The Full Belmonte, 1/6/2022
“A year after scenes of Donald Trump’s supporters storming the Capitol transformed the global conversation around democracy in America, the U.S. is more divided than ever.
Trump’s backers insist he won the 2020 presidential election, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and nurture dreams of his triumphant return to the White House in 2024.
Key reading:
Biden Plans Searing Critique of Trump to Mark Jan. 6 Anniversary
Garland Vows to Go After All Jan. 6 Perpetrators ‘at Any Level’
Biden Agenda Still Stuck as Manchin Reports ‘No Negotiation’
Democrats, including President Joe Biden, plan to mark the anniversary by warning of the dangers of misinformation and subverting democracy.
Biden will call on lawmakers in a speech today to pass voting rights legislation intended to rebut changes sought by Trump loyalists in a number of state governments that would limit access to absentee voting and strengthen identification requirements.
Republican leaders in Congress are choosing to lay low, with no major events planned (Trump also canceled his scheduled media briefing).
But the polarization that spawned the deadly violence in 2021 continues to stalk politics, with surveys indicating a majority of the public believes American democracy is in crisis. Most Republicans still back Trump’s false claims the election was ‘stolen.’
Going forward, voters will get a chance to weigh in directly, starting with the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. With Biden’s popularity falling and Democrats still arguing among themselves on his big tax and spending package, his party could find itself on the back foot.
Hanging in the balance are questions about what democracy in America will look like in the coming decades, whether the peaceful transition of power will endure and the extent to which the divisions laid bare a year ago can be healed.”— Kathleen Hunter Read more at Bloomberg
Demonstrators attempting to breach the Capitol a year ago.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
“What's happening today: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced several events at the Capitol that will commemorate today's anniversary, including a prayer, a moment of silence on the House floor and a conversation led by two historians aimed at preserving narratives of the attack. Lawmakers will also share their accounts, and President Joe Biden is expected to deliver remarks later today.
More than 100 activist groups are planning nationwide vigils and gatherings as part of a ‘Day of Remembrance and Action.’ The events will encourage people to demand more protections for democracy and voting rights.
Former President Donald Trump was scheduled to hold a press conference today, but canceled after advisers warned the event could be detrimental to him and other Republicans.
Security around Washington will be tight today. Federal officials have seen an increase in violent rhetoric on domestic extremist forums leading up to January 6, though no specific or credible threat has been identified.
Where the investigations stand: A House select committee to investigate the attack was formed last July, and isn't planning to release a report until this summer. However, over the last few months, the committee has issued more than 50 subpoenas to individuals and organizations -- including some of Trump's closest allies. Here is a partial list of those called to appear so far. The committee has also acquired texts and other communications that they say illuminate the actions of Trump and other leaders as the insurrection unfolded. During the committee's first and only public hearing so far, law enforcement officers gave harrowing testimony of their firsthand experiences during the attack. Here's more on what else the committee has done, and what its strategy is for 2022.
GALLERY: The January 6 Capitol riot in photos
Meanwhile, the Justice Department is in the middle of the biggest investigation in FBI history. About 700 people have been arrested for their roles in the attack, and hundreds more are still at large. Prosecuting them all could take years, and some legislators are growing impatient with the investigation's pace and perceived lack of aggression. However, Attorney General Merrick Garland said yesterday that the Justice Department ‘remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law’ no matter how long it takes.
How January 6 has changed everything
It's hard to quantify the impact of the insurrection, which has altered our political discourse, our social relationships, our technology and the lives of survivors.
It has put us in more danger. The director of an intelligence group that analyzes the global violent extremism community says the extremist momentum that drove the insurrection "has not diminished -- it has spread in all directions." One related example: About 9,600 threats were made against lawmakers in 2021, according to the chief of the Capitol Police -- a dramatic uptick.
It has traumatized us. Law enforcement officers who survived the attack have tearfully shared the enduring trauma of that day. So have lawmakers, reporters, and others who were at the scene. Sadly, at least four officers who were working the day of the insurrection have taken their lives this year. Even our own memories of the attack are under assault as misinformation and lies persist. One expert says when people deny the hard realities of the insurrection, it puts the populace in danger of seeing such violence as the ‘new normal.’
It has made us question how we communicate. Lawmakers have tried to rein in social media giants like Meta, the parent company of Facebook, because of the role the platforms allegedly play in allowing misinformation and violent plans to circulate unabated.
And we think it will happen again. Experts have warned another major threat to our democracy is a very real possibility, and the public seems to agree. One recent poll shows we expect this to happen again, with 62% of Americans saying they expect the losing side in future presidential elections to react violently.” Read more at CNN
“Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic’s bid to play in the Australian Open—with a medical exemption to get around vaccination requirements—appeared to end on Wednesday as government authorities canceled his visa to enter the country.
A spokeswoman for Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed that Djokovic would not be allowed to enter the country. Djokovic and his team had been held at Melbourne Airport for more than six hours by the Australian border force when he was informed that he needed to leave immediately.
‘Mr. Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia,’ Hunt told Australian television. ‘It’s a matter for him if he wishes to appeal that but if a visa is canceled somebody will have to leave the country.’
The situation escalated quickly as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke out on Instagram after reaching Djokovic by phone.
‘I told our Novak that the whole of Serbia is with him, and that our authorities are taking all measures to stop the harassment of the best tennis player in the world in the shortest possible period,” he said. “In accordance with all norms of international public law, Serbia will fight for Novak Djokovic, for justice and truth.’
Novak Djokovic holds the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup trophy after winning the 2021 Australian Open.
PHOTO:MICHAEL DODGE/TENNIS AUSTRALIA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
The saga of Djokovic’s possible trip to Australia had been brewing for months. The men’s world No. 1 had made it known that he didn’t want to be vaccinated while Australian Open organizers and the local government insisted that no unvaccinated players would be admitted, in accordance with national law requiring travelers to be jabbed.
But the situation shifted rapidly over the course of 24 hours. Djokovic tweeted on Tuesday that he had been granted a medical exemption enabling him to play in the tournament and chase a 21st major title. Djokovic didn’t specify why he was granted the waiver, but organizers indicated that the tournament had signed off in coordination with Victoria health authorities.
Only once he touched down did he discover that, despite receiving the green light from Tennis Australia and local authorities, the Australian border authority required further documentation. During a stressful wait that spanned more than six hours, Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic posted a selfie on Instagram with the caption, ‘Not the most usual trip Down Under.
Djokovic could not be reached for comment.
‘Any individual seeking to enter Australia must comply with our strict border requirements,’ Australia’s Home Affairs minister Karen Andrews said. ‘While the Victorian government and Tennis Australia may permit a non-vaccinated player to compete in the Australian Open, it is the Commonwealth government that will enforce our requirements at the Australian border.’” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“MOSCOW (AP) — Dozens of protesters and 12 police died during extraordinarily violent demonstrations in Kazakhstan that saw government buildings stormed and set ablaze, authorities said Thursday. One police officer was found beheaded in escalating unrest that poses a growing challenge to authoritarian rule in the Central Asian nation.
After breaking into the presidential residence and the mayor’s office in the country’s largest city Wednesday, demonstrators continued to try to storm more buildings overnight. ‘Dozens of attackers were liquidated,’ police spokeswoman Saltanat Azirbek told state news channel Khabar-24, using a term common to describe the killing of people thought to be extremists. Twelve police officers were killed in the unrest and 353 injured, according to city officials cited by the channel.
While the president initially seemed to try to mollify the protesters, he later promised harsh measures to quell the unrest, which he blamed on ‘terrorist bands,’ and called on a Russia-led military alliance for help. The airports in Almaty and two other cities have been shut, and internet service was severely interrupted for the second day on Thursday, blocking access to Kazakh news sites.
Tens of thousands of people, some reportedly carrying clubs and shields, have taken to the streets in recent days in the worst protests the country has seen since gaining independence from the Soviet Union three decades ago. Although the demonstrations began over a near-doubling of prices for a type of vehicle fuel, their size and rapid spread suggest they reflect wider discontent in the country that has been under the rule of the same party since independence.
A Russia-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, said early Thursday that it would send peacekeeper troops to Kazakhstan at Tokayev’s request.
The operation is the first military action by the CSTO — an indication that Kazakhstan’s neighbors, particularly Russia, are concerned that the unrest could spread.
Russia and Kazakhstan share close relations and a 7600-kilometer (4700-mile) border, much of it along open steppes. Russia’s manned space-launch facility, the Baikonur Cosmodrome, is in Kazakhstan.
The size and duties of the peacekeeping force have not been specified. Russia has already begun sending forces, according to the CSTO, which also includes Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. But Kyrgyzstan’s presidential spokesman, Erbol Sutanbaev, said his country’s contingent must be approved by parliament and said that the troops would not take actions involving demonstrators.
Tokayev has imposed a two-week state of emergency for the whole country, including an overnight curfew and a ban on religious services. That is a blow to Kazakhstan’s sizable Orthodox Christian population who observe Christmas on Friday.
Of the five Central Asian republics that gained independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan is by far the largest and the wealthiest, spanning a territory the size of Western Europe and sitting atop colossal reserves of oil, natural gas, uranium and precious metals. In addition to its long border with Russia, it also shares one with China, and its oil and mineral wealth make it strategically and economically important.
But despite Kazakhstan’s natural riches and a solid middle class, financial hardship is widespread, and discontent over poor living conditions is strong in some parts of the country. Many Kazakhs also chafe at the dominance of the ruling party, which holds more than 80% of the seats in parliament.
The protests appear to have no identifiable leader or demands. Much of the anger displayed in recent days was directed not at Tokayev, but at Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country’s first president who continued to wield enormous influence after his 2019 resignation. Protesters shouted ‘Shal ket!’ (‘Old man go’), an apparent reference to Nazarbayev, who dominated Kazakhstan’s politics and whose rule was marked by a moderate cult of personality.
After the demonstrations spread to Nur-Sultan and Almaty, the government announced its resignation, but Tokayev said the ministers would stay in their roles until a new Cabinet is formed, making it uncertain whether the resignations will have significant impact.
At the start of the year, prices for the fuel called liquefied petroleum gas roughly doubled as the government moved away from price controls as part of efforts to move to a market economy.” Read more at AP News
“Acknowledging frustration with the pace of the federal investigation of the attackthe Capitol, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a major speech this afternoon:
‘The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last.’
Garland said the Justice Department ‘remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on your democracy.’
‘We understand that there are questions about how long the investigation will take and about what, exactly, we are doing.’
‘Our answer is, and will continue to be, the same answer we would give with respect to any ongoing investigation: As long as it takes, and whatever it takes, for justice to be done.’ Video of the speech.” Read more at Axios
“Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that children 12- to 17-years-old should get a Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine booster, voting to expand protection to millions of adolescents and teens as surging infections threaten to disrupt schools and workplaces across the country.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to accept the recommendation and make it official policy later Wednesday.
The panel voted 13-to-1 in favor of the boosters for this group. It had previously said 16-and 17-year-olds are eligible for a booster but not recommended that they get the shots. But the action Wednesday expanded the recommendation to include this age group as well, saying that a booster dose is recommended for everyone 12- to 17 years old who is at least five months after they received their primary vaccine doses.” Read more at Washington Post
“Court showdown | Biden’s push to vaccinate millions of workers will face scrutiny in the Supreme Court, which will be wary of his assertion of broad federal power to confront the pandemic. The justices hear arguments tomorrow on his measures that business groups and Republicans say would cost billions of dollars and violate state sovereignty.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Democratic and Republican lawmakers have held early discussions about another round of coronavirus stimulus spending as they seek to blunt the fast-spreading omicron variant and its threats to public health and economic recovery.
The efforts have focused primarily on authorizing billions of dollars to help an array of businesses — including restaurants, performance venues, gyms and even minor league sports teams — that face another potential blow to their already-battered balance sheets as a result of the evolving pandemic.
In recent weeks, the talks have been led by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), according to four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe their work, which is ongoing. The duo in mid-December cobbled together the outlines of a roughly $68 billion proposal, two of the people said, which could include a mix of new spending and a repurposing of some unused cash authorized under previous packages.” Read more at Washington Post
“The three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery nearly two years ago are expected be sentenced Thursday. Travis McMichael, the man who pulled the trigger, was convicted of one count of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. His father, Gregory McMichael, was found guilty on charges including felony murder. Their neighbor William ‘Roddie’ Bryan was convicted on six of the nine counts, including three counts of felony murder by the jury on Nov. 24. The men all face minimum sentences of life in prison in the fatal shooting of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, while he was jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, in February 2020. The judge will decide whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole.” Read more at USA Today
“Jan 5 (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America fell short of winning the support it sought from sex-abuse victims for a nearly $2.7 billion settlement that could bring the organization out of bankruptcy, according to court papers.
The proposed settlement of more than 82,000 claims of childhood sexual abuse earned the support of just over 73% of those who cast votes, below the 75% the Boy Scouts sought.
Nearly 54,000 survivors cast ballots, according to preliminary results released in a Tuesday court filing. The current tally is not final.
The nonprofit organization said in a statement on Wednesday that it is still negotiating with key parties to garner more support for the deal.” Read more at Reuters
“‘Tremendous loss of life’: A dozen people were killed, including eight children, in an apartment building fire in Philadelphia Wednesday morning.” Read more at USA Today
“Fed officials see forces fueling inflation lasting potentially beyond 2022. That could mean raising interest rates sooner than they had thought, reports Axios chief economic correspondent Neil Irwin.” Read more at Axios
“The Grammys have been indefinitely postponed due to Omicron.” Read more at Axios
“Sundance canceled its in-person film festival.” Read more at Axios
“RIO DE JANEIRO — In the final weeks of 2021, Chile and Honduras voted decisively for leftist presidents to replace leaders on the right, extending a significant, multiyear shift across Latin America.
This year, leftist politicians are the favorites to win presidential elections in Colombia and Brazil, taking over from right-wing incumbents, which would put the left and center-left in power in the six largest economies in the region, stretching from Tijuana to Tierra del Fuego.
Economic suffering, widening inequality, fervent anti-incumbent sentiment and mismanagement of Covid-19 have all fueled a pendulum swing away from the center-right and right-wing leaders who were dominant a few years ago.
The left has promised more equitable distribution of wealth, better public services and vastly expanded social safety nets. But the region’s new leaders face serious economic constraints and legislative opposition that could restrict their ambitions, and restive voters who have been willing to punish whoever fails to deliver.” Read more at New York Times
“Lawyers representing convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge Wednesday to grant the British socialite a new trial after a juror told media outlets that sharing his experiences as a sexual-abuse victim influenced deliberations.
In a separate letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, federal prosecutors said that while jurors were free to talk to the media after the verdict, the juror’s statements merited an inquiry.
Judge Nathan hasn’t ruled on the matter.
Since the jury convicted Ms. Maxwell last week, the juror has given at least three interviews to media outlets, including Reuters, which quoted him as saying he was a sex-abuse victim. The juror, a 35-year-old man, said he talked about his experience during deliberations when some jurors questioned the accuracy of the memories of Ms. Maxwell’s accusers, according to Reuters.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Babies, pregnant women and nursing mothers are among the 97 hostages that have been freed in a series of rescue operations in northern Nigeria. Local police and the military collaborated on the raids, which targeted two well-known kingpins known for kidnapping in the area. Authorities say the hostages were held captive for more than two months. “ Read more at CNN
“Vaccination pressure | French lawmakers approved legislation today that tightens restrictions on the unvaccinated, after France recorded its highest-ever daily tally of Covid-19 cases. The curbs effectively confine to home anti-vaxxers who are being wooed by the far right, upping the ante for Emmanuel Macron three months from presidential elections.
Italy made vaccination compulsory for the over-50s and further reduced what people can do if they are not yet inoculated.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson eased testing rules to free up capacity amid a surging virus caseload.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Early results from Israel show a fourth Pfizer dose spurs a sharp jump in antibodies.
Patients showed a fivefold increase in antibodies one week after they got their fourth shot, according to data from a medical center in Israel, which had one of the world’s quickest and widest vaccination campaigns at the start of the pandemic. The 154 trial participants had taken a third shot by Aug. 20, and their tests showed they lacked sufficient antibodies for good protection against Covid-19. On Monday, after much debate within the country, Israel became the first nation to offer a fourth dose to people aged 60 years and older as well as medical workers who are four months past their third dose. Immunocompromised people began receiving a fourth dose last week. Local officials hope the results of the trial will help governments around the world decide whether to start offering citizens a fourth dose and how soon.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Covid overload | Hong Kong is fast approaching its capacity to deal with Covid-19 cases, with the main facility dedicated for isolation set to run out of space within days at the current pace. Read how some of the world’s strictest virus containment measures are straining the city’s health-care system.
Japan called on the U.S. to impose restrictions on its troops in the wake of outbreaks thought to have stemmed from American bases in the country.
China fired medical chiefs after a pregnant woman miscarried outside a hospital that denied her entry due to Covid controls, as officials in the city of Xi’an face scrutiny for their strict lockdown measures.” Read more at Bloomberg
“When poorer countries shut schools and businesses early in the pandemic to shield their fragile health-care systems, the measures helped reduce contagion but increased food insecurity, domestic violence, and unemployment. As Jill Filipovic writes here, the disruptions hit girls harder than boys and may have erased a generation of progress toward achieving greater equality for women.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Homer Plessy has finally been pardoned, 125 years after the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson case.
‘This is a day that should have never have had to happen,’ said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who issued the pardon.
The big picture: Back in 1896, Supreme Court Justice John Harlan said the ruling ‘will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case.’
Harlan was the only dissenting vote in the 7-1 decision, which entrenched ‘separate but equal’ segregation.
58 years later, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned Plessy v. Ferguson with Brown v. Board of Education.
Plessy's crime: Boarding a whites-only rail car in 1892 and refusing to leave, AP notes.
The 30-year-old shoemaker was ‘white enough to gain access to the train and black enough to be arrested for doing so,’ Keith Weldon Medley wrote in the book ‘We As Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson.’
The bottom line: Relatives of Plessy were in attendance at today's pardoning, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez reports.
‘I'm holding back tears, y'all,’ said Keith Plessy, a descendant of Homer Plessy. ‘I feel like my feet are not touching the ground today because the ancestors are carrying me.’” Read more at Axios
“Jan. 6 is about DONALD TRUMP.
For those who always despised him, feel betrayed by him, or fear his return to power, today is about remembering — never forgetting — his lowest point as president: the day he incited a mob to attack Congress while it affirmed JOE BIDEN’s clear victory, the final desperate move in a plot to overthrow an American presidential election.
For those who love him, merely tolerate him, or crave his return to the White House, today is a media stunt: a contrived anniversary of an insignificant event boosted by Democrats and the press to punish Republicans and cynically advance Biden’s legislative priorities.
Americans often have a shared understanding about big traumatic national events. That is not the case with Jan. 6, which is why the cliché about our politics feeling like a civil war has more and more resonance.
We‘re going to guide you through the smartest of the Jan. 6 coverage out there this morning to help you understand this day. Let’s begin with the new American Civil War.
John Harris wonders what exactly it’s about:
‘Only in recent years have we seen foundation-shaking political conflict — both sides believing the other would turn the United States into something unrecognizable — with no obvious and easily summarized root cause. What is the fundamental question that hangs in the balance between the people who hate Trump and what he stands for and the people who love Trump and hate those who hate him? This is less an ideological conflict than a psychological one.’
He suggests that when it’s not about deep-seated principles, almost anything can be a new front in the war:
‘The transcendent issue of this time — no matter the specific raw material of any given news cycle — is the belief that one half of the country suspects the other half is contemptuous of them, and responds with contempt in turn. ‘Seinfeld’ was not really, as was often said, ‘a show about nothing.’ It demonstrated instead that with the right characters and frame of mind, you can make a show about anything that might happen in daily life. Donald Trump has shown that you can use the same approach to create a national crack-up. The violent rabble that crashed the Capitol a year ago showed that crack-ups are fertile ground for crackpots.’
Kyle Cheney has a masterful piece that explores Jan. 6’s most crucial 187 minutes, the period of time between the initial breach of the Capitol and when Trump finally told his supporters to leave. Taking readers through the timeline with some detail, Cheney explores the remaining mysteries of that day and how the Jan. 6 committee may answer them.
Carl Hulse writes in the NYT about how Jan. 6 ‘transform[ed] how lawmakers view their surroundings and one another’:
Rep. JIM McGOVERN (D-Mass.): ‘I have colleagues, to be honest with you, I can’t stand looking at, and I don’t want to get into an elevator with them when we are going to roll-call votes.’
Sen. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.): ‘Have you ever had your house broken into or been a victim of a burglary, and when you walked back into the house it felt differently, it felt violated? I felt that way for the longest time — and I still do.’
Sen. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.): ‘I remember [the Capitol police officers] with their faces cut, and I see and talk to them every day. It is the faces of the officers that trigger that day for me. It is a constant reminder of what they did and what they are still up against.’
The NYT has a pair of pieces on the post-Jan. 6 GOP , one about Trump’s ‘continued grip on the party’ and one about the price paid by Republicans who have challenged Trump in the last year. The first piece, by Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman, includes a reminder about the two Republicans who have had the most dramatic whiplash regarding Trump: LINDSEY GRAHAM, who went from declaring ‘Count me out,’ on Jan. 6 to hitting the links with Trump not long after; and KEVIN MCCARTHY , who went from proclaiming Trump ‘bears responsibility’ for the attack to flying down to Mar-a-Lago to make amends days later.
In the second piece, Jonathan Weisman and Luke Broadwater trace the ‘long, hard year’ for the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump — one marked by retirements, primary challenges and exiles to pariah status within the party. The story highlights the two most consistent GOP opponents of Trump, ADAM KINZINGER and LIZ CHENEY, who says, ‘Our party has to choose. We can either be loyal to Donald Trump, or we can be loyal to the Constitution, but we cannot be both.’
At WaPo, Ashley Parker, Amy Gardner and Josh Dawsey trace the last year of the GOP becoming ‘the party of Trump’s election lie after Jan. 6.’
A quote from Michigan A.G. DANA NESSEL, a Democrat being challenged by a Trump-backed Republican who believes in the whole enchilada of 2020 conspiracy theories, will stay with you:
‘There is no question that if I am replaced by MATTHEW DePERNO, democracy falls in Michigan. Not maybe. Not possibly. Certainly. He has made it clear not only that he supports the ‘Big Lie’ — he’s one of the originators of the ‘Big Lie.’’
On the WSJ op-ed page, Karl Rove is blunt:
‘My criticisms are often aimed at Democrats; on the anniversary of Jan. 6, I’m addressing squarely those Republicans who for a year have excused the actions of the rioters who stormed the Capitol, disrupted Congress as it received the Electoral College’s results, and violently attempted to overturn the election.…
I’ve been a Republican my entire life, and believe in what the Republican Party, at its best, has represented for decades. There can be no soft-pedaling what happened and no absolution for those who planned, encouraged and aided the attempt to overthrow our democracy. Love of country demands nothing less. That’s true patriotism.’
On the WaPo’s op-ed page, George Conway reminds readers that A.G. MERRICK GARLAND said this week that ‘the Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.’
Conway’s conclusion? ‘If Garland means what he says, then the investigative road must lead prosecutors to the individual most responsible for the events of Jan. 6: former president Donald Trump.’
He also writes that such a potential prosecution is one reason Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL voted to acquit Trump at his impeachment trial. ‘We have a criminal justice system in this country,’ McConnell said on the Senate floor at the time. ‘President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office … He didn’t get away with anything yet. Yet.’
On the NYT’s op-ed page, former President JIMMY CARTER issued this warning: ‘Our great nation now teeters on the brink of a widening abyss. Without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy. Americans must set aside differences and work together before it is too late.’
Later today, President JOE BIDEN will talk about Jan. 6. The subject of his remarks? Donald Trump and attacks on democracy. Here’s a preview provided by the White House:
‘And so at this moment we must decide what kind of nation we are going to be. Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people? Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies? We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation. The way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it.’
NYT’s Peter Baker writes a news analysis : ‘America has not come together to defend its democracy; it has only split further apart. Lies and disinformation spread by the former president have so permeated the political ecosphere that nearly universal outrage has reverted to separate blue and red realities. Far from shunned for what even his own vice president deemed an unconstitutional attempt to thwart the will of the voters, Mr. Trump remains the undisputed powerhouse of his party — and a viable candidate to reclaim the White House in three years.’” Read more at POLITICO
“A NEW GANG OF EIGHT — Axios’ Sophia Cai and Andrew Solender reported Wednesday night that a bipartisan group of eight senators met on Zoom to discuss reforming the Electoral Count Act, the obscure law that Trump tried to use to overturn the election. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) convened the meeting, which also included ROGER WICKER (R-Miss.), THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.), MITT ROMNEY(R-Utah), JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.), JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.) and KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.).
Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and the White House want nothing to do with it. Democratic leaders have been focused on forcing through the party’s broader voting bill, which would lower barriers to voting, reform campaign finance rules and seek to curb gerrymandering.
‘There is no substitute. Period,’ White House spokesperson ANDREW BATES told our Burgess Everett, who scooped Wednesday that McConnell is interested in a possible ECA overhaul.
Progressives and liberal groups are warning that the GOP embrace of ECA reform is a ‘trap’ to keep Democrats from getting their more sweeping reforms through. Still, the optics are perplexing: Democrats are slapping down an offer to try to prevent a future president from doing what Trump tried to do to Biden — steal his election victory — on the eve of the Jan. 6 anniversary, no less.
ONE TAKEAWAY: The existence of this new bipartisan group, and any continuing discussions about reforming ECA, will undercut Schumer’s plans to pressure Manchin and Sinema into going nuclear to pass the party’s voting bill. That may help explain why Schumer is so vocally opposed — and why McConnell is entertaining it.” Read more at POLITICO
“Lives Lived: William Ellinghaus led AT&T at the height of its power and presided over its breakup in the early 1980s. He also helped save New York City from default. Ellinghaus died at 99.” Read more at New York Times
“Sabbaticals are The Hot New Thing at work.
Taking extended breaks is one of the latest power moves for employees amid a national burnout crisis and a persistently tight labor market that has given many workers newfound workplace leverage. Employees who’ve taken time off—paid or unpaid, depending on the employer—describe it as an antidote to a work-work-work mentality that has driven many people to spend extra hours on the clock during the pandemic. They say the office-sanctioned pauses enabled them to return refreshed and more productive. While more employers have begun offering sabbaticals, though, they still aren’t commonplace; in 2019, just 5% of employers did so, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, which has no more recent data. Goldman Sachs Group and Citibank are among those that have started rolling out the perk since the pandemic began.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“NFL wide receiver strikes back: In a lengthy statement, Antonio Brown disputed head coach Bruce Arians' claim on his split with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and alleged a team ‘cover-up’ on an injury he recently sustained.” Read more at USA Today
“Powerball jackpot: The odds of winning was about 1 in 292,200,000. But two tickets sold in California and Wisconsin won all $632.6 million Wednesday night, the seventh-largest jackpot in Powerball history.” Read more at USA Today