Hartford Courant -- January 14, 2022

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by  Hartford Courant

Sinema firm on filibuster Charges in Capitol riot Record rise in prices Turning colder
Senate refusal to change filibuster puts Oath Keepers leader arrested and charged Wholesale prices rose by a record 9.7% in Mostly cloudy and windy, with
voting rights bill in jeopardy. NEWS, PAGE 4 in attack on U.S. Capitol. NEWS, PAGE 4 the United States last year. NEWS, PAGE 8 a high of 38. SPORTS, PAGE 6
VOLUME CLXXXVI CCOOUURRAANNTT..CCOOMM FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2022
CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Justices block shot mandate
Conservative majority says president overstepped his authority;
Biden orders more COVID-19 test kits, N95s to be shipped free
By Mark Sherman nation rate, the Supreme Court’s over six months.
and Jessica Gresko conservative majority concluded At the same time, the court is
Associated Press the administration overstepped allowing the administration to
its authority by seeking to impose proceed with a vaccine mandate
WASHINGTON — President the Occupational Safety and for most health care workers in
Joe Biden’s efforts to combat the Health Administration’s require- the country.
coronavirus pandemic amid a ment that employees of U.S. busi- Earlier Thursday, Biden
spike in coronavirus cases caused nesses with at least 100 workers announced that the government
by the omicron variant hit a judi- get a vaccine or test regularly and would double to 1 billion the
cial roadblock Thursday, even as wear a mask on the job. rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to
he sought to marshal the govern- More than 80 million people be distributed free to Americans,
ment’s executive branch to deploy would have been affected and along with the most protective
more resources in the fight. OSHA had estimated that the N95 masks, as he highlighted his
Countering a major push by rule would save 6,500 lives and Protesters assail the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates last week in
Biden to boost the nation’s vacci- prevent 250,000 hospitalizations Turn to Mandate, Page 3 San Francisco. JIM WILSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Cash payments will go to thousands of student loan borrowers in Connecticut HARTFORD
and elsewhere for debt relief after nearly $2 billion settlement with servicer
3 students
in hospital
in possible
overdose
Mayor: Teen in ‘grave
condition’ after likely
ingesting fentanyl
By Christine Dempsey
and Seamus McAvoy
Hartford Courant
A seventh grader at a
Hartford school is in “grave
condition” after ingesting
a substance believed to be
fentanyl and collapsing during
gym class Thursday morning,
Mayor Luke Bronin said.
Two other seventh graders
were believed to be exposed to
the drug and were also trans-
ported to the hospital, officials
said.
“All of our hearts and prayers
are with the child who remains
hospitalized in grave condi-
tion, and with his loved ones,”
Mayor Luke Bronin said.
“This is one more lesson
State Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle Seagull announce a nearly $2 billion settlement with student that fentanyl is a poison. These
loan servicer Navient on Thursday. CLOE POISSON/SPECIAL TO THE COURANT drugs are a poison. And please,
if you’re a parent, have that
For some, a reset button tough conversation with your
child tonight,” Bronin added.
The overdose happened
about 10:30 a.m. at the Sport
and Medical Sciences Acad-
emy, officials said. The boy
By Seamus McAvoy The settlement programs. Their predatory loans left thousands of collapsed in gym class and was
Hartford Courant with student Connecticut families saddled with unaffordable debt. unresponsive.
loan company This settlement will send millions of dollars directly A school nurse initiated
A nearly $2 billion settlement with student loan Navient calls to thousands of Connecticut borrowers who were CPR until fire department
company Navient will bring cash payments to thou- for payments deceived by Navient’s abusive practices,” Tong said. personnel arrived and took
sands of borrowers from Connecticut and across the of about $260 The coalition of attorneys general claimed that since over, District Fire Chief Mario
country, Attorney General William Tong said Thurs- per person to be 2009, Navient steered student loan borrowers away Oquendo Jr. said. Firefighters
day. distributed to from affordable income-driven repayment plans and were relieved by medics, after
In Connecticut, 1,339 student borrowers will receive 350,000 federal into risky loan forbearances, which further buried which “rhythm returned for
$19 million in direct private loan debt relief. Addition- loan borrowers struggling borrowers under long-term debt accrual. that student and CPR was
ally, 4,875 student borrowers will receive nearly $1.3 who were placed Navient will also be forced to divest from the feder- stopped,” he said.
million in restitution. Under the settlement negotiated in certain types ally guaranteed student loan business under the agree- When staff learned that the
by Tong and 38 other attorneys general, Connecti- of long-term ment, which still requires court approval. boy had ingested drugs, staff
cut will also receive $141,240 to be deposited into the forbearances. In a news release, Navient denied violating any laws sought out and found the other
general fund. More coverage or causing any “borrower harm.” two boys who had been with
“Navient steered borrowers to costly payment plans, on News, him earlier, officials said.
and away from reasonable and affordable options and Page 8 Turn to Loans, Page 2
Turn to Students, Page 3
CORONAVIRUS IN CONNECTICUT
State reports 161 deaths in past week, but hospitalizations fall
“If you look at it By Eliza Fawcett mid-December. chief clinical officer Dr. Ajay Cases and positivity rate:
like we’re riding Hartford Courant Medical experts in the state Kumar said. “We continue to have Connecticut on Thursday reported
have said they expect COVID- a fair amount of capacity across 9,604 new COVID-19 cases out of
a roller coaster, Connecticut recorded 161 addi- 19 cases to peak in the coming the state.” 47,380 tests, for a daily positivity
tional COVID-19 deaths on Thurs- weeks — or even as early as this Dr. Ulysses Wu, chief epidemi- rate of 20.27%. The state’s seven-
we’re maybe
day, the largest weekly increase in weekend, with hospitalizations ologist at Hartford HealthCare, day positivity rate now stands at
nearing the top at COVID-19 deaths in Connecticut soon to follow. This week, while has predicted that Connecti- 22.96%, a decrease from earlier
since last February. Connecticut continued to record cut’s COVID-19 cases will peak this week. Of the state’s 169 munic-
this point, for at This came as the daily COVID- high levels of COVID-19 cases on Saturday and hospitalizations ipalities, 168 continue to record at
19 test positivity rate dropped and hospitalizations, the rate of about a week later. least 15 daily COVID-19 cases per
least this curve.”
to its lowest point since Decem- increase started to slow, before “If you look at it like we’re riding 100,000 residents, according to
ber on Thursday, while the state declining on Thursday. a roller coaster, we’re maybe near- numbers released Thursday.
Dr. Ulysses Wu, of recorded its first single-day “We are hopefully near the peak ing the top at this point, for at least
Hartford HealthCare decline in hospitalizations since right now,” Hartford HealthCare this curve,” he said Thursday. Turn to Virus, Page 3
Lawmakers, police seek solutions to traffic deaths Opinion .....................News, 10 Puzzles ...Connecticut, 7, 9
Obits ...................News, 12-14 Comics ...Connecticut, 8-9
Top legislators on Thursday pledged to work with the state police commissioner during Lottery ........................News, 2
the upcoming legislative session to make state highways safer. CONNECTICUT, PAGE 1 Classified ..................News, 11
2 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022
FROM PAGE ONE
Loans
from Page 1
“The company’s decision
to resolve these matters,
which were based on
unfounded claims, allows
us to avoid the additional
burden, expense, time
and distraction to prevail
in court,” said Navient’s
Chief Legal Officer Mark
Heleen. “Navient is and has
been continually focused
on helping student loan
borrowers understand and
select the right payment
options to fit their needs.
In fact, we’ve driven up
income-driven repayment
plan enrollment and driven
down default rates, and every
year, hundreds of thousands
of borrowers we support
successfully pay off their
student loans.”
Navient will cancel loan
balances of approximately
66,000 borrowers in the
U.S. with certain qualify-
ing private education loans
that were originated largely
between 2002 and 2010 and
later defaulted and charged
off. Navient will notify the
affected borrowers and
co-borrowers shortly after
the agreements receive final
court approvals.
The settlement resolves Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle Seagull announce a settlement with Navient, which will cancel loan balances
allegations of widespread of approximately 66,000 borrowers in the U.S. with certain qualifying private education loans that were originated largely between 2002 and 2010 and later
unfair and deceptive student defaulted and charged off. CLOE POISSON/SPECIAL TO THE COURANT
loan servicing practices, and
abuses in originating preda- “Those of us who still owe student loan debt know that, for tive action requiring Navient revamped Public Service
tory student loans. to divest from its federally Loan Forgiveness Program,
Borrowers do not have to lack of a better description, there’s an arms race in higher guaranteed loan program, which was recently expanded
take any action in order to the agreement requires the under the Biden administra-
education. It just seems that higher education in all of its
receive the relief payments, company to inform borrow- tion to offer forgiveness to
so long as they have an forms is ever more expensive, and the burdens placed on ers of the benefits of income- more public service employ-
updated account with driven repayment plans. ees.
students and borrowers is ever more significant.”
studentaid.gov. Those who Navient must also train Tong said his office, as
may be eligible can visit navi- specialists who can consult well as the state legislature, is
entagsettlement.com for Attorney General William Tong with borrowers regarding continuing to pursue compa-
more details. other repayment plans. nies which engage in preda-
The states alleged that Under the agreement, the tory lending.
Navient pushed subprime “A lot of people borrowed for lack of a better descrip- like student loans,” Tong said. company is also prohibited He added he hopes the
private loan schemes, simi- money to get into these tion, there’s an arms race in “It’s a very basic commit- from incentivizing customer injunctive relief “resets the
lar to the subprime mort- programs, but were not able higher education,” Tong said. ment that all of us make, and service agents to minimize table” and serves as a warn-
gages which contributed to to find gainful employment “It just seems that higher increasingly that commit- their time advising borrow- ing to other lenders.
the 2008 financial crisis, on afterwards,” Tong said at a education in all of its forms is ment gets bigger and bigger ers. “The problem was, Navient
students they knew would press conference in Hartford ever more expensive, and the and bigger.” Tong advised future wasn’t telling people what all
likely be unable to repay Thursday. burdens placed on students Tong’s office and the borrowers to do their of their options were,” Tong
them. Navient will cancel and borrowers is ever more Department of Consumer research before entering into said. “Hopefully that will
Navient mostly aimed $1.7 billion in remaining significant.” Protection pursued the settle- loan programs. “There are a change with other servicers.”
these programs at students subprime private student “It’s hard to think of finan- ment under the Connecticut number of other different Connecticut’s role in the
attending for-profit schools loan balances under the cial products and commit- Unfair Trade Practices Act, options and programs that investigation dates to 2013,
or other colleges with simi- agreement. ments and obligations that the state’s general purpose are out there,” he said. Tong said, under the direc-
larly low graduation rates, the “Those of us who still owe are more important to people consumer protection statute. One such alterna- tion of former Attorney
states claimed. student loan debt know that, in Connecticut than things In addition to the injunc- tive includes the recently General George Jepsen.
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Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022 3
FROM PAGE ONE
CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Mandate
School closings not open-and-shut from Page 1
efforts to “surge” resources
to help the country weather
the spike in coronavirus
Dems on edge over worried that their kids are said: ‘Enough. We’re done never voted Republican in in an effort to keep them infections.
falling behind. But in doing with all these.’ ” her life. “Two years in, it open during the omicron Biden also announced
virus issue dividing
so, Democrats risk anger- That’s left some teachers doesn’t feel like we are in a surge. that starting next week 1,000
parents, teachers ing some teachers unions, feeling left out in the cold. place where our worldview “Schools should be the military medical personnel
which are advocating for John Coneglio, head won’t be shaped by COVID first places to open and the will begin deploying across
By Nicholas Riccardi more protections for educa- of the Columbus, Ohio, policies.” last places to close,” CDC the country to help over-
and Collin Binkley tors as the omicron vari- Education Association, Randi Weingarten, presi- Director Rochelle Walen- whelmed medical facilities
Associated Press ant takes hold and whose said omicron has sick- dent of the American Feder- sky said during a Senate ease staff shortages due to
support helped get Demo- ened so many teachers that ation of Teachers, said the hearing Tuesday. the highly transmissible
When Chicago teachers crats elected. students aren’t learning in recent story of schools and The vast majority of omicron variant.
went on strike last week to The political peril for overcrowded classrooms. COVID-19 is a triumph. schools are still in-per- Speaking at the White
protest COVID-19 safety Democrats became clear The union has called for She contrasted last winter, son, and most switches House, he said six additional
protections in the nation’s after their candidate lost two weeks of remote learn- when as many as 45% of to remote learning are military medical teams will
third-largest school district, the Virginia governor’s race ing. the nation’s schools were happening on a case-by- be deployed to Michigan,
Democratic Party officials in November to a Republi- Still, none of the Demo- closed during a surge, to case basis as the virus sick- New Jersey, New Mexico,
quickly responded. can who focused on educa- cratic-voting city’s leaders now, when vaccinations ens too many teachers. New York, Ohio and Rhode
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker tion and slammed the prior has backed the union. are widespread and 98% The few switches to Island.
pushed for a quick end to the year’s school closures. “I think their silence of schools are open despite remote learning that have Biden said that he is
job action and helped secure Now, in what already speaks,” Coneglio said. even higher COVID-19 happened, in places such directing his team to double
rapid tests to entice teachers promises to be a tough At the same time, Demo- caseloads. as Prince George’s County its procurement of rapid
back to work. Mayor Lori midterm election year, crats are cognizant of the “That shows remark- in Maryland, are only COVID-19 tests to be deliv-
Lightfoot said the strikers with frustrations mount- concerns of parents such as able strength and courage supposed to last a couple ered for free to Americans
“abandoned their posts” in ing among their base over Megan Bacigalupi, who quit and fortitude on behalf of of weeks, at the peak of the through a forthcoming
“an illegal walkout.” White stalled voting and spending her job at a San Francisco teachers and paraprofes- omicron variant spread. federal website, as he seeks
House press secretary Jen legislation, they may face Bay Area nonprofit last sionals,” Weingarten said. But parent activists don’t to respond to criticism over
Psaki stressed that students real trouble over an issue year to help her two chil- “Omicron is the enemy, not trust the districts to return shortages and long lines for
should be in school. that directly affects Ameri- dren deal with the hassles each other.” promptly. tests.
The standoff ended cans’ lives. of remote learning. She’s The Centers for Disease “The idea that these The initial batch of test
with a tentative agreement “When you tell a parent since founded a group, CA Control and Prevention has numbers are going to drop kits will be available starting
late Monday and students that their kid can’t be in Parent Power, to push to said that schools can remain precipitously in the next next week, Biden said, when
returning to classrooms school — a lot of times poli- keep schools open. safe when proper protocols two to four weeks, I think, the administration launches
Wednesday. tics doesn’t touch people’s “Overwhelmingly, Demo- are followed, including is a dubious prospect,” a website where Americans
Nearly two years into a lives, but that’s a massive cratic parents are quite observing safe distancing, said Shavar Jeffries, pres- can request the free tests.
pandemic that shows no impact on parents’ lives that willing to vote for an inde- wearing masks and getting ident of Democrats for The rest of the tests will be
signs of waning, Demo- pisses them off,” said Brian pendent or a Republican vaccinated. Education Reform, which delivered over the coming
crats are speaking out more Stryker, a Democratic poll- in November,” said Baciga- The White House supports charter schools months.
forcefully against COVID-19 ster based in Chicago. “The lupi, who just changed her announced Wednesday that and has opposed the return Biden also announced
school closures, recognizing Chicago strike may be the registration from Democrat it would be sending more to virtual learning. “I think that for the first time his
a rising anger among parents moment when Democrats to unaffiliated and said she’s COVID-19 tests to schools this is a very slippery slope.” administration was planning
to make “high-quality” N95
masks, which are most effec-
tive at preventing transmis-
sion of the virus, available
for free. He said his admin-
istration would announce
details next week.
The federal government
has a stockpile of more than
750 million N95 masks,
the White House said this
week. And though research
has shown those masks to
be better protection, they
are often more uncomfort-
able, and health officials
are not altering their guid-
ance to recommend against
less-protective cloth masks.
In the Supreme Court’s
unsigned 6-3 opinion against
the administration’s vaccine
mandate, the conservative
majority wrote “OSHA has
never before imposed such a
mandate. Nor has Congress.
Indeed, although Congress
has enacted significant legis-
lation addressing the COVID-
19 pandemic, it has declined
to enact any measure similar
to what OSHA has promul-
gated here.”
In dissent, the court’s
three liberal justices argued
that it was the court that was
overreaching by substitut-
ing its judgment for that of
health experts.
“Acting outside of its
competence and with-
out legal basis, the Court
displaces the judgments of
Buses are lined up to leave outside the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford on Thursday, where students reportedly suffered drug overdoses. the Government officials
JESSICA HILL PHOTOS/SPECIAL TO THE COURANT given the responsibility to
respond to workplace health
Students boys were put into ambu- until around 3:30 p.m. naloxone, which is used in emergencies,” Justices
lances. All students had to walk emergencies to treat narcot- Stephen Breyer, Elena
from Page 1 The alert remained in through a solution of bleach ics overdoses. Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor
place at 2 p.m. as officers and OxyClean before leav- “As with every crisis inci- wrote in a joint dissent.
Officials said the other with drug-sniffing dogs ing the school, in order to dent, we will have debriefs The vaccine mandate
two students, who never continued to check the neutralize potential fentanyl not just internally, but also that the court will allow
lost consciousness, were building. The school did exposure, police said. with our partners. In collab- to be enforced nationwide
together in a classroom not distribute lunches so as Police spokesperson oration, we will determine scraped by on a 5-4 vote,
in a different part of the to not risk further exposure, Lt. Aaron Boisvert told what else we would need to with Chief Justice John
school at the time the boy Torres-Rodriguez said. WTNH Channel 8 that consider,” Torres-Rodriguez Roberts and Justice Brett
collapsed. During a search of the the other two students said. “This is something that Kavanaugh joining the liber-
The other two boys, who school grounds, bags apparently reported being we have to consider moving als to form a majority.
are between the ages of 12 containing fentanyl were dizzy, but officials have not forward, and at the direc- The mandate covers virtu-
and 13, are also in seventh found in at least two class- commented on the extent of tion of our partners for us ally all health care workers
grade, said Dr. Leslie rooms as well as the gym, the exposure experienced by to determine to what extent in the country, applying to
Torres-Rodriguez, superin- police said. the other two students. the training and support is providers that receive federal
tendent of Hartford Schools. Officials believe the bags It was not immediately necessary.” Medicare or Medicaid fund-
All three students were Hartford Police Chief Jason of fentanyl were brought clear whether the other two Responders from the ing. It affects 10.4 million
taken to Connecticut Chil- Thody listens during a news into the school by a student, students also ingested the Drug Enforcement Agency, workers at 76,000 health
dren’s. conference outside the Bronin said. drug, or whether exposure the Department of Energy care facilities as well as home
“I want to extend my school on Thursday. Police did not say what was intentional, officials and Environmental Protec- health care providers.
heart to the seventh grader, form the substance was said. tion and police searched The rule has medical and
his entire family, the other Hartford schools’ crisis in. Drugs such as cocaine It was unclear where in the school again Thursday religious exemptions.
two students that were team was deployed earlier are sometimes cut with the school the boy ingested evening. Biden said that the deci-
involved, and to the entire to provide counseling and fentanyl because it is the substance, said Jason The academy, located sion by the court “will save
school community at Sport other resources to students, extremely potent. Thody, Hartford police at 280 Huyshope Ave., is a lives.”
and Medical Sciences she said. Dismissal was initially chief. college preparatory magnet In an unsigned opinion, the
Academy,” Torres-Rodri- The overdose triggered a planned for the usual time, Torres-Rodriguez said school for students in grades court wrote: “The challenges
guez said. “This has been, “Code Yellow” alert, which 2:20 p.m., Fergus said, but Hartford schools are not six through 12 who are inter- posed by a global pandemic
and continues to be, a really means students and staff buses of students didn’t currently equipped with ested in sports and medical do not allow a federal agency
hard day for all of us.” had to stay put while the begin to leave the school Narcan, the brand name for sciences. to exercise power that
Congress has not conferred
upon it. At the same time,
such unprecedented circum-
Virus Centers for Disease Control Connecticut slightly ing to the Coronavirus vaccinated, 4.53% have stances provide no grounds
and Prevention. With this further away from reaching Resource Center at Johns contracted COVID-19, for limiting the exercise of
from Page 1 level of transmission, the its record of 1,972 hospi- Hopkins University. according to state data. Of authorities the agency has
CDC advises people to wear talizations, set on April 22, Vaccinations: As of that group, 355 fully vacci- long been recognized to
Connecticut has now a mask in public indoor 2020. Wednesday, 90.5% of all nated people have died of have.”
averaged 9,308 daily settings. According to the state, Connecticut residents and the virus, the vast majority It said the “latter principle
COVID-19 cases over the Hospitalizations: 67.2% of people hospi- 95% of those 12 and older (70%) of whom were resi- governs” in the health care
past week, a slight increase Connecticut had 1,917 talized with COVID-19 had received at least one dents at least 75 years old arena.
from Wednesday but an patients hospitalized with are unvaccinated. Hospi- COVID-19 vaccine dose, or older. When crafting the OSHA
overall decline from earlier COVID-19 on Thursday, tal officials say the rate is while 75.5% of all resi- The CDC warns that rule, White House officials
in the week. Unvaccinated a decrease of 22 patients significantly higher when dents and 84.1% of those booster shots are some- always anticipated legal chal-
residents have been about since Wednesday. Hospital considering only patients 12 and older were fully times misclassified as first lenges — and privately some
three times as likely to test officials say some of those with severe symptoms. vaccinated, according to doses, likely inflating the harbored doubts that it could
positive in recent weeks patients were admitted for Deaths: Connecti- the CDC. reported number of first- withstand them.
as vaccinated residents, non-coronavirus reasons cut reported 161 addi- Additionally, about dose coverage and under- The administration none-
according to state numbers. before testing positive tional COVID-19 deaths 46.7% of fully vaccinated stating the true number of theless still views the rule
All eight Connecticut upon arrival but that the on Thursday, bringing its Connecticut residents 18 people who have received as a success at already driv-
counties — along with nearly majority have significant total during the pandemic or older have received a boosters. ing millions of people to get
the entire rest of the country COVID-19 symptoms. to 9,442. booster dose. vaccinated and encouraging
— are recording “high” levels The decrease in hospi- The United States has As of Wednesday, of Eliza Fawcett can be private businesses to imple-
of COVID-19 transmission talizations across the now recorded 845,707 the 2,540,829 Connecti- reached at elfawcett@ ment their own require-
as defined by the federal state Thursday brought COVID-19 deaths, accord- cut residents who are fully courant.com. ments.
4 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022
Sinema opposes filibuster changes
Refusal is a setback tion standards that would
trump the state-level GOP
to Biden’s hopes on
laws. It would also restore
election legislation the ability of the Justice
Department to police elec-
By Brian Slodysko tion laws in states with a
and Alexandra Jaffe history of discrimination.
Associated Press For Democrats and Biden,
the legislation is a political
WASHINGTON — All imperative.
but acknowledging defeat, Failure to pass it would
President Joe Biden said break a major campaign
Thursday he’s “not sure” promise to Black voters, who
his elections and voting helped hand Democrats
rights legislation can pass control of the White House
Congress this year. He and Congress, and would
spoke at the Capitol after a come just before midterm
key fellow Democrat, Sen. elections when slim Demo-
Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, cratic majorities will be on
announced her refusal to the line. It would also be the
go along with changing second major setback for
Senate rules to muscle past a Biden’s agenda in a month,
Republican filibuster block- after Manchin halted work
ade. on the president’s $2 trillion
Biden had traveled to the package of social and envi-
Capitol to prod Democratic ronmental initiatives shortly
senators in a closed-door before Christmas.
meeting, but he was not opti- Senate Majority Leader
mistic when he emerged. He Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,
vowed to keep fighting but had set the Martin Luther
was talking about next year King Jr. holiday, Jan. 17, as a
for the sweeping legislation deadline to pass the voting
that advocates say is vital to legislation or consider revis-
protecting elections. President Biden focuses on the future of voting rights Thursday after meeting with Senate Democrats. JOSE LUIS AGANA/AP ing the filibuster rules. That
“One thing for certain, could still happen.
like every other major civil Congress. Earlier forays did of a stolen election, that have Republicans also pressed also does little to resolve the But under their new strat-
rights bill that came along, little to advance his other made it harder to vote. But for filibuster changes when central problem Democrats egy, which uses a procedural
if we miss the first time, we big priority, the Build Back their efforts have stalled in he was president, Senate face: They lack Republican shortcut, they will be able
could come back and try the Better Act of social and the narrowly divided Senate, Minority Leader Mitch support to pass the elec- to hold a debate on the bill
second time,” he told report- climate change initiatives. where they lack the 60 votes McConnell, R-Ky., called tions legislation on a bipar- without being blocked by
ers, his voice rising. “As long Instead, Biden returns to out of 100 to overcome a Sinema’s speech an import- tisan basis, but also don’t a filibuster, which Repub-
as I’m in the White House, the White House with Republican filibuster. ant act of “political courage” have support from all 50 licans have deployed four
as long as I’m engaged at all, his second-year agenda For weeks, Sinema and that could “save the Senate Democrats for changing times in recent months to
I’m going to be fighting.” languishing in Congress. Manchin have come under as an institution.” the Senate rules to allow stop debate.
Sinema said in a speech Biden spoke for more intense pressure to support On Tuesday, Biden gave passage on their own. The mechanics work like
on the Senate floor that the than an hour in private a rule change that would a fiery speech in Atlanta, Republicans are nearly this: The House amended
answer to divisiveness in with restive Democrats in allow the party to pass their likening opponents of the unanimous in opposing an unrelated bill that was
the Senate is not to change the Senate, including Joe legislation with a simple legislation to racist historical the legislation, viewing it already approved both
filibuster rules so one party, Manchin of West Virginia, majority — a step both have figures and telling lawmak- as federal overreach that chambers of Congress,
even hers, can pass contro- who also opposes changing long opposed. ers they will be “judged by would infringe on states’ combining Democrats two
versial bills. “We must Senate rules. By taking to the Senate history.” abilities to conduct their separate voting bills into one.
address the disease itself, Since taking control of floor shortly before Biden’s Democrats will use exist- own elections. And they’ve After the House passed that
the disease of division, to Congress and the White arrival, Sinema made clear ing Senate rules in an effort pointed out that Democrats bill Thursday, the Senate can
protect our democracy,” she House last year, Democrats she would not go along, to bypass the Republican fili- opposed changes to the fili- debate the measure with a
said. have vowed to counteract further damaging the party’s buster that has prevented buster that Trump sought simple majority, bypassing a
The moment again leaves a wave of new state laws, already slim chances to pass them from debating the bill when he was president. filibuster. But Senate Repub-
Biden empty-handed inspired by former President one of its top priorities. on the chamber’s floor. The Democratic package licans can still block them
after a high-profile visit to Donald Trump’s false claims Though Trump and other But the new approach would create national elec- from holding a final vote.
Leader of Oath Keepers
arrested over Jan. 6 riot
Among group of 11 the attack. Rhodes is the said. Outside Washington,
to be charged with highest-ranking member the indictment alleges, the
of an extremist group to be Oath Keepers had stationed
seditious conspiracy arrested in the deadly siege. two “quick reaction forces”
The arrests are a serious that had guns “in support of
By Michael Balsamo, escalation of accusations their plot to stop the lawful
Colleen Long and against thousands of rioters transfer of power.”
Alanna Durkin Richer who stormed the Capitol. Jonathan Moseley, an
Associated Press And the charges answer in attorney representing
part a group of Republicans Rhodes, said his client was
WASHINGTON — Stew- who have publicly ques- arrested Thursday in Texas.
art Rhodes, founder and tioned the seriousness of the Moseley said Rhodes was
leader of the far-right Oath Jan. 6 insurrection, arguing supposed to testify before
Keepers militia group, has that since no one had been the House committee inves-
been arrested and charged charged yet with sedition tigating the Jan. 6 insurrec-
with seditious conspiracy in or treason, it could not have tion in a deposition but it got
the attack on the U.S. Capi- been so violent. called off.
tol, authorities said Thurs- Rhodes did not enter the Rhodes has said in inter-
day. Capitol building on Jan. 6 views with right-wing
Ten other people also but is accused of helping put hosts that there was no
were charged with seditious into motion the violence that plan to storm the Capitol
conspiracy in connection disrupted the certification of and that the members who Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes faces a charge of seditious conspiracy in connection
with the attack on Jan. 6, the vote. did so went rogue. But he with the riot last January at the U.S. Capitol. JARED RAMSDELL/JOURNAL INQUIRER 2013
2021, when authorities said The Oath Keepers case is has continued to push the
members of the extremist the largest conspiracy case lie that the 2020 election formation, authorities say. days after the election, tell- call it a war or fight,” Rhodes
group came to Washington federal authorities have was stolen, while posts on Oath Keeper defendants ing his followers to go to said, according to court
intent on stopping the certi- brought so far over Jan. 6, the Oath Keepers website have argued in court that Washington and let Trump documents.
fication of President Joe when rioters stormed past have depicted the group as the only plan was to provide know “that the people are Authorities have said
Biden’s victory. police barriers and smashed a victim of political perse- security at the rally before behind him.” Rhodes told Rhodes was part of an
These are the first charges windows, injuring dozens cution. the riot or protect them- members that some Oath encrypted Signal chat with
of seditious conspiracy the of officers and sending Authorities have said the selves against possible Keepers should “stay on the Oath Keepers from multi-
Justice Department has lawmakers running. Oath Keepers and their asso- attacks from far-left antifa outside” and be “prepared ple states leading up to Jan.
brought in connection with The indictment against ciates prepared in the weeks activists. to go in armed” if necessary. 6 called “DC OP: Jan 6 21”
the attack led by supporters Rhodes alleges Oath Keep- leading up to Jan. 6 as if they Rhodes, a former Army “We’re going to defend and it showed the group
of former President Donald ers formed two teams, or were going to war, discuss- paratrooper and Yale Law the president, the duly was “activating a plan to use
Trump. “stacks,” that entered the ing weapons and training. School graduate who elected president, and we force” that day.
Rhodes, 56, of Granbury, Capitol. The first “stack” On Jan. 6, several founded the Oath Keepers in call on him to do what needs The Oath Keepers and
Texas, and Edward Vallejo, split up inside the build- members, wearing camou- 2009, has appeared in court to be done to save our coun- members of other extrem-
63, of Phoenix, Arizona, ing to separately go after flaged combat attire, were documents in the conspiracy try. Because if you don’t ist groups, such as the Proud
were arrested Thurs- the House and Senate. The seen on camera shoulder- case for weeks as “Person guys, you’re going to be in Boys, make up part of the
day. The others who were second “stack” confronted ing their way through the One.” a bloody, bloody civil war, more than 580 people who
charged were already facing officers inside the Capitol crowd and into the Capi- Authorities say Rhodes and a bloody — you can call have been charged in the
criminal charges related to Rotunda, the indictment tol in a military-style stack held a GoToMeeting call it an insurrection or you can riot.
Queen strips Prince Andrew of military roles, patronages
Associated Press of all his military ranks and royal patronages have been Vice Admiral of the Royal London home, at Epstein’s
titles after a U.S. judge said returned to the queen.” Navy. New York mansion and
LONDON — Queen Eliz- Wednesday a sex assault Patronages refer to roles A U.S. district judge on his estate in the U.S. Virgin
abeth II has stripped Prince lawsuit against the prince in charities, military and Wednesday refused to Islands.
Andrew of all his honorary could go ahead. civic groups that the royals dismiss a civil case against District Judge Lewis
military titles and royal roles In a joint letter issued support. Andrew by an American Kaplan rejected an argu-
in charities and other civic by the group Republic, The queen is head of the woman, Virginia Giuffre. ment by Andrew’s lawyers
groups, Buckingham Palace they said they were “upset armed forces and honorary Giuffre sued the 61-year- that Giuffre’s lawsuit should
said Thursday, amid a grow- and angry” that Andrew military appointments are old Andrew in August, be thrown out at an early
ing furor over allegations he “brought the services he is given by her. saying she was coerced into stage because of an old legal
sexually abused a teenage associated with into disre- Andrew stepped back sexual encounters with settlement she had with
girl supplied to him by finan- pute.” from public duties in 2019, him in 2001, when she was Epstein, who she claims set
cier Jeffrey Epstein. The palace said in a brief after a BBC interview about 17, by Epstein and his long- up sexual encounters with
Prince Andrew is accused of More than 150 British statement that “with the his friendship with Epstein time companion, Ghis- the prince.
having sex with a girl when navy and army veterans had queen’s approval and agree- drew widespread criticism. laine Maxwell. Giuffre said Palace officials have
she was 17. JOHN STILLWELL/ written to the queen asking ment, the Duke of York’s But he had retained his she was sexually abused declined to comment on the
POOL VIA GETTY 2012 her to strip her second son military affiliations and honorary titles, including by Andrew at Maxwell’s “ongoing legal matter.”
Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022 5
WORLD & NATION
NEWS BRIEFING
RNC issues threat to
boycott commission’s
presidential debates
From news services “The CPD’s plans for
2024 will be based on fair-
WASHINGTON — ness, neutrality and a firm
The Republican National commitment to help the
Committee said Thursday American public learn
that it is planning a rules about the candidates and the
change that would force issues,” it said.
presidential candidates seek- It remains unclear what
ing the party’s nomination to would take the debates’ place
sign a pledge saying they will if the Republican candidate
not participate in any debates were to boycott.
sponsored by the Commis-
sion on Presidential Debates. RFK killer’s parole denied:
The threat is a culmi- California Gov. Gavin
nation of years of tension Newsom on Thursday
between the RNC and the rejected releasing Robert
nonprofit that was exacer- F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan
bated by former President Sirhan from prison.
Donald Trump, who repeat- Newsom rejected a
edly accused the commission recommendation from a
of unfair treatment. Trump two-person panel of parole
ultimately refused to partic- commissioners.
ipate in the second 2020 Kennedy, the U.S. sena-
debate because he objected tor from New York, was Emotional moment: People hug Thursday at a makeshift memorial for 17 people, including eight children, killed this week in a
to it being held virtually shot in 1968 just moments fire sparked by a faulty space heater at an apartment building in the Bronx borough of New York. A communal funeral has been
because of the pandemic. after he claimed victory in scheduled Sunday at a Bronx mosque. Fifteen of the victims had ties to the tiny West African nation of Gambia. SETH WENIG/AP
In a letter to the commis- California’s pivotal Demo-
sion, RNC Chair Ronna cratic presidential primary.
McDaniel voiced frustration Five others were wounded Russia floats deployment: dismissed the statements The inmates said they Concordia hit the rocks that
with the CPD’s response during the assassination at a Russia raised the stakes about a possible Russian were never told ivermectin sliced a 230-foot gash in its
to a long list of complaints, Los Angeles hotel. Thursday in its dispute with deployment as “bluster in was among the medications hull.
including concerns about the West over Ukraine and the public commentary.” they had been given to treat The ship’s captain, Fran-
its selection of moderators, Hot year: Earth simmered NATO’s expansion when a their COVID-19, and instead cesco Schettino, is serving
a desire for a debate before to the sixth-hottest year on top diplomat refused to rule Ivermectin lawsuit: Four were told they were being a 16-year prison sentence
early voting starts and a push record in 2021, according out a military deployment inmates at a northwest given vitamins, antibiotics for manslaughter and other
for changes to the commis- to several newly released to Cuba and Venezuela if Arkansas jail sued the facility or steroids. charges for having ordered
sion’s board. temperature measurements. tensions with the United and its doctor Thursday after The inmates suffered side the crew to steer the ship off
“The RNC has shared our NASA and the National States escalate. they said they were unknow- effects from taking the drug course as part of a stunt.
concerns with the CPD in Oceanic and Atmospheric Deputy Foreign Minis- ingly prescribed ivermectin including vision issues, diar-
good faith, carefully docu- Administration and a private ter Sergei Ryabkov said he to treat COVID-19. rhea and stomach cramps, Rapper investigated: Police
menting why the party and measuring group released could “neither confirm nor The American Civil Liber- according to the lawsuit. are investigating after a
its voters have lost faith in their calculations for last exclude” the possibility of ties Union of Arkansas filed battery report was filed
your organization, and we year’s global temperature Russia sending military the lawsuit in federal court Shipwreck anniversary: Thursday against Ye, the
have proposed common- Thursday. assets to Latin America if on behalf of the detainees Fog horns wailed and rapper formerly known as
sense reforms that would Six different calculations the U.S. and its allies don’t against the Washington church bells tolled Thurs- Kanye West.
restore trust in the debates found 2021 was between the curtail their military activi- County jail, Washington day as Italy honored the 32 The incident that spurred
process,” she wrote. fifth and seventh hottest year ties on Russia’s doorstep. County Sheriff Tim Helder victims of the Costa Concor- the complaint took place
“Accordingly,” she also since the late 1800s. NASA “It all depends on the and Dr. Robert Karas. Helder dia shipwreck on the 10th in downtown Los Angeles
wrote, “the RNC will initiate said 2021 tied with 2018 for action by our U.S. counter- in August revealed that iver- anniversary of the disas- at about 3 a.m. Thursday,
the process of amending the sixth-warmest, while NOAA parts,” the minister said in mectin had been prescribed ter, with a commemoration LAPD spokeswoman Redina
Rules of the Republican Party puts last year alone in sixth an interview with Russian to inmates to treat their that recalled the moment Puentes said.
at our upcoming Winter place. television network RTVI, COVID-19. the cruise ship struck a reef No arrests have been
Meeting to prohibit future Scientists say a La Nina — citing Russian President The U.S. Food and Drug and capsized off the Tuscan made.
Republican nominees from natural cooling of parts of the Vladimir Putin’s warning Administration has approved island of Giglio. An email seeking
participating in CPD-spon- central Pacific that changes that Moscow could take ivermectin for use by people Some of the 4,200 survi- comment from a represen-
sored debates.” The meeting weather patterns globally unspecified “military-tech- and animals for some para- vors attended the events, tative for Ye, the 44-year-old
will take place next month. and brings chilly deep ocean nical measures” if the U.S. sitic worms, head lice and which began with a noon- rapper, producer and fash-
The commission said in a water to the surface — damp- and its allies fail to heed its skin conditions. The FDA has time Mass and ended with ion designer who legally
statement that it deals with ened global temperatures demands. not approved its use in treat- a candlelit procession to changed his name last
candidates who qualify for just as its flip side, El Nino, U.S. national secu- ing or preventing COVID-19 Giglio’s dock at 9:45 p.m. year, was not immediately
participation in its debates. boosted them in 2016. rity adviser Jake Sullivan in humans. local time — the moment the returned.
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6 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022
WORLD & NATION
Illegal mining rampant in Amazon
Police seize modified totaling $75 million over a
aircraft used to take two-year period.
But reports from Brazil’s
people, gear to sites
Council for Financial Activ-
ities Control indicated
By Sam Cowie the amount of money was
and David Biller beyond the individuals’
Associated Press means, suggesting possi-
ble money laundering, the
BOA VISTA, Brazil — The police said.
scorching Amazon sun beats Police investigators found
down as agents inspect the that the main suspect, who
body of a black helicopter. wasn’t named, had leased
Nearby, in the backyard of land bordering a protected
the federal police headquar- forest and installed an avia-
ters in the city of Boa Vista, tion fuel storage tank. He
sit more than 20 aircraft — had permission from the
all seized. state environmental agency,
Some bear signs of despite it being illegal,
crashes: caved-in cock- according to the Federal
pits with wings broken off. Police.
Others feature stripped- Investigators said the man
out interiors so they can be used his air taxi company to
loaded with more people, supply wildcat mining oper-
plus additional motors, fuel, ations. Police said those
food and other cargo. involved include his two
Here in Roraima state, children, three others and
where all gold mining is ille- front men.
gal, the planes are essential Brazil’s environmen-
for transporting prospectors Aircraft seized for allegedly being connected to illegal gold mining are grounded in Boa Vista, Brazil. ANDRE PENNER/AP 2021 tal regulator, Ibama, has
and equipment to far-flung also ramped up its efforts
Indigenous reserves, declined to disclose names. Dozens of pilots arrived detection, according to Those involved in the ille- against illegal gold mining
including Brazil’s largest: Drawn by high gold prices, recently in Boa Vista from Superintendent Peres. In gal gold trade represent a operations. Last September,
Yanomami. Environmental reduced state and federal other states looking for work addition, identifying tail cross-section of individuals the agency closed 59 clan-
and Indigenous rights groups oversight and outdated during Brazil’s economic numbers on the planes are and companies ranging from destine airstrips, five heli-
estimate some 20,000 ille- mining legislation, plus downturn, a time that coin- often altered or removed to shady fly-by-night opera- copter pads and three river
gal miners are present on pro-mining rhetoric and cided with high gold prices make them harder to trace. tors to otherwise legitimate ports within the Yanomami
the reserve that is roughly proposed legislation from and a drop in inspections due A former illegal miner who businesses. And a variety of reserve. Agents also seized
the same size as Portugal. far-right President Jair to the COVID-19 pandemic. said he used to operate on the federal agencies have been 11 aircraft, eight vehicles and
Government officials put the Bolsonaro that would make Potential rewards for the reserve until he was indicted, clamping down on criminal three tractors.
number closer to 3,500. it legal to mine on reserves, pilots outweigh risks that and spoke with the AP on enterprises that profit from More than 300 mostly
“Our focus over this last thousands of miners have include possible arrest or condition of anonymity, said illegal mining in protected short videos filmed by agents
year has been to go after the flocked to the Yanomami getting lost in the vast, pris- aircraft serving illegal sites areas. — part of a report obtained by
logistics of illegal mining,” reserve in search of the tine expanse of the Amazon. are usually kept in one loca- Brazil’s civil aviation the AP — show planes hidden
the police superintendent for precious metal, exacerbat- Last year, one pilot crashed tion, loaded with supplies in agency is investigating an air with brush and tarps, plus
the state, Jose Roberto Peres, ing a longstanding problem in the jungle and survived another and then flown to the taxi company, Icarai Turismo stockpiles of fuel under the
said. “These are expensive that has only grown worse in on his own for five weeks, Yanomami reserve. Locations Taxi Aereo, that was awarded forest canopy.
machines; we can deduce recent years. losing 57 pounds in the are constantly switched to try government contracts by the In his office in Boa Vista,
that there is a lot of money An Associated Press inves- process. Another vanished and avoid seizures, he said. country’s Health Ministry to Alisson Marugal, a federal
involved.” tigation, which includes flying between two regions of The former prospector and transport Indigenous people prosecutor, stood beside
Police have intensified interviews with prosecu- Yanomami territory known a federal police spokesperson and medical equipment. The a map of the Yanomami
their efforts to identify and tors, federal law enforcement for illegal mining. Local told the AP that the average agency has said it was prob- reserve and pointed to its
capture aircraft supporting agents, miners and indus- media reports have docu- cost to reach Yanomami land ing whether the company border. There, he said, are
illegal mining, but track- try insiders, shows that the mented numerous lost and by plane is 10 grams of gold, was also using its planes to “many more” illegal airstrips,
ing down planes’ owners is unauthorized aircraft — and missing pilots. worth more than $500 at bring in prospectors and mostly on private properties
stymied by the fact they’re the countless gallons of fuel Small aircraft frequently black market prices. supplies for illegal mining. like farms.
usually registered to fronts needed to power them and carry supplies to ille- The rush for gold and the The company didn’t respond “There is a huge demand
— relatives, workers, or other mining equipment — gally mined gold from the building of illegal airstrips to requests for comment inside (from the wildcat
spouses who refuse to name forms the backbone of the Yanomami reserve, which have created frictions with from the AP. mines on the reserve),” said
names. Generally, the ille- shadowy economy of illicit borders Venezuela. Nimbler Indigenous groups and have Federal police also froze Marugal. “For food, for fuel.
gal aircraft owners are local mining in Roraima. Without helicopters can quickly hop led to a reported uptick in $1.7 million in assets from a And if this demand is not met,
elites who launder their that network functioning the border beyond Brazilian violence. Last year, miners group thought to be oper- they (the miners) will leave.”
money in Boa Vista hotels, smoothly, law enforcement authorities’ reach. gunned down two young ating illegal aerial logistics “At the same time, such
restaurants, gyms and officials and environmental Adding to law enforce- Yanomami men who were on the Yanomami reserve. huge demand always guar-
gasoline stations, accord- experts say illegal mining ment’s difficulties, mining hunting near a clandestine Investigations suggest that antees that there are willing
ing to police officials, who operations would collapse. pilots fly low to avoid radar helicopter landing spot. the group had transactions suppliers,” he said.
Jan. 6 panel weighs whether
to subpoena GOP lawmakers
By Mary Clare Jalonick,
Farnoush Amiri
and Eric Tucker
Associated Press
WASHINGTON —
Republican leader Kevin
McCarthy’s refusal to
provide information to a
bipartisan House commit-
tee about his call with
then-President Donald
Trump during the Capitol
riot is deepening a stand-
off between the commit-
tee and GOP lawmakers,
Former Syrian Col. Anwar Raslan, right, was found guilty of crimes against humanity Thursday forcing investigators to
in Koblenz, Germany. Raslan was arrested in 2019. THOMAS FREY/GETTY-AFP POOL PHOTO consider whether they
could subpoena one of their
Ex-Syrian colonel sentenced own. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is refusing a request
McCarthy joined two by the House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection
other Trump allies — Reps. to submit to an interview. AMANDA ANDRADE-RHOADES/AP
to life for abuses in civil war Jim Jordan of Ohio and
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania complications of such a the riot.
— in rejecting the panel’s move. While congressio- Speaking to report-
requests for interviews nal ethics committees have ers Thursday, McCarthy
By Ben Hubbard cial had been held account- Security Council to prevent and documents. McCar- the authority to subpoena said the conversation with
The New York Times able for these acts, which Syria from being referred to thy, R-Calif., decried the lawmakers, there is little Trump “was very short,
human rights lawyers the court. committee as an “abuse modern precedent for advising the president what
A court in Germany describe as war crimes. Germany is among a few of power” and said he had another committee doing was happening here.”
found a former Syrian secu- “This sends a clear European countries that little to offer. so. The committee’s request
rity officer guilty Thursday message to the world that have sought to try former There is “nothing that I Thompson said in also seeks information
of crimes against humanity certain crimes will not go Syrian officials for war can provide” to the commit- December that there is about McCarthy’s commu-
and sentenced him to life in unpunished,” said Stefanie crimes based on universal tee, he said, as it investigates uncertainty over whether nications with then-White
prison. Bock, director of the Inter- jurisdiction, the principle of what Trump was doing such a subpoena could be House chief of staff Mark
He is the highest-rank- national Research and international law that says inside the White House, enforced because of the Meadows and communi-
ing Syrian official to be held Documentation Center for some crimes are so grave and his state of mind, as speech and debate clause cations with Trump and
accountable for abuses War Crimes Trials at the that they can be prosecuted hundreds of his supporters of the Constitution, which White House staff in the
committed by the govern- University of Marburg in anywhere. violently pushed past law says members of Congress week after the violence,
ment during a decade of Germany. Raslan, 58, oversaw a enforcement in an insurrec- “shall not be questioned in including reports of a
civil war. But while Raslan, a security office and deten- tion that temporarily halted any other place” for their conversation that was
The former officer, former colonel, held a high tion center in Damascus, the congressional certi- words in either House. “heated.”
Anwar Raslan, was accused rank in a Syrian intelli- the Syrian capital, during fication of Democrat Joe “I doubt it, because of the In Wednesday’s letter,
of overseeing a detention gence service, he was more the early days of the war. Biden’s White House win. speech and debate clause,” Thompson said the
center where prosecutors of a cog than a pillar in the German prosecutors The stand by the three Thompson said. “There is committee “must learn
said at least 4,000 people government of President argued that his position GOP lawmakers has left no precedent to force that about how the President’s
were tortured and 58 were Bashar Assad and its vast gave him oversight of the committee of seven compliance.” plans for January 6th came
killed. apparatus of repression. torture that included beat- Democrats and two Repub- Still, the committee has together, and all the other
The verdict marks a After more than a decade ing, kicking, electric shocks licans with a choice: take not ruled it out. ways he attempted to alter
watershed moment for of war, Assad remains in and sexual assault. the extraordinary step of The committee has the results of the election.
an international network power, and there appears Witnesses in the trial said subpoenaing their own publicly subpoenaed about The committee acknowl-
of lawyers, human rights little chance that he or his they were fed inedible food, colleagues or allow the 50 other witnesses and edged the sensitive and
activists and Syrian war senior advisers or military denied medical care and requests, and the defiance many others privately. unusual nature of its request
survivors who have strug- commanders will stand kept in overcrowded cells. of their work, to go unan- McCarthy has acknowl- as it proposed a meeting
gled for years to bring offi- trial soon. They rarely travel Judges ruled there was swered. edged the call with Trump with McCarthy on either
cials who sanctioned or abroad, and go only to coun- evidence to hold Raslan The committee’s leaders, on Jan. 6, 2021, which Feb. 3 or 4.
participated in the violence tries they can count on not responsible for 27 deaths. Chairman Bennie Thomp- happened as Trump’s “The Select Committee
to justice. to arrest them, like Russia, In a statement to the son, D-Miss., and Vice supporters were beating has tremendous respect
Through nearly 11 years a supporter of Assad. court, Raslan denied that Chairwoman Liz Cheney, police outside the Capitol for the prerogatives of
of civil war, the Syrian Other potential avenues he had been involved in R-Wyo., have said they and forcing their way into Congress and the privacy
government bombed resi- for justice have also been torture. are prepared to subpoena the building. But McCarthy of its Members,” Thompson
dential neighborhoods, blocked. Syria is not party He entered Germany any witness crucial to the has not shared many details. wrote. “At the same time, we
used poison gas and to the International Crimi- on a visa in 2014 and lived investigation. But privately, The committee requested have a solemn responsibility
tortured countless detain- nal Court in The Hague, and there legally until German committee members are information about his to investigate fully the facts
ees in state lockups, but Russia and China have used authorities arrested him in wrestling over the poten- conversations with Trump and circumstances of these
until now, no high-level offi- their vetoes on the U.N. 2019. tial legal and political “before, during and after” events.”
Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022 7
WORLD & NATION
RONNIE SPECTOR 1943-2022
’60s icon had string of hits leading girl group Ronettes
By Mark Kennedy
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Ronnie
Spector, the cat-eyed,
bee-hived rock ’n’ roll siren
who sang such 1960s hits as
“Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love
You” and “Walking in the
Rain” as the leader of the
girl group the Ronettes, died
Wednesday. She was 78.
Spector died after a brief
battle with cancer, her family
said.
“Ronnie lived her life with
a twinkle in her eye, a spunky
attitude, a wicked sense of
humor and a smile on her
face. She was filled with love
and gratitude,” a statement
said. No other details were
revealed.
The Ronettes’ sexy look
and powerful voices — plus
songwriting and producing
help from Phil Spector —
turned them into one of the
premier acts of the girl-group
era, touring England with the
Rolling Stones and befriend-
ing the Beatles.
Spector, alongside her
sister Estelle Bennett and
cousin Nedra Talley, scored
hits with pop masterpieces
like “Baby, I Love You,”
“Walking in the Rain,” “I Can
Hear Music” and “Be My
Baby,” which was co-written Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes were induced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. JESSE GRANT/GETTY FILE
by Spector, Jeff Barry and
Ellie Greenwich. applauded, the more mascara Veronica,” was released in her locked in their Beverly ing” and the closing cred- Springsteen’s E Street Band,
“We weren’t afraid to be we put on the next time,” she 1964. Five of its 12 tracks had Hills mansion. its of “Baby Mama.” It also and recording the 1999 EP
hot. That was our gimmick,” wrote. “We didn’t have a hit made it to the U.S. Billboard Her 1990 autobiogra- appeared on TV in “Moon- “She Talks to Rainbows,”
Spector said in her memoir. record to grab their attention, charts. phy, “Be My Baby: How I lighting” and “The Wonder which included her first ever
“When we saw The Shire- so we had to make an impres- “Nothing excites me more Survived Mascara, Mini- Years.” recording of “Don’t Worry
lles walk on stage with their sion with our style. None of it than just being onstage, skirts And Madness,” tells an When the Ronettes were Baby,” written for her by
wide party dresses, we went was planned out; we just took having fun and flirting and unhappy story of abuse. The inducted in the Rock and Brian Wilson.
in the opposite direction and the look we were born with winking to the guys and couple divorced in 1974. Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, In 2006, she released
squeezed our bodies into the and extended it.” stuff like that,” she told Phil Spector was sent to Keith Richards of the Rolling “Last of the Rock Stars,” her
tightest skirts we could find. In March 1963, Estelle People magazine in 2017. “I prison in 2009 for the murder Stones remembered opening first album in 20 years and it
Then we’d get out on stage Bennett managed to arrange just have so much fun. It’s of actress Lana Clarkson and for the trio in England in the featured appearances by the
and hike them up to show an audition in front of Phil just the best feeling when I died in 2020. mid-1960s. “They could sing Raconteurs, Keith Richards,
our legs even more.” Spector, known for his brass- go out and they say, ‘Ladies Ronnie Spector’s influence all their way right through a Patti Smith and the Raveo-
Born Veronica Bennett on and-drum style dubbed the and gentlemen.’ — my heart was felt far and wide. Brian wall of sound,” he said. “They nettes. In 2010 she released
Aug. 10, 1943, Spector and “wall of sound.” stops for a minute — ‘Ronnie Wilson became obsessed touched my heart right there a doo-wop Christmas EP
her multiracial bandmates They were signed to Phil- Spector and the Ronettes!’ with “Be My Baby” and Billy and then and they touch it called “Ronnie Spector’s Best
grew up in the Washington lies Records in 1963. After Then I just go out there and Joel wrote “Say Goodbye still.” Christmas Ever” and in 2016
Heights area of New York being signed, they sang the crowd reacts the way to Hollywood” in Spector’s After the Ronettes broke released “English Heart,” her
City. They began singing and backup for other acts until they react and I can go on honor. up, Spector continued to tour covers of songs from Britain
dancing in clubs as Ronnie Spector had the group record singing forever.” Martin Scorsese used “Be and make music, including in the ‘60s.
and the Relatives, becoming “Be My Baby” and “Baby After touring Germany in My Baby” to open his 1973 “Take Me Home Tonight” She is survived by her
noteworthy for their liberal I Love You.” The group’s 1967, the Ronettes broke up. film “Mean Streets” and with Eddie Money, record- husband, Jonathan Green-
use of eyeliner and mascara. debut album, “Presenting the Spector married Ronnie in the song appears in the title ing Joel’s “Say Goodbye to field, and two sons, Jason
“The louder they Fabulous Ronettes Featuring 1968, then she said he kept sequence of “Dirty Danc- Hollywood” with Bruce and Austin.
8 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022
Navient settles claims of Wholesale
prices jump
predatory student loans
by a record
Servicing company required to cancel $1.7B in debts for 66,000 borrowers 9.7% in ’21
By Stacy Cowley job-placement records. The private loans — Navient’s predecessor company, from
The New York Times Navient made were — in the company’s own which it split off in 2014 — made private,
words, according to legal filings — a “baited subprime loans to borrowers it knew were By Martin Crutsinger
Navient, once one of the country’s largest hook” that the lender used to reel in more likely to default. Associated Press
student loan servicing companies, reached federally guaranteed loans. Under Education Department rules,
a $1.85 billion deal with 39 states to settle At some schools, it anticipated that more no more than 90% of a school’s tuition WASHINGTON — Prices at the whole-
claims that it had made predatory student than 90% of the loans would default. payments can come from federal funding. sale level surged by a record 9.7% for all of
loans that saddled millions of borrowers Navient, which did not admit any fault in The private loans were intended, accord- 2021, setting an annual record and providing
with billions of dollars in debt that they the settlement, said it did not act illegally. ing to court filings, to fill that gap and lure further evidence that inflation is still present
were highly unlikely to repay. “The company’s decision to resolve these in students, who would then take out the at all levels of the U.S. economy.
The deal, announced Thursday, requires matters, which were based on unfounded lucrative federal loans that the schools — The Labor Department reported Thurs-
Navient to cancel $1.7 billion in private claims, allows us to avoid the additional and Navient — relied on. day that its producer price index, which
student loan debts for nearly 66,000 burden, expense, time and distraction to Those claims are the focus of Thursday’s measures inflation before it reaches consum-
borrowers and pay $95 million in restitu- prevail in court,” said Mark Heleen, Navi- settlement, but it also resolved the states’ ers, did slow on a monthly basis, rising just
tion. ent’s chief legal officer. charges that Navient inflated borrowers’ 0.2% in December compared with Novem-
The private loans were crucial to Navi- The deal ends a major portion of a set of bills by steering federal loan borrowers ber, when prices had shot up 1%.
ent’s ability to make a large volume of lucra- linked legal actions that began five years into costly long-term forbearances instead The 12-month increase in wholesale infla-
tive federal loans, prosecutors said. ago, when federal and state prosecutors of guiding them toward more affordable tion of 9.7% was also lower than a revised
“Navient repeatedly and deliberately put sued the company, which was then at the income-based repayment plans. The 9.8% increase for the 12 months ending in
profits ahead of its borrowers,” said Josh heart of the student debt collection system. consumer bureau’s lawsuit, which centers November.
Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsyl- The Consumer Financial Protection on those claims, is continuing. However, the government uses the
vania, one of several states that had sued Bureau sued in federal court over what The settlement calls for payments of December to December change for the
Navient. it called mistakes and tactics by Navient around $260 per person to be distributed yearly increase making the 9.7% rise the
Most of those who took out the private that inflated borrowers’ bills by billions of to 350,000 federal loan borrowers who fastest annual jump on record, far above the
loans attended for-profit schools, often dollars. Several state attorneys general also were placed in certain types of long-term 0.8% increase in 2020 and the 1.4% rise in
ones with low graduation rates and poor filed state lawsuits claiming that Sallie Mae forbearances. 2019.
Core inflation at the wholesale level,
which excludes volatile food and energy
costs, rose 0.5% on a monthly basis in
December, down from a 0.9% gain in
November. Core prices rose 8.3% during the
12 months ending in December.
The slowdown in overall inflation at the
wholesale level was attributed to a 3.3% fall
in energy prices and a 0.6% dip in food costs.
Thursday’s report came a day after the
government reported that consumer infla-
tion jumped 7% in December from a year
earlier, the highest such inflation rate since
1982.
The price increases at both the whole-
sale and retail levels have been attributed in
large part to snarled supply chains at a time
of surging demand. President Joe Biden’s
approval ratings on the economy have taken
a hit because of the surge in prices.
BUSINESS BRIEFING
US jobless claims
climb by 23,000
WASHINGTON — The number of Amer-
icans applying for unemployment benefits
rose last week to the highest level since
mid-November, but still low by historic stan-
A man works on a small boat with a luxury yacht looming in the background in Barcelona, Spain. SAMUEL ARANDA/THE NEW YORK TIMES 2021 dards.
U.S. jobless claims climbed by 23,000 last
week to 230,000, the Department of Labor
Dipping into ‘blue economy’
said Thursday. The four-week moving aver-
age, which smooths out week-to-week blips,
rose nearly 6,300 to almost 211,000.
The weekly applications have risen in four
of the last five weeks, running in tandem
Spanish city of Barcelona And it is here that Barcelona, whose days other people, a role perfectly suited for with the spread of the omicron variant of
as a commercial shipyard faded years ago, superyachts. COVID-19. Yet the jobs market has bounced
reinvents itself as hub where
sees an economic opportunity. Worldwide there are roughly 5,700 back strongly from last year. Jobless claims
superyachts are repaired Barcelona has turned itself into a hub for yachts of about 100 feet or more, and this had fallen mostly steadily for about a year
these luxury vessels, combining a private fleet is set to expand 15% by 2025, accord- and they dipped below the pre-pandemic
By Raphael Minder marina that is investing $22.7 million this ing to industry projections. At the pinnacle average of around 220,000 a week.
The New York Times year to turn itself into the largest port of this market are about 370 megayachts of
reserved for superyachts in the Mediter- about 200 feet or more, whose number has
BARCELONA, Spain — Launched less ranean and maintenance facilities that can risen 70% in the past decade and is forecast
than a year ago, the 460-foot-long, eight- hoist behemoths out of the water and then to reach 500 in about seven years. Delta to extend
deck Solaris is one of the newest of the summon a small army to do repairs. MB92, the company that operates Barce-
superyachts that are the floating palaces And it doesn’t hurt that Barcelona offers lona’s superyacht maintenance facility, has
travel vouchers
of the sea. It has a helipad plus a swimming the ships’ crew members downtime in one 180 employees, but much of the labor is
pool and all the other high-tech amenities of the Mediterranean’s biggest tourism carried out by about 1,000 subcontractors
required by its Russian billionaire owner, destinations. whose jobs cover a variety of specialties,
Roman Abramovich. Attracting billionaire yacht owners is including painting, carpentry and insula- ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines said
But on a recent morning in Barcelona, only a small part of Barcelona’s efforts to tion work. Wednesday that it will extend through 2023
the $600 million Solaris was out of the tap into the “blue economy” of the sea, said About 40 workshops are scattered the window for customers to rebook cred-
water, wedged into a dry dock. Workers Jaume Collboni, the deputy mayor. Barce- around the yard, and during the peak repair its earned when they purchased but then
were fixing the finlike stabilizers, which lona’s port authority recently approved the seasons of spring and fall the yard can work canceled flights during the pandemic.
help steady the massive vessel in rough construction of a new terminal for cruise on about 25 yachts at a time. Before the announcement, Delta flight
seas but retract when there are no swells. ships, set to open in 2024. In Barcelona, which is led by a left-wing credits were set to expire at the end of 2022.
At the opposite end of the boatyard, another The pandemic was a huge blow for a city city government, not everybody welcomes The new date will also apply to all tickets
giant, the Sea Rhapsody, was getting a final that normally welcomes millions of visitors. the arrival of billionaires and their yachts, bought in 2022.
checkup. It showed that “diversification is becom- whose marinas are typically fenced off from Customers will be able to use the credits
As the rich have gotten richer during the ing very important,” Collboni said. “When the rest of the city’s waterfront. throughout 2024 if the trip is booked by Dec.
pandemic, their boats have gotten larger tourism dropped down to zero, some parts “We are bringing in the richest people in 31, 2023, the airline said.
and more expensive — and when these of the city were heavily affected, and we the world, but they don’t spend their money Passengers are entitled to refunds under
over-the-top superyachts aren’t taking have needed to find new jobs, also for a less in our local neighborhoods, they have federal law if the airline cancels their flight.
their owners to private holiday spots in the qualified workforce.” yachts that fly the flags of tax havens, and But if the passenger cancels, airlines
Caribbean and the Mediterranean, they At the same time, the spread of the coro- they hire crews who are not from Barce- generally provide only some form of credit
need a place to drop anchor and deal with navirus gave the world’s billionaires a new lona,” said Gala Pin, a former lawmaker in or voucher, typically with a one-year expi-
repairs. excuse for keeping their distance from the city. ration.
EU rejects merger of SKorean shipbuilders Producerpriceindex
IndexofpricesU.S.producersreceivefor
goodsandservices,percent
By Raf Casert said, arguing the new company would have already exist,” including Samsung in South changefrompreviousmonth
Associated Press eliminated a major player and grabbed a Korea and Mitsubishi and Kawasaki in 1.2
global market share exceeding 60%. Japan.
BRUSSELS — The European Union on And it is not an easy market for new While Vestager’s office is powerful in
1.0
Thursday rejected the merger between players to jump into. LNG shipbuilding is vetting such mergers and ensuring Euro-
South Korean shipbuilders Hyundai and a complicated process that requires trans- pean consumers are not hurt by domi-
0.8
Daewoo, saying a union between two of porting frozen gas at minus 260 degrees nant players in the market, it was only the
the world’s biggest players in the industry Fahrenheit across the globe. 10th merger that it has blocked in the past
would have given the combined company “Only a handful of shipbuilders around decade among 3,000 requests for approval. 0.6
a global stranglehold on the production of the world are able to build these vessels,” Under EU rules, the European Commis-
liquefied natural gas carriers. she said. sion can reject mergers even outside its 0.4
00..33
EU Competition Commissioner Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings borders if the companies do business within
00..22
Margrethe Vestager said the merger “would called the decision disappointing, saying the 27-nation bloc. In the case of the LNG 0.2
have led to less choice, higher prices and it “will pursue possible measures, includ- carriers, the new company would have a
ultimately less innovation” for European ing an appeal to the General Court of the massive stake in the European markets. To
customers, which account for nearly half European Union.” It denied that the new move forward, the two companies would DEC. DEC.
the orders in the $45 billion market. company would have a chokehold on put themselves outside of EU law and lose 2020 2021
“We prohibited the merger,” Vestager the market, saying “credible competitors a huge part of their market. SOURCE:BureauofLaborStatistics TNS
Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022 9
BUSINESS
An insider’s look at spending
18 weeks on the Holmes jury
By Erin Woo
The New York Times
SAN JOSE, Calif. — If you
wondered what it was like
to serve as a juror in Silicon
Valley’s trial of the decade,
Susanna Stefanek can tell
you.
For 18 weeks, Stefanek
juggled her family, her work
as an editorial manager at
Apple and her duty as one of
12 jurors in the trial of Eliz-
abeth Holmes, founder of
failed blood testing startup
Theranos. Holmes, whose
case was viewed as a refer-
Michael Foster of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union holds a sign outside an endum on Silicon Valley’s Elizabeth Holmes, second from left, the founder of the blood
Amazon facility where labor is trying to organize workers in Bessemer, Ala. JAY REEVES/AP 2021 startup excesses, was found testing start-up Theranos, outside court on Jan. 3 during her
guilty Jan. 4 of four of 11 fraud trial in San Jose, California. She was later found guilty
For Amazon workers in Ala., counts of fraud for lying to on four counts of fraud. JIM WILSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES
investors about Theranos’
technology. worked on a puzzle of who had served on Thera-
2nd union vote to be by mail Her case was closely scru- Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday nos’ board.
tinized because Holmes was Afternoon on the Island of After closing arguments
the rare entrepreneur to be La Grande Jatte” and played in December, the jury began
indicted, igniting a media the tile game Rummikub. deliberating a verdict.
By Anne D’Innocenzio attention on Amazon’s in a new election,” said the frenzy and many hot takes “It was like I was living They had a method for
Associated Press installation of a U.S. Postal union in a statement. The about what her conviction two different lives during discussions, Stefanek said,
Service mailbox at the union is pushing for in-per- meant — or did not mean the trial: the life where I’d go recapping each witness’s
A federal labor board main employee entrance, son election, which it feels — for the tech industry. But to court, and the one where testimony on sheets of paper
said that Amazon workers which may have created could make the process for the eight men and four I’d sit down at my desk and that were hung around
in Bessemer, Alabama, will the false impression that fairer to workers. women on the jury, such log in to work as usual,” said the courtroom where they
vote by mail next month in the company was the one RWDSU faces an uphill issues were far from their Stefanek, 51. spent time when the trial
a rerun election to decide conducting the election battle to unionize workers minds, said Stefanek and She said she had little idea was not in session. They
whether or not to unionize. process. given such high quit rates, another juror in the case, about the trial’s broader also enlisted the courtroom
The National Labor Henderson also rejected but Amazon did reach a who declined to be named. implications. “I didn’t real- deputy, Adriana Kratzmann,
Relations Board said this Amazon’s argument that it settlement with the NLRB Instead, they said, the ize the impact of this verdict to make photocopies of one
week that the ballots will was making voting easier last month to allow its trial meant rearranging could potentially have an juror’s handmade work-
be mailed out Feb. 4 and and was trying to encourage employees to freely orga- their lives. Initially antic- effect on how business sheet that listed the crite-
must be returned before the as high a turnout as possi- nize — and without retali- ipated to last 13 weeks, is done in Silicon Valley,” ria for a conviction on each
counting starts March 28. ble. ation. the proceedings stretched Stefanek said. count.
The move comes roughly “Our employees have According to the settle- on. As other high-profile Holmes’ trial began with As the verdict was read,
a month and a half after the always had the choice ment, the online behemoth criminal trials started and opening statements Sept. 8. Stefanek said, she avoided
board ordered a new union of whether or not to join said it would reach out to finished around the country, That started a new routine eye contact with Holmes,
election for Amazon work- a union, and they over- its warehouse workers — Holmes’ trial schedule was for Stefanek: She often woke who faces up to 20 years in
ers based on objections by whelmingly chose not former and current — via episodic, with testimony up at 5 a.m. to squeeze in prison for each guilty count.
the Retail, Wholesale and to join the RWDSU last email who were on the job sometimes happening three some work and pack lunch “It was a stressful
Department Store Union to year,” said Amazon spokes- anytime from March 22 of days a week and sometimes for her 12-year-old daughter moment for me, because
the first vote that took place woman Barbara Agrait in last year to notify them of not. All the while, jurors before driving from Moun- even though our work was
in April. an emailed statement Tues- their organizing rights. were barred from talking tain View, California, where done and that was a good
The move was a blow day, adding that she looks The settlement outlined about Holmes or reading she lives, to the San Jose thing, knowing the impact
to Amazon.com Inc., forward to having its team that Amazon workers, media coverage about her. courthouse. that our decision was going
which spent about a year in Bessemer “having their which number 750,000 in Inside the federal court- During testimony, to have on the defendant’s
aggressively campaign- voices heard again.” the U.S., have more room to house in San Jose, Califor- Stefanek said, she took 541 life was still a burden,”
ing for warehouse work- Meanwhile, the RWDSU organize within the build- nia, jurors heard from 32 pages of notes. At times, Stefanek said.
ers in Bessemer to reject took issue with NLRB’s ings. witnesses, with testimony she said, jurors struggled With the trial over,
the union, which they decision to hold an election For example, Amazon frequently lasting at least to stay awake. Other times, Stefanek caught up on
ultimately did by a wide by mail. pledged it will not threaten five hours a day. Jurors were they were shocked to see months of media coverage
margin. “We are deeply workers with discipline or fueled in part by court-pro- star witnesses like James and funny tweets, saved for
In a 20-page deci- concerned that the decision call the police when they are vided sandwiches, Stefanek Mattis, the retired four-star her by a friend. She said she
sion, Lisa Henderson, fails to adequately prevent engaging in union activity and the other juror said. Marine Corps general and was heartened by analyses
the regional director for Amazon from continuing in exterior non-work areas In their downtime, they former defense secretary, praising the jury’s decision.
the NLRB, focused much its objectionable behavior during non-work time.
MARKET RUNDOWN
q Fqriday,January14,2022 q
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EMCORGroupInc(EME) 124.85 +1.75 -2.0
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ExelaTechnologies(XELA) .55 -.05 -37.3 TDHHoldingsInc(PETZ) .60 +.01 -84.5
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FuelCellEnergy(FCEL) 4.87 -.20 -6.3 TeslaInc(TSLA) 1031.56 -74.66 -2.4
GMedicalInnovHldg(GMVD) 3.52 +.55 +110.8 TravelersCos(TRV) 163.05 +.08 +4.2
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HoneywellIntl(HON) 219.43 +1.18 +5.2
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HorizonTechFin(HRZN) 16.41 +.04 +3.1
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InfosysLtd(INFY) 25.60 -.15 +1.1
WellsFargo&Co(WFC) 56.00 -.40 +16.7
IntelCorp(INTC) 54.94 -.80 +6.7
Kaman(KAMN) 44.21 +.74 +2.5 WhiteMtnsInsur(WTM) 1034.90 -14.66 +2.1
Keycorp(KEY) 26.70 +.30 +15.4 WorldWrestlingEnt(WWE) 52.38 +1.26 +6.2
LincolnNatlCorp(LNC) 72.69 -.04 +6.5 XPOLogisticsInc(XPO) 70.70 +.11 -8.7
LucidGroupInc(LCID) 41.41 -4.02 +8.8 XeroxHoldingsCorp(XRX) 23.93 +.31 +5.7
LumenTechnologies(LUMN) 12.27 -1.02 -2.2 YamanaGoldInc(AUY) 4.22 +.07 ...
MGMResortsIntl(MGM) 44.25 -.55 -1.4 ZyngaInc(ZNGA) 9.06 -.09 +41.6
10 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Friday, January 14, 2022
OPINION
Helen Bennett
Executive Editor
[email protected]
COURANT.COM/OPINION
Invent a civil war? Let’s not do that
Ross Douthat
“How Civil Wars Start,” a new book by
political scientist Barbara Walter, was cited
all over the place in the days around the
anniversary of last winter’s riot at the U.S.
Capitol. The New Yorker’s David Remnick,
Vox’s Zack Beauchamp and my New York
Times colleague Michelle Goldberg all
invoked Walter’s work in essays discussing
the possibility that the United States stands
on the edge of an abyss, with years of civil
strife ahead.
The book begins with a story from the
fall of 2020: the kidnapping plot against
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan,
hatched by a group of right-wing militia-
men who opposed Whitmer’s pandemic
restrictions. Fortunately “the FBI was on to
them” and foiled the plot — but the alleged
kidnapping conspiracy, Walter argues, is a
harbinger of worse to come. Periods of civil
war often “start with vigilantes just like
these — armed militants who take violence
directly to the people.”
Here’s a skeptical question, though: Then-President Trump speaks at a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The U.S. Capitol was breached later in the day. JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP
When we say the FBI was “on to” the
plotters, what exactly does that mean? ing American division. The country is Russians manipulated vote tallies in order worrying about but not at all the likeliest
Because at the moment the government’s definitely more ideologically polarized to place Donald Trump, their cat’s-paw, in scenario, let alone one that’s somehow
case against them is a remarkable tangle. than it was 20 or 40 years ago; indeed, with the White House. structurally inevitable.
Fourteen men have been charged with organized Christianity’s decline, you could However, an overwhelming majority Similarly, we are first told that “civil
crimes, based in part on evidence report- say that it’s more metaphysically polar- of people who hold those kinds of beliefs war” is coming, but then it turns out that
edly supplied by at least 12 confidential ized as well. We are more likely to hate show no signs of being radicalized into the term is being used to mean something
informants — meaning that the FBI had and fear members of the rival party, more actual violence. For all the talk of liberal other than an actual war, that the relevant
almost one informant involved for every likely to sort ourselves into ideologically “resistance” under Trump, the charac- analogies are periods of political violence
defendant. homogeneous communities, more likely to teristic left-wing response to the Trump like the Irish Troubles or Italy’s “Years of
And according to reporting from Buzz- be deeply skeptical about public institu- administration was not to join anti-facists Lead.” And then if you question whether
Feed’s Jessica Garrison and Ken Bensinger, tions and more likely to hold conspiratorial but to mobilize to elect Democrats; it took we’re destined to reach even that point,
one of these informants — an extremely beliefs — like the belief that Joe Biden and the weird conditions of the pandemic and you may be informed that actually the civil
colorful convicted felon named Stephen the Democrats stole the 2020 election — the lockdowns, and the spark of the George war is practically here already — because,
Robeson — appears to have been a crucial that undercut the basic legitimacy of the Floyd killing, to transmute anti-Trumpism Marche writes, “the definition of civil
instigator of the plot. He is alleged to have opposition party’s governance. into national protests that actually turned strife starts at 25 deaths within a year,” and
used government funds to pay for meals At the same time, the literature suffers violent. acts of anti-government violence killed
and hotel rooms, encouraged people “to from a serious liberal-bias problem, a Likewise, despite fears that Jan. 6 was more people than that annually in the later
vent their anger about governors who consistent naiveté about the left and going to birth a “Hezbollah wing” of 2010s.
enacted COVID-19 restrictions” and “to center’s roles in deepening polarization. the Republican Party, there has been no That kind of claim strikes me as a ridic-
plan violent actions against elected officials For instance, in the Bush and Obama eras major far-right follow-up to the event, ulous abuse of language. The United
and to acquire weapons and bomb-making there were a lot of takes on the dangers of no dramatic surge in Proud Boys or Oath States is a vast empire of more than 330
materials,” and followed up aggressively, “asymmetric polarization” — the supposed Keepers visibility, no campaign of anti- million people in which at any given time
calling potential plotters “nearly every ideological radicalization of the Repub- Biden terrorism. Instead, Republicans who some handful of unhinged people will be
day.” licans relative to the Democrats. Across believe in the stolen-election thesis seem committing deadly crimes. And we are also
Robeson’s role has become enough of a most of the 2010s, though, it was clearly mostly excited by the prospect of thump- a country with a long history of sporadic
headache for the prosecution, in fact, that liberals who moved leftward much more ing Democrats in the midterms, and the armed conflict — mob violence, labor
they recently disowned him, declaring that rapidly, while Republicans basically stayed truest believers are doing the extremely violence, terrorism and riots — interwoven
he was actually a “double agent” (meaning put — and yet somehow the perils of that characteristic American thing of running with the normal operation of our politics.
triple agent, I think) who betrayed his obli- kind of asymmetry get much less expert for local office. If your definition of civil war implies that
gations as an informant by trying to destroy attention. This has prompted a different liberal we are always just a few mass shootings or
evidence and seeking to warn one of the Likewise the drama of protest politics fear — that these new officeholders could violent protests away from the brink, then
accused conspirators ahead of his arrest. in 2020 is often analyzed in a way that help precipitate a constitutional crisis by you don’t have a definition at all: You just
Prosecutors had already ruled out testi- minimizes the revolutionary symbolism refusing to do their duty in a close election have a license for perpetual alarmism.
mony from an agent who ran one of their of the left’s protests — the iconoclasm and in 2024. But that fear is an example of the I am very aware that I’m always the
key informants, probably because he spent the toppled statues, the mayhem around other problem of exaggeration in the immi- columnist making some version of this
much of 2019 trying to drum up business federal buildings and the White House, the nent-civil-war literature, the way the goal calm-down argument, sometimes to a
for his private security firm by touting his zeal to rename and rewrite — and focuses posts seem to shift when you question the fault. So I want to stress that the problems
FBI casework. Presumably we’ll find out intensely on the right’s response, treating evocations of Fort Sumter or 1930s Europe. that undergird the civil-war hypothesis
more about all this when the case comes to conservative backlash as though it emerges Thus we are told that some kind of are serious problems, the divisions in our
trial, but for now it’s reasonable to wonder from the reactionary ether rather than as a major democratic breakdown is likely country are considerable and dangerous,
whether Whitmer’s would-be kidnappers cyclical response. “absent some radical development” (as the specific perils associated with a Trump
would have been prepared to go all the way The other bias in the civil-war literature Beauchamp puts it); that we are already resurgence in 2024 entirely real.
with their vigilante fantasies, absent some is toward two related forms of exagger- “suspended between democracy and But there are also lots of countervailing
prodding from the feds. ation. First, an exaggerated emphasis on autocracy” (as Remnick writes); that “the and complicating forces, and the overall
And those doubts, in turn, might be what Americans say they believe, rather United States is coming to an end” and the picture is genuinely complex — at least as
reasonably extended to the entire theory than what (so far, at least) they actually only question “is how,” to quote the begin- complex, let’s say, as the informant-rid-
of looming American civil war, which do. It’s absolutely true that if you just look ning of Stephen Marche’s new book, “The dled plot against Whitmer. And as with
assumes something not yet entirely in at polling data, you see a lot of beliefs that Next Civil War.” But then it turns out that that conspiracy, it’s worth asking whether
evidence — a large number of Americans would seem to license not just occasional the most obvious danger is an extremely the people who see potential insurrection
willing to actually put their lives, not just protest but some sort of continuing insur- contingent one, involving a cascade of lurking everywhere are seeing a danger
their Twitter rhetoric, on the line for the rection. This includes not only the Trump- events in 2024 — a very specific sort of rising entirely on its own — or in their
causes that currently divide our country. ist stolen-election theories but also popular election outcome, followed by a series of alarm are helping to invent it.
Overall, the academic and journalistic beliefs about recent Republican presidents very high-risk, unusual radical choices by
literature on America’s divisions offers a — that George W. Bush had foreknowledge state legislators and Republican senators Douthat is a columnist for The New York
reasonably accurate description of increas- and allowed Sept. 11 to happen or that the and the Supreme Court — that are worth Times.
Will what’s happening
‘over there’ hit us again?
By James Jay Carafano ally every American family had a map.
The Heritage Foundation Tracking the battlefield reports, they could
pinpoint places as remote as Palau and
Americans have a lot to worry about. Ploesti. What happened in those distant
Soaring inflation. A pandemic that refuses locations would determine when our
to go away. Locked-down schools that keep troops could come home from a war we
the kids at home while you have to work. didn’t ask for but had to fight—and win—to
With so much to focus on at home, who preserve our freedom.
has time or energy to pay attention to Had the homefront paid that kind of
what’s happening on the other side of the attention to what was going on around the
world? world in the 1930s, the U.S.—in concert
But there’s great danger in becoming with friends and allies—might have been
indifferent to world affairs. All too often, able to forestall Armageddon. Instead,
they wind up crashing into our lives, turn- America slept, and the world slipped into
ing our homes and nation upside down. chaos.
We’ve been in this situation before. In We can’t afford to make that mistake Vladimir Putin recently moved Russian troops into Kazakhstan. ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK
the late 1930s, Americans were struggling again. Hostile powers have been on the
through the Great Depression. Hitler’s move for years, meeting with little to no one else’s problem.” They pose a threat to should have no role in curriculum deci-
1938 occupation of the borderlands of effective resistance from Western democ- global stability. Left unchecked, they can sions and demanded that schools drop the
Czechoslovakia barely registered in U.S. racies. spin the world out of control again. CRT propaganda.
kitchen-table conversations that year. Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia frac- The U.S. should not try to be the world’s That same sort of informed activism is
When he took over Bohemia and Moravia tured that country, creating two new policeman. But America does need a needed in American foreign policy. If we
the following year, it was still pretty much puppet states for President Vladimir Putin. responsible, practical foreign policy that can’t muster the effort to think hard about
crickets on this side of the pond. After all, In 2014, Moscow invaded and annexed looks after America’s interests. how America should act in the world, then
“that’s their problem; we’ve got worries Crimea. Putin has now arrayed 100,000 To get that kind of policy, everyday political leaders won’t bother either. They
enough of our own.” troops on the Ukrainian border, raising Americans are going to have to start think- certainly won’t bother to ask us what we
The response to events further east was the threat of another major invasion of ing about it for themselves. And the first think.
much the same. Japan had seized Manchu- that country. Russian troops have moved step is to start educating ourselves on We can’t wait for our politicians—or the
ria in 1931 and Mongolia in ’36, establishing into Kazakhstan to help put down a revolt world affairs, not ignoring them or just next Pearl Harbor—to get serious about
puppet regimes in both countries. America against that nation’s corrupt government. taking as gospel whatever our favorite foreign policy. It’s time to take a good, hard
shrugged. In ’37, Japan invaded China. Few China, for its part, has been aggressively pundit or politician may say. look at what’s going on around the world,
Americans had any idea of where Manchu- building and militarizing artificial islands That means doing some homework. and soberly consider the most prudent,
ria or Nanking were, and little interest in in the South China Sea for years, part of its Nobody likes to do it, but when they do, it effective way to stop current threats from
finding out. longstanding campaign to expand its terri- can make a huge difference. Look at what spiraling out of control and, ultimately,
It wasn’t until Japan struck Pearl Harbor torial claims. It has effectively taken over happened last year in Virginia. When folks landing on our doorstep.
that Americans woke up to the fact that the governance of Hong Kong, and now found out about critical race theory and
“over there” had suddenly come here. threatens to take Taiwan by military force. realized it was directly affecting their chil- Distributed by Tribune Content Agency,
Once our boys marched off to war, virtu- Such hostile actions are not just “some- dren, they ignored those who said parents LLC.