Lear Preston, 4, takes virtual classes this week on Chicago's South Side. Photo: Shafkat Anowar/AP
“School reopenings should be a priority over restaurants and other nonessential businesses, the CDC recommended today.
The big picture: 64% of elementary and middle school students are already seeing some in-person instruction, reports Axios' Marisa Fernandez, citing Burbio's School Opening Tracker.
Aside from masking and hygiene, the Education Department suggests using cafeterias and auditoriums for classes, staggering bell schedules and assigning one seat per row on buses.
In-person teaching should be prioritized before sports or other extracurriculars.
Districts with lower-income students or populations with disabilities should be prioritized for in-person instruction.
Families of students at risk for severe illness can opt-out of in-person instruction.
Teachers should be prioritized for vaccination, but it should not be mandatory for reopening.
The bottom line: The science says K-12 in-person school attendance isn't a primary driver of transmission. But high community rates of COVID-19 increase the likelihood that infections could be transmitted within a school setting.” Read more at Axios.
“Lawyers for Donald J. Trump delivered an incendiary but brief defense of the former president on Friday, calling the House’s charge that he incited an insurrection at the Capitol a ‘preposterous and monstrous lie’ as they falsely equated his conduct to Democrats’ own combative rhetoric.
Confident they have enough votes from Republicans to acquit Mr. Trump, the lawyers used only about three of their 16 allotted hours. Their speed allowed senators to complete a period of questioning the prosecution and defense Friday evening and cleared the way for closing arguments and a final verdict, likely on Saturday.
Earlier, the defense team had channeled the former president’s own combative style and embrace of falsehoods to claim, contrary to facts, that Mr. Trump never glorified violence during his presidency and that he consistently called for peace as the rampage at the Capitol unfolded. Showing video clips of Democrats urging their supporters to ‘fight’ and Mr. Trump venerating ‘law and order,’ they sought to rewrite not just the narrative of his campaign to overturn the election but that of his entire presidency.
‘This trial is about far more than President Trump,’ said Bruce L. Castor Jr., one of the lawyers, as he closed the defense. ‘It is about silencing the speech the majority does not agree with. It is about canceling 75 million Trump voters and criminalizing political viewpoints.’
The defense’s presentation unfolded after nine House prosecutors spent two days laying out a meticulous case against the former president — dramatized with never-before-seen video of the Jan. 6 riot — portraying the rampage as the direct result of Mr. Trump’s months long campaign to overturn the election. Desperate to cling to power, the Democrats argued, Mr. Trump goaded his followers into joining his effort and would do so again, they said, if the Senate failed to convict him and bar him from holding office in the future.
Among the lawyers’ core arguments were that the Senate ‘lacks jurisdiction’ to even try a former president now out of office, that Mr. Trump’s conduct was protected by the First Amendment and that it came nowhere near the legal definition for ‘incitement.’
But standing before a jury of 100 senators, their case was as political in nature as it was legal. Using a favorite tactic of Mr. Trump’s, his lawyers also sought to defend his behavior by citing that of others, arguing that he could no more be held responsible for the Capitol assault than Democrats could for the violence that erupted at some racial justice protests last summer.
They also sought to selectively poke holes in Democrats’ case. Michael van der Veen, one of the lawyers, insisted on Friday that Mr. Trump had only ever been interested in election security reforms, like voter ID laws — an assertion that directly contradicted months of public and private actions by Mr. Trump. He said the president intended for the Jan. 6 rally he hosted before the attack to be peaceful, but that it had been ‘hijacked’ by extremists, including from the far left — another claim disproved even by Republicans.
Bruce Castor and Michael van der Veen, lawyers for former President Donald Trump on Friday. Credit...Pool photo by Jabin Botsford
‘The reality is Mr. Trump was not in any way shape or form instructing these people to fight using physical violence,’ Mr. van der Veen said. ‘What he was instructing them to do was challenge their opponents in primary elections, to push for sweeping election reforms, to hold big tech responsible — all customary and legal ways to petition your government for redress of grievances.’
Mr. Castor also pointed to tweets by Mr. Trump while the attack was underway telling his supporters to ‘stay peaceful’ and ‘support our Capitol Police.’ But he did not discuss Mr. Trump’s actions during the hours when the Capitol was under attack in which managers’ said he reveled in his success and delayed sending in reinforcements.
‘We know that the president would never have wanted such a riot to occur, because his longstanding hatred for violent protesters and his love for law and order is on display, worn on his sleeve, every single day that he served in the White House,’ he said.
Later, during the question and answer session, Mr. van der Veen said Mr. Trump had not been aware that his vice president, Mike Pence, had been in danger, even though a senator he called during the attack told him Mr. Pence was being evacuated from the chamber.” Read more at New York Times
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has told GOP colleagues in a letter that he will vote to acquit Donald Trump in the former president's impeachment trial, according to sources familiar with the communication.
McConnell's announcement ends a long period of silence over whether he would consider convicting Trump for incitement of insurrection and could pave the way for many other Republicans to follow in acquittal.” Read more at Politico
“New revelations about Covid’s toll on New York nursing homes are a threat to the career of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In a leaked private conversation, one of Cuomo’s top aides admitted to hiding data because they feared a Trump administration investigation. New York Attorney General Tish James issued a report last month saying that the state was undercounting nursing homes deaths by only releasing information on the number of residents who died in nursing homes — not the number who died after being transferred to the hospital. The number of New York nursing homes deaths is closer to 15,000 , far larger than the 9,000 originally reported.” Read more at Politico
“Government aid programs have long been fertile ground for scammers. But the scale of the fraud in the unemployment program created by the CARES Act has reached a staggering level, state and federal officials say.
The Labor Department inspector general has yet to complete a full investigation but, based on previous programs, estimates at least $63 billion of the $630 billion in disbursements has been misspent. The full scope of the loss in taxpayer funds is likely orders of magnitude higher, experts and officials say, soaring well beyond $100 billion.
A rush to release the funds put enormous strain on state workforce agencies, creating a bonanza for individual scam artists and international cybercrime rings. And the federal government was slow to act despite early red flags, according to interviews with more than two dozen fraud experts, senior law enforcement officials and state and federal officials.
The Justice Department has assembled a task force to root out fraud across all 50 states and U.S. territories. Only now is the extent of the theft of taxpayer funds starting to come into focus.” Read more at NBC News
“Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is preparing to put all first-class mail onto a single delivery track, according to two people briefed on his strategic plan for the U.S. Postal Service, a move that would mean slower and more costly delivery for both consumers and commercial mailers.
DeJoy, with the backing of the agency’s bipartisan but Trump-appointed governing board, has discussed plans to eliminate a tier of first-class mail — letters, bills and other envelope-sized correspondence sent to a local address — designated for delivery in two days. Instead, all first-class mail would be lumped into the same three- to five-day window, the current benchmark for nonlocal mail.
That class of mail is already struggling; only 38 percent was delivered on time at the end of 2020, the Postal Service reported in federal court. Customers have reported bills being held up, and holiday cards and packages still in transit. Pharmacies and prescription benefits managers have told patients to request medication refills early to leave additional time for mail delays. The agency has not disclosed on-time scores yet in 2021.” Read more at Washington Post
“An Atlanta-area prosecutor plans to scrutinize a post-Election Day phone call between Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as part of a criminal investigation into whether former president Donald Trump or his allies broke Georgia laws while trying to reverse his defeat in the state, according to a person familiar with the probe.
The individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing probe, said the inquiry by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will include an examination of the call Graham, a staunch Trump ally, made to Raffensperger 10 days after the Nov. 3 election.
During their conversation, Graham asked the Georgia secretary of state whether he had the power to toss out all mail ballots in certain counties, Raffensperger told The Washington Post in an interview days later. He said Graham appeared to be asking him to improperly find a way to set aside legally cast ballots.” Read more at Washington Post
“Moderate Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said a minimum wage hike shouldn't be put in the COVID stimulus bill.” Read more at Axios
“The Senate on Friday passed legislation to award Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal for his actions responding to the violent Jan. 6 riot.” Read more at The Hill
“The Biden administration is launching a review of the prison at Guantanamo Bay Military Base in Cuba with the goal of shuttering the facility, the White House said Friday.” Read more at The Hill
“Indifference Reigns in Trump World as Impeachment Trial Begins
There were no bar specials at the hotel near the White House, just a menu that included cocktails called Belle of Congress and Bitter Life. As the Senate began Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial on Tuesday, indifference reigned at properties across the billionaire’s empire, Max Abelson and Sarah Holder report.” Read more at Bloomberg“Bankrupted by Socialism, Venezuela Cedes Control of Companies
Saddled with hundreds of failed state companies in an economy barreling over a cliff, the Venezuelan government is abandoning socialist doctrine by offloading key enterprises to private investors, Fabiola Zerpa and Nicolle Yapur report. It’s too late for the more than 5 million Venezuelans who’ve left in a desperate attempt to avoid ruin.” Read more at Bloomberg“Up to a Million People Fleeing Hong Kong Might Suit China Fine
China’s relentless crackdown may have succeeded in crushing Hong Kong’s protests and neutralizing the political opposition. But it’s also doing something else: prompting many here to consider fleeing abroad, Iain Marlow writes.” Read more at Bloomberg“Protesters in Myanmar Appeal to China to Withdraw Junta Support
Pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar appealed directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping to withdraw his government’s support for the country’s powerful military as mass demonstrations continued across cities and towns. They’re facing off against security forces who’ve already used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to push back demonstrators.” Read more at BloombergProtesters with posters featuring Aung San Suu Kyi make three-finger salutes on Feb. 8 in Yangon, Myanmar.
“The crisis engulfing the anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project deepened on Friday when Steve Schmidt, a co-founder, resigned abruptly from the board and former employees renewed demands to be released from nondisclosure agreements in order to provide more information about the organization’s handling of harassment allegations against another co-founder, John Weaver.
Mr. Schmidt will remain with the organization in an executive capacity after he takes a temporary leave. He stepped down from the board to quell a growing furor around the Lincoln Project, but had only joined the board after the November election.
In an extraordinary statement Friday evening, Mr. Schmidt described being sexually assaulted as a teenager, evoking his own experience as he sought to explain his widely criticized response to the allegations against Mr. Weaver.
‘I am incandescently angry about it,’ he said of Mr. Weaver’s actions, which involved unwanted sexual messages to numerous young men. He added, referring to the man he said assaulted him, ‘I am angry because I know the damage that he caused to me, and I know the journey that lies ahead for every young man that trusted, feared and was abused by John Weaver.’
Mr. Schmidt reiterated his claim that he had not known of Mr. Weaver’s behavior until last month. However, a former Lincoln Project employee told The New York Times that Mr. Schmidt had known by October 2020 at the latest. The former employee described being in the room when Mr. Schmidt spoke about it.
Mr. Schmidt issued his statement Friday night after a lawyer for a third co-founder, Jennifer Horn, sent the Lincoln Project a notice instructing it to preserve documents in anticipation of a lawsuit, according to a person familiar with the communication.
The turmoil this week has been deeply damaging to the Lincoln Project, which emerged over the last year as the leading group of Republicans opposed to the presidency of Donald J. Trump. It skewered Mr. Trump with mocking ads and drew a large following on the left.
But the group’s leadership has fractured since the election. Two board members, Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid, left in December. George T. Conway III, another key figure, has also departed. Ms. Horn recently resigned, issuing a scathing statement, and on Thursday, the group tweeted her private Twitter messages with a reporter.” Read more at New York Times
“President Biden and his press department have sought to strike a new tone with the correspondents who endured years of hostility while covering the previous administration.
That effort was undercut last month when a deputy White House press secretary, T.J. Ducklo, threatened a Politico journalist who was reporting on his close personal relationship with a reporter who had covered Mr. Biden. On Friday, after Mr. Ducklo’s threat came to light, the White House announced that it had suspended him for a week without pay.
In a Jan. 20 phone call, Mr. Ducklo told the reporter, Tara Palmeri, a writer of Politico’s Playbook newsletter, that he would “destroy” her after she made inquiries about his romantic relationship with Alexi McCammond, an Axios reporter.
Ms. Palmeri was asking about the relationship because it coincided with Mr. Ducklo’s time as Mr. Biden’s press secretary during the presidential campaign and the transition period between Election Day and the inauguration. Axios reassigned Ms. McCammond after she told her bosses about the relationship in November, taking her away from coverage of Mr. Biden and putting her on a beat that includes Vice President Kamala Harris.” Read more at New York Times
“Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley does not believe Trump will run for federal office again: ‘I don't think he can. He's fallen so far.’
Why it matters: Haley has left little doubt that she will run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. The profile by Politico's Tim Alberta painted the picture of a staunch Republican who has wavered between defending and condemning her former boss — who still holds massive influence within the party's base.
Behind the scenes: ‘Since last fall, I've spent nearly six hours talking with Haley on-the-record,’ Alberta wrote. ‘I've also spoken with nearly 70 people who know her: friends, associates, donors, staffers, former colleagues. From those conversations, two things are clear. First, Nikki Haley is going to run for president in 2024. Second, she doesn't know which Nikki Haley will be on the ballot.’
The big picture: In December, before the Capitol riot, Haley defended Trump's refusal to concede defeat to Joe Biden and his indulgence in election conspiracy theories, blaming his lawyers for doing him ‘a disservice’ by not telling him the truth of his loss.
‘I understand the president. I understand that genuinely, to his core, he believes he was wronged,’ Haley told Politico in December. ‘This is not him making it up.’
She equated Trump's perception of the false election claims to a colorblind person, saying: ‘That would be like you saying that grass is blue and you genuinely believing it. Is it irresponsible that you’re colorblind and you truly believe that?’
‘There's nothing that you're ever going to do that's going to make him feel like he legitimately lost the election. He's got a big bully pulpit. He should be responsible with it,’ she added.
After the riot, Haley told Politico in a subsequent interview that Trump had ‘let us down,’ referring to Republicans.
‘He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him,’ she said. ‘And we can't let that ever happen again.’
The former governor of South Carolina specifically criticized Trump for turning on Vice President Pence in his campaign to force him to overturn the Electoral College vote, even though Pence lacked that constitutional authority to begin with.
‘I am so disappointed in the fact that [despite] the loyalty and friendship he had with Mike Pence, that he would do that to him,’ Haley said. ‘Like, I'm disgusted by it.’
Yes, but: Despite her harsh words for Trump's actions, Haley said that she believes impeachment is a ‘waste of time.’
Instead, she said Trump's isolation from mainstream politics is enough of a punishment.
‘I think his business is suffering at this point. I think he’s lost any sort of political viability he was going to have. I think he's lost his social media, which meant the world to him. I mean, I think he's lost the things that really could have kept him moving.’ Read more at Axios