We start todayPatrick Marley, Josh Dawsey, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, and Carol D. Leonnigof The Washington Post and their report of the charges that are about to be brought against Number 45 for his position on Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol,
The growing number of lawsuits and pending lawsuits show a serious effort to hold back those who tried to help Trump stay in office after losing the election. And because it comes as the former president is proving to be a key pillar of his 2024 campaign, experts say it will present a surprising test of the country’s judiciary and political institutions. […]
Smith’s investigation on January 6 involved many of Trump’s advisers, Republican officials, lawyers and other allies appearing before the grand jury that meets Tuesday and Thursday in Washington. These sessions have often been used as a way to get Trump’s people to challenge his 2020 campaign promises.
The grand jury was presented with unfounded conspiracy theories promoted by Trump, as well as reports from his team that contradicted his claims. One person with direct knowledge of the grand jury’s activities, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, said some of the sessions appeared to be aimed at debunking Trump’s election fraud once and for all.
Josh Marshallof Talking Points Memo says the January 6 lawsuits are the last thing the GOP wants to hear.
Now it seems all but certain that Trump will A) win the Republican presidential nomination without real opposition and B) face four different sets of charges in four different areas for crimes ranging from petty fraud to the most serious crime. , trying to overthrow the government and the laws themselves.
The two possibilities – seemingly completely opposite – reinforce each other. A normal person would be kicked out of the race. For Trump they become more evidence of a great battle that confirms his position not only as a leader but as the inevitable leader of the Republican Party. His position as a victim convinces any serious opponent of the election.[…]
One consequence of Trump’s decision on January 6 is to remove the central role and power that Judge Aileen Cannon has in Florida. They could effectively delay Trump’s impeachment until 2024 in time for Trump to close the case and boost him if re-elected. But with another federal indictment in DC and two other cases pending, his scrutiny of Trump’s legal team has little news.
As I have seen above it is Trump’s version of reality. But for all his bravery and “lots of criticism, I love this!” protests, the reality is that this amounts to an unmitigated disaster for the GOP.
Charles BlowThe New York Times considers that Trump’s criticism is “anticlimactic”.
It should be seen as a fulfillment of America’s commitment to justice that Trump is finally being held accountable for his recklessness and brutality, for his disregard for the Constitution and his contempt for the law.
So why does it seem impossible? Why does the feeling of sadness persist? Why is there no concept of an end in space?
It feels that way because there is no guarantee that we are reaching the end of the Trump era of terror. In fact, there is every indication that they have no intention of bending or breaking – that they would destroy our democracy rather than respond.
America is trying hard, and no one knows how it will turn out.
John CassidyThe New Yorker says there could be a lot of good economic news for the Biden Administration.
In the coming months, there could be a lot of good news for the White House. Declines in home prices and used car prices should also be reflected in other indicators of inflation, including the core Consumer Price Index, or CPI, which the Federal Reserve monitors closely because it excludes energy and food prices. “We appreciate that information can be distorted by inflation forecasts, even a few months into the future, but you should not think too hard and cross your fingers for the lowest CPI records in the summer and early fall,” Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a client circular last week. In the months of July and August, the main CPI can increase by 0.1 percent every month, Shepherdson told me, and if this happens, he added, the main rate of inflation for the year will drop from 4.8 percent in June to 4.1 percent in August.
With inflation running much better than most economists expected, the White House is determined to avoid what every president wants to fear in the run-up to the election: an election-year recession. On Monday, the investment team at Goldman Sachs put the potential for the economy over the next twelve months — meaning a sharp drop in income, employment, and GDP — at just twenty percent. “Recent developments have strengthened our confidence that bringing inflation to normal does not require a recession,” said Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman.
Aidan Quigleyof Roll Call reported that Republicans secured funds earmarked for LGBTQ+-related projects from the Transportation-HUD Appropriations category.
The three payments totaled $3.62 million, two in Massachusetts and one in Pennsylvania. The projects were canceled as part of the Republican en bloc reforms that advanced many Republican traditions, including a law that would have banned gay pride flags from public buildings. The vote was along party lines, 32-26.
A member of a small group Mike Quigley, D-Ill., then introduced amendments to add three projects to the bill. Rejected, 27-30.
At the beginning of the meeting, Rep. Mark Pocan he said the committee’s move to remove the pins was “too much” and described his experience after being attacked leaving a gay club which left him in a coma.
“That’s what you do, by bringing in changes like this,” said Pocan, D-Wis. “The removal of public information is at the lowest level of Congress, and the House of Representatives Committee.”
Nora NosePoynter asks if news sources should be paid.
As a reporter with nearly eight years, including nearly six at CNN, I have never traded money for information or stories before I started my book,”24 Hours in Charlottesville: An Oral History of Standing Against White Supremacy.” It was against the rules of journalism, as I was taught.
But as soon as I started working on this job, which was so close to my heart as a former Charlottesville resident, University of Virginia student, and local news reporter, I began to question this basic premise of journalism.[…]
On one level, it was a real concern; spending hours talking is time that is not used for wages, and you can’t pay rent and groceries and cable news. But it was also a serious question about the morals of unpaid work, and especially the kind of people we ask to do unpaid work. Most of the time, they are women of color.
So that’s when I started thinking about how I could ask survivors to talk to me for hours, recalling the most horrific days of their lives in detail, without compensation. It felt like workwork for which he had to be paid.
Fred P HochbergThe Hill posts an interesting article about the importance of cultural dialogue.
When the world is in control after the Cold War, our culture is the most important factor that will help us determine whether we can create a new international order compatible with America’s interests. We must use everything we can to strengthen our soft power, including state aid – something that has a long history of US diplomacy and policy.
In defense after Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, the general Talleyrand used it. French cuisine to bring Prussia, Russia and England to the table – literally. Asking for help from Paris to his ambassador at the Vienna peace conference, Talleyrand and he said he laughed, “Sir, I want spoons more than written instructions!” Talleyrand got his skins, and the result was a union that would last Europe for a century.
At the beginning of the Cold War, it was Eisenhower himself who added “American” to the name of the Ballet Theater in New York, making ABT, which still travels around the world. At the same time, MoMA began putting on visual exhibitions of Abstract Expressionist paintings showcase American technologywhich Kennedy later developed into a Art in Embassies program. Now, the collection of Art in Embasses is active 20,000 artists.
I think that the success of this type of discussion of American culture after the Cold War was immediately after the Cold War and it ended on September 11, 2001. The US still has an influence on the world culture.
Nicholas Vinocur and Anne McElvoyof POLITICO Europe ask the head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency.
In a rare interview, Richard Moore appealed to Russians who were disillusioned with their leadership as they felt that President Vladimir Putin had been “forced” within after the terrorist attacks exposed his weakness.
“Join us – our door is always open,” Moore – known as “C” within the organization – said during a POLITICO event hosted by the British embassy in Prague. […]
Mr Moore gave a sobering overview of the war in Ukraine, noting that Kyiv’s military had retreated more in the past month than the Russians had in a year. And he issued a warning to African leaders who depend on Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner PMC, to keep them.
“If the Russian military betrays Putin, who else will?” he said in the statement, the only group of people who want to donate this year.
Moore’s comments come as MI6 ramps up its outreach efforts. Founded under a different name before the First World War, MI6 – Britain’s equivalent of the US’s CIA, while MI5 is like the FBI – operated for decades in private. The British government officially recognized its existence in 1994.
Finally today,Fardin EftekhariThe Middle East Eye reported on the escalation of tensions between Russia and Iran.
So far, Russia has failed to achieve its goals in Ukraine and has failed to stop the expansion of Nato. Also support for Sweden’s Nato membership, I’m sorry has also announced its own support for the membership of Ukraine. Ukraine still receives ample support from the West with no immediate hope of a peaceful concession to Moscow.
As Iran continues to support Russia through military, political and diplomatic channels, Moscow fears that Tehran will use the aid as leverage in negotiations to revive its nuclear talks, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and United States and Europe.
It’s coming soon”informal and unwritten contract“between the US and Iran, that has already started to happen has been established, seems to have raised concerns in Russia. Iran has pledged not only to “increase its cooperation with the world’s nuclear weapons inspectors” but also to “avoid selling missiles to Russia” and to “stop the brutal killing of American contractors in Syria and Iraq”.
As a key security partner of Iran and a party to the JCPOA, Russia interpreted the document with skepticism.
Have a great day everyone!