The Full Belmonte, 1/6/2023
House Adjourns Without a Speaker as McCarthy Offers Concessions
The California Republican signaled he would give in to more demands from hard-right rebels in a frenzied effort to win enough support for the speakership but continued to lose ground on vote after vote.
Jan. 5, 2023
“WASHINGTON — Representative Kevin McCarthy of California contorted himself on Thursday to try to win over right-wing holdouts as his battle to become speaker limped toward a fourth day, offering concessions that could substantially weaken his authority and empower a strident right flank.
After a humiliating three-day stretch of 11 consecutive defeats in an election that is now the most protracted such contest since 1859, Mr. McCarthy dispatched his emissaries to hammer out a deal with the ultraconservative rebels, including agreeing to conditions he had previously refused to countenance in a last-ditch effort to sway a critical mass of defectors.
They included allowing a single lawmaker to force a snap vote at any time to oust the speaker, a rule that would effectively codify a standing threat that Mr. McCarthy would be at the mercy of the right wing at all times, and could be removed instantly if he crossed them.
That concession and several others, which Mr. McCarthy hoped would win over a large bloc of dissidents, would diminish the speaker’s power considerably and make for an unwieldy environment in the House, where the slim Republican majority and a hard-right faction with an appetite for disarray had already promised to make it difficult to govern.
Some of the changes left little doubt that the House would struggle to carry out even its most basic duties in the coming two years, such as funding the government, including the military, or avoiding catastrophic federal debt default. Already, the struggle has ground the House to a halt just as Republicans were assuming their majority, preventing any lawmakers from being sworn in, rules from being adopted or legislative business from being conducted.
Lawmakers were losing their security clearances, and a House committee confirmed that, if no resolution were reached by next week, congressional aides working for committees could not be paid, since the House would lack authority to process payroll on Jan. 13, the next payroll deadline.
But while people close to Mr. McCarthy said they were hopeful the compromises would soon persuade enough holdouts to support him, no votes had moved by nightfall on Thursday, and it was not known whether he could pick up the converts needed to prevail — or how long that might take. As negotiations continued, the House adjourned for the third straight day with no speaker.
As he left the House floor on Thursday night, Mr. McCarthy said that the negotiations had yielded ‘a little movement’ and denied that the concessions he had offered would undermine his speakership….” Read more at New York Times
Biden Announces Major Crackdown on Illegal Border Crossings
President Biden, who is under pressure to confront a surge in migration at the border, said he would visit El Paso on Sunday.
“WASHINGTON — President Biden on Thursday announced a far-reaching crackdown on people who seek refuge at the border with Mexico, dramatically expanding restrictions on asylum in the most aggressive effort of his administration to discourage migrants from crossing into the United States.
In remarks at the White House that drew immediate condemnation from human rights organizations, Mr. Biden said his administration would deny people from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti the chance to apply for asylum if they cross the Mexican border without authorization between official ports of entry.
He said people from those countries, who are among the many tens of thousands of migrants who try to cross the border every month, would be swiftly returned to Mexico instead.
‘Today, my administration is taking several steps to stiffen enforcement for those who try to come without a legal right to stay,’ Mr. Biden said in remarks at the White House, days before a two-day summit meeting in Mexico City.
“My message is this,” he said. “If you’re trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua or Haiti, or have agreed to begin a journey to America, do not, do not just show up at the border.”
In a concession designed to offset the humanitarian impact of the new restrictions, Mr. Biden said that as many as 30,000 people per month from the four countries would be given the chance to migrate legally to the United States if they have the means to afford a plane ticket, get a sponsor, download an app, pass a background check and meet other requirements.
The changes reflect a determination by Mr. Biden and his advisers to ratchet up enforcement of existing immigration laws to confront record-breaking surges of migration at the southern border. The president’s announcement comes after months of fierce debate inside the West Wing over whether to embrace tough border measures first imposed by former President Donald J. Trump.
In his remarks, Mr. Biden described the overall approach as very different from his predecessor and said the new policy was intended to expand opportunities for migrants looking to escape danger and seek better opportunities in America.
But immigration advocates denounced the new enforcement changes as loudly as they had attacked some of the former president’s proposals. In a torrent of statements, they accused the Biden administration of including vast new restrictions on the right to claim asylum for people escaping dangers in their home countries….” Read more at New York Times
Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow’s retirement sets up fierce 2024 Senate contest
The vacancy will make Michigan’s Senate seat one of the most competitive in the nation, as Republicans vie for more control
“Michigan senator Debbie Stabenow, a member of the Democratic leadership, announced on Thursday that she would not seek re-election in 2024, setting the stage for a fierce contest to claim an open seat in a critical midwestern battleground state.
Stabenow, 72, is the first Senate Democrat to announce her retirement ahead of 2024, when the party will try to defend its razor-thin majority by fending off challenges to incumbents in several states that former president Donald Trump won.
But Democrats delivered a strong performance in Michigan last year and expressed confidence that the seat would remain in the party’s control.
‘Inspired by a new generation of leaders, I have decided to pass the torch in the US Senate,’ Stabenow said in a statement on Thursday. ‘I am announcing today that I will not seek re-election and will leave the US Senate at the end of my term on 3 January 2025.
Under the cloud of unprecedented threats to our democracy and our basic freedoms, a record-breaking number of people voted last year in Michigan. Young people showed up like never before. This was a very hopeful sign for our future,’ she said.
Stabenow’s decision not to seek a fifth term after serving two decades in the chamber immediately turned the race for Michigan’s open Senate seat into one of the most competitive in the nation. Republicans welcomed the development as a sign that Democrats’ hopes of maintaining their one-seat majority were already fading.
‘We are going to aggressively target this seat in 2024,’ said Mike Berg, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of Senate Republicans. ‘This could be the first of many Senate Democrats who decide to retire rather than lose.’
Senate Democrats face a punishing electoral map next year. They are defending nearly a quarter of the seats in the Senate, many of them in competitive states as well as in red states like Ohio, Montana and West Virginia. By contrast, no Senate Republican faces re-election in a state Joe Biden won.
But their prospects have improved in Michigan since Trump won the state in 2016. Biden won the state in 2020. And two years later, fury over efforts to ban abortion in Michigan in the wake of the supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade propelled Democrats to victory up and down the ballot in the state.” [The Guardian]
Idaho suspect in student murders thoroughly cleaned vehicle, also seen wearing surgical gloves multiple times outside family home, source says
By Aya Elamroussi, CNN
“The man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in November had thoroughly cleaned the interior and exterior of his car and was also seen wearing surgical gloves multiple times before being apprehended, a law enforcement source tells CNN.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, is currently the sole suspect in the gruesome stabbings of students Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, who were found dead inside their off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13.
Kohberger, who was pursuing a PhD in criminal justice at Washington State University at the time of the killings, ‘cleaned his car, inside and outside, not missing an inch,’ according to the law enforcement source.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was briefed on observations made by investigators during four days of surveillance leading up to Kohberger’s arrest at his family’s Pennsylvania home on December 30.
As Kohberger now remains behind bars in Idaho awaiting his January 12 status hearing, new details have emerged elucidating some of the suspect’s movements in the days leading up to his arrest.
A surveillance team assigned to Kohberger was tasked with two missions, according to multiple law enforcement sources: keep eyes on Kohberger so they could arrest him as soon as a warrant was issued, and try to obtain an object that would yield a DNA sample from Kohberger, which could then be compared to DNA evidence found at the crime scene.
Kohberger was seen multiple times outside the Pennsylvania home wearing surgical gloves, according to the law enforcement source.
Key takeaways from court documents in case against Bryan Kohberger and some questions that remain
In one instance prior to Kohberger’s arrest, authorities observed him leaving his family home around 4 a.m. and putting trash bags in the neighbors’ garbage bins, according to the source. At that point, agents recovered garbage from the Kohberger family’s trash bins and what was observed being placed into the neighbors’ bins, the source said.
The recovered items were sent to the Idaho State Lab, per the source.
Last Friday, a Pennsylvania State Police SWAT team then moved in on the Kohberger family home, breaking down the door and windows in what is known as a ‘dynamic entry’ – a tactic used in rare cases to arrest ‘high risk’ suspects, the source added.
On Thursday, Kohberger had his initial court appearance in Idaho after he was booked into the Latah County jail Wednesday night following his extradition from Pennsylvania.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. He did not enter a plea at the hearing.
Bryan Kohberger, right, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, is escorted into a courtroom for a hearing in Latah County District Court on Thursday in Moscow, Idaho.
Ted S. Warren/Pool/AP
The evidence against the suspect
Authorities spent nearly two months investigating before they were able to name publicly a suspect, a task that grabbed national attention and rattled the victims’ loved ones as well as the community – which had not recorded a murder in years.
Still, the public’s view of the case remains mired with questions. As of late Thursday, it remains unclear what motivated the killings. It’s also unclear how the suspect entered the house after authorities said there was no sign of forced entry or why two roommates who were inside the residence at the time of the killings survived the attacks.
Here’s how investigators narrowed the search to Kohberger:
DNA: Trash recovered from Kohberger’s family home revealed that the ‘DNA profile obtained from the trash’ matched a tan leather knife sheath found ‘laying on the bed’ of one of the victims, according to a probable cause affidavit released Thursday. The DNA recovered from the trash ‘identified a male as not being excluded as the biological father’ of the suspect whose DNA was found on the sheath. ‘At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect’s biological father,’ the affidavit said.
Phone records: Authorities found the suspect’s phone was near the victims’ Moscow, Idaho, home at least a dozen times between June 2022 to the present day, according to the affidavit. The records also reveal Kohberger’s phone was near the crime scene hours after the murders that morning between 9:12 a.m. and 9:21 a.m, the document says. The killings were not reported to authorities until just before noon.
A white sedan: A Hyundai Elantra was seen near the victims’ home around the time of their killings. Officers at Washington State University identified a white Elantra and later learned it was registered to Kohberger. The same car was also found at the suspect’s Pennsylvania family home when he was arrested last Friday. The suspect’s university is about a 10-minute drive from the Idaho crime scene.
Roommate reveals she heard crying the day of attacks
One of two roommates who were not harmed in the attacks said she saw a masked man dressed in black inside the house on the morning of the killings, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Identified as D.M. in the court document, the roommate said she ‘heard crying’ in the house that morning and also heard a man’s voice say, ‘It’s OK, I’m going to help you.’” D.M. said she then saw a ‘figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her,’ the affidavit continued.
‘D.M. described the figure as 5’ 10” or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows,’ the affidavit says. ‘The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a ‘frozen shock phase.’
‘The male walked towards the back sliding glass door. D.M. locked herself in her room after seeing the male,’ the document says, adding the roommate did not recognize the male.” [CNN]
CNN’s John Miller, Rob Frehse, Elizabeth Joseph, Ray Sanchez and Veronica Miracle contributed to this report.
Trump Sued by Estate of Capitol Police Officer Who Died After Jan. 6 Attack
Wrongful death suit names former president and two rioters in connection with Officer Brian Sicknick’s death
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s estate is seeking damages of at least $10 million for alleged wrongful death and conspiracy to violate civil rights. PHOTO: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/BLOOMBERG NEWS
“WASHINGTON—The estate of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died a day after defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, sued Donald Trump on Thursday alleging that the officer’s death resulted from the former president’s ‘incendiary’ rhetoric and false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
In a 47-page lawsuit, lawyers for Mr. Sicknick’s estate said Mr. Trump ‘intentionally riled up the crowd and directed and encouraged a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol and attack those who opposed him.’ The lawsuit cited Mr. Trump’s speech at the Ellipse earlier that day, in which he urged a crowd of supporters to ‘fight like hell’ and march to the Capitol.
‘As a direct and foreseeable consequence of Defendant Trump’s false and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to Defendant Trump’s express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol,’ the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also names as defendants two men convicted in connection with the Capitol attack: Julian Elie Khater, who admitted last year to deploying a chemical spray against Mr. Sicknick and other officers; and George Pierre Tanios, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from the Capitol attack. Messrs. Khater and Tanios are to be sentenced Jan. 27, court records show. Prosecutors didn’t link their actions to Mr. Sicknick’s death….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
South Carolina Constitution Includes Abortion Right, State Supreme Court Rules
The decision overturns the state’s six-week ban on abortion, a major victory for abortion rights in the South, where the procedure is strictly limited.
By Kate Zernike
Jan. 5, 2023
“The South Carolina Constitution provides a right to privacy that includes the right to abortion, the state’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, saying ‘the decision to terminate a pregnancy rests upon the utmost personal and private considerations imaginable.’
The decision overturns the state’s law banning abortions after roughly the sixth week of pregnancy. More broadly, it is a victory for abortion rights in the South, where states have severely restricted access.
It is the first final ruling by a state Supreme Court on the state constitutionality of abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, which ended the right to abortion under the federal constitution that had been in force for half a century, and left the matter to the states.
Abortion rights groups responded to that decision by filing suits in 19 states, seeking to establish a right to abortion under state constitutions, in many cases citing explicit provisions in those documents protecting a woman’s privacy and equal rights. The South Carolina case was a critical first test — and success — for that strategy….” Read more at New York Times
Chinese Firm Signs $540 Million Oil-and-Gas Deal in Afghanistan
Beijing is expanding its presence in Central Asia after the U.S.’s exit from Afghanistan, with an eye on mineral riches
Mes Aynak mine, south of Kabul. Like the Amu Darya project, it was awarded to Chinese firms a decade ago.PHOTO: WAKIL KOHSAR/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
By Saeed Shah
“KABUL—A Chinese company signed a $540 million deal with Afghanistan to develop an oil-and-gas field, as Beijing moves to secure access to the country’s vast mineral wealth after the exit of American troops.
In the biggest deal struck since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co. Ltd. said that over the next three years it would develop the field in the Amu Darya basin in northern Afghanistan, according to the Afghan regime.
Afghanistan’s aid-dependent economy collapsed after the August 2021 withdrawal of American forces and the Taliban’s toppling of the U.S.-backed government. The regime, which hasn’t been recognized by any country, is trying to stabilize the economy by attracting investments that create jobs for poverty-stricken Afghans. Developing mines and hydrocarbon resources is seen as one of the few economic options.
Raffaello Pantucci, co-author of a book about China’s growing influence over its Muslim-majority neighbors, said that the estimated oil reserves at the Amu Darya site were modest, but the hope was that a giant gas field just across the border with Turkmenistan extended into Afghanistan—and that such a find could make it a linchpin for the economy, as it is for Turkmenistan….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
WhatsApp adds feature to bypass internet censors in repressive regimes
“WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Meta, has introduced a feature to help users bypass attempts to disrupt access to its services, as repressive governments around the world increasingly use internet controls to clamp down on dissent.
The messaging service will allow people to configure the app to access the internet through proxy servers, which function as intermediaries between users and internet services, and can help disguise traffic and avoid controls. (Users will have to research their own proxy servers, many of which are provided free by volunteers and organizations around the world.) The company specifically mentioned Iran, which launched a brutal security crackdown — and disrupted residents’ access to WhatsApp and fellow Meta platform Instagram — after anti-government protests broke out in September.
WhatsApp, which is also a sister company of Facebook, is not the first service to support internet users living under censorship. But its move is significant because it is the most popular messaging service in many countries. The service says it has more than 2 billion users in 180 countries….” Read more at Washington Post
FTC Proposes Banning Noncompete Clauses for Workers
Move would allow former employees to take jobs with rival companies or start competing businesses
The Federal Trade Commission says noncompete clauses have been imposed on lower-wage workers who lack access to trade secrets.PHOTO: ERIC LEE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday issued a plan to ban noncompete clauses, a proposal that would allow workers to take jobs with rival companies or start competing businesses but raises the prospect of legal opposition from companies that say the practice has a legitimate purpose.
The FTC said noncompete clauses constitute an exploitative practice that undermines a 109-year-old law prohibiting unfair methods of competition. Noncompete clauses, which typically bar employees from joining a competitor for a period after they quit, affect nearly one in five American workers, according to the agency. Long associated with higher-paid managers, the clauses have also been imposed on lower-wage workers who lack access to trade secrets, strategic plans and other reasons that could be cited for hampering job switchers, the agency says.
If the FTC eventually votes to adopt the proposal, companies would have to rescind noncompete requirements they impose on workers and let employees know about the change. FTC officials say noncompetes suppress wages, restrain new business formation and hurt the ability of companies to hire workers they need to grow….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Peloton agreed to pay a $19 million civil penalty for failure to immediately report safety hazards associated with its treadmills. Go deeper.” [Axios]
Damar Hamlin’s Ability to Communicate Signals a ‘Turning Point’
The Buffalo Bills safety was on a good path for neurological recovery but might still face injuries to other organs, including his lungs.
By Gina Kolata
Jan. 5, 2023
“Damar Hamlin’s ability to communicate with medical personnel and members of his family after a cardiac arrest on Monday night bodes well for his brain’s recovery, according to the doctors caring for him and outside medical experts.
‘This marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care,’ said Dr. William Knight IV, director of emergency medicine at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, which has been treating Mr. Hamlin since he collapsed on the field during a Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game. ‘But he still has significant progress that he needs to make.’
While experts have reasons to anticipate that Mr. Hamlin may be on a good path for neurological recovery, questions remain about the health of his other organs, including his lungs.
In a news conference on Thursday, Dr. Knight and Dr. Timothy A. Pritts said that Mr. Hamlin was still critically ill, was in intensive care and was still lightly sedated and on a ventilator, and so unable to talk. But he can now communicate by shaking his head and nodding. He even wrote a question on a pad of paper, asking his nurse who had won the game….” Read more at New York Times
Martina Navratilova Says She Has Throat and Breast Cancer
The 66-year-old former tennis star called the diagnoses a ‘double whammy’ that she hoped to overcome through treatment.
Jan. 4, 2023
“Martina Navratilova, one of the most dominant players in tennis history, said this week that she had been diagnosed with throat cancer as well as a reocurrence of breast cancer, a ‘double whammy’ that she hoped to overcome through treatment.
Navratilova, 66, said in a statement on her website that she planned to begin treatment this month for Stage 1 throat cancer, which had been discovered after a biopsy on an enlarged lymph node in her neck.
Navratilova said she had noticed the enlarged node last fall during the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, where she and Chris Evert were honored.
‘The prognosis is good,’ Navratilova said in the statement, adding: ‘The cancer type is HPV and this particular type responds really well to treatment.’…” Read more at New York Times
‘Mad Dog’ surfer dies riding giant waves in Nazaré, Portugal
Story by Reuters
Published 1:04 AM EST, Fri January 6, 2023
A surfer rides a wave in Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal, February 25, 2022.
Pedro Nunes/Reuters
“Veteran Brazilian surfer Marcio Freire died on Thursday while practising tow-in surfing on the giant waves in Nazaré on the central coast of Portugal, the local maritime authority said.
Support staff on jet-skis managed to get the 47-year-old to the beach, but all attempts to revive him failed.
Freire was one of the three Brazilian surfers who became known as the “Mad Dogs” after conquering the giant wave “Jaws” in Hawaii. They featured in the 2016 documentary Mad Dogs.
Tributes from other surfers poured in on Instagram.
‘He surfed all day with a big smile on his face. That’s how I’ll keep him in my memory. Legend,’ posted fellow big wave surfer Nic von Rupp.
‘Today we lost a great man, a very good friend and a legendary surfer, Marcio Freire. He was such a happy spirit, always with a smile on his face…Rest in peace my friend,’ wrote sports photographer Fred Pompermayer.
Nazaré boasts some of the biggest waves in the world. They are magnified by an underwater canyon 5 kilometers (3 miles) deep which ends where the North Atlantic meets the shoreline near the former fishing village.
Hawaiian Garrett McNamara put Nazaré on the map in 2011 when he set a world record for the biggest wave ever surfed at 78 feet (23.77 meters).
Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa bettered McNamara’s mark in 2017, also at Nazaré, and German Sebastian Steudtner broke the record again there in 2020, surfing an 86-feet wave.” [CNN]