(The annual inflation rate fell to 6.4% in January, from a rate of 6.5% the month earlier. Scroll down this column for the story.)
THURSDAY 2/16/23
Report: Meadows Subpoenaed in 1/6 Case – Special Counsel Jack Smith in his investigation of Donald J. Trump’s role in the January 6th Capitol insurrection has subpoenaed the most loyal of the ex-president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, CNN reports, citing a single source. According to the report, Smith subpoenaed Meadows in January.
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11,780 – Thursday is the day for release of three parts of a Georgia special grand jury report on Donald J. Trump’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 vote for Joe Biden. (Remember; the former president told Georgia Secretary of State George Raffensperger (R) he only needed 11,780 votes to overturn the state’s Electoral College.)
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Monday announced release of portions of the report despite pleas by prosecutors to hold off until they make a decision on charges, Newsweek says. The special grand jury interviewed 75 witnesses, including Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) as part of the investigation.
--TL
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WEDNESDAY 2/15/23
DOJ to Seek Crime-Fraud Exception – If you’re one of the many Democrats or never-Trumper Republicans who have wondered what’s taking Attorney General Merrick Garland so long on moving toward indictments for myriad investigations of the former president, your time may be coming. Federal prosecutors will seek the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege in order to compel M. Evan Corcoran, an attorney for Donald J. Trump, to answer questions related to classified documents held at Mar-a-Lago after the former president’s term ended, unnamed sources told The New York Times. Prosecutors are seeking the exception to determine whether Corcoran’s legal advice or services were used in the obstruction of justice, the report says.
Can’t Quit Him: Meanwhile, Trump’s former vice president and target of January 6th Capitol insurrectionists, Mike Pence, plans to resist testimony before a grand jury in that case, two people familiar with the investigation told Politico. According to the report, Pence will not claim executive privilege, but as former president of the Senate will plead legislative privilege.
--TL
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...meanwhile...
TUESDAY 2/14/23
Inflation Continues to Ease, But – The annual Consumer Price Index dropped another 0.1% to 6.4% for January, the Commerce Department reports, though the month-over-month rate is up 0.2%. The department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics says shelter was “overall the largest contributor,” accounting for nearly half of all monthly items, though a January spike in gas (“all types,” including diesel, which is not a gas) was up 2.4% after six months of steady decline, up 1.5% over a year earlier. Fuel oil prices dropped 2.7% for January but is up 27.7% annually.
The index for all prices except food and energy was up 0.4% last month, the BLS says. The Federal Reserve thus has seen its shadow, so expect more interest rate hikes for much of the year.
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Brainerd to Lead National Economic Council – Vice chair of the Federal Reserve Lael Brainard will be named director of the White House National Economic Council as Brian Deese, who has served that function since the beginning of the Biden administration steps down, several outlets have reported. Brainard is described as a champion of Wall Street regulation and for policies to expand the labor market, The Washington Post reports, which plays into President Biden’s effort to once again make the Democratic Party the party of blue-collar workers.
CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin notes on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that the appointment will make Brainard a likely candidate for Treasury secretary if, and when, Janet Yellin steps down.
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Mass Shootings This Year – Monday’s mass shooting at the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing counts as the 67th of the year, so far. That’s 67 mass shootings in just six-plus weeks. Three are dead and five injured at MSU, as is the 42-year-old suspect, apparently of a self-inflicted gun shot.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa
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...meanwhile...
MONDAY 2/13/23
Hey, UFO, Are You a Spy? – U.S. military forces shot down a third unidentified object Sunday, this one over Lake Huron off the Michigan shore, NPR reports. A second, cylindrical-shaped object was shot down over Canadian airspace Saturday. The first such UFO was shot down over Montana last Friday following criticism, especially by Republican politicians who objected to President Biden for allowing a larger object definitively described as a Chinese spy balloon to hover over U.S. airspace for about a week before it was shot down past the Atlantic coast of South Carolina.
The Pentagon outlined the difference between the latest UFO and the Chinese spy balloon in a press statement released after Sunday’s downing.
“We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in the statement (per Morning Edition).
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This Week – The full Senate is in session Monday through Friday. The House is not in session all week. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the January Consumer Price Index Tuesday.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa