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Tuesday, 1 October 2024:
JD Vance refuses to say Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, sparking the vice presidential debate’s biggest clash. Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz called Senator JD Vance’s non-answer ‘damning’ as the pair sparred over January 6 and Trump’s refusal to concede defeat. The Washington Post, Patrick Marley and Amy Gardner, Tuesday, 1 October 2024: “Sen. JD Vance refused to acknowledge that former president Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, setting off one of the most contentious exchanges in Tuesday night’s vice-presidential debate with Gov. Tim Walz. Walz vigorously pressed Vance on the issue near the end of a debate that had otherwise been marked by unusual comity. ‘I would just ask, did he lose the 2020 election?’ Walz asked. ‘Tim, I’m focused on the future,’ Vance said, without addressing the question. ‘That is a damning non-answer,’ Walz responded.” See also, Fact-checking the CBS News vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz, CNN Politics, CNN Staff, published on Wednesday, 2 October 2024.
Wednesday, 2 October 2024:
Judge Unseals New Evidence in Federal Election Case Against Trump. Judge Tanya Chutkan made public portions of a filing by prosecutors setting out their argument for why the case should go forward despite the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. The New York Times, Alan Feuer and Charlie Savage, Wednesday, 2 October 2024: “When told by an aide that Vice President Mike Pence was in peril as the rioting on Capitol Hill escalated on Jan. 6, 2021, President Donald J. Trump replied, ‘So what?’ When one of his lawyers told him that his false claims that the election had been marred by widespread fraud would not hold up in court, Mr. Trump responded, ‘The details don’t matter.’ On a flight with Mr. Trump and his family after the election, an Oval Office assistant heard Mr. Trump say: ‘It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.’ Those accounts were among new evidence disclosed in a court filing made public on Wednesday in which the special counsel investigating Mr. Trump made his case for why the former president is not immune from prosecution on federal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. Made public by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the Federal District Court in Washington, the 165-page brief was partly redacted but expansive, adding details to the already extensive record of how Mr. Trump lost the race but attempted nonetheless to cling to power. The brief from the prosecution team led by the special counsel, Jack Smith, asserts that there is ample evidence that Mr. Trump’s efforts to remain in office were those of a desperate losing candidate rather than official acts of a president that would be considered immune from prosecution under a landmark Supreme Court ruling this summer. ‘The defendant asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct,’ prosecutors wrote. ‘Not so. Although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one.'” See also, Read the Special Counsel’s Newly Unsealed Evidence Against Trump. The New York Times, Wednesday, 2 October 2024: “A sprawling legal brief by the special counsel, Jack Smith, that was partly unsealed on Wednesday lays out his case for why former President Donald J. Trump is not immune from prosecution on federal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. It adds new details to the extensive public record of how Mr. Trump lost the race but attempted nonetheless to cling to power.” See also, Filing in Trump Election Case Fleshes Out Roles of a Sprawling Cast. Donald Trump is the only defendant in the special counsel’s case that charges him with a plot to remain in power after his 2020 loss. But a newly unsealed brief provides fresh details about many other figures. The New York Times, Alan Feuer and Charlie Savage, published on Thursday, 3 October 2024: “When the special counsel, Jack Smith, charged former President Donald J. Trump last year with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, the federal indictment filed in Washington had only one defendant: Mr. Trump himself, who stood accused of working with a small team of conspirators. But in a court filing unsealed on Wednesday, Mr. Smith drew on the actions of a much larger group to tell the tale of how Mr. Trump lost the race but sought to stay in the White House. He populated his brief with a sprawling cast of characters — lawyers, longtime Trump aides, campaign operatives, even some of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — who all played a supporting role either for or against Mr. Trump’s attempts to cling to power. Most of them were not named in the 165-page filing, and were referred to only by numeric monikers, though many of their identities could be divined from details in the brief. And the sheer scope of the crew was evidenced by the fact that the anonymized references started with Person 1 and went all the way to Person 71.” See also, As rioters stormed the Capitol with Vice President Mike Pence inside, Trump allegedly said ‘So what?’ The Washington Post, Spencer S. Hsu, Josh Dawsey, Tom Jackman, and Amy Gardner, Wednesday, 2 October 2024: “President Donald Trump appeared indifferent as rioters stormed the Capitol to try to prevent the transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, telling an aide ‘So what?’ even after learning security measures were being taken to protect his vice president, prosecutors alleged in an explosive new court filing unsealed Wednesday. The much-anticipated 165-page filing from special counsel Jack Smith offers a searing portrayal of Trump just a month before the 2024 election. It describes in more extensive detail than before how many people — including Vice President Mike Pence, party and state leaders, his own campaign officials, his own campaign lawyers, and others — told Trump there was no proof the election was stolen, and how Trump nonetheless waged a campaign to overturn the result. Prosecutors reconstructed behind-the-scenes interactions, including one in which an aide rushed to the dining room to share with Trump, who had been watching the events on TV and tweeting, that action was being taken to ensure the safety of Pence, who was in the Capitol building. ‘The defendant looked at him and said only, So what?’ the filing alleges.” See also, 5 takeaways from the big new filing on Trump’s 2020 plot to overturn the presidential election. ‘So what,’ ‘Make them riot,’ ‘It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election’ and what it all means legally and politically. The Washington Post, Aaron Blake, Wednesday, 2 October 2024: “We just got the most extensive new detail in years about former president Donald Trump’s plot to overturn the 2020 election, in the form of a much-anticipated filing from special counsel Jack Smith. The 165-page partially redacted filing, which was unsealed by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, lays out the evidence Smith’s team would like to present in the long-delayed Jan. 6 federal criminal case against Trump. What evidence Smith can use and what charges can stand are disputed after the Supreme Court recently gave presidents including Trump extensive immunity from criminal prosecution. But the filing also doubles as a sort of blueprint for the case ahead. It features some significant revelations and quotes that could be important not just for the legal battle, but for the 2024 election.” See also, Judge Tanya Chutkan unseals new evidence against Trump in the January 6 election interference case, NPR, Carrie Johnson and Ryan Lucas, Wednesday, 2 October 2024: “In a newly unsealed court filing, special counsel Jack Smith provides the most detailed picture yet of his criminal case against Donald Trump for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election and why the former president isn’t immune from prosecution. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the case, released the filing, with minor redactions, on Wednesday. The special counsel uses the 165-page document to make his case that Trump’s actions around the election were made in a private capacity and not in his official role as president. The filing comes after the Supreme Court ruled this summer that presidents enjoy broad immunity for official acts while in office, but not for unofficial acts as a candidate or a private citizen.” See also, Prosecutors lay out new evidence in Trump election case and accuse him of having ‘resorted to crimes,’ Associated Press, Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer, Wednesday, 2 October 2024: “Donald Trump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and ‘resorted to crimes’ in his failed bid to cling to power, according to a court filing unsealed Wednesday that offers new evidence from the landmark criminal case against the former president. The filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the election reaches trial. Although a months-long congressional investigation and the indictment itself have chronicled in stark detail Trump’s efforts to undo the election, the filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by Trump’s closest aides to paint a portrait of an ‘increasingly desperate’ president who, while losing his grip on the White House, ‘used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.'”
If Trump Wins, Could He Really Use the Justice Department to Jail His Rivals? The New York Times, Emily Bazelon, Marco Hernandez, Mattathias Schwartz, and Bill Marsh, Wednesday, 2 October 2024: “It has become commonplace for Donald Trump to talk about how he will use the Justice Department to punish his enemies should he regain the presidency. He routinely calls for prosecuting his current opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, and regularly accuses her and President Biden of weaponizing the Justice Department against him. Though there is no evidence that Biden or Harris had any involvement in the charges Trump faces, relating to the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents, he frequently asserts that these cases justify his plans for retribution. Trump’s threats raise questions about what restraints could prevent him from following through. Since Watergate, when Richard Nixon resigned under threat of impeachment for meddling in an F.B.I. investigation, American presidents have taken pains to distance the White House from the Justice Department’s decisions about whom to investigate and prosecute. (The exception to this was Trump during his first term.) But only norms and precedents, not laws, prevent this. In our system, the attorney general and the director of the F.B.I. sit within the executive branch and answer to the president. How might a politically motivated prosecution actually unfold? The steps below show exactly how Trump could make his threats real — all while staying within the constitutional limits on presidential power.” See also, Why Legal Experts Are Worried About a Second Trump Presidency. In a survey of 50 members of the D.C. legal establishment, many warn that Trump could follow through on his threats to prosecute his political adversaries. The New York Times, Emily Bazelon and Mattathias Schwartz, Wednesday, 2 October 2024.
Continue reading Aftermath of the Trump Administration, October 2024:
Thursday, 3 October 2024:
Trump Says He Would Try Again to Revoke Haitian Immigrants’ Protections. He again disparaged Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, and said he would end their legal status in the country and send them back. His first attempt to do that failed. The New York Times, Maggie Astor, Thursday, 3 October 2024: “Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that, if elected again, he would revoke the legal status of tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants who have been the target of false accusations by the former president and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, over the past month. Mr. Trump’s administration tried to do that during his first term, too, but courts temporarily blocked it, and President Biden’s administration renewed the immigrants’ status after he took office in 2021. The immigrants in question are living and working in the United States legally through the Temporary Protected Status program, which Congress created in 1990 for people from countries experiencing war, natural disasters or other crises. The Department of Homeland Security designates countries for up to 18 months at a time based on the current conditions, and the designation can be renewed indefinitely.”
Fact check: Amid bipartisan praise for Biden hurricane response, Trump falsely claims reviews are ‘universally’ negative, CNN Politics, Daniel Dale, Thursday, 3 October 2024: “Former President Donald Trump, seeking to capitalize politically on the devastation from Hurricane Helene, falsely claimed in a social media post on Thursday that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ‘are universally being given POOR GRADES for the way that they are handling the Hurricane, especially in North Carolina.’ Facts First: Trump is wrong. The Biden administration’s response to the hurricane has received bipartisan praise from political leaders in affected states. That praise has not been universal; there has also been some criticism and some ambivalence. But Trump’s assertion that reviews for the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis have been entirely negative is not true. And this is just the latest Trump false claim on the subject of the administration’s hurricane response.”
Friday, 4 October 2024:
No, Biden didn’t take FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] relief money to use on migrants, but Trump did. Donald Trump falsely accuses President Biden of redirecting disaster funds, a budget maneuver Trump himself approved in 2019. The Washington Post, Glenn Kessler, Friday, 4 October 2024: “Trump has been trying to weaponize the Hurricane Helene relief efforts, accusing the Biden administration of failing to provide adequate assistance. As part of his critique, he claims there is no money available for hurricane relief because it was spent already to handle the surge of migrants at the southern border. ‘They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank,’ Trump charged, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, adding in the additional falsehood that Vice President Kamala Harris wants illegal immigrants to vote for her. As we have explained many times before, this would be against the law and there is no evidence to support this claim. Trump’s claims have been echoed by his supporters, such as billionaire Elon Musk. But Trump is completely wrong. Even though Trump was once president, he still appears to have little clue about the appropriations process. What’s even richer is that when he was president, he did exactly what he claims Biden did — take money from FEMA’s disaster fund to fund migrant programs at the southern border.”
Bruce Springsteen endorses Kamala Harris and calls Trump the ‘most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime.’ CBS News, Caitlin Yilek, Friday, 4 October 2024: “Bruce Springsteen endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president on Thursday, arguing the Democratic nominee supports a more unified and inclusive country while calling former President Donald Trump ‘the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime. ‘Perhaps not since the Civil War has this great country felt as politically, spiritually and emotionally divided as it does than at this moment. It doesn’t have to be this way,’ the rock star said in a short video shared on social media. He said Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, ‘are committed to a vision of this country that respects and includes everyone, regardless of class, religion, race, your political point of view or sexual identity.’ Harris’ proposals, he said, would grow the economy for everyone, not just the wealthy. ‘That’s the vision of America I’ve been consistently writing about for 55 years,’ Springsteen said. ”
Trump falsely touts endorsement from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Bank representative confirms Dimon has not endorsed Trump or any other candidate in the 2024 race. The Guardian, Hugo Lowell, Friday, 4 October 2024: “Donald Trump’s social media post that showed a purported endorsement for the presidency from the JP Morgan chief executive, Jamie Dimon, among the most influential investment bankers on Wall Street, is false, a representative confirmed on Friday. The Truth Social post – what appears to be a screenshot of a tweet with a siren emoji and text claiming Dimon had endorsed Trump, with a photo of Dimon – appeared at 1.56pm ET on Friday, as Trump was flying to Augusta, Georgia, for a campaign event. But Dimon has not endorsed Trump or made any endorsements in the 2024 presidential race, according to a JPMorgan Chase spokesperson. And Dimon has not contributed any money to the Trump campaign or to Trump’s Democratic rival, Kamala Harris. The instant denial from the bank has not led Trump to take down the post, which has more than 3,500 reposts and more than 11,000 likes, even as he distanced himself from the claim when he was confronted about it after he landed in Augusta.”
Sunday, 6 October 2024:
Trump’s Speeches, Increasingly Angry and Rambling, Reignite the Question of Age. With the passage of time, the 78-year-old former president’s speeches have grown darker, harsher, longer, angrier, less focused, more profane, and increasingly fixated on the past, according to a review of his public appearances over the years. The New York Times, Peter Baker and Dylan Freedman, Sunday, 6 October 2024: “Former President Donald J. Trump vividly recounted how the audience at his climactic debate with Vice President Kamala Harris was on his side. Except that there was no audience. The debate was held in an empty hall. No one ‘went crazy,’ as Mr. Trump put it, because no one was there. Anyone can misremember, of course. But the debate had been just a week earlier and a fairly memorable moment. And it was hardly the only time Mr. Trump has seemed confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality lately. In fact, it happens so often these days that it no longer even generates much attention. He rambles, he repeats himself, he roams from thought to thought — some of them hard to understand, some of them unfinished, some of them factually fantastical. He voices outlandish claims that seem to be made up out of whole cloth. He digresses into bizarre tangents about golf, about sharks, about his own ‘beautiful’ body. He relishes ‘a great day in Louisiana’ after spending the day in Georgia. He expresses fear that North Korea is ‘trying to kill me’ when he presumably means Iran. As late as last month, Mr. Trump was still speaking as if he were running against President Biden, five weeks after his withdrawal from the race.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson won’t say Biden won the 2020 presidential election, raising worries about 2024’s process. During a testy exchange on ABC News, the House speaker wouldn’t say Donald Trump lost in 2020, saying that the question was a ‘gotcha game’ by the media. The Washington Post, Mariana Alfaro, Sunday, 6 October 2024: “House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wouldn’t acknowledge Sunday that Joe Biden won the 2020 election when asked directly about the election denialism that former president Donald Trump continues to promote on the campaign trail. During a testy exchange on ABC News’s ‘This Week,’ host George Stephanopoulos asked Johnson if he could say ‘unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Trump lost.’ Johnson declined, saying only that ‘this is the game that is always played by mainstream media with mainstream Republicans. It’s a gotcha game.’ ‘So like Vance, you can’t say,’ Stephanopoulos replied — referencing GOP vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (Ohio), who during a debate last week also avoided answering whether Biden won the election, setting off one of the night’s most memorable exchanges.”
Fact check: Six days of Trump lies about the Hurricane Helene response, CNN Politics, Daniel Dale, Sunday, 6 October 2024: “Former President Donald Trump has delivered a barrage of lies and distortions about the federal response to Hurricane Helene. While various misinformation about the response has spread widely without Trump’s involvement, the Republican presidential nominee has been one of the country’s leading deceivers on the subject. Over a span of six days, in public comments and social media posts, Trump has used his powerful megaphone to endorse or invent false or unsubstantiated claims. The chief targets of his hurricane-related dishonesty have been Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent in the November presidential election, and President Joe Biden.”
JD Vance says the Trump administration would end funding to Planned Parenthood, The Washington Post, Mariana Alfaro and Ariana Eunjung Cha, Sunday, 6 October 2024: “Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), former president Donald Trump’s running mate, said that if elected, Trump would seek to end federal money for Planned Parenthood. ‘We don’t think that taxpayers should fund late-term abortions,’ Vance told RealClearPolitics on Saturday night. ‘That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around; it will remain a consistent view.’ Vance’s comments on Saturday against one of the biggest reproductive health-care providers in the nation stand in stark contrast to recent positioning by himself, Trump and other Republicans on the issue of reproductive rights.”
Monday, 7 October 2024:
Trump suggests undocumented immigrants who commit murder have ‘bad genes,’ CNN Politics, Kate Sullivan, Monday, 7 October 2024: “Former President Donald Trump on Monday suggested undocumented immigrants who commit murder have ‘bad genes,’ in the latest example of the former president using dehumanizing rhetoric as he tries to stoke fears about those in the country illegally. In a radio interview on ‘The Hugh Hewitt Show,’ Trump again distorted statistics on immigration and crime to attack Vice President Kamala Harris as he falsely claimed she was ‘allowing people to come through an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers.’ ‘You know, now, a murderer, I believe this – it’s in their genes. And we got bad, a lot of bad genes in our country right now,’ Trump said.” See also, Trump on immigrants:; ‘We got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.’ The former president went after immigrants on Monday, linking crime to genetics. Politico, Emmy Martin, Monday, 7 October 2024: “Former President Donald Trump used increasingly harsh rhetoric to attack immigrants, suggesting on Monday during an interview that immigrants commit horrendous crimes because ‘it’s in their genes.’ ‘How about allowing people to come to an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers, many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States. You know now a murder, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now,’ he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. Trump also said Vice President Kamala Harris ‘wants to go into a Communist Party-type system’ to ‘feed people governmentally.’ Trump’s suggestion that immigrants are predisposed to violence is an escalation of his recent rhetoric against migrants, which he has used consistently on the campaign trail, assuring mass deportations if he wins the presidency. But Monday’s statement also reflects Trump’s previous anti-immigrant rhetoric, including comments last year that ‘they’re poisoning the blood of our country.’ The White House condemned Trump’s statement for ‘echoing the grotesque rhetoric of fascists and violent white supremacists.'” See also, Trump’s outrageously false claim of 13,000 migrant murderers ‘on the loose,’ Convicted killers not held in ICE’s limited facilities are serving their time in state or federal prisons. The Washington Post, Glenn Kessler, published on Wednesday, 3 October 2024.
Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Appeal in Texas Abortion Case. The administration said a state abortion law conflicted with a federal law requiring emergency care. The court similarly sidestepped a case from Idaho in June. The New York Times, Adam Liptak, Monday, 7 October 2024: “The Supreme Court on Monday turned down an appeal from the Biden administration urging the justices to allow some emergency abortions in Texas. The administration said that Texas’ strict abortion law conflicted with a 1986 federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, that requires emergency rooms in hospitals that receive federal money to provide some forms of emergency care. The court’s brief order gave no reasons, which is standard practice when the justices reject petitions seeking review. There were no noted dissents. The order let stand a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that said the federal law did not apply to emergency abortions.” See also, Supreme Court declines to intervene in Texas emergency abortion case. The justices rejected the Biden administration’s request to block a lower court ruling barring emergency abortions that would conflict with state law. The Washington Post, Ann E. Marimow and Caroline Kitchener, Monday, 7 October 2024: “The Supreme Court on Monday refused to require doctors in Texas to perform certain emergency abortions when the procedure would conflict with the state’s strict abortion ban. The justices left in place a lower-court ruling that rejected the Biden administration’s claim that federal law requires access to emergency abortion care even in states that restrict the procedure. See also, Supreme Court declines to intervene in Texas emergency abortion case. The justices rejected the Biden administration’s request to block a lower court ruling barring emergency abortions that would conflict with state law. The Washington Post, Ann E. Marimow and Caroline Kitchener, Monday, 7 October 2024: “The Supreme Court on Monday refused to require doctors in Texas to perform certain emergency abortions when the procedure would conflict with the state’s strict abortion ban. The justices left in place a lower-court ruling that rejected the Biden administration’s claim that federal law requires access to emergency abortion care even in states that restrict the procedure. As is common when the court refuses to review a lower court’s decision, the order — issued on the first day of the Supreme Court’s new term — did not explain the justices’ reasoning. There were no noted dissents.” See also, Supreme Court declines Biden’s appeal in Texas emergency abortion case, Associated Press, Lindsay Whitehurst and Jamie Stengle, Monday, 7 October 2024: “A court order that says hospitals cannot federally be required to provide pregnancy terminations when they violate a Texas abortion ban will stay for now, the Supreme Court said Monday. The decision is another setback for opponents of Texas’ abortion ban, which for two years has withstood multiple legal challenges, including from women who had serious pregnancy complications and have been turned away by doctors. It left Texas as the only state where the Biden administration is unable to enforce its interpretation of a federal law in an effort to ensure women still have access to emergency abortions when their health or life is at risk. The justices did not detail their reasoning for keeping in place a lower court order, and there were no publicly noted dissents. Texas had asked the justices to leave the order in place while the Biden administration had asked the justices to throw it out.”
Tuesday, 8 October 2024:
Book Revives Questions About Trump’s Ties to Putin. The journalist Bob Woodward cited an unnamed aide saying that Donald Trump had spoken to Vladimir Putin as many as seven times since leaving office. Multiple sources say they cannot confirm that report. The New York Times, Peter Baker, Tuesday, 8 October 2024: “Just weeks ahead of an election, Americans are once again being confronted with a familiar if vexing question that has never been definitively resolved: What is up with former President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia? Eight years almost to the day after American intelligence agencies publicly warned voters that Russia was trying to interfere in the 2016 campaign, a new attention-grabbing book on Tuesday revived the mystery of the relationship between the two by reporting that they secretly have been in touch over the last few years. The book by the journalist Bob Woodward cited an unnamed aide saying that the former president and current Republican nominee had spoken with Mr. Putin as many as seven times since leaving office in 2021, even as Mr. Trump was pressuring Republicans to block military aid to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders. The book also said that Mr. Trump, while still in office in 2020, sent Covid-19 testing equipment to Mr. Putin early in the pandemic for his personal use. While other journalists were not able to confirm the post-White House contacts on Tuesday, the report roiled the presidential campaign and set Washington buzzing. Former presidents often speak with foreign leaders, but it would be highly unusual for one to talk with an avowed adversary of the United States on the opposite side of a war without clearing it with the White House or State Department first.” See also, New Bob Woodward book reveals candid behind-the-scenes conversations of Biden, Trump, Harris, and Putin, CNN Politics, Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb, and Elizabeth Stuart, Tuesday, 8 October 2024.
Trump administration protected Brett Kavanaugh from full FBI investigation. Inquiry by Sheldon Whitehouse found White House and FBI ‘misled’ about inquiry into the supreme court nominee. The Guardian, Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Tuesday, 8 October 2024: “The Trump administration protected Brett Kavanaugh from facing a full FBI investigation in the wake of serious allegations that he sexually assaulted two women – once in high school and once in college – during his controversial 2018 Senate confirmation to become a supreme court justice, according to a new report. An investigation led by the Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse also found that both the Trump White House and the FBI ‘misled the public and the Senate’ about the scope of the investigation it did conduct into the sexual assault allegations by falsely claiming that the FBI had conducted its investigation thoroughly and ‘by the book.’ Kavanaugh’s confirmation by the Senate seemed to be in doubt after Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, alleged he had sexually assaulted her while the two were in high school. A classmate at Yale, named Deborah Ramirez, alleged in a report published by the New Yorker that Kavanaugh had exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent. Kavanaugh denied both allegations.” See also, Internal emails dispute Trump’s claims that the FBI had ‘free rein’ to probe allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, new report says, CNN Politics, Tierney Sneed, Tuesday, 8 October 2024: “Then-President Donald Trump’s claims in 2018 that the FBI would have full leeway to investigate sexual assault allegations about his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, appeared to confuse the agency, according to internal communications cited in a Senate Democrat’s new report. The investigation into the allegations – which Kavanaugh has vehemently denied – was sought after an emotional hearing with his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, prompted some crucial senators to balk at confirming the nominee. The White House, however, instructed the FBI to only interview 10 witnesses, according to the report. The FBI was also not given authority to seek out other witnesses who might have corroborating information, nor did it have permission to go beyond the specific subject areas outlined by the White House for questioning the witnesses.”
Florida is threatening to prosecute TV stations over an abortion rights ad. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chief calls it ‘dangerous,’ CNN Business, Brian Stelter and Liam Reilly, Tuesday, 8 October 2024: “In a move that critics are calling a flagrant abuse of power, Florida’s Department of Health is threatening to bring criminal charges against local TV stations airing a campaign ad to overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The unusual warning from the Republican-controlled state agency prompted the Democratic chair of the Federal Communications Commission to step in on Tuesday. Jessica Rosenworcel, the FCC chair, said that stations should not be intimidated for airing political ads. ‘The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment,’ Rosenworcel said in a statement. ‘Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.’ The FCC’s show of support for the stations is noteworthy given the federal agency controls broadcast station licenses across the country.” See also, Florida threatens to criminally charge TV stations airing abortion rights ad. The Florida health department is demanding stations pull the ad, which urges voters to defeat the state’s six-week abortion ban at the polls, The Washington Post, Ben Brasch, published on Wednesday, 9 October 2024: “Florida’s health department threatened criminal charges for television stations that run a political ad calling for the repeal of the state’s six-week abortion ban, one of the nation’s strictest. At least two stations received cease-and-desist letters Thursday written by John Wilson, general counsel from the Florida Department of Health, demanding they pull the advertisement. Management for WCJB in Gainesville and WFLA in Tampa were not immediately available for comment Wednesday. The health department and office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) did not respond to requests for comment. Wilson wrote that running the 30-second spot was a violation of Florida’s ‘sanitary nuisance’ law, which is commonly used to charge people with overflowing septic tanks or unclean slaughterhouses. He ordered the stations to remove the ads within 24 hours or open themselves up to a second-degree misdemeanor charge, which in Florida carries a sentence of imprisonment up to 60 days and a fine up to $500. In the ad, Caroline Williams describes how Florida’s current abortion ban would have put her in an early grave if it had been enacted a couple of years ago. ‘Doctors knew that if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life and my daughter would lose her mom. Florida has now banned abortion, even in cases like mine,’ she says in the ad.”
Wednesday, 9 October 2024:
Trump’s Remarks on Migrants Illustrate His Obsession With Genes. In discussing migrants and genes, the former president used language that reflected his decades-long belief that bloodlines determine a person’s capacity for success or violence. The New York Times, Michael Gold, Wednesday, 9 October 2024: “With the presidential race in its closing weeks, Donald J. Trump’s language has grown increasingly strident on the issue of immigration. But as he continues to demonize undocumented migrants as violent criminals, the former president is also reviving another old habit: invoking his long-held fascination with genes and genetics. For decades, including long before he became a political figure, Mr. Trump has been publicly obsessed with bloodlines and his stated belief that genetics are the best predictor of a person’s success. He has repeatedly commented on what he described as his, his family’s and his supporters’ good genes, and on others’ bad genes…. Mr. Trump … has a pattern of using dehumanizing language to describe undocumented immigrants. He has repeatedly referred to immigrants who commit crimes as ‘animals.’ At a rally in Ohio in March, he was even more explicit. ‘I don’t know if you call them people,’ he said of immigrants accused of crimes. ‘In some cases, they’re not people, in my opinion.’… His remarks on Monday in some ways echoed his repeated assertion last year that undocumented immigrants were ‘poisoning the blood of our country,’ a phrase criticized by many for evoking the ideology of eugenics promulgated by Nazis in Germany and white supremacists in the United States.”
Thursday, 10 October 2024:
Judge gives Trump one week to appeal her ruling releasing evidence in special counsel’s January 6 investigation, CNN Politics, Tierney Sneed, Thursday, 10 October 2024: “The judge in the federal January 6, 2021, criminal case against Donald Trump will wait at least seven days before releasing exhibits containing evidence that special counsel Jack Smith is using to argue that the former president is not immune from prosecution. Trump opposes the release of the heavily redacted exhibits related to the sprawling 165-page brief in which Smith that laid out the election subversion case. ‘There should be no further disclosures at this time of the so-called ‘evidence’ that the Special Counsel’s Office has unlawfully cherry-picked and mischaracterized—during early voting in the 2024 Presidential election—in connection with an improper Presidential immunity filing that has no basis in criminal procedure or judicial precedent,’ Trump said in a court filing Thursday. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said later Thursday that she would okay prosecutors’ proposed redactions to the exhibits, but that she was pausing the ruling to release them at the request of Trump, who opposed any disclosure of the exhibits. Trump argued earlier Thursday that if the judge was inclined to release the exhibits, he should have time to ‘evaluate litigation options.'”
A Stern Obama Tells Black Men to Drop ‘Excuses’ and Support Harris. Before speaking at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh, the former president spoke directly to Black male voters in an effort to bolster flagging support. The New York Times, Erica L. Green and Katie Rogers, Thursday, 10 October 2024: “Former President Barack Obama traveled to Pittsburgh on Thursday to urge voters there to choose Vice President Kamala Harris in November, aiming a message at one group in particular: Black men. The decision voters have between the vice president and former President Donald J. Trump, her Republican opponent, ‘isn’t a close call,’ Mr. Obama said as he visited with a group of campaign volunteers and officials at a field office just ahead of his appearance at a Harris rally. His message was for Black male voters whom he said might not be yet on board with Ms. Harris. Citing ‘reports I’m getting from campaigns and communities,’ he called out what he said was flagging enthusiasm for Ms. Harris compared with the support he received when he was running for the presidency in 2008. ‘You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses,’ Mr. Obama said. ‘I’ve got a problem with that. Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that,’ Mr. Obama continued, adding that the ‘women in our lives have been getting our backs this entire time. ‘When we get in trouble and the system isn’t working for us, they’re the ones out there marching and protesting.’ The stern words from the former president were meant to address worrying signs for Ms. Harris, including that her support among Black voters is still lower than what President Biden received when he won the state in 2020, according to a poll last month from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College. Ms. Harris’s advisers and a raft of Democratic strategists believe that if anyone can lift Black voter turnout, it is Mr. Obama.”
The Case for Kamala Harris, The Atlantic, Thursday, 10 October 2024: “For the third time in eight years, Americans have to decide whether they want Donald Trump to be their president. No voter could be ignorant by now of who he is. Opinions about Trump aren’t just hardened—they’re dried out and exhausted. The man’s character has been in our faces for so long, blatant and unchanging, that it kills the possibility of new thoughts, which explains the strange mix of boredom and dread in our politics. Whenever Trump senses any waning of public attention, he’ll call his opponent a disgusting name, or dishonor the memory of fallen soldiers, or threaten to overturn the election if he loses, or vow to rule like a dictator if he wins. He knows that nothing he says is likely to change anyone’s views. Almost half the electorate supported Trump in 2016, and supported him again in 2020. This same split seems likely on November 5. Trump’s support is fixed and impervious to argument. This election, like the last two, will be decided by an absurdly small percentage of voters in a handful of states. Because one of the most personally malignant and politically dangerous candidates in American history was on the ballot, The Atlantic endorsed Trump’s previous Democratic opponents—only the third and fourth endorsements since the magazine’s founding, in 1857. Of all Trump’s insults, cruelties, abuses of power, corrupt dealings, and crimes, the event that proved the essential rightness of the endorsements of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden took place on January 6, 2021, when Trump became the first American president to try to overturn an election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.”
Major papers are giving Trump’s January 6 indictment dramatically less attention than they did Hillary Clinton’s server, Media Matters, Matt Gertz, Thursday, 10 October 2024: “In the final weeks of the presidential campaign, major newspapers are giving former President Donald Trump’s federal criminal indictment for alleged crimes related to the January 6 insurrection a fraction of the coverage they gave former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server in 2016, according to a new Media Matters study. Media Matters reviewed print coverage in five newspapers — Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post — for stories mentioning Trump’s indictment in the week following U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s October 2 unsealing of special counsel Jack Smith’s latest filing, which reveals damning new evidence of the former president’s alleged crimes. We found the papers ran 26 combined articles mentioning Trump’s indictment in the week after the unsealing of Smith’s filing. But those same papers published 100 combined articles — nearly 4 times as many — that mentioned Clinton’s server in the week after then-FBI Director James Comey’s notorious October 28, 2016, letter on new developments in that probe, as we documented in a 2016 study. The papers ran more than 6 times as many combined front-page stories that mentioned Clinton’s server (46) as they did front-page stories that mentioned Trump’s indictment (7) over those periods.”
Friday, 11 October 2024:
As Trump Arrives, Aurora Insists It’s Not the ‘War Zoe’ He Sees. The former president held a rally in a Colorado ciry he falsely claims was overtaken by violent immigrants from Venezuela. The city’s leaders, Republicans and Democrats alike, tried to preemptively fact-check him. The New York Times, Jonathan Weisman, Friday, 11 October 2024: “Mike Coffman, the conservative Republican mayor of Aurora, Colo., had a message for former President Donald J. Trump before the Republican nominee for the White House came on Friday to a city he has repeatedly painted as having been taken over by vicious migrant street thugs. The visit, Mr. Coffman said in a statement to The Times, ‘is an opportunity to show him and the nation that Aurora is a considerably safe city — not a city overrun by Venezuelan gangs. My public offer to show him our community and meet with our police chief for a briefing still stands.’ It is not a message likely to get through. In the closing weeks of Mr. Trump’s campaign, his efforts to demonize immigrants, whether they are from Venezuela, Haiti or elsewhere, have gotten ever more lurid — and more impervious to the facts, even those provided by Republican allies such as Mr. Coffman. Last month, the former president began portraying Aurora, a sprawling suburb of Denver, population 404,219, as “a war zone” overrun by a violent Venezuelan street gang, Tren de Aragua.” See also, Trump Rally in Aurora, Colorado, Is Marked by Nativist Attacks. The former president continued to make claims about the city that have been disputed by local officials, including its Republican mayor. The New York Times, Michael Gold and Jonathan Weisman, Friday, 11 October 2024. See also, Trump rallies in Aurora, Colorado–a city he has demonized as overrun by migrant crime, NPR, Bente Birkeland, Friday, 11 October 2024: “Former President Donald Trump brought his hardline immigration message to the city of Aurora, Colorado on Friday, a community he has demonized as overrun by migrant crime — despite pushback from local leaders. In recent weeks Trump has repeatedly name-checked Aurora at speeches and on the debate stage – likening the Denver suburb to a ‘war zone.’ He’s amplified claims that a Venezuelan gang has taken over apartment buildings in the city, a situation that elected Republican and Democratic leaders on the ground have said has been overblown and is being dealt with by local and federal law enforcement. For nearly 90 minutes, Trump doubled down on that message as he was flanked on stage by the mugshots of undocumented migrants that officials have accused of crimes. He announced that if elected again, he would enact a nationwide effort dubbed ‘Operation Aurora’ to target undocumented migrant gang members for arrest and deportation. Trump said the program would be based on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority that allows a president to detain or deport members of an enemy nation.” See also, We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker, Politico, Myah Ward, published on Saturday, 12 October 2024: “Donald Trump vowed to ‘rescue’ the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, from the rapists, ‘blood thirsty criminals,’ and ‘most violent people on earth’ he insists are ruining the ‘fabric’ of the country and its culture: immigrants. Trump’s message in Aurora, a city that has become a central part of his campaign speeches in the final stretch to Election Day, marks another example of how the former president has escalated his xenophobic and racist rhetoric against migrants and minority groups he says are genetically predisposed to commit crimes. The supposed threat migrants pose is the core part of the former president’s closing argument, as he promises his base that he’s the one who can save the country from a group of people he calls ‘animals,’ ‘stone cold killers,’ the ‘worst people,’ and the ‘enemy from within.'”
Vance, Given 5 Chances to Say Trump Lost in 2020, Takes None. In an interview with The New York Times, Senator JD Vance repeatedly refused to acknowledge Donald Trump’s defeat and said he would not have certified the 2020 results. The New York Times, Michael C. Bender, Friday, 11 October 2024: “Heading into the final three weeks of the 2024 election, Senator JD Vance of Ohio will still not say whether his running mate won or lost the last race for the White House. In an interview with The New York Times that will be published on Saturday, Mr. Vance repeatedly refused to acknowledge former President Donald J. Trump’s defeat and went to even greater lengths to avoid doing so than he did during the vice-presidential debate earlier this month. When asked about the previous election during an hourlong interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro, a host of ‘The Interview,’ a Times podcast published each Saturday, the Republican vice-presidential nominee responded that he was ‘focused on the future.’ It was the same phrase he used to evade the same question during his debate with his Democratic rival, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.”
Inside Donald Trump’s Shadow Presidency. In the years since he left the White House, former President Donald Trump has remained a force in international politics, meeting with a number of foreign leaders and operating out of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The New York Times, Peter Baker, Friday, 11 October 2024: “In the nearly four years since he left the White House, Mr. Trump has acted as something of a shadow president on international affairs operating out of what he used to call the Winter White House at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Even before he kicked off a comeback bid to reclaim his old office, foreign governments realized that Mr. Trump was still a force in American politics and that they needed to take him into account in their dealings with the United States. Now that he is the Republican nominee for president in next month’s election, foreign leaders have been playing up to Mr. Trump even more. A parade of world leaders has made the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago or to Trump Tower in New York, including the leaders of Ukraine, Israel, Poland, Hungary, Argentina, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. The crown prince of Saudi Arabia rang up Mr. Trump’s cellphone. The newly elected prime minister of Britain dropped by last month for dinner.”
Saturday, 12 October 2024:
Trump is ‘fascist to the core,’ Retired General Mark A. Milley says in Bob Woodward book. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says Trump is ‘the most dangerous person to this country,’ echoing dire warnings of others in national security circles. The Washington Post, Ruby Cramer, Saturday, 12 October 2024: “Retired Gen. Mark A. Milley warned that former president Donald Trump is a ‘fascist to the core’ and ‘the most dangerous person to this country’ in new comments voicing his mounting alarm at the prospect of the Republican nominee’s election to another term, according to a forthcoming book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward Milley, 66, served for more than a year as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump before continuing in the role under President Joe Biden. Upon stepping down in September 2023 after more than 40 years in the military, Milley laid out his apparent concerns about Trump in a pointed retirement speech. ‘We don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, to a tyrant or dictator or wannabe dictator,’ he said. Woodward’s new book, ‘War,’ due out Tuesday, follows Milley in the years after the Trump administration as he wrestles with escalating fears over the president he once served.”
Even though the Trump administration has been out of office since January 2021, I am continuing to post summaries of the daily political news and major stories relating to this tragic and dangerous period in US history. I try to focus on the differences between the Trump administration and the Biden administration and on the ongoing toxic residual effects of the Trump administration and Republicans. I usually post throughout the day and let the news settle for a day or so before posting.
I created Muckraker Farm in 2014 as a place to post muckraking (investigative) journalism going back to the 19th century. I hope to return to this original project soon. You can find these muckraking pieces under the Home Page link at the top of this site. Thanks for reading!