The Full Belmonte, 9/13/2022
40 Trump allies subpoenaed
Former President Trump drives a cart yesterday at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP
“The Justice Department blanketed current and former advisers to former President Trump with about 40 subpoenas, ‘in a substantial escalation’ of the criminal probe into the Capitol attack and his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, The New York Times reports (subscription).
Why it matters: Investigators are ‘casting a wide net on a range of issues, including Mr. Trump's postelection fund-raising and the so-called fake electors scheme,’ The Times adds.
Federal agents with search warrants seized phones last week from at least two people in Trump's orbit: Boris Epshteyn, a former White House official who currently helps coordinate Trump's legal strategy, and Mike Roman, who was the Trump campaign's director of Election Day operations in 2020, The Times learned.
Among those subpoenaed were Dan Scavino — Trump's social-media guru in the White House, who has remained an adviser — and Bernard Kerik, who was NYPD commissioner on 9/11, and promoted vote-fraud claims with his friend Rudy Giuliani.” Read more at Axios
Justice Dept. Says It’s Open to Trump Pick for Special Master
Prosecutors said they would not object if Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the Federal District Court in Brooklyn is appointed to review the sensitive documents seized from Mar-a-Lago.
By Alan Feuer
“The Justice Department said on Monday that it was open to accepting one of former President Donald J. Trump’s proposed candidates for the job of an independent arbiter to review thousands of documents seized last month by the F.B.I. from Mr. Trump’s residence in Florida.
In a brief court filing, prosecutors said they would not object if the judge presiding over the case appointed Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the Federal District Court in Brooklyn as special master to oversee an evaluation of the trove of sensitive materials seized from Mr. Trump’s estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers and lawyers for the Justice Department are also engaged in a separate court fight over how a potential special master should review the seized documents. Mr. Trump wants an expansive review that would scrutinize all of the materials for items protected by attorney-client or executive privilege; the Justice Department wants a narrower review excluding about 100 documents bearing labels marking them as classified.
The decision by the Justice Department to formally accede to one of Mr. Trump’s choices for the special master job was a pullback from the position it set forth on Friday when prosecutors and Mr. Trump’s lawyers filed competing candidates for the position.” Read more at New York Times
Trump’s PAC faces scrutiny amid intensifying legal probes
By JILL COLVIN, BRIAN SLODYSKO and ERIC TUCKER
FILE - A page from the affidavit by the FBI in support of obtaining a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is photographed Aug. 26, 2022. Trump's fundraising vehicle, Save America PAC, is under new legal scrutiny after the Department of Justice issued a round of grand jury subpoenas that have included questions about the political action committee's fundraising practices. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Sitting on top of more than $115 million across several political committees, Donald Trump has positioned himself as a uniquely indomitable force in the GOP who would almost certainly have the resources to swamp his rivals if he launched another presidential campaign.
But that massive pile of money is also emerging as a potential vulnerability. His chief fundraising vehicle, Save America PAC, is under new legal scrutiny after the Justice Department issued a round of grand jury subpoenas that sought information about the political action committee’s fundraising practices.
The scope of the probe is unclear. Grand jury subpoenas and search warrants issued by the Justice Department in recent days were related to numerous topics, including Trump’s PAC, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The subpoenas seek records as well as testimony and ask at least some of the recipients about their knowledge of efforts to engage in election fraud, according to one of the people.” Read more at AP News
Strikes
“White House officials have been closely watching freight rail labor negotiations as the first national railroad strike in 30 years could begin as soon as this Friday. About 60,000 union members who work for the railroad are set to go on strike, including the engineers and conductors who make up the two-person crews on each train. The looming strike would bring the freight rail system, which carries nearly 30% of the nation's freight, to a grinding halt. As a result, Amtrak announced Monday that it is preemptively suspending service on some of its long-range routes. Separately, about 15,000 nurses in Minnesota went on strike Monday in what the union called the largest private sector nurses strike in US history.” Read more at CNN
Monkeypox
“The first US death due to monkeypox has been confirmed in Los Angeles County, health officials announced Monday. The CDC confirmed the link and said the person had a severely weakened immune system and had been hospitalized. Deaths from monkeypox are extremely rare and often affect babies, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as from HIV. To date, there have been almost 22,000 cases of probable or confirmed monkeypox cases reported in the US this year, CDC data shows. California has the most cases: 4,300.” Read more at CNN
Twitter
“Twitter whistleblower Peiter ‘Mudge’ Zatko is set to testify before Congress today in his first public appearance since detailing bombshell allegations against the social media company last month. Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee are expected to question Zatko about his claims that Twitter has undisclosed security and privacy vulnerabilities that could threaten users, investors and even US national security. His testimony today could lay the groundwork for deeper probes by Congress, federal regulators and law enforcement officials. It could also further complicate the legal battle over Twitter's agreement to be acquired by billionaire Elon Musk and comes on the same day that Twitter shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal.” Read more at CNN
“US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham plans to introduce legislation to restrict abortion nationally, as the politically explosive debate emerges as one of the central issues in the midterms.” Read more at Bloomberg
Good morning. It’s not just one region. Ukraine is making progress in multiple places.
A Ukrainian tank in the Kharkiv region yesterday.Kostiantyn Liberov/Associated Press
Reclaiming land
“Could Ukraine actually win its war against Russia? Ukraine’s surprising recent breakthrough in the northeast has caused more military analysts to start asking that question.
Over the past week, Ukrainian troops have retaken almost 3,400 square miles of land, an area equal to about half the size of the New York metropolitan area. The gains include Izium, a city that Russia had been using as a rail hub to supply its forces elsewhere. Ukraine now controls nearly all of the province of Kharkiv.
Data as of Sept. 11. | Source: Institute for the Study of War
The Kharkiv operation surprised Russian military forces while they were focused on other regions and has given Ukraine its clearest victory since Russia’s retreat from around Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky and his military advisers planned the attack partly so they could claim such a victory, as this Times story explains.
‘The Ukrainian push is a big deal,’ said Julian Barnes, one of the reporters who wrote that story. ‘They needed a dramatic win, and this is one.’
Ukraine’s advance has also undermined Vladimir Putin’s war propaganda, causing some criticism of the military, even from some pro-invasion Russians. More than 40 local elected officials across Russia signed a two-sentence petition demanding Putin resign, and a senior member of Parliament from Putin’s party said the retreat had done ‘very serious damage’ to the operation.
The recent developments have cheered Ukraine’s supporters in Western Europe and the U.S., who have been anxiously trying to maintain public support for military aid. Steven Erlanger, who covers European diplomacy from Brussels, points out that European citizens are girding for a winter of high energy prices because of Putin’s restriction of gas sales. The recapturing of Kharkiv allows more Europeans to feel as if their support of Ukraine is a worthwhile cause rather than a lost one. ‘It’s a morale boost,’ Steven said.
In recent months, I have tried to focus readers of this newsletter on three broad scenarios for the war’s outcome: one, a Russian victory that includes control over large parts of Ukraine; two, a stalemate in which Russia controls much of the Donbas region, in Ukraine’s east, but little else; or, three, a Ukrainian victory, in which Russia largely retreats, with the exception of some parts of Donbas.
(For anyone trying to read the map above, the Donbas region includes two provinces: Donetsk and Luhansk.)
Many analysts continue to believe that a stalemate remains the most likely outcome. But I told you in our most recent Ukraine update — last month — that the chances of a Ukrainian victory had risen. They have risen even further since then.
‘The last few days have shown that the Ukrainians can craft effective plans based on intelligence, advice and high-tech American weaponry used in innovative ways,’ Julian said. ‘And those plans, so far, have delivered real battlefield results.’
Ukraine’s strengths …
A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS.Tony Overman/The Olympian, via Associated Press
A central question now is whether Ukraine can also make progress in two other regions where Russia is more entrenched: Donbas, in the east; and southern provinces in between Donbas and the Crimea peninsula (which Russia annexed in 2014). In recent weeks, Ukraine has also reclaimed about 200 square miles in the southern provinces.
A major reason for Ukrainian optimism is the continued support from the West, including weapons for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia. The progress in Kharkiv has depended on longer-range missiles that the U.S. and Britain were initially unwilling to provide but have supplied in recent months. U.S. officials also worked with Ukrainian military leaders to plan the assault on Kharkiv.
At the same time, the sanctions appear to be hurting both Russia’s domestic economy and its war efforts. Its factories are struggling to produce enough basic military supplies, while Russia is also having a hard time buying enough high-tech equipment on world markets. One sign that the military is running low on supplies: It has been trying to buy North Korean rockets and artillery shells, U.S. intelligence officials say.
… and Russia’s strengths
Still, recapturing territory in the south and the east is unlikely to be easy for Ukraine. Russia has concentrated more forces in those regions than it had in Kharkiv. Now that Ukraine holds Kharkiv, it also has longer supply lines to defend, John Blaxland, a military expert at the Australian National University, told The Times. The seizure of Izium and its railways may help Ukraine maintain its lengthened supply lines, other experts said.
Biden administration officials continue to express skepticism that Ukraine will be able to reclaim all of the land it held in February, just before the invasion. Russia continues to have vast resources at its disposal, even if the sanctions have created some constraints: Russia has been firing many more artillery rounds per day than the Ukrainians. If that advantage continues, dislodging Russia from territory it holds may be difficult.
Russia also has a history of forcing brutal losses on its own soldiers to win extended wars, and Putin has shown he is willing to commit atrocities (as he did in Syria and Chechnya) to exhaust an opponent. Some analysts — including Ross Douthat of Times Opinion and Anne Applebaum of The Atlantic — have argued that Western leaders should be planning for how they would respond to an escalation in Ukraine.
Ukraine also faces a disadvantage that its allies have imposed on it, my colleague Helene Cooper points out. The U.S. and the E.U. have told Ukrainian officials that they cannot use Western military equipment to strike inside Russia — out of a fear that such attacks might cause Putin to expand the war or use nuclear weapons. From a tactical standpoint, that restriction hurts Ukraine’s ability to win the war, because it means that Russia does not have to worry about defending its own territory.
Yet it’s a restriction that seems unlikely to change anytime soon.” Read more at New York Times
Armenia says 49 soldiers killed in attacks by Azerbaijan
By AVET DEMOURIAN
“YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijani forces shelled Armenia’s territory on Tuesday in a large-scale attack that killed at least 49 Armenian soldiers and fueled fears of even broader hostilities.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. Azerbaijan reclaimed broad swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh in a six-week war in 2020 that killed more than 6,600 people and ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal.
Moscow, which deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers under the deal, moved quickly to broker a cease-fire on Tuesday morning, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether it was holding.
The hostilities erupted minutes after midnight, with Azerbaijani forces unleashing an artillery barrage and drone attacks in many sections of Armenian territory, according to the Armenian Defense Ministry.” Read more at AP News
William Ruto sworn in as Kenya’s president after close vote
By CARA ANNA and BRIAN INGANGA
“NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya’s president on Tuesday after narrowly winning the Aug. 9 election in East Africa’s most stable democracy.
The Supreme Court last week rejected a challenge by losing candidate and longtime opposition figure Raila Odinga to the official results.
The 55-year-old Ruto had been the deputy to outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta but had a bitter split with Kenyatta that left the two not speaking for months at a time.
On Tuesday, the audience cheered as the two shook hands, and again as Kenyatta handed over the instruments of power.
The event began with some chaos. Scores of people were crushed and injured as they forced their way into the packed stadium. A medic said a fence fell down after people pushed it and about 60 were injured, though the number may rise.” Read more at AP News
“Sweden’s election results. A bloc of right-wing parties led by the far-right Sweden Democrats—which is the country’s second-largest party after a strong showing—holds a very slim lead over the left-wing coalition in the general elections held last Sunday, with 95 percent of the vote counted. The current vote share would likely give the winning bloc just a one-seat majority in parliament, although that could change with votes from Swedish citizens abroad and early votes coming in. A final tally is expected on Wednesday.
Although some mainstream parties sought to adopt the far-right party’s positions on crime and immigration to score votes, their strategy doesn’t seem to have paid off—with those that cooperated with the Sweden Democrats all losing support instead.” Read more at Foreign Policy
50 million people endure modern slavery
“Fifty million people worldwide were trapped in ‘modern slavery’ at the end of last year, up 25 percent from 2016, according to UN estimates released Monday.” [Vox] Read more at AP / Jamey Keaten
“Modern slavery includes forced labor or forced marriage perpetrated using threats or intimidation; about 27.6 million modern slaves faced forced labor, and another 22 million forced marriages.” [Vox] Read more at BBC / David Molloy
“Peace talks in Ethiopia? After a resurgence of violence last month, rebels in Ethiopia’s Tigray region have announced they are ready to abide by a cease-fire and participate in peace talks led by the African Union. In a statement, Tigrayan authorities said they wish to see Ethiopians and the people of Tigray ‘no longer hear the sound of gunfire, the blockade of essential services and humanitarian aid, and associated pain and suffering.’
The Ethiopian government did not issue any immediate comment. The White House said Monday that it ‘welcomes’ the announcement.” Read more at Foreign Policy
Peloton Chairman John Foley to Exit in Management Shake-Up
Fitness-equipment maker says legal chief Hisao Kushi and commercial chief Kevin Cornils are also leaving
Peloton is in the midst of a major overhaul as it cuts costs to reflect reduced demand for its fitness equipment.PHOTO: BESS ADLER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Peloton Interactive Inc. PTON 7.18%▲ said co-founder John Foley and other senior leaders are leaving the company in a management shake-up as the maker of connected exercise equipment races to turn itself around.
Peloton has struggled with deepening losses this year after a pandemic-fueled spike in demand for its at-home workouts left the company with a glut of unsold bicycles when consumers returned to gyms and outdoor activities. The company’s shares have plunged more than 90% over the past year.
Mr. Foley, who led the company for most of its 10-year existence, stepped down as CEO in February but remained executive chairman of the board. He resigned on Monday, the company said, and will be succeeded as board chair by Karen Boone, a former executive at Restoration Hardware and a Peloton board member since 2019.
The shake-up, announced by Chief Executive Barry McCarthy, comes weeks after Peloton reported a $1.2 billion quarterly loss and a nearly 30% drop in revenue. Mr. McCarthy warned investors in August that the business would likely spend more cash than it brings in for several more months.
With fewer people buying new Peloton machines, the new CEO has experimented with lowered prices and bike rentals as well as trying to get people who don’t have Peloton bikes or treadmills to pay a monthly subscription for the company’s online fitness classes.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Peloton co-founder John Foley and his lieutenants had a growth strategy that relied on demand continuing to rise as the pandemic abated.PHOTO: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS
Unruly Passenger Sentenced to Four Months in Prison Over Assault on Flight
The New York woman was also ordered to pay American Airlines more than $9,100 in restitution
American Airlines planes at LaGuardia Airport in New York. The FAA and Justice Department have been working to crack down on unruly airline passengers.PHOTO: ANGUS MORDANT/BLOOMBERG NEWS
“A New York woman was sentenced to four months in prison after causing a disturbance while flying first class last year.
Federal prosecutors say Kelly Pichardo, 32 years old, assaulted a flight attendant after getting into an argument with another passenger during a February 2021 flight from Dallas to Los Angeles. The American Airlines Group Inc. plane was diverted because of the altercation and landed in Phoenix, where Ms. Pichardo was arrested, along with a woman she was traveling with.
Ms. Pichardo pleaded guilty to interfering with flight crew members in August. After serving her four-month sentence, she will have three years of supervised release. Ms. Pichardo was also ordered to pay American Airlines more than $9,100 in restitution.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Jean-Luc Godard: Legendary French film director dies at 91
Film director Jean-Luc Godard, who spearheaded the revolutionary French New Wave of cinema, has died at the age of 91.
“Godard burst onto the scene with 1960's À bout de souffle (Breathless), which started a run of acclaimed releases that rewrote the rules of film.
His work brought a new verve and daring to cinema and influenced directors from Quentin Tarantino to Martin Scorsese.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Godard ‘had the vision of a genius’.
In a tribute on Twitter, Mr Macron wrote: ‘He was like an apparition in French cinema. Then he became a master of it.
Jean-Luc Godard, the most iconoclastic of New Wave filmmakers, invented a resolutely modern, intensely free art. We have lost a national treasure, a man who had the vision of a genius.’
Godard's rich seam of influential films in the 1960s also included Le Mépris (Contempt), Bande à Part (Band of Outsiders) and Alphaville.
Godard started as a film critic before stepping behind the camera with the stylish and edgy Breathless. Its stars Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo were glamorous in a new, casual way, while the camera was constantly moving, the editing was swift and bold, and the script semi-improvised.
The director once said: ‘It was a film that took everything that cinema had done - girls, gangsters, cars - exploded all this and put an end, once and for all, to the old style.’
Image caption, Jean-Luc Godard with Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo on the set of Pierrot Le Fou in 1965
That was followed by Le Petit Soldat (The Little Soldier) - although the film was banned until 1963 because of its depiction of government-sanctioned torture.
Its cast included Danish model Anna Karina, who married Godard in 1961 and went on to appear in a string of his most successful films.
She played a nightclub dancer who wants a baby in 1961's Une Femme est une Femme (A Woman Is A Woman); a young Parisian prostitute in 1962's Vivre sa vie (My Life to Live); and a gang member in Band of Outsiders in 1965.
Tarantino named his production company A Band Apart, in reference to the latter film's French title, and once said Godard was ‘so influential’ to him as a director.
‘Godard is one who taught me the fun and the freedom and the joy of breaking rules… I consider Godard to be to cinema what Bob Dylan was to music,’ he said.
Image caption, Jean-Luc Godard directing Brigitte Bardot in 1963's Contempt
Contempt, from 1963, starring Brigitte Bardot, was named by Scorsese as one of his 10 favourite movies. It is ‘one of the most moving films of its era’ and Godard was ‘the great modern visual artists of cinema’, he wrote in 2014.
Godard's storylines also mixed up time and space, changing the idea of a fixed narrative. He once said: ‘A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end - but not necessarily in that order.’
He had more than 100 films to his name in total, also including Une Femme Mariée (1964), Pierrot le fou (1965), Masculin Féminin (1966) and Week-end (1967).
His most recent work was released in 2018, although some thought Godard became wilfully obscure as his career went on.
Godard received an honorary Oscar in 2011, with the dedication reading: ‘For passion. For confrontation. For a new kind of cinema.’” Read more at BBC
Image caption, Godard filming student marches on the streets of Paris in 1968
The 2022 Emmy Awards
Cast and crew members of ‘Succession.’ Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
“‘Succession’ and ‘Ted Lasso’ took the top prizes for drama and comedy series, the second win for both. Other highlights:
‘Abbott Elementary.’ Accepting the award for best supporting actress in a comedy, Sheryl Lee Ralph belted out ‘Endangered Species’ by Dianne Reeves to a standing ovation.
‘Squid Game.’ Lee Jung-jae won best actor in a drama, the first time the award has gone to a foreign-language show. Hwang Dong-hyuk won the drama directing Emmy.
‘The White Lotus.’ The HBO dramedy was another big winner: best limited series, best directing and writing, and acting awards for Jennifer Coolidge and Murray Bartlett.
For more: There were some memorable acceptance speeches, but most of the telecast seemed bland, the critic Mike Hale writes. And here are the best red carpet outfits, and all the other winners.” Read more at New York Times
A Broadway first
Angelica Ross during a photo call in New York last month for her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical "Chicago." Photo: Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
“Angelica Ross — star of FX's ‘Pose’ — debuted last evening as Roxie Hart in the hit musical "Chicago," becoming the first openly transgender woman to star on Broadway, Axios' Ina Fried reports from New York.
Why it matters: Ross' groundbreaking role comes amid a legislative attack on transgender civil rights in states around the country.
Ross and co-star Amra-Faye Wright acknowledged the juxtaposition at the show's end, telling the audience that the performance comes as many people question the future of America and what the country stands for.
A host of celebrities and members of the LGBTQ community turned up to see Ross' debut, including writer and activist Raquel Willis and the cast of ‘Strange Loop,’ another Broadway musical.
‘It meant so much,’ Ross told Axios after the show. ‘Especially when I looked out into the audience when the lights came up and I saw so much family — so many trans folks, so many non-binary folks.’” Read more at Axios
“Lives Lived: Ramsey Lewis, a jazz pianist, unexpectedly became a pop star when his recording of “The ‘In’ Crowd” reached the Top 10 in 1965. He died at 87.” Read more at New York Times