election on January 6, from testifying about potential illegal actions.

Pence “spent hours” before the panel in Washington, D.C., The Washington Post reports, after Trump tried to block the ex-veep from testifying about any potential illegal acts.

Irony Alert: One floor above the grand jury room in Washington federal court where Pence appeared, six leaders of the Proud Boys (“Stand back and stand by,” Trump advised them in the first 2020 presidential debate) were standing trial for their alleged involvement in the January 6^th insurrection, according to NBC News.

Meanwhile, in New York: E. Jean Carroll “sparred” with Trump attorney Joe Tacopina in the second day of the trial of her civil lawsuit against the former president, in which she says that in the mid-1990s Trump raped her in a clothing store dressing room in Manhattan (WaPo).

Reminder: Trump remains leader of the GOP eight years after he descended the golden escalator.

•••

Not if DeSantis Can Help It – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues his pre-presidential-campaign campaign to grab support from the former president. After a stop in Japan that launched his multi-country tour “to foster economic relationships with Florida” – it is a small world, after all – DeSantis landed in Israel Wednesday, where he touted his advocacy of relocating the U.S. embassy there to Jerusalem and recognizing it as the nation’s capital, Semafor reports. Trump had counted the relocation in 2018 during the 70^th anniversary of Israel as one of his key international policy victories.

DeSantis told a Celebrate the Faces of Israel event in Jerusalem this week he has been “an outspoken proponent and advocate of relocating our embassy” and felt he had played a “key role” in its move while he was serving in the U.S. Congress.

--TL

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THURSDAY 4/27/23

GDP Cools to +1.1% – Real gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 1.1% for the first quarter of 2023, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, primarily reflecting “an increase in consumer spending that was partially offset by a decrease in inventory investment.” The GDP increase is off from a healthier 2.6% annual increase in the fourth quarter of 2022, though reflects the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow inflation with constant interest rate increases. The Bureau of Economic Analysis’ second estimate of Q1 GDP is due May 25.

•••

McCarthy Wins Round 1 on Debt Ceiling – House Republicans pushed through Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) bill to cut the deficit by nearly $4.8 trillion in exchange for a $1.5-trillion debt-limit increase (per Roll Call). The bill passed with no votes to spare – 217 of 222 Republicans to 215 Democrats, after the bill restored ethanol tax credits to appease members from the Midwest.

The four Republican “no” votes were not Problem Solvers Caucus members, but instead hard-right and MAGA Republicans who want deeper deficit reductions. They are Tim Burchett (TN), Matt Gaetz (FL), Ken Buck (CO) and Andy Biggs (AZ). One holdout who ultimately voted for the bill, South Carolina’s Nancy Mace, is calling for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Provisions of the bill, according to Roll Call:

•A $1.5-trillion debt-ceiling hike in exchange for $1.47 trillion of discretionary spending cuts for the next decade, with an increase cap of 1% annually.

•Repeal of most energy tax credit priorities for climate grant fund provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act passed by a Democratic Congress last year, plus return of unspent COVID-19 relief funds.

•Cancellation of the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program.

•Expansion of work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and new rules for Medicaid beneficiaries.

•Overhaul of infrastructure permitting and other energy-related laws and regulations to spur domestic production, mostly of fossil fuels.

The thin-Democratic-majority Senate will not consider the bill, and Biden repeatedly has said he will not negotiate for the debt ceiling increase, that an increase must come in a “clean” bill.

Note: Yes, it has been repeated many times: The debt ceiling must be raised to pay federal spending already approved or it will probably tank the global economy, and Democrats voted with Republicans to raise the limit during the Trump administration. This is coming down to Republican House members attempting to put a stop to the Biden administration’s work to reverse 40-plus years of “trickle-down” Reaganomics, which had reversed about 48 years of FDR’s New Deal.

Meanwhile, at the White House: The White House held a ceremony Wednesday with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to cement U.S. commitment to supporting the Asian country in the region. After the meeting between Biden and Yoon, the White House announced the U.S. will send initially unarmed nuclear submarines to South Korea (per NPR).

•••

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It’s Off to Court We Go – The Walt Disney Company filed suit against Florida’s Republican governor and presidential-candidate-in-waiting Ron DeSantis, saying the company has been subjected to “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” The Guardian reports. Disney filed suit “within minutes” of a DeSantis-appointed oversight board voted to override agreements made in February to allow Disney to expand its World and maintain control over land neighboring the Happiest Place on Earth.

--TL

_______________________________________________

...meanwhile...

WEDNESDAY 4/26/23

Republicans Wobble on Debt-Limit Bill – GOP House leaders agreed after 2 a.m. Wednesday to restore biofuel/ethanol tax credits to regain support from Midwestern lawmakers and to speed up expanded work requirements for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid programs in an effort to shore up the Republican votes necessary to raise the debt ceiling, according to CQ Roll Call. President Biden has repeatedly rejected Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) demand for steep budget cuts in exchange for the debt-ceiling increase, and the bill would certainly be rejected by the Democratic-led Senate.

A House vote on the Republican package was expected as early as Wednesday.

Republican leaders’ change to the debt limit bill came after Midwestern Congress members rejected cuts to the biofuel credits, The Hill reported, which are part of Democrats’ 2022 climate and health care budget reconciliation package.

The GOP needs 218 of its 222 House members to pass the debt limit package.

--TL

_______________________________________________

..meanwhile...

TUESDAY 4/25/23

Biden Announces Re-Election Run -- President Joe Biden made it official Tuesday morning with a slickly produced 3:04-minute video announcing his 2024 re-election bid. It begins with images of January 6 and warns the opposition party wants to cut Social Security and taxes for the wealthy, has taken women's reproductive rights, has banned books "while telling people who to love" and is trying to take away voting rights. Biden's single Supreme Court appointee so far, Ketanji Brown Jackson, also gets a few prominent scenes. You can see the video at joebiden.com.

•••

Fulton County Indictments Coming July 11-September 1 – Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will issue indictments from her investigation of former President Trump’s alleged tampering with Georgia’s 2020 Electoral College vote between July 11 and September 1. Willis outlined her deadlines in a letter to a “top local law official,” says The New York Times. Willis earlier had outlined a more aggressive schedule, but her timetable was delayed when a number of local witnesses sought to cooperate in her investigation near its end.

Also, local law officials needed more time to prepare for potential security threats, according to NYT. On top of all that, Willis last week filed a motion to remove an attorney representing 10 Republicans who were part of a slate of fake electors who had sought to turn over Georgia’s Electoral College vote.

--TL

_______________________________________________

Meanwhile, This Week

MONDAY 4/24/23

Rice Out as White House Domestic Policy Advisor – Susan Rice is stepping down in May as the White House senior domestic policy advisor, NBC News reports. Rice has overseen some of the most polarizing issues for the Biden administration, including gun control, student loan relief and immigration, The New York Times notes. Last week, the NYT reported that Rice’s team was warned in 2021 of migrant children working alongside their sponsors in the U.S., a sign of human trafficking, and did not take sufficient action. The White House disputes that Rice was aware of the warning.

•••

WaPo: U.S. Dissuaded Kyiv Plans to Attack Moscow – U.S. intelligence dissuaded Major Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate the HUR, from plans to attack Moscow just two days before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to an exclusive report by The Washington Post Monday. WaPo quotes a classified report by the U.S. National Security Agency revealed in the Discord Leaks, allegedly by 21-year-old National Guard member Jack Teixeira, that Budanov instructed his officers “to get ready for mass strikes on 24 February … with everything the HUR had.”

On February 22, 2023, two days before the anniversary, the CIA issued a new classified report that HUR “had agreed, at Washington’s request, to postpone strikes” on Moscow.

•••

Proposal Would Limit Power Plant Emissions – Fewer than 20 of the U.S.’s 3,400 coal and gas-fed power plants currently use carbon capture technology to reduce greenhouse gases. Those remaining power plants would be compelled to adapt the technology in a new rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, The New York Times reports. The White House is poised to propose the rule after review is completed by its Office of Management and Budget. The fossil fuel industry, power plant operators and allies in Congress are sure to oppose the rule, NYT reports.

•••

Poll: Majority, Including Republicans, Oppose Medical Abortion Ban – A majority of Americans, 64% – including 57% of Republicans -- say they oppose laws that ban medical abortions, according to an NPR/PBS News Hour/Marist National Poll released Monday. This follows last Friday’s 7-2 Supreme Court decision to keep in place for now the FDA’s approval of such a medication, mifepristone.

Earlier, a federal judge in Texas overturned the FDA’s 23-year-old finding that the drug was safe for use in medicated abortions and for miscarriages. The poll finds that 61% do not think a federal judge should be able to overturn the FDA’s approval of a prescription drug, while 36% believe a judge should have that power. Those in the “do not think” column includes 75% of Democrats, 62% of independents and 45% of Republicans.

Only 37% of Americans have confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court, with 15% saying they have a “great deal,” and 22% “quite a lot” of confidence, the poll finds.

Meanwhile: Declared 2024 presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and undeclared candidate Mike Pence touted the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade, at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Des Moines, according to NPR’s Morning Edition. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) was there, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and declared candidate Nikki Haley were not.

•••

Jury Selection Begins – The federal trial of Robert Gregory Bowers, accused in the killing of 11 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh begins with jury selection Monday, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. An AR-15 and three pistols were used October 27, 2018 in what is considered the worst attack on the Jewish faith in U.S. history.

•••

Up on the Hill – Both the full Senate and full House of Representatives are in-session Tuesday through Friday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Tuckered Out

UPDATE: Carlson broke his silence Thursday for the first time since being fired by Fox News with a tweet saying “See you soon,” The Hill reports. In a two-minute-plus message, he said that after “stepping outside the noise for a few days” he is gratified by how many “genuinely nice people there are in this country.”

Tucker Carlson Tonight's eponymous host has left the building. Fox News Monday in a statement said that Carlson and the network have mutually agreed to part ways. Carlson's ultimate Tonight broadcast was last Friday night, though the host leaves behind a sort of director's cut of the January 6 Capitol insurrection video recordings after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) handed him previously unseen footage, as well as fawning interviews with Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orbån.

The network will air an interim program creatively titled, Fox News Tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern Time weekdays, with interim personalities until a replacement host is named.

Carlson’s departure comes less than a week after Fox News’ $787.5-million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Evidence for Dominion’s lawsuit included emails by Carlson saying he was “fed up” with Donald J. Trump after losing re-election in 2020.

“I hate him passionately,” one of Carlson’s emails said.

•••

Russian, Chinese and Iranian Tweets (Oh My) --

Twitter has lifted “shadow bans” on the government accounts of Russia, China and Iran, NPR reported last week. All Things Considered confirmed Twitter’s “stance of allowing the Russian government posts to pop up freely” on users’ feeds “and has now become company procedure.”

NPR reported the policy change days after the public radio outlet, along with the BBC and others left Twitter after owner/CEO Elon Musk falsely accused these media outlets of being “government funded.”

Musk defended anti-Ukrainian rhetoric posted by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Twitter, responding; “All news is to some degree propaganda. Let people decide for themselves.”

Irony alert: Twitter is not allowed in Russia, China and Iran, according to the NPR report.

•••

The Hustings is here to offer fact-based news aggregate with no echo-chambers. We are not social media – we are civil media. Post your civil comments in the left or right columns of this page, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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Biden to Announce

President Biden is expected to make a formal announcement by next Tuesday he will seek re-election in 2024, The New York Times reports. Biden’s team is said to be in the final stages of planning, with a video in production and donors being mobilized.

He would be the third announced Democratic candidate for president in 2024. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threw his hat in the ring earlier in the week. While RFK Jr. will reportedly emphasize family history instead of his anti-vax positions, most of the Kennedy family are said to be staunch Biden supporters, People magazine reports.

But RFK Jr. does have his wife, actress Cheryl Hines (she plays Larry David’s ex-wife on Curb Your Enthusiasm):

“My husband, RFK Jr., announced today he will be running for president and I support his decision,” Hines said in a statement obtained by People.

First candidate to announce for the Democratic nomination was Marianne Williamson, the author and “spiritual leader” (Wikipedia’s description) who first ran in 2020.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

FRIDAY 4/21/23

UPDATE: SCOTUS Friday evening retained full access to mifespristone -- for now. It placed on-hold U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's earlier ruling that the Food and Drug Administration was wrong in 2000 to make the abortion drug more accessible. The legal battle over whether to permanently reimpose restrictions, which could extend to the entire U.S., will continue. The only noted dissents were Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., who say they would not have granted the Biden administration's request for a stay on the lower court decision, according to The Washington Post.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the banning of mifepristone by a Texas-based federal judge was due by Midnight Friday. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk put the pill in play when he reversed the FDA’s 23-year-old approval of the drug used to induce abortions.

U.S. Response to Violence in Sudan – More than 400 people have been killed in a conflict in Sudan between its army and a powerful paramilitary force, The Washington Post reports, and the White House Thursday announced the U.S. is moving in troops nearby in case U.S. diplomats and other personnel need to be safely evacuated. Airstrikes, gunfire and artillery have struck the capital, Khartoum, though the violence is spreading through other parts of Sudan. At least 3,500 have been injured in the last six days, according to the World Health Organization, and at least one of the 400-plus killed was an American.

•••

On Thursday’s SpaceX Starship Explosion – The unmanned Starship’s crash succeeded as a test-launch, SpaceX said Thursday – it was a “rapid, unplanned disassembly.”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Florida Man Fading?

A week of punditry suggesting undeclared 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has peaked in his effort to topple Donald J. Trump has culminated in a Wall Street Journal poll Friday showing the former president leading the Florida governor in a two-man race, 51% to 38%. That’s a swing from a 14-point lead for DeSantis in a WSJ poll taken last December, the newspaper says.

The Wall Street Journal also polled for a potential field of 12 Republican contenders, which adjusted Trump’s lead to 48% versus 24% for DeSantis. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley was third in this poll, at 5%.

Conservative and liberal pundits seem to agree that DeSantis isn’t a very good candidate, even before declaring. Traditional Republicans question whether DeSantis is even a true conservative considering his “culture war” vs. free enterprise stance in a very public fight with one of his state’s biggest employers, Disney.

Semafor reports Friday that Trump has been dominating DeSantis in the race for endorsements from Florida’s congressional delegation. Neither has the support, yet, of Sen. Marco Rubio, who told the news outlet he isn’t ready to take sides, but “recently hung out with Donald J. Trump at a UFC event” and “hasn’t heard from DeSantis for a ‘number of months.’”

Not a University of Florida branch: Yeah, sigh, we had to look it up. “UFC” stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Feinstein Wants ‘Temporary’ Judiciary Replacement

UPDATE: Republicans essentially blocked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) attempt to grant Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) temporary leave from the Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

“Our colleague and friend has made her wish clear,” Schumer said, per Roll Call. “Today, I am acting not just as leader, but as Diane’s friend in honoring her wishes until she returns to the Senate.”

But when Schumer requested full-Senate consent to grant Feinstein temporary leave, Republicans refused.

“This is about a handful of judges that you can’t get the votes for, and I have been a pretty consistent vote in the Judiciary Committee in a bipartisan fashion,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “I understand that you won the election and we lost and I want to make sure we process judges fairly.”

Feinstein, 89, who will not run for a sixth term next year, must resign the Senate early or Democrats will not have the votes on the Judiciary Committee to approve Biden administration nominees for federal judgeships. She has been absent from the Senate since a shingles diagnosis in February.

•••

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has been away from Washington for most of the year, and in March announced she is suffering a case of the shingles. The Senate Judiciary Committee, of which she is a member, is backed up on White House nominees, Politico reports. The committee has held hearings for 14 Biden judicial nominees, but no votes.

Democrats’ 51-seat majority has fallen short for much of this year with the absence of Feinstein and freshman John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who is undergoing treatment for depression. Republicans also are one senator short after their minority leader, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, 81, suffered a concussion after he fell at a Washington hotel in early March. (McConnell was scheduled to return Monday.)

Feinstein, who has announced she will retire when her term ends in December 2024, has asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to “temporarily” replace her on the committee, but that will take at least 60 votes or unanimous consent, Politico notes. Schumer has indicated he will seek the latter.

Calls for Feinstein to retire nearly two years early has its own issues. Democratic California Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee all have announced their candidacy for Feinstein’s Senate seat of 30 years. If Feinstein does not return to Washington, California Gov. Gavin Newsom must appoint a replacement to serve out the remaining 20 months of her term. In 2021, Newsom promised to appoint a Black woman if he had to replace Feinstein, which would give Rep. Lee the incumbent’s advantage for November 2024.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

SpaceX’s unmanned, 33 jet-engine Starship rocket cleared its South Texas launchpad Thursday morning then exploded and began tumbling to Earth as it was being prepared for stage separation, approximately four minutes into its flight (WaPo). It did not damage the launchpad as it crashed, which was SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s greatest fear.

THURSDAY 4/20/23

McCarthy’s Debt-Ceiling Bill – Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) unveiled a bill Wednesday that would raise the debt ceiling in trade for a $130-billion cut in federal spending, block student debt cancellation and add new work requirements for welfare.

DOA Senate: The bill will go nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The House is expected to consider the bill next week, The Washington Post reports.

DOA House?: McCarthy says he has the 218 votes necessary to pass the bill, NPR reports, but there is doubt about that. The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus Wednesday unveiled its own plan to avoid a potentially catastrophic default early this summer, Axios reports.

DOA White House: President Biden remains resolute in refusing to negotiate cuts to his budgetary agenda before raising the debt ceiling.

•••

SCOTUS Kicks Can – The Supreme Court issued a brief order continuing to place on-hold U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling from Texas last week blocking the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medicated abortions (per SCOTUSblog). SCOTUS has to midnight Friday to uphold or overturn Kacsmaryk’s ruling.

•••

No Remorse from Fox News – Fox News attorneys appear ready to double-down on electronic voting system company Smartmatic’s $2.7-billion defamation suit over 2020 election lies repeated on the cable station, even after its $787.5-million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

Fox’s Statement: “We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial, likely in 2025. As a report prepared by our financial expert shows, Smartmatic’s damages claims are implausible, disconnected from reality, and on its face intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.”

The statement was repeated on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Implied?: Is Fox News expecting a second Trump term by the time the Smartmatic suit goes to trial?

--TL

_______________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 4/19/23

UPDATE: Fox News was not required further acknowledge its complicity in Donald J. Trump's "Big Lie" on its broadcasts, though its media reporter, Howard Kurtz (above), did mention the settlement with Dominion Tuesday evening. Kurtz said he could not confirm Fox's $787.5-million payout, media reporter David Folkenflik said on NPR's Morning Edition.

Fox News Settles with Dominion – Fox News will pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million in a settlement reached just before their trial over false election claims, AP reports. Judge Eric Davis announced the settlement in Delaware Superior Court Tuesday afternoon, just before the trial was to begin.

The settlement is nearly half the $1.6 billion in damages Dominion had sought over Fox News’ coverage of Donald J. Trump’s “Big Lie” stemming from his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

Dominion had also sought Fox News’ acknowledgement of lies following the election, which included “interviews” with such Trump acolytes as Rudi Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who had said Dominion voting machines were manipulated to count Trump’s votes for Joe Biden. It is not immediately clear what sort of acknowledgements and apologies Fox News might broadcast as part of the settlement.

The settlement will be a boon for Dominion, which is a $30-50 million company, according to CNN.

Fox News released a statement acknowledging “the court’s ruling finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”

Dominion attorney Justin Nelson told reporters Tuesday, “The truth matters. Lies have consequences.”

_______________________________________________

TUESDAY 4/17/23

Egypt’s Double-Agency Thwarted – Senior U.S. officials persuaded Egypt to pause a plan to supply up to 40,000 122mm Sakr-45 rockets to Russia and instead provide artillery ammunition to Ukraine, according to an exclusive update on the Discord Leaks by The Washington Post. Egypt is the recipient of more than $1 billion per year in U.S. military aid. Before the U.S. diplomatic pressure, President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi reportedly instructed subordinates to keep the deal with Russia secret “to avoid problems with the West.”

•••

UPDATE: House GOP leaders were expected to release a proposal Tuesday to raise the government's borrowing limit, with a list of cuts to the Biden budget, of course, amidst considerable doubt surrounding the question of whether Speaker McCarthy can wrangle the 218 votes necessary for it to pass, Semafor reports.

McCarthy Reassures Wall Street – House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) extended his party’s attack on Bidenomics while trying to calm Wall Street’s nerves Monday with his appearance in a “jam-packed” board room at the New York Stock Exchange, Fortune reports.

“Defaulting on our debt is not an option,” McCarthy said. But “a no strings-attached debt limit increase will not pass.”

Speaker, meet the abyss.

McCarthy accused President Biden of refusing to negotiate on the debt limit in good faith by rejecting any deal. The two last met February 1.

•••

First Official Visit to WSJ Reporter – Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy was granted the first visit by a U.S. official to American journalist Evan Gershkovich at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison since the Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested for espionage nearly three weeks ago.

Gershkovich is “in good health and remains strong,” Tracy said. “We reiterate our call for his immediate release.”

The U.S. and The Wall Street Journal vehemently deny Russia’s allegations. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. wants consular access to Gershkovich to continue on a routine basis.

•••

Dissident Russian Journalist Sentenced to 25 Years – Putin critic and Washington Post Opinions contributor Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years of prison on charges of treason for criticizing Russia’s war on Ukraine, WaPo reports.

Kara-Murza said this in his final statement on the case last week: “I’m in jail for my political views. For speaking out against the war in Ukraine. For many years of struggle against Putin’s dictatorship. Not only do I not repent any of this, I am proud of it.”

--TL

_______________________________________________

MONDAY 4/17/23

Senate Democrats Push for Discharge Petition – Some Senate Democrats are pushing their counterparts in the House of Representatives to bring a discharge petition to the floor in order to force a vote on raising the debt ceiling, The Hill reports. The procedure would allow a vote on the debt ceiling without cooperation from House Republican leadership, including Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), in case he “digs in his heels” to demand steep budget cuts before the federal government defaults, expected by early this summer.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has so far rejected using the procedure.

Context: Republicans see Biden administration spending the reversal of 40 years of Reaganomics, which in turn reversed nearly 50 years of FDR’s New Deal economics.

Bottom line: With its 213-222 House minority, Democrats would need to convert five Republicans to vote for raising the debt ceiling.

•••

Fox News Defamation Trial Delayed – Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis has delayed the trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6-billion defamation suit against Fox News by at least 24 hours, The Wall Street Journal reports. The civil trial was to begin Monday and was expected to take about six weeks.

“Fox has made a late push to settle the dispute with Dominion Voting Systems out of court, people familiar with the situation said Sunday,” according to the newspaper, which like the conservative cable network, is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Last week, Judge Davis sanctioned Fox News for making misrepresentations to the court and delays in turning over evidence. Dominion attorneys told the court Fox had concealed Murdoch’s role as an officer of the company.

•••

Leak Effect – A trove of sensitive U.S. intelligence documents leaked on the Internet has embarrassed the State Department and the Biden White House. But the leaks, found hiding in plain sight for weeks on the Discord chat platform in the end might help Ukraine’s cause in its defense against Russia’s invasion.

According to The New York Times, “some welcomed the leak, hoping that it would emphasize what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been saying for months – that Ukraine urgently needs more ammunition and weapons to expel the Russian forces.”

The FBI arrested last Thursday National Guard airman Jack Teixeira, 2, on charges of violating the Espionage Act.

This Week on the Hill – Both chambers are in session Monday through Thursday, after a two-week Passover/Easter/Ramadan break. The full Senate, only, is in session Friday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Youngkin Suspends, Pompeo Withdraws, Scott Explores

UPDATE: In Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) press conference upon his return to Capitol Hill after suffering a concussion from a fall in February, a reporter asked: “Are you comfortable with the fact that your party’s leading candidate for president is facing criminal charges and could have – be facing a trial in the middle of the election?

McConnell: “Well, let me put it this way. I may have hit my head. But I didn’t hit it that hard. Nice try.”

•••

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has told advisors and donors he is putting a potential 2024 presidential election run on hold, The New York Times reports. Youngkin immediately became part of the ’24 GOP discussion after winning the purplish-blue state in November 2021.

The news comes days after Trump administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he will not seek the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, which in turn followed Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) announcement he has formed an exploratory committee for a potential run.

Scott could bring some decorum back to the GOP field in contrast to the party’s two declared candidates, Donald J. Trump, and the ex-president’s UN Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Some Republican analysts already are counting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – who has not yet declared, though he consistently polls second behind Trump – as having peaked.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

The Law is King, Not Trump

By Ken Zino

If you think four agonizing years of Trump mis-administration was enough to endure, or if you want four more years, history was made today. For the first time in our imperfect union, we the people must deal with a former president who now stands accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan, which is part of New York, known, ironically, as the Empire State on its license plates.

Trump remains a citizen of the United States. Moreover, under our law with presumed innocence, the State of New York must now prove its case because Trump pleaded not guilty on all 34 counts. Trump’s contempt for our democracy and law without doubt will be displayed in the latest iteration of his latest presidential campaign -- aka, egotistical grievances and flouting of laws to gain and hold power. He is a stellar example, in my view, of how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

It is true that other presidents and politicians have broken the law. This time our entire democracy is at stake as a result of this corruption. Sadly, today is just an overture playing while cable TV audiences are seated. Whether Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis or the United States of America, as portrayed by Special Counsel Jack Smith are the second and third acts, or vice versa, remains to be seen. Eventually, the juries will be seated.

Thomas Payne, who cautioned us in 1776 that now is not the time for sunshine soldiers or summer patriots, is a reminder that we are what we were.

"Let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is King. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other." [Emphasis added, of course.]

There are no secret supplications in my beating heart today. I will listen to the evidence as more of it unfolds ad nauseum in social media and cable news, but insurrection and the violent and fraudulent elector attempts to stop the peaceful transfer of power to a duly elected president remain against the law in the United States of America.

“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value,” Payne wrote. An ancestor of mine was in the militia during the Revolutionary war. Today, we all need to play such a supporting role here.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

TRUMP’S PERP WALK – Does Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg have a case against Donald J. Trump? Read our center-column analysis of Bragg’s 34-count indictment charging the ex-prez with “Falsifying business records…” scroll down this center column, then read right- and left-column opinions.

Congress remains on Easter/Passover/Ramadan break. Both chambers return Monday, April 17, with the House in session through Thursday, April 20, and the Senate in session through Friday, April 21. The Hustings returns that week.

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FRIDAY 4/7/23

Economy Adds a Cool 236k Jobs – The Labor Department counted 236,000 new jobs added in March, compared with 326,000 jobs in February, indicating a cooling economy, finally; a sign the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bring down inflation with nine consecutive interest rate increases is taking hold. Despite the new jobs number released by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday, the unemployment rate fell slightly from 3.6% in February to 3.5% in March, and average hourly earnings were up 4.2% last month, “also easing from recent months” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Job growth continues in leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services, and health care, the BLS reports.

Lingering question: Will the Fed’s interest rate increases lead the economy to a “soft landing,” or are we headed for a recession?

--TL

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Does Bragg Have a Case?

By Todd Lassa

New York County Indictment #71543-23 had Democratic pundits, anti-Trump-leaning independents and never-Trump Republicans feeling anxious about the solidity of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.’s 34-count case against the former president.

Was it the wrong case to come first – or at all -- considering Fulton County, Georgia’s recording of Donald J. Trump calling on the secretary of state for 11,780 more votes in his favor after the 2020 election, last year’s investigation by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol, and a stash of classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46^th president?

Bragg’s indictment accuses Trump of “Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree in violation of Penal Law 175.10.”

“The defendant, in the County of New York and elsewhere, on or about February 14, 2017, with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, to wit, an invoice from Michael Cohen dated February 14, 2017, marked as a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization.”

Repeat – no rinse – 34 times.

Former attorney and Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen already has served time for perjury in relation to his falsifying records. Cohen paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in “hush money” prior to the 2016 presidential election to silence her story of having sexual relations with Trump, who then allegedly reimbursed Cohen after winning the election, for “attorney’s fees.” Bragg’s case also draws in $150,000 paid to former Playboy model Karen McDougal via the National Enquirer by former publisher of the tabloid and Trump ally David Pecker in a “catch and kill” scheme to suppress salacious stories.

In a statement on the indictment, DA Bragg said he is charging the former president “for falsifying New York business records in order to conceal information and unlawful activity from American voters by and after the 2016 election. During the election, Trump and others employed a “catch and kill” scheme to identify, purchase and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects. Trump then went to great lengths to hide his conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.”

But is a business records fraud case based on suppression of a political sex scandal enough?

Justice Juan Merchan has given Trump more than seven months to hone and repeat his 2024 presidential campaign, setting December 4 for his next court date, just two months before the Iowa GOP caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, according to The Hill. Trump added Merchan to his long list of grievances in his Tuesday night echo-chamber speech at Mar-a-Lago, attended by such acolytes as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and MyPillow guy Mike Lindell.

On CNN, former Obama advisor David Axelrod likened Trump’s airing of grievances at Mar-a-Lago to “a guy on a barstool telling you about his bad divorce.”

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Committing Absurd Acts in Public

By Stephen Macaulay

One of the all-time most famous examples of the Black Power salute occurred at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, when two Black athletes, on the medals podium, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, threw the fist. An exceedingly powerful image that still resonates today.

Donald J. Trump leaves a Manhattan courtroom having been charged with 34 counts related to what DA Alvin Bragg described as a “catch-and-kill scheme” involving falsification of business records to cover up information about him that could have had a negative impact on his 2016 presidential campaign (hardly: remember Trump’s own comment about shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not losing any votes?). . .and he uses the fist gesture.

Does he know what he’s doing? Does the 76-year-old who has a coif that North Korean leaders undoubtedly admire think it makes him look powerful?

Or does he use a clenched fist because any other hand gesture would make it clear just what a short-fingered vulgarian he really is?

Let’s be clear. Donald J. Trump is presumed innocent.

It is up to a jury to determine whether any of the 34 counts hold.

The whole situation is pathetic because the public discourse today is driven in large part by a man who may have paid money to an adult film actress to keep her quiet about what she claims was an affair she had with him. (Let’s say there wasn’t any hanky panky. What was the payment predicated on? It’s not like the man is known for being a philanthropist for wayward girls or anyone else.)

If this was a scenario related to the PTA president, you can be sure that people — on both sides of the political divide — would be aghast.

But because this is a man who is as lauded on one side as he is disparaged on the other, the simple circumstances seem to be irrelevant.

Oh, and what if the local mayor or alderman paid monies to a former Playboy model and not for purposes of a charity she might be running? How long before there would be efforts to have him summarily dismissed?

Even more pathetic than Trump throwing the fist is the fact that there are so many in public who turn a blind eye to this less-than-upstanding behavior.

Millions of people in the United States (and globally) are in a highly religious period. There is Ramadan. Holy Week. Passover. People who celebrate these have a sense of right and wrong and know particularly well when they have transgressed.

Where is the morality in places like Mar a Lago?

Bravado and bluster don’t change correctitude. It is sad there are so many people who try to excuse bad behavior — even if it doesn’t rise to the level of illegality — while ignoring their fundamental sense of morality — even if it isn’t predicated on an organized religious belief.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Left With Doubt?

Should Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have deferred to Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s investigation of ex-President Trump’s alleged incitement of the January 6^th Capitol insurrection, or Mar-a-Lagogate, or to Fulton County, Georgia’s investigation of his alleged meddling in the state’s Electoral College count?

Give us your civilly stated opinions in the Comment section in this column or the one on the right. Or email editors@thehustings.news and let us know whether you lean liberal or conservative in the subject line.

Also up for discussion …

•Trump-era bank deregulation is blamed for failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

•Some Senate Democrats vote with Republicans to stop the D.C. crime bill, as President Biden promises not to veto.

•”Spiritual guru” Marianne Williamson is the first to declare her candidacy for the 2024 Democratic nomination for president. (Biden has yet to declare, though he has given every possible indication he will run again.)

•How House Democrats plan to retake the House majority in 2024.

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Indictment #71543-23

Ex-President Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 counts in the case related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels (CNN). PICTURED: Trump with his defense team appears at his arraignment in Manhattan (AP Photo). The indictment is "all about election interference" according to CNN.

This Just In – Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz trounced private attorney Dan Kelly for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat in an ostensibly non-partisan race (AP). Kelly was appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. Scott Waker (R) to the state Supreme Court to fulfill an unexpired term, but lost election for a full term in 2020.

Protasiewicz beat Kelly with 55.1% of the vote according to NBC News, and her tilting of the state Supreme Court to 4-3 liberal indicates a successful challenge to Republican-drawn redistricting maps that have made Wisconsin among the most gerrymandered states in the country, as well as the likely overturning of an 1849 abortion ban triggered by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health that overturned the 49-year-old Roe v. Wade decision.

The race reportedly became the most expensive ever for a state Supreme Court election, with both sides spending an estimated $40 million-plus.

•••

Meanwhile, in Chicago – Cook County commissioner and former teacher Brandon Johnson has won a runoff election for Chicago mayor, with 51% of the vote to Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas’ 49%, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Though both are Democrats, winner Johnson is a progressive contrast to law-and-order candidate Vallas, who is more of a Richard Daley Democrat.

--TL

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It's Super Tuesday

TUESDAY 4/4/23

Donald J. Trump’s ‘defense fund’ raised $8 million in the three days since his indictment, senior campaign advisor, Jason Miller, tweeted Tuesday. Trump is on his way to a Manhattan court for his arraignment, expected about 2 p.m. local time Tuesday.

•••

Finland Joins NATO – Finland joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Tuesday, the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg says. The country’s 800 miles border with to Russia nearly doubles the NATO border with the country. Russia has said it will bolster defenses along that border in response to Finland joining NATO, according to The Guardian.

Meanwhile: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has blocked Sweden’s efforts to join NATO, at least until Turkey’s May 14 elections. Challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu is leading Erdogan in NATO-member Turkey’s polls by 10 points, Reuters reports.

--TL

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Super Tuesday Indications

MONDAY 4/3/23

Hush Money – Former President Donald J. Trump arrives in Manhattan Monday ahead of his Tuesday perp walk on a reported 34-count indictment connected to $130,000 in hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump’s indictment came after District Attorney Alvin Bragg reviewed a second payment, this one for $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, USA Today reports.

It is not known whether the alleged McDougal hush money ended up in the indictment which remains under seal until Trump appears in court Tuesday.

That hasn’t stopped Republican leaders … from criticizing Bragg’s indictment following the grand jury’s recommendation. This includes Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, “famous for being just Trumpy enough to woo MAGA Republicans without alienating more moderate voters,” according to The Washington Post.

“It is beyond belief that District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted a former president and current presidential candidate for pure political gain. Arresting a presidential candidate on a manufactured basis should not happen in America.”

Double-edged or circular argument?: Trump has warned that if he can be “indicated” (see tweet, above) any American can be, uh, indicted for the likes of hush-money payments. Right, say the Trump critics: No one is above the law, not even an ex-president.

Counterpoint: Undeclared 2024 presidential candidates Youngkin, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and ex-Veep Mike Pence have come to Trump’s defense over the Manhattan D.A.’s indictment. Anticipating a GOP implosion under the weight of the ex-prez’s considerable legal issues, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he will declare as an anti-Trump Republican.

“While the formal announcement will be later in April, in Bentonville (Arkansas),” Hutchinson told ABC News This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl Sunday, “I want to make clear to you, Jonathan, I am going to be running. And the reason is, I’ve traveled the country for six months. I hear people talk about the leadership of our country. I’m convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not simply appeal to our worst instincts.”

•••

On Wisconsin’s Supreme Court – It’s the state Supreme Court race that “could change the political trajectory” of the Badger State, notes NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. Though ostensibly non-partisan, the race between Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz and former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly is expected to affect abortion rights, Republican-drawn redistricting maps and former Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) law limiting union rights.

Protasiewicz says she favors women’s choice, indicating she will overturn a Wisconsin pre-Civil War abortion ban that triggered after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, while Kelly says politics would not determine how he would rule on the court. Then-Gov. Walker appointed Kelly, a private attorney, to fulfill the unexpired term of state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser Jr. in 2016, but lost election to a full term in 2020.

The Wisconsin race far exceeds the previous campaign spending record for a state Supreme Court race, which was $15.2 million for a 2004 Illinois election. The race between Protasiewicz and Kelly has cost nearly $29 million, and counting, says Wisconsin Public Radio, quoting the Brennan Center for Justice.

•••

Chicago’s Mayoral Runoff – Last, but not least, Democratic candidates Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson face off in Tuesday’s runoff election for mayor of Chicago, to replace single-term incumbent Lori Lightfoot, who came in a distant third in the February 28 general election amidst a spike in the Second City’s crime rate. Vallas is the former special emergency manager of the Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans public school systems who says he will lower crime and improve schools, according to The New York Times, thus conjuring the Richard Daley wing of the city’s Democratic Party.

Johnson is a county commissioner, former teacher and paid organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union who has campaigned on “sweeping new investments in neighborhood schools and social programs,” representing the party’s progressive wing.

Congressional Calendar -- This was to be a quiet two weeks on Capitol Hill. The Senate and House of Representatives are off for Easter/Passover break, returning Monday, April 17.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehusitngs.news

Right of Way?

Does Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s unprecedented indictment of a former president open the floodgates for future ex-commanders-in-chief, including President Biden? Is the U.S. now, as Donald J. Trump says, a third-world country?

Trump has raised more than $5 million off the indictment for his 2024 presidential campaign, NPR reports.

Become a citizen pundit and voice your opinion on the latest center-column news/analysis with your civilly stated opinions in the Comment section, or email editors@thehustings.news and let us know whether you lean conservative or liberal.

Other recent political news up for discussion …

•The GOP is split on whether to continue support for Ukraine in its defense of the Russian invasion, particularly in the House versus the Senate.

•Trump-signed bank deregulation in 2018 is not to blame for the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, says op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.

•Former Vice President Mike Pence, a presumed candidate for president in 2024, finally strikes back at former President Trump at the Washington press corps’ gridiron dinner.

•Is the GOP finally moving on from Trump? (Spoiler alert: no.)

in the subject line.

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No One Above the Law?

Finally, Donald J. Trump is indicted? Waiting for heavier charges related to Georgia elector meddling, the 1/6 Capitol insurrection and/or Mar-a-Lagogate? Scroll down to comment on Trump's indictments by a Manhattan grand jury.

•••

Scroll down with the trackbar on the far right for political news and issues covered in the center column, including President Biden’s deal with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last Friday to clamp down on an open border crossing between the U.S. and Canada.

Scroll down this column to read …

•Trump-era bank deregulation is blamed for failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

•Some Senate Democrats vote with Republicans to stop the D.C. crime bill, as President Biden promises not to veto.

•How House Democrats plan to retake the House majority in 2024.

Become a citizen pundit and voice your opinion on these and other recent news stories in the Comment section in this column or the one on the right. Or email editors@thehustings.news and let us know whether you lean liberal or conservative in the subject line.

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