THANKSGIVING RECESS 2023

The Consumer Price Index slipped by half a point in October, to 3.2%. It’s a nice drop from September’s 3.7%, but still well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Month-over-month prices were flat at 0%, though that was led by gas prices, which fell 5%, with energy off by 2.5%. Food, and food from home, was up 0.3%. Food away from home was up 0.4%. That other basic necessity, shelter, was up 0.3%.

Israel to Hold Gaza – Israel will have to occupy and control Gaza for the foreseeable future to assure Hamas’ authority there is not replaced by another Hamas-like group, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told NPR. 

“Once we defeat Hamas, we need to make sure there’s no new Hamas,” Netanyahu told Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep on its Friday broadcast. “No resurgence of terrorism. The only force that is able to secure that is Israel.”

Netanyahu described the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza which the Israeli Defense Force has raided for days as a “command center” for Hamas; “a lot of terrorists there, they fled as our forces approached the hospital, and happily we didn’t have to have a firefight with anyone.”

Gaza health authorities and Shifa directors have denied assertions by Israel and the United States that the hospital is hiding an elaborate tunnel system and have invited international inspection (Reuters).

The IDF has let reporters see a stairway leading under the hospital, but not the alleged tunnel system. Netanyahu said the IDF has found “a lot of weapons … a lot,” as well as ammunition and bombs underneath.

•••

So Long, Santos? – Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is “in real jeopardy of being expelled,” says Punchbowl News, after Thursday’s House Ethics Committee report sent to the Justice Department that says the freshman congressman diverted tens of thousands of dollars from his campaign fund for personal use, secretly funneled more than $176,000 from it to a company he secretly controlled and falsified his financial disclosures and campaign reports. 

On Thursday, Santos issued a statement with Trumpy language, accusing the Ethics Committee of a “disgusting political smear,” and announced a November 30 press conference on the Capitol steps. 

He may not have that much time. Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), chairman of the Ethics Committee, planned Friday to introduce a privileged resolution, backed by ranking member Susan Wild (D-PA) to remove Santos from Congress, Punchbowl News notes. It would be the first such removal since Rep. Jim Trafficant (D-OH) was convicted in 2002 of bribery, tax evasion and other crimes.

Note: An earlier resolution to remove Santos backed by fellow New York Republicans in the House had the support of just 24 GOP congress members. If all 213 Democrats back Guest’s resolution, it needs at least 77 Republicans. 

Given Santos’ fervent support for ex-President Trump and his House minions, it’s in the interest of those minions to keep him in his seat. If Santos is removed, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) could afford to lose only three Republicans to pass legislation.

•••

Tuberville Christmas – Republican senators are “laying the groundwork” to vote before Christmas for a Democratic-drafted resolution to change the Senate’s rules and circumvent Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) hold on more than 400 military nominees, The Hill reports. Defense hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who otherwise like Tuberville is a Trump ally, said he would be ready to vote for the bill, which would allow Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to confirm the military promotions as a bloc.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY 11/16/23

UPDATE: Santos announced shortly after release of the scathing House Ethics Committee report he will not run for re-election next year (The Hill).

Ethics v. Santos -- The House Ethics Committee handed over a 55-page report to the Justice Department that finds "substantial evidence" that Rep. George Santos (R-NY) violated federal criminal laws. The report says freshman congressman Santos spent campaign funds on Botox treatments and lavish Atlantic City trips with his husband. It also details efforts to obscure his money trail and that he sought to build a "fictional" financial narrative on official records. The report "almost certainly" will trigger another expulsion attempt, according to Politico.

•••

Just in Time, Senate Passes CR – Or you could call Wednesday’s 87-11 Senate passage of the House’s Continuing Resolution early, in that it prevents government shutdown Friday. The bill now goes to President Biden’s desk for his signature, but the CR does not include additional funding for Israel or Ukraine. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told NPR’s Morning Edition there is bi-partisan support in the Senate and House to pass a separate bill for Israel and Ukraine after Thanksgiving. According to Roll Call the Senate Armed Services Committee’s ranking member, Roger Wicker (R-MS) won a commitment Wednesday to vote on sending the annual defense policy bill to a formal conference with the House.

•••

Biden Meets With Xi – President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jingping have agreed to resume military-to-military contact at their first in-person meeting in a year in Woodside, California Wednesday, ahead of an annual summit of Asian leaders in San Francisco.

“As a lot of you press know who follow this, that’s been cut off, and it’s been worri … worrisome,” Biden said in a press conference following the meeting. “That’s how accidents happen; misunderstandings. So, we’re back to direct, open, clear, direct communications on a … direct basis.”

Biden also announced Xi has agreed to a crackdown on precursor chemicals and pill presses used to process fentanyl and fentanyl chemical ingredients flowing from China to the West, “which are being shipped without controls.”

“We’re taking action to significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals and pill presses from China to the Western Hemisphere,” Biden said. “It’s going to save lives, and I appreciate President Xi’s commitment on this issue.”

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 11/15/23

Government Stays Open, For Now – Will Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) survive his “clean” two-step Continuing Resolution (CR), passed by the House Tuesday by 336-95 vote (per NPR)? The oppo came from two Democrats, Reps. Jake Auchincloss (MA) and Mike Quigley (IL) and 93 Republicans, including Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was one of eight who voted to take away Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) gavel.

“Everybody gets a mulligan,” Gaetz, who was among the 93, explained (per The Hill). 

“He’s had two weeks to pass it. His predecessor had since January, and then he jammed us up against the September 30 deadline,” agreed Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), another of the eight who voted to remove Johnson’s predecessor.

The CR extends four appropriations bills – Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture and Energy & Water – to January 19, and the remaining eight bills to February 2. 

The “clean” part of the bill is that it doesn’t include deep spending cuts or provisions for a southern border crackdown. It also does not include funding for Israel or Ukraine, both of which are likely to be in the Senate’s version of the CR expected in time to keep the government open past Friday.

Saving Speaker Johnson: In a CNBC interview Tuesday, Johnson reiterated his support for Donald J. Trump and endorsed him for president for 2024. He also has the backing of “Christian Nation” advocates, who were represented in the January 6^th Capitol insurrection. That may be enough to prevent Republican Congress members from invoking a motion to vacate when the appropriations bills face expiration again early next year.

If it’s not enough, House Democrats will likely enjoy watching the House GOP caucus collapse into chaos again.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 11/13/23

ICYMI Dept: Trump's Second-Term Dictatorship

By Todd Lassa

Donald J. Trump did everything he could to tear up the Constitution in his first term, including desperate attempts to procure a concurrent second term. The Washington Post last week outlined in an expose how “Trump and his allies plan to use a second term to wrest control of and politicize the Justice Department to target his political foes.” The analysis piece, by Aaron Blake, notes this is “hardly the first evidence of the plans for a consolidation of power and a more authoritarian second term.”

“Authoritarianism” does not go quite as far as “dictatorship,” but a potential dictatorship is what it is. So notes Dan Froomkin, editor of Press Watch, which on its front page at presswatchers.org offers readers the chance to “Read the full transcript of (Trump’s) fraud-trial testimony.” If the authoritarianism isn’t enough, this transcript offers insight into how unhinged Trump is.

Froomkin told WNYC’s On the Media that “elite journalists in our top institutions lack the vocabulary and the mechanics necessary to accurately cover Trump right now.” Responsible media outlets that endeavor to present straight news objectively – among them, WaPo, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS News, ABC News and NBC News. They are mired by covering him with “false equivalency,” as if there is a counterpoint to authoritarianism. [It should be noted that CNN’s new CEO, Mark Thompson, told staffers on his first day at the office not to be “distracted by complicated arguments about balance or whataboutism or false equivalency.”]

Trump is no Vladimir Putin, dictatorship-wise, though as told by sources to WaPo his second term would be in the same class as Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Poland’s recently defeated Andrzey Duda. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been working on consolidating his power by kneecapping Israel’s judiciary, also could be included in this discussion.

This is what Trump and his loyal enablers have planned for 2025, according to WaPo:

•Use the Justice Department for political purposes. (Including prosecution of his former allies such as Bill Barr, who did much of Trump’s bidding as attorney general until Christmas 2020, just before the Capitol insurrection.)

•Purge the government and install loyalists.

•Consolidate power in the presidency.

•Pardon January 6 insurrectionists.

•Crack down harder on immigrants, with extraordinary tools.

On that last point, the NYT reported Sunday that Trump plans an “extreme expansion” of his first-term crackdown on immigrants, “including preparing to round up undocumented people already in the United States on a vast scale and detain them in sprawling camps while they wait to be expelled.”

This would destroy our democracy. All Trump needs next November is his MAGA core, roughly one-third of the electorate, plus a substantial share of swing voters and a majority of mainstream Republicans cowed by the threat coming from Trump’s power grab – or maybe no more than a handful of election officials in swing states who are willing to do his bidding.

-30-

R-Col. HED: Who Are Trump’s Potential Spoilers?

Seven Republicans want to spoil Trump’s huge lead in the polls for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination. Of the five among those who qualified for last week’s debate, the former president’s former United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, now appears to lead the race for second place.

Another of the five, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, is the only one of seven Republican presidential candidates who has openly declared himself a Trump spoiler. So far, he has not done much more than take about 5% of poll standings from the other challengers.

Then there’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the formerly Democratic challenger to President Biden for the nomination who withdrew his challenge to go independent. Having gone indy, Kennedy as an anti-vaxxer would seem to appeal to the considerable conspiracy theory contingent of MAGA. He may also appeal to those mythical voters who claim they backed Barack Obama before they backed Donald J. Trump.

Your thoughts: …are most welcome for posting in these columns. If you’re pro-MAGA or a never-Trumper conservative, please post your comments in this column, or email editors@thehustings.news … if you chose the latter, please indicate your political leanings (right/left, Republican/Democratic, conservative/liberal, etc.) in the subject line.

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COMMENTS?: email editors@thehustings.news

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia announced Thursday he will not run for re-election in 2024, threatening his party’s thin majority in the Senate while also potentially becoming a third-party spoiler in next year’s presidential election.

“After months of deliberation and long conversation with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia. I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” Manchin announced in a video on X. https://twitter.com/Sen_JoeManchin/status/1722698734910210420

“But,” he continued, “what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest to mobilize the middle and bring people together.”

Note that he does not have much of a youth advantage over either major party candidate. At 76, Machin is a year younger than Trump and three years younger than Biden.

Democratic counterpoint: After the announcement, “Democrats said they had hopes of expanding the map to Texas and Florida” to retain a Senate majority, The Washington Post reports, as West Virginia voters almost certainly will replace Manchin with a Republican. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rick Scott (R-FL) both are also up for re-election next year. 

Who’s spoiling whom?: It’s too early to say whether Manchin might siphon more votes from President Biden or from presumed GOP nominee Donald J. Trump.

But wait, there’s more: Jill Stein, the physician and activist who first ran for president in 2012, then again in 2016 with the Green Party has announced another third-party run for next year (USA Today). 

Stein’s ’16 vote totals in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin were big enough to give Trump the Electoral College wins in the three states, and it seems clear she would likely grab votes from Biden in ’24. About the time of her ’16 run, Stein was connected to Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin. According to Accidental Czar – The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin, a graphic bio by Andrew S. Weiss and Brian “Box” Brown, Stein “attended the 2015 RT (Russian Television) birthday gala dinner and sat at the same head table with Putin and Mike Flynn.”

--TL

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Axelrod Calls on Biden to Drop Campaign

On March 31, 1968, President Lyndon Baines Johnson spoke on national television to say he would not seek, nor would he accept, his Democratic Party’s nomination for president that November. It did not work out for the party, whose nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, lost to Richard Nixon. But the point is that based on that timeline, President Joe Biden has a bit more than four months to drop his re-election campaign.

Former Obama political strategist David Axelrod wants Biden to reconsider, now, whether to run for re-election. “What he needs to decide is whether that is wise,” Axelrod wrote on X (per Axios).

Comment on the latest news and issues in the appropriate section in this column, or email editors@thehustings.news and let us know whether you lean left or right in the subject line.

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FRIDAY 11/10/23

Former UN Ambassador and North Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley “won” Wednesday night’s GOP presidential candidates’ debate in Miami and broadcast by NBC, according to a 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, with 34% of those polled saying she had the best performance. Haley edged out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who most impressed 23%, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Former President Trump, who again eschewed the debate, this time for his own political rally in nearby Hialeah, remains the frontrunner, though the share of Republicans most likely to vote for him slipped from 64.6%, to 63.1% in the latest poll. DeSantis’ score also fell, from 49.7% to 48.3%.

Haley gained on both Trump and DeSantis. Republicans likely to vote for her rose 2.5 points, to 38%. 

Businessman and MAGA vice presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy lost 1.2 points, to 19.8% and Sen. Rick Scott, of South Carolina, fell one full point, to 19.3%.

Anti-Trump candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, like Haley, gained Republican support, from 13.7% before the debate to 14.9% after.

•••

Evacuation in Gaza? – Tanks are encircling hospitals in Gaza a day after Israel announced it would pause fighting four hours a day to distribute food and medical supplies and allow evacuation, The Washington Post reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel doesn’t “seek to occupy” Gaza.

•••

Biden to Meet with Xi – President Biden meets with China President Xi Jingping next Wednesday to “discuss issues in the U.S.-PRC (People’s Republic of) bilateral relationship, the continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication, and a range of regional and global issues,” according to a release from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The meeting will be on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit, The Hill notes.

•••

REMINDER – The federal government shuts down next Friday, November 17, if Congress fails to pass a spending bill.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY 11/9/23

“Surprise” would be too strong a term, so let’s say there were a few unexpected turns in Wednesday night’s GOP presidential debate on NBC. Anti-Trump candidate Chris Christie had a handful of supporters cheer him, with no apparent “boos” from MAGA Floridians. The host state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, came off as calm and level-headed, but then he was standing next to MAGA vice presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. 

In the no surprise, no unexpected turn column, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott called for the United States to become a Christian nation again.

Former Trump administration UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said her former boss “was the right president at the right time,” before explaining why he’d be the wrong president in 2025.

Haley called on her inner Will Smith when in a heated exchange with Ramaswamy over who can impose a more imposing ban on Tik Tok, Ramaswamy accused Haley’s daughter of being a big fan of the Chinese-based social media outlet. Haley shot back; “Leave my daughter out of your voice!”

So will Haley, DeSantis, Christie or Scott gain ground on Donald J. Trump in the polls? Will Ramaswamy rise to the top of Trump’s list of potential running mates?

We’ll soon see.

Meanwhile, we hope you’ll weigh in with your thoughts on who won and who lost in the debate. Which of them would you most like to see become the Republican presidential nominee, and why? 

Please send your comments to editors@thehustings.news and note your political leanings, whether right or left, in the subject line. --TL

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WEDNESDAY 11/8/23

Election Results – Even as party angst bubbles up over a New York Times/Siena poll showing President Biden trailing Donald J. Trump for the 2024 election in five of six crucial swing states, the Democratic Party has scored some key wins in Tuesday’s elections. Here’s what we know so far…

Ohio Abortion Rights: Voters approved a constitutional amendment that ensures access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care according to the AP, marking the latest pro-choice victory since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. With 79% counted, the “yes” vote overwhelmed the “no” vote, 55.6% to 44.3% according to Ballotpedia.

Meanwhile: In another referendum, Ohio became the 24^th state to legalize marijuana, the AP reports.

Kentucky Gubernatorial: Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear has won a second term in this otherwise red state, having defeated Republican challenger Daniel Cameron. Beshear took 52% of the vote to Cameron’s 47%, according to MSNBC’s The 11^th Hour. Beshear, the son of former Gov. Steve Beshear (2007-15), first earned the keys to the governor’s mansion when he defeated Republican incumbent Matt Bevin in 2019.

Virginia Senate: Democrats will hold control of the state senate, winning 21 of the chamber’s 40 seats (AP). Democratic wins include Schulyer Van Valkenburg for a suburban Richmond district and Russet Perry in Northern Virginia to help prevent  Republicans from taking absolute control of the state government.

Meanwhile: Control of Virginia’s House of Delegates remained up in the air late Tuesday, though Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato told MSNBC’s The 11^th Hour that Democrats will win control of the lower chamber and put an end to talk of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin running for president as a Trump alternative.

Mississippi Gubernatorial: Incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves was leading Democratic challenger Brandon Pressley – uh huh, Elvis’ second cousin – 53.5% to 43.2%, with 78% of “expected” votes in according to NBC News. Independent candidate Gwendolyn Gray had 1.4% of the vote. 

Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Superior Court Judge Daniel McCaffery won a special election for the Supreme Court to replace the late chief justice, Max Baer, to restore the Democratic Party’s 5-2 majority, The Hill’s Decision Desk HQ reports. He defeated Republican Carolyn Carluccio, president judge for the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, who downplayed her anti-abortion stance in her campaign. 

New York City Council: Democratic candidate and member of the ‘Central Park Five,’ Yusef Salaam won a seat on the New York City Council. Salaam was arrested age 15 in 1989 and served more than seven years in prison until his exoneration, which came after Donald J. Trump called for the death penalty for the wrongly accused five.

--TL

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ELECTION DAY 11/7/23

Trump Takes the Stand – No matter how hard Donald J. Trump tried, New York Judge Arthur Engoron refused to let the former president make MAGA-style campaign speeches in his court Monday. Trump took to the stand for nearly four hours in New York Attorney Gen. Letitia James’ civil fraud case over the Trump Organization’s inflation of its real estate values for financial gain.

Trump droned on in the manner to which pro- and anti-MAGA alike are accustomed as Engoron demanded he just answer the questions. Trump, in turn, took shots at the judge – always a good defense, huh? – including making the statement Engoron “always rules against” him, while also calling James a “political hack.”

Engoron reminded Trump that his court is not a campaign rally (report per NPR’s All Things Considered). 

“I think this court is a disgrace,” Trump said. “I think the statements of financial condition are good, and in some cases, very conservative.”

In his post-testimony press conference, Trump told reporters, “I think it went very well. …” He added again that the case should not have been brought to court, and said prosecutors claimed his Mar-a-Lago estate was worth $18 million. “It’s 50 to 100 times that,” Trump claimed.

“We have already been victorious,” James said, referring to Engoron’s pre-trial ruling on the case. “Now we are looking forward to … the remaining counts in our action against Donald Trump and his repeated and consistent fraud against the citizens of the great state of New York.”

Ranting scared: More than even Trump’s criminal cases, the New York civil case and its promise of prohibiting the Trump Organization from doing business in the state ever again is the case he fears most. 

Next up: Ivanka Trump is set to testify Wednesday. Unlike fellow offspring Donald Jr. and Eric, his daughter is not charged in the case.

•••

‘Tactical Pause’ in Gaza? – President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are discussing the possibility of a “tactical pause” one month into the war as the Gaza Health Ministry reports that 10,000 Palestinians have been killed, The Guardian says. Netanyahu says Israel may have “security responsibility” for Gaza for an indefinite period. 

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) (above) called on announced and unannounced primary challengers to President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign to stand down if they want to protect the country from another Trump administration, according to the Sioux City Journal. The freshman senator made his remarks at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Liberty and Justice Celebration fundraiser in Altoona Saturday. 

“I’m here to tell you, you know, he is a strong, decent dude,” the freshman senator said of Biden. He called out both Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who announced his Democratic primary challenge days after Robert Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the party to run as an independent, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he said is running a “shadow campaign” to challenge the president for the ’24 Democratic nomination.

“If you are a Democrat that wants to criticize and go after Joe Biden, our president, just go ahead and write a check for Trump.”

It capped a big week for Fetterman, who on Thursday proposed internal sanctions for any senator indicted for such offenses as mishandling classified information, being charged as a foreign agent or compromising national security in his “move” against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who faces multiple bribery charges, Politico reports.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Iowa’s Republican governor Kim Reynolds (above) is set to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination at a Des Moines rally Monday, sources have confirmed to the Des Moines Register. In an October 25 call with reporters, DeSantis said an endorsement from Reynolds, who was a MAGA acolyte during the Trump administration, would be a “huge get” for his (flagging, financially struggling) presidential campaign.

Donald J. Trump’s reaction was entirely predictable. On his Truth Social outlet, Trump wrote Reynolds’ endorsement “will be the end of her political career,” according to the Register. “If and when Kim Reynolds of Iowa endorses Ron DeSanctimonious, who is absolutely dying in the polls in Iowa and Nationwide (sic), it will be the end of her political career in that MAGA would never support her again, just as MAGA will never support DeSanctimonious again.”

Not-Florida man: Meanwhile, at the Florida Republican Party’s Freedom Summit in Kissimmee, Saturday, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie responded to boos as he walked on the stage, saying “Now look, every one of those boos, every one of those catcalls, every one of those yells will not solve one problem we face in this country. Your anger against the truth is reprehensible.” (The Hill.)

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

FRIDAY 11/3/23

The Labor Department counts 150,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy in October, well below the average of 250,000 per month for the previous 12 months. The unemployment rate rose by 0.5 points to 3.9%, marking the 21^st month below 4%, which is traditionally considered ‘full employment.’ Newly added jobs were tempered by labor strikes last month, primarily the UAW action against the Detroit Three automakers, with whom the union has reached tentative agreements. Productivity was up 4.7%, however, which lowered unit labor cost by 0.8%. Job gains were noted particularly for health care, government, and social services.

Deadly Deadlock – Continued war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is, at this point, impossible to resolve. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel Friday for his second visit since October 7 to push the nation's leaders to take “humanitarian pauses” to help the flow of aid to Palestinians in Gaza and to facilitate the release of hostages. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu Friday said there will be no ceasefire until the hostages are released.

Also on Friday, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah “stopped short” of saying his powerful militia has joined the Israel-Hamas war but added that the fighting with Israel on the Lebananon-Israeli border would “not be limited,” The Guardian reports. 

•••

SBF Guilty – After five hours of deliberations, a jury found ex-cryptocurrency king Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of each of the seven criminal charges, including fraud, that he faced in connection with FTX and Alameda Research, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Prosecution presented a solid case with SBF’s former friends and colleagues testifying against him in the four-week trial, including former girlfriend and Alameda Research chief Caroline Ellison and co-founder of FTX and Alameda, Gary Wang. 

Wang had pleaded guilty on separate charges and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors in the SBF case. 

Bankman-Fried, 31, is scheduled to be sentenced next March and will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, NPR says, though he is also likely to appeal the conviction.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

(Johnson)

Analysis by Todd Lassa

The House MAGA club, which amounts to a large minority of that chamber, has managed to get all the chamber’s Republicans make Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) the 56^th speaker. The first-round vote was 220-209. Indications are the MAGA club makes up somewhere between 147 and a bit less than 200 of the House GOP caucus.

One popular early take is that Johnson snuck in as an unknown who has put forth no significant legislation since he was first elected to the House in 2016. Except, he was a member of Donald J. Trump’s congressional defense team in the first of his impeachment trials – the one about the “perfect phone call” with then-newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – alongside 56^th House speaker candidate No. 3, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). 

Johnson also authored an amicus brief “at Trump’s behest in a controversial 2020 case” filed by the Texas attorney general, that sought to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin (per Forbes). Johnson recruited 125 fellow Republicans to co-sign, so these reps presumably know something about him. 

In his first press conference Wednesday, ABC News congressional correspondent Rachel Scott tried to ask; “You led the effort to overturn the 2020 election results, do you …” and was booed by other Republicans and told to go away, Newsweek reports. Scott also tried to ask Johnson if he would support more aid to Ukraine and Israel.

Could moderate Republicans who previously torpedoed Jordan’s campaign for the job use a motion to vacate to get rid of Johnson over aid to Ukraine and Israel? After Jordan’s defeat, ex-President Trump “killed” moderate Republican speaker candidate Tom Emmer’s bid by getting on the phone with House members after posting on Truth Social that the representative from Minnesota is “totally out-of-touch with Republican voters” and a “globalist RINO” (per Politico).

So it went back-and-forth until Johnson emerged as some sort of empty-suited compromise. House Republicans were just too weary to ask questions about who he is, NPR’s All Things Considered reported, and went along with the MAGA club of barely 200 members to vote him in. What happens to him after a budget deal or extension is, at this point, anyone’s guess.

A news feature on Johnson in a 2016 issue of The Louisiana Baptism Message offers these insights: “I am a Christian, a husband, a father, a life-long conservative, constitutional law attorney and a small business owner in that order.”

A take from the other side is that he is “the most important architect of Electoral College objections,” according to Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), per the BBC.

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Speaker Race is On Again

TUESDAY 10/24/23

UPDATE -- House Republicans begin their private-vote process to nominate a new speaker from eight candidates vying for the position. That's down from nine, as Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania has dropped out (The Washington Post). Scroll down for the full list. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) (above) is considered the frontrunner among Republicans.

With eight Republican candidates remaining, we could be in for another long round before the House of Representatives can get back to work, address a proposal for U.S. aid for Israel and Ukraine, and avoid a government shutdown by the middle of November. After the GOP brings its nominee to the House floor, the full chamber will vote. Democrats will nominate their minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York once again. A nominee needs 217 House votes to become speaker.

NOTE: In the face of all this drama behind the speaker's race, The Hustings will be off for the rest of the week. Do not let that stop you from submitting your comments on this issue or any other recent issues, with an email to editors@thehustings.news.

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MONDAY 10/23/23

After Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) ended his bid to become speaker of the House last Friday following his third loss (with a vote total that continued to sink) House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, of New York gave intended candidates until noon Eastern Sunday to declare. Of the nine who declared, all are members of the right-wing Republican Study Committee, but only two voted to certify the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden, according to The Washington Post. 

They are …

•Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the House Majority Whip. He has the support of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, he is “head and shoulders above all those who want to run.” (Does that mean he has no chance?)

•Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA).

The others are …

•Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

•Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), previous chair of the House Rules Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

•Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), the only Black Republican speaker candidate, a staunch Trump ally who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and the Republican Study Committee.

•Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general who chairs the House Armed Services subcommittee on intelligence and special operations.

•Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), an attorney and former radio host and close Trump ally who served on the former president’s legal defense team during his two impeachment trials.

•Rep. Dan Menser (R-PA), one of more than 120 House Republicans who in December 2020 signed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit that would have invalidated the presidential election results in four states, including his own. He is on the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus as well as the not-so-moderate Main Street Republicans and Republican Study Committee.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Former Wyoming Republican congresswoman and vice chairwoman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol, Liz Cheney, did not rule out a 2024 presidential bid, in an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday. 

If Donald J. Trump is elected to a second term, “all of the things he attempted to do, but was stopped by doing by the responsible people around him at the Department of Justice and the White House counsel’s office, he will do. There will be guardrails. And everyone has been warned,” Cheney told SoTU’s Jake Tapper. 

Asked whether Cheney would vote for President Biden over Trump, Cheney demurred, but said she would spend “the next year between now and the election to elect serious, sane people” of both parties. “We don’t want a situation where the election is thrown into the House of Representatives.”

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Do you like any of the nine Republican candidates for House speaker? Voice your opinion in the Comment section below, or email us at editors@thehustings.news and please, indicate your political leanings -- right/conservative or left/liberal -- in the subject line.

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