The Full Belmonte, 5/4/2022
“Chief Justice John Roberts said that the Supreme Court has launched an investigation into an unprecedented leak of draft opinion in a major abortion case. He called the leak a ‘betrayal of the confidences of the court’ and said it did not represent the court’s final view. The leaked opinion published by Politico late Monday suggests the court was considering a decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a constitutional right to abortion. The legal case at issue involves Mississippi's ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. If the court allows the ban to go into effect and Roe v. Wade is rescinded, health and policy experts say people of color and other marginalized groups will be disproportionately affected.” Read more at USA Today
Activists gather to rally for abortion right in front of the Bruce R. Thompson courthouse in Reno, Nevada on May 3, 2022.Jason Bean, Reno Gazette Journal via USA TODAY NETWORK
“‘It's a really scary time’: People across the nation protested on Monday and Tuesday after the stunning leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion set off an unexpected firestorm around one of the nation's most divisive culture war issues and simultaneously raised questions about the court's deliberations and its ability to keep those discussions secret.” Read more at USA Today
“Some Republican moderates were instantly put on the spot.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) — who voted to confirm Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch — said it would violate promises they'd made to her during the confirmation process.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — who voted to confirm Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett — said the draft ‘rocks my confidence’ in the Court.
️ President Biden called on Congress to pass a nationwide law protecting abortion rights.
‘It would mean that every other decision related to the notion of privacy is thrown into question,’ Biden said, referring to Griswold v. Connecticut, which prevented states from banning contraceptive use by married couples.
‘If the rationale of the decision as released were to be sustained, a whole range of rights are in question.’
‘And the idea that we're letting the states make those decisions would be a fundamental shift in what we've done.’
Between the lines: Democrats don't have the votes. Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema said abolishing the filibuster was off-limits.
But Biden framed this as a midterms call to arms: ‘At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.’” Read more at Axios
“The European Union today announced a new round of sanctions against Moscow over its war in Ukraine, including a proposal to ban Russian oil. However, switching from a reliance on Russian oil will be challenging, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission said. "Let's be clear: it will not be easy. But we simply have to work on it. We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion,” Von der Leyen said, emphasizing the need to minimize the impact on EU economies. Meanwhile in Ukraine, fresh evacuations from Mariupol began today as a convoy of buses departed from the besieged Ukrainian port city, according to a local official. And in Lviv, electricity has been restored after a series of missile strikes hit power stations last night, causing major disruptions and damage.” Read more at CNN
“Ukraine's prosecutor general's office has opened more than 9,300 investigations into alleged war crimes committed by Russia. But holding Vladimir Putin responsible is a long and complex process that could take years, if not decades.” Read more at NPR
“Ukrainian civilians described desperate efforts to flee bombed-out Mariupol. Evacuees trickled into Ukrainian-held territory as Russia pursued its offensive. Most of the howitzer artillery units the U.S. promised have arrived in Ukraine, the Pentagon said. In New York City, the Metropolitan Opera partnered with the Polish National Opera to create the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra. Composed of 75 Ukrainian musicians, the group will gather in Poland for 10 days of intensive rehearsals of a selection of classical works in July and then embark on a multicountry tour.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The Federal Reserve is expected to give interest rates their biggest upward bump in 22 years on Wednesday in an effort to tame an inflation rate that's raging at a 40-year high. After raising its key short-term interest rate from near zero by a quarter-percentage-point in March, the Fed is set to push it up another half-point, its largest move since 1994. And that’s likely just the beginning: When the Fed began raising rates in March, it forecast six more hikes this year and more in 2023. Wednesday's move will drive rates higher on everything from credit cards to mortgages; on the plus side, consumers will finally see bank deposit rates rise from paltry levels, especially for online savings accounts and CDs.” Read more at USA Today
“J.D. Vance will arrive in a D.C. filled with enemies if he follows last night's Ohio Republican Senate primary win with victory over Democratic nominee Tim Ryan in November, Axios' Jonathan Swan and Lachlan Markay report.
Why it matters: The Republican establishment privately regards Vance with the same disgust many felt toward Donald Trump when he entered the White House on Jan. 20, 2017.
Zoom out: Vance will be seen as arguably the hardest-edged populist nationalist in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's conference.
Vance has made statements on the campaign trail that have repulsed establishment Republicans, including members of Senate leadership.
Major Republican donors spent millions trying to defeat him, including the powerful Club for Growth.
Between the lines: McConnell has pushed President Biden to do more to help Ukraine win the war. Vance has said Ukraine is not America's problem.
Vance said on Steve Bannon's podcast shortly before Russia invaded its neighbor: ‘I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.’
McConnell's stance has the enthusiastic support of virtually his entire Senate GOP conference. Vance's opponents saw an opportunity to use his indifference to Ukraine against him. But Vance didn't budge.
‘It was a pivotal moment in solidifying the view of J.D. as a fighter by the base and some of the most important media voices on the right,’ a source close to the campaign told Axios.
None of those voices was more important than Fox's top-rated host Tucker Carlson, a major booster of Vance.
The bottom line: Vance's victory deals a body blow to a small but noticeable resurgence of anti-Trump — or post-Trump — sentiment in the GOP.
Republican Trump critics staked their hopes on state senator Matt Dolan, who accused Trump of peddling ‘lies’ about fraud in the 2020 election and blamed him for Jan. 6.
But even with four solidly pro-Trump candidates in the race, Dolan was unable to marshal a plurality. As of this morning, Dolan was in third.” Read more at Axios
“Job openings and the number of times workers quit reached the highest levels on record in March. The Labor Department reported a seasonally adjusted 11.5 million job openings, an increase from 11.3 million the prior month. Quits rose to 4.5 million in the same month, slightly higher than the previous record in November of last year. Meanwhile, hiring cooled slightly from the month before to 6.7 million in March.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Elon Musk said he plans to take Twitter public in as little as three years after buying it, according to people familiar with the matter. The Tesla chief executive has agreed to purchase the social-media platform for $44 billion. The deal is expected to close later this year, subject to conditions including the approval of Twitter shareholders and regulators, the company has said.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The State Department said Brittney Griner is being wrongfully detained in Russia on drug charges. The determination marks a significant change that puts the weight of the U.S. government behind the campaign for the women’s basketball star’s release. She has been in jail since Feb. 17 after being detained at a Moscow airport and accused of carrying electronic vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Many immigrants will get extensions of up to a year and half for expiring or expired U.S. work permits. The new federal policy, which will take effect tomorrow, is meant to address the unprecedented backlog of 1.5 million work-permit applications at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, leaving tens of thousands unable to work legally and exacerbating labor shortages. The change will immediately help about 87,000 immigrants whose work authorization has lapsed or is set to in the next 30 days. Overall, the government estimates that as many as 420,000 immigrants renewing work permits will be protected from losing their ability to work for the duration of the policy.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The CIA director met with the Saudi crown prince last month to repair ties with a key Middle East security partner.
William Burns made an unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia to spend time with Mohammed bin Salman, who runs the kingdom’s daily affairs on behalf of his 86-year-old father, King Salman. While details of what the two men discussed weren’t available, recent sources of U.S.-Saudi tension include oil production, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Iran nuclear deal and the war in Yemen. Burns is a former deputy secretary of state who studied Arabic, held postings in the Middle East and has experience in covert diplomacy. The relationship between Washington and Riyadh is at its lowest point in decades, with then-presidential candidate Joe Biden saying in 2019 that the kingdom should be treated like a pariah over human-rights issues such as Jamal Khashoggi’s killing. A secret U.S. intelligence assessment determined that Prince Mohammed approved an operation to capture or kill the journalist; the crown prince has denied involvement. A CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on Burns’s travels, and Saudi authorities didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The Trump Organization and former president Donald Trump’s presidential inaugural committee on Tuesday agreed to pay the District $750,000 to settle a lawsuit the city filed alleging the organizations misused nonprofit funds to benefit the former president and his family.
The city’s Office of the Attorney General filed a lawsuit in 2020 in D.C. Superior Court alleging the inaugural committee, a nonprofit corporation, coordinated with Trump’s family to overpay for event space in the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington and even paid for space on days when it did not hold events. Lawyers for the District also accused Trump’s organization of improperly using nonprofit funds to throw a private party on Jan. 20, 2017, for Trump’s children — Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric — which cost $300,000. The city also alleged that the Trump Organization, the inaugural committee and the Trump International Hotel misused $1.1 million.” Read more at Washington Post
“FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Actor Amber Heard suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from violence she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband Johnny Depp, including multiple acts of sexual assault, a psychologist testified Tuesday.
The sexual assaults included being forced to perform oral sex and having Depp penetrate her with a liquor bottle, the psychologist, Dawn Hughes, told jurors at Depp’s libel trial against Heard. He accuses her of falsely claiming in a newspaper op-ed piece that she was a victim of domestic violence.
Hughes’ testimony contradicts that of a psychologist hired by Depp’s lawyers, who said Heard was faking her symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered from borderline and histrionic personality disorders. Hughes disputed that Heard suffers from any personality disorder.” Read more at AP News
“Two wildfires that combined in New Mexico have prompted the evacuation of thousands of people -- and more than 15,000 homes could be threatened over the next three days if the fires continue to grow, an official said yesterday. Five fires are actively burning throughout six counties in New Mexico, but the largest blaze is the combined Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires, which merged more than a week ago. That fire has burned about 146,000 acres and is just 20% contained. Some 172 homes have been destroyed in Mora County and San Miguel County, and more than 6,000 homes have been evacuated.” Read more at CNN
“The Biden administration’s announcement of a new government board that it says aims to support efforts to fight disinformation has set off a partisan dispute over its mission.
The newly launched Disinformation Governance Board is described by the administration as an internal working group under the Department of Homeland Security. The administration says it is designed to work on countering disinformation that it says poses threats to homeland security. Examples cited include misleading information used by smugglers to persuade migrants to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border and disinformation spread by foreign states such as Russia ahead of the midterm elections.
Republicans have raised concerns over potential infringement on First Amendment protections, drawn comparisons to George Orwell’s state-sponsored propaganda-pushing Ministry of Truth in his dystopian novel “1984” and argued the board illustrates what they say is President Biden’s overreach.
‘The creation of the ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ appears to double down on this administration’s continued abuse of taxpayer dollars and the federal government’s powers to attack Americans who disagree with its policies, smearing them as extremists and perpetrators of ‘mis- dis- and mal-information,’ a group of Republicans led by Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, wrote in a recent letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Administration officials have defended the board, saying that it builds on work begun under former President Donald Trump and that it would protect free speech and civil liberties. Prior administrations of both parties have for years struggled with how to address disinformation—which technology researchers say social media has turbocharged—without stoking fears that the federal government is censoring speech and eroding democratic norms.
Some officials at DHS’s cyber wing, which is separate from the board but has previously worked to combat election-related online disinformation, have grown concerned that the rocky rollout could hinder their own work by eroding bipartisan support, according to people familiar with the matter.
“There has been confusion about the working group, its role, and its activities,” DHS said Monday in a fact sheet that didn’t name identify the board by name until halfway through. “The reaction to this working group has prompted DHS to assess what steps we should take to build the trust needed for the Department to be effective in this space.”
The additional steps included releasing quarterly reports about the board’s activities to Congress and asking the bipartisan Homeland Security Advisory Council to make recommendations for how DHS can address disinformation while protecting free speech.
DHS also clarified that the board would focus on coordinating work on disinformation from across the federal government and wouldn’t have any “operational authority or capability.”
The steps come after Republican lawmakers grilled Mr. Mayorkas about the new board in a committee hearing after it was announced.
“In more recent years, the top American court has also stood out for its conservative tilt even as others like it have become more liberal: Colombia’s top court decriminalized abortion in February, following in the footsteps of Mexico’s court last September.
A criticism leveled at the Supreme Court, and U.S. institutions more generally, is that after more than two centuries in operation, it’s beginning to look its age, with questions of legitimacy, political interference, and power all combining to undermine the court.
The United States isn’t the first country to wrestle with these issues, and there are lessons it could learn from its allies abroad.
Take politics out of nominations. As part of reforms enacted in 2005 in the United Kingdom, party politics is removed from the supreme court nomination process and instead powers are vested in an independent selection commission. After that panel has chosen a candidate, it’s then up to the prime minister, (and eventually the queen) to approve the appointment.
Term limits. Except in the United States, no country in the world gives its most senior judges jobs for life, a fact that adds to new appointments creating a divisive make-or-break moment. As Tom Ginsburg, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, has explored in a submission to a White House commission on Supreme Court reform, even other countries that provide ‘life tenure’ do so with an age limit, while others work within terms of 5 to 15 years. Judges in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and the United Kingdom all must retire by age 70 (U.S. states, with the exception of Rhode Island, also all have some form of age or term limit).
Take away the court’s final say. As Kim Lane Scheppele, an expert in comparative law at Princeton University, argued to the same White House commission, the lack of straightforward democratic methods to override an unpopular Supreme Court decision is a flaw in the U.S. system not seen in other democracies, and helps to increase pressure on the court.
The ‘most powerful and successful’ courts, Scheppele said, ‘tend to be located in constitutional systems in which the constitution itself is much easier to amend than is the U.S. Constitution.’ (To propose an amendment in the United States, a two-thirds majority is needed in both houses of Congress or a convention must be called by two-thirds of all state legislatures; the proposal then needs to be ratified by three-fourths of all states.)
Germany’s Basic Law, its version of a constitution, allows for constitutional changes to be made with two-thirds majority support in both houses of parliament, a provision that, although rarely used to override constitutional court rulings, ‘acts like an escape valve to take pressure off the Court,’ Scheppele writes. South Africa employs the same rule, while Colombia follows a similar method. Dozens of others allow for constitutional changes via referendum.
There are more extreme ways to take the spotlight off the highest court, namely to defang it entirely. That’s the case in the United Kingdom, where the parliament’s supremacy in legal matters means court decisions are ‘something more of a dialogue rather than a one-way slap-down,’ Scheppele writes.
In Canada, under reforms introduced in 1982, parliament can override Supreme Court decisions that nullify laws and simply reenact them—although this power is rarely invoked.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Whatever Russian President Vladimir Putin believed he would achieve by invading Ukraine, his time frame has been thrown off course.
An expectation that Ukraine would quickly fall apart once Russian tanks rolled in failed to materialize. As we report, that is leading to a rethink in the Kremlin, and narrower goals.
Putin’s troops failed to gain traction in the north and are now diverted to the east. There, Russia is focused on gaining a foothold so it can essentially carve off eastern Ukraine and an area along the south that would help it link by land to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
The aim, according to those with knowledge of the plans, is to entrench Russian troops and political administrators to the point it becomes impossible for Ukraine to remove them again.
The strategy extends to conducting questionable referendums on territories becoming part of Russia. Already the Kremlin is insisting people use rubles for transactions, and it is blasting in propaganda.
But a key problem remains — actual control. Even those in the Kremlin who support Putin’s goals acknowledge this is likely to become a grinding conflict measured in small parcels of territory. And even in areas close to the border with Russia, many citizens will oppose becoming part of it.
Officials in Russia say they are determined to stay the course, wearing Ukraine down bit by bit. Whether military resources — and troop morale — can sustain such a campaign is unclear, especially given heavy losses so far.
For Ukraine, the reality is this war could be upon it not just for months, but years. The U.S. and NATO will need to sustain inflows of weapons and economic support.
Otherwise Ukraine risks over time becoming another Iraq or Afghanistan, where slowly attention turns away as the misery goes on.” — Rosalind Mathieson Read more at Bloomberg
“Brexit troubles | Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army, is on course to place first in tomorrow’s elections in Northern Ireland for the first time since the power-sharing agreement of 1998 ended decades of violence. As this story explains, that’s a problem for the U.K. government, not just since the party’s ultimate goal is a united Ireland, but because it may undermine Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s bid to revisit his Brexit deal with the EU.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Different path | Hong Kong is deviating from the strict Covid Zero policies of Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Beijing and is methodically moving toward opening up to the rest of the world. Kari Lindberg and Richard Frostreport how influential figures in the city are pushing to retain its appeal as an international financial hub.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Afghan crisis | The takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and the resulting cut in international aid has led to a worsening humanitarian crisis, according to a Pentagon watchdog that spent more than a decade tracking conditions in the war-torn nation. More than 24 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance, with some 70% of households unable to meet basic needs.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Sri Lanka’s once-lauded public health system, free to its 22 million people, has come to a near standstill as the country deals with its worst economic crisis in decades. Battered by the highest inflation rate in Asia and diminished foreign-currency reserves, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies are struggling to procure lifesaving drugs and medical equipment. Chris Kay reports on how the diaspora is trying to fill the gaps by flying in supplies to patients and doctors.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The British Army has launched an investigation after a man posing as a priest was allowed to stay overnight in the barracks of the Coldstream Guards, the regiment charged with protecting Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. The man allegedly presented no credentials to the soldiers other than claiming to be a friend of the battalion’s chaplain, and went on to drink and tell stories with senior officers into the night. His visit seemed to pose no risk to the queen, however, as she was at staying at another property at the time of the intrusion.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Lives Lived: Interned as a boy during World War II, Norman Y. Mineta later became the first Japanese American cabinet official, serving under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Mineta died at 90.” Read more at New York Times
“Comedian Dave Chappelle was tackled on stage by a man with a replica gun last night at a Los Angeles comedy festival. He was reportedly uninjured.” Read more at Axios
“Wild D.C. foxes strike again: One broke into the Smithsonian National Zoo, killing 25 flamingos and one northern pintail duck.” Read more at NPR