December 30:
- Yesterday’s massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine which killed at least 30 people – the largest such attack since Russia’s invasion – Kyiv launched a retaliatory air offensive targeting Russia border areas.
The UN Security Council condemned Russia’s attack.
With further funding for Ukraine in limbo until Republicans in Congress provide authorisation, there appear to be signs that the White House is shifting its posture on Ukraine’s defence, with an eye on an eventual negotiation towards an end of the war.
***
December 28:
- The US continues to warn Israel to moderate its conduct of their operations in Gaza, apparently to little effect. With President Biden’s negative polling on the issue – particularly among younger voters – the stakes for next year’s US election are enormous.
But as Shalom Lipner writes in Foreign Affairs, Israel also risks jeopardizing an essential alliance.
- As the final tranche of US aid to Ukraine was released until more can be authorised by Congress, Washington heads into the new year with a host of funding issues and the shadow of a possible government shutdown still hanging over the hill.
- A second state moved to ban Donald Trump from the primary ballot when Maine’s Secretary of State invoked the 14th Amendment disqualifying insurrectionists, joining an earlier decision by Colorado’s Supreme Court. The Maine decision is here in full. Both decisions will be appealed.
- Among those apparently seeking to topple Trump as the prospective Republican nominee, Nikki Haley made what could be a fatal blunder on her own state’s history, seemingly putting truth aside in pursuit of not offending potential primary voters. Of course, she later tried to walk it back. Will it matter? Does anything any candidate other than Trump says matter?
***
December 26:
- The US said it had conducted “retaliatory strikes” on three facilities operated by Hezbollah and affiliated groups inside Iraq. Earlier, Centcom said there had been a drone attack in Erbil that resulted in ‘several injuries’ to US service members.
- Last night, Iran confirmed the assassination of Iran’s top commander in Syria, Radhi Mousavi, presumably by Israel. Israeli forces were preparing for a potential retaliation.
- After being heckled in the Knesset by families of missing hostages, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the war would intensify. On Christmas Day, Israeli forces hit Bethlehem in the Occupied West Bank.
- In Russia, jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny was located after being “missing” for several weeks.
***
December 24:
- After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “no choice” but to continue its military action in Gaza, Israeli forces said they had discovered the bodies of five hostages taken on October 7 in a Hamas tunnel.
In one of the fiercest 24 hours of fighting in the current conflict, 166 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers have reportedly been killed. The Hamas-run health ministry said the total number of Palestinian dead was now 20,424. Hamas said at least 68 people had been killed in a missile strike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.
- The US accused Iran of being behind the latest drone attack on shipping, after a chemical tanker was hit in the Red Sea amid ongoing fears of a wider escalation.
- President Biden said he “did not ask for a ceasefire” in a call with Netanyahu on Saturday. Polls continue to show low approval for Biden’s handling of the Gaza situation – particularly among younger voters.
- Lawyers for former President Donald Trump late on Saturday called on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out charges of election subversion, arguing that Trump is protected under blanket Presidential immunity. The US Supreme Court had earlier declined to expedite a ruling in the case, assisting Trump’s strategy to delay any action against him, but crucial Scotus rulings lie ahead.
***
December 22
After a week of delays, the UN could vote today on a “watered down” resolution calling for urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza. The US has said it will support it, but other member countries want stronger action, including calls for an immediate ceasefire.
UN agencies have warned that the people of Gaza are “at risk of famine” as the death toll in the conflict continues its inexorable rise.
Funding for Ukraine’s resistance against Russia, meanwhile, will remain in limbo into the new year after the Senate left for the holidays and will return to the constant underlying drumbeat of a potential government shutdown. The House, meanwhile, passed only 27 bills that made it into law this past year, one of the body’s least productive legislative years on record.
The fallout from Donald Trump being – at least temporarily – removed from the ballot by the Colorado Supreme Court has led, totally predictably, to a ratcheting up in violent rhetoric and threats to the judges. Trump’s lawyers are set to appeal the ruling after Christmas.
Nevertheless, Trump – who continues to double-down on his anti-immigrant dog-whistling – remains the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination. Some members of his party have pushed back, but others don’t think his stance is tough enough.
Just a few weeks ahead of the Iowa Caucuses, Nikki Haley continues to position herself either for 2028 – assuming there is another election then – or as part of the long list of potential Trump VP candidates. Meanwhile Ron DeSantis’s PAC appears to be imploding.
Finally, after being morally bankrupt since brazenly promoting Trump’s big lie, Rudy Giuliani filed for actual bankruptcy in New York, days after the ruling against him of $148million for defamation of two Georgia election workers.
*
The Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly now spent a billion dollars on just two players for the next decade, signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto to join Shohei Ohtani.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan explains the contract, which is pending a physical: 12 years, $325 million (which includes a $50 million signing bonus), no deferred money, an additional $50.6 million posting fee to Orix.
***
December 19:
In a potentially explosive decision that could upend the 2024 election cycle, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump is ineligible to hold elected office under the 14th Amendment, due to having “engaged in insurrection”.
As a result, his name should not be listed on the Presidential primary ballot. The Colorado court set a deadline of January 4th – the day before the state’s primary ballot must be finalised – to allow for an appeal in what is an unprecedented case. Colorado’s GOP primary is on Super Tuesday on March 5. Similar cases have been brought in 12 other states. So far seven have failed and the rest are pending.
Trump’s fate now rests in the hands of the US Supreme Court, its own credibility increasingly under a cloud. The highest court is also set to hand down a ruling on immunity affecting the former President.
***
December 15:
- The epic fall of Rudy Giuliani from post-9/11 “America’s Mayor” to enthusiastic sucker for Donald Trump’s big lie is complete – for now, at least – after a jury awarded a staggering $148million to two Georgia election workers that Giuliani had repeatedly defamed. He still faces several other civil and criminal cases related to his actions after the 2020 election while employed by the Trump campaign.
- Meanwhile, in Fulton County, GA, details emerged of the scant “apology” required by other Trump associates Sidney Powell and Kenneth Cheseboro as a condition of their plea agreements.
- It seems that some crucial intelligence documents went missing at the end of the Trump presidency. Among them are apparently details of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. How on earth could that happen, we wonder…
- Meanwhile some remarkable reporting by the New York Times outlines the Supreme Court’s approach in the run-up to the overturning of Roe v Wade eighteen months ago.
- Israeli admitted its forces apparently “mistakenly” killed three hostages during its actions in Gaza. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority.
***
December 14:
- US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was in Israel to call for limits to the conflict in Gaza, only to be told by Israel that the war could continue “for several more months.” With international support for Israel’s conduct apparently eroding amid widening criticism, the US has reportedly warned Israel that if the war continues in its current form, backing for Israel will unravel, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears not to care.
CNN’s Clarissa Ward and her team entered Gaza from Egypt. “Like Grozny and Aleppo, Gaza will go down as one of the great horrors of modern warfare,” she says.
- In a similar vein, at Vladimir Putin’s first annual press conference since his invasion of Ukraine, he said there would be no peace “until Russia’s goals have been achieved.” He also answered a question from an AI-generated version of himself and spoke about detained WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich (but not about missing opposition leader Alexei Navalny).
- At the same time in Brussels, EU leaders agreed to begin the process for Ukraine’s membership, overcoming – for now – opposition from Putin ally, Viktor Orban of Hungary.
- In the US, the opposition to support for Ukraine continues to come mostly from Congressional Republicans, as the House broke for the holidays and will return on Jan 9, when their priority will be avoiding a government shutdown. Today was the last day in Congress for briefly-former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The Senate will apparently be staying in town through the weekend to work on a possible solution to issues with border funding.
- Trump ally Rudy Giuliani decided not to testify after all in his trial for damages after defaming two Georgia election workers. A jury verdict on the dollar amount could come tomorrow.
- Rep James Comer, who’s leading the GOP’s very public effort to investigate Hunter Biden, may have undermined his own attacks on the President’s son’s financial dealings.
- In the latest Pew Research poll, President Biden’s approval is at another low for his presidency.
- A Satanic display erected in the Iowa Capitol Building last week had, surprise surprise, provoked, let’s call it, an intense debate over free speech. The effigy was reportedly beheaded today.
***
December 13:
- The COP28 conference ended with delegates finally agreeing an “historic” commitment to move away from dependence on fossil fuel. But the difficulties over agreeing the final communique indicate that there is still plenty of work to be done – of course.
- Largely absent any actual evidence and driven by the electoral agenda of a former President, House Republicans voted to formally begin an impeachment inquiry into the current President.
- Meanwhile President Biden’s son Hunter unexpectedly appeared on Capitol Hill and was immediately threatened with contempt of Congress for refusing to testify behind closed doors, saying he was willing only to appear in public.“For six years, I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine shouting ‘Where’s Hunter?’ Well, here is my answer, I am here.”
- In the most significant abortion-related case since it ended Roe v Wade eighteen month ago, the Supreme Court is to consider a lower court ruling which would make the Mefipristone abortion pill less accessible.
- The Supreme Court also said it will hear an appeal that could overturn verdicts in cases stemming from the Jan 6 insurrection, potentially including the charges faced by former President Trump.
***
December 12:
- President Zelensky made a concerted effort to convince Congress to extend military support for Ukraine. But despite President Biden opening the door to border reforms the GOP says it wants in return, Republicans seem unmoved.
Biden told Zelensky that Russian radio hosts had cheered the GOP’s gridlock. “If you’re being celebrated by Russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you’re doing.”
“It is stunning that we even got to this point,” Biden said of the impasse.
- In the other global conflict currently raging, Biden said Israel is starting to lose international support over the bombing of Gaza and called on Netanyahu to change course. Meanwhile, amid a worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for an immediate ceasefire.
- In Dubai, COP28 wrapped up, and not everyone was happy with the initial draft of the final communique, which failed to endorse an end to fossil fuels, some calling it a “death sentence for island nations.”
- There’s much speculation over what could have been on Donald Trump’s phone on Jan 6, after Special Counsel Jack Smith teased plans to call an expert witness who has “extracted and processed data” from phones belonging to Donald Trump and “another unnamed person.”
- As for Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, his defamation case again shows the contrast between what people say on right-wing TV versus what they say in federal courtrooms when lying means jail. But by apparently defaming the Georgia poll workers *again* he is clearly out of options.
In all, as Jeffrey Toobin wrote five years ago, Giuliani’s has been a remarkable fall.
*
- After the Ohtani circus, attention turns to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, apparently – unsurprisingly – being aggressively pursued by the Dodgers and their newly-flexible salary pool. Other teams seem to be in the hunt too.
***
December 11:
- Following a remarkable and unexpected move by Special Counsel Jack Smth, the US Supreme Court is set to expedite a ruling on whether Donald Trump is above the law, or should face trial over his alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election. The development makes it more likely that the former President’s Washington DC trial, set to begin next March, will be completed before November’s election. As Smith’s filing says, such an outcome is of “imperative public importance.”
- Trump ally Rudy Giuliani’s epic fall from grace continued when he showed up to his trial to determine damages after he defamed two Georgia election workers. At the end of the day, Giuliani, who apparently now has literally nothing more to lose, repeated the claims.
- Trump himself, meanwhile, did not show up for his own penalty phase trial in New York, saying he had “nothing more to say.” Would that it were…
- Trump repeated his claim that he would only act as a dictator “on day one” of his second Presidency. And yet, in the latest Iowa poll 35 days ahead of the opening 2024 nominating contest, the former President’s appeal among Republican primary voters continues to rise unabated.
- Kate Cox, the woman at the centre of a high-profile – and objectively tragic – abortion row, was forced to flee the state of Texas to obtain necessary treatment after the state Supreme Court ruled that she was ineligible for a medical exception.
*
- More details have emerged of Shohei Ohtani’s historic deal to join the Los Angeles Dodgers, with an unprecedented deferral arrangement freeing salary capacity for the Dodgers to add additional players.
***
December 10:
- Israel and US forces reportedly conducted airstrikes inside Syria over the weekend as tensions grow between Israel and Hezbollah.
- Following a US veto of a UN proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, President Biden is under pressure after bypassing Congress in the supply of weapons to Israel, as well as monitoring potential war crimes. The UN appears likely to move for another ceasefire vote as fighting intensifies.
- The International Federation of Journalists says 68 reporters have now been killed covering Israel-Gaza war, more than in any other conflict for over 30 years.
- Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky will visit Washington this week amid uncertainty over continuing US support for the war against Russia. He will meet with Congressional leaders and President Biden.
- And Zelensky attended the inauguration of new Argentinian President Javier Milei. During the event, Zelensky spoke “frankly” with Hungarian PM Viktor Orban about the EU approach to the war and Ukraine’s membership.
- Inflammatory radio talkshow host Alex Jones was reinstated to Twitter after a “poll” of users.
***
December 9:
- There has been widespread criticism of the US after it single-handedly vetoed a UN Security Council resolution for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza. The vote was 13-1, with Britain abstaining. For people in Gaza, the situation continues to deteriorate, with one aid worker describing conditions as “apocalyptic”.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its “just war to eliminate Hamas.”
- The President of the University of Pennsylvania resigned amid pressure from donors after her poorly-handled testimony at a Congressional hearing, where she was unable to say under repeated questioning that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.
- In a key test case for womens’ rights in the post-Roe era, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily halted a ruling allowing a woman to obtain an abortion due to a serious fetal abnormality.
*
- Shohei Ohtani will join the Los Angeles Dodgers in a ten-year, $700m deal. He will be the highest-paid player in MLB history. His new contract shatters his Angels’ teammate Mike Trout’s previous high of $426.5M. Speculation will now inevitably surround Trout’s future.
***
December 7:
- As fighting intensifies a week into the resumption of hostilities, the US seems to be putting greater pressure on Israel to bring their operation in Gaza to a close amid growing fears of a broader conflict. Meanwhile the United Nations invoked its charter’s Article 99 – for the first time in 50 years – to try to bring about a ceasefire.
- Domestically, President Biden appears open to compromise on border security measures in order to secure Congressional funding for Israel and Ukraine.
- In the House, the GOP’s Biden impeachment inquiry is expected to move forward, seemingly primarily in pursuit of Donald Trump’s desperate, ego-driven need not to be the only impeached President.
- Biden’s son Hunter was indicted on a range of tax offences.
- Another solid jobs report with the unemployment rate slightly lower again raises what could be the crucial campaign question of why people think the economy is bad and how can the administration change that perception?
- Washington Post journalists are on strike today for better contracts. It’s the biggest labor dispute at the paper in half a century.
*
With the Winter Meetings wrapping up without a resolution to the story everyone was waiting for, baseball writers are understandably frustrated, describing the industry as “frozen:”. Ken Rosenthal writes at The Athletic:
“The real issue is that Major League Baseball, a league without a salary cap, consistently fails to deliver the frenzied offseasons common to cap-based leagues such as the NFL, NBA and NHL, where teams have only so much to spend and need to act quickly to fill holes.”
Meanwhile, could there be a change of ownership on the horizon for the Baltimore Orioles? Bloomberg reports that Baltimore-born founder of the Carlyle Group, billionaire David Rubenstein, may be “in talks” over the team, whose lease on Camden Yards is set to expire at the end of the year.
***
December 6:
- There were two more mass shooting incidents – one in Texas that killed six people, another on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas, where three people and the shooter died. As the US broke its record for the most mass shootings in a single year, Senate Republicans blocked a move to ban assault weapons.
- With two wars raging, President Biden appealed to House Republicans to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine by the end of the year, saying “Extreme Republicans are playing Chicken with our national security, holding Ukraine’s funding hostage to their extreme partisan border policies.” An eventual deal on the border, though, could also help Biden.
- In the House, two former Speakers are calling it a day. Kevin McCarthy announced he will not seek re-election and will retire from Congress at the end of this month. His decision will further reduce the GOP’s already thin majority. Former temporary Speaker Patrick McHenry (“give me liberty or give me McDeath”) also said he would be stepping down at the next election.
- Pro-Trump 2020 electors were indicted in Nevada, while Wisconsin’s fake electors settled – agreeing that Biden won the 2020 election and saying they would not repeat their behavior in future elections. It is the first time the so-called fake electors have acknowledged the illegality of their actions and heightens the legal jeopardy for former Trump lawyer Kenneth Cheseboro.
- After Trump told Sean Hannity that he would act as a dictator “only on day one” the four remaining candidates apparently trying to replace him took the stage in Alabama in what turned out to be, largely, yet another waste of time – at least while the former President remains the clear choice of GOP primary voters. As Philip Bump writes, any “purported threat to former president Donald Trump would be more credible if he weren’t leading by 50 points.”
- Perhaps unsurprisingly, none of these people were named Time Magazine’s person of the year…
*
Despite the excessive attention on the Shohei Ohtani free agency, a blockbuster deal took Juan Soto from San Diego to the New York Yankees – among the biggest trades in Yankees history, and one that could well prove to have greater significance than wherever Ohtani ends up.
***
December 5:
- Fighting continues around the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Meanwhile, Israeli officials criticise settler violence in the West Bank.
- Sen Tommy Tuberville’s “hold” on senior military appointments ended, a logistical relief to US national security.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would blur images of Jan 6th footage so participants wouldn’t be charged by the DOJ. His office later tried to walk it back. New evidence in Jack Smith’s Jan 6 case against Donald Trump will argue that the former President intended the day’s outcome based on his previous statements.
- There is a Republican debate in Alabama tonight; and if anyone might notice it’s the last such event before the GOP’s first nominating contest, the Iowa Caucuses on January 15.
*
- Cleveland will have first pick in the MLB Draft for the first time in their history.
- Meanwhile the Shohei Ohtani information blackout is starting to look like a big missed opportunity. As Buster Olney writes:
“He is arguably the greatest international baseball star since Babe Ruth, transcending the sport’s typical orbit, and the potential impact of that during his free agency has been squandered. Just imagine how much better served we all would have been if this window was handled progressively, rather than with paranoia. Just as he has done on the field, Ohtani could have set a new standard — this time for free agent campaigns.”
***
December 4:
- Israel intensifies its operations in southern Gaza, in defiance of calls from the US and others to aim to minimize civilian casualties.
- US support for Ukraine could ‘run out of money by the end of the year’ as Congressional Republicans hold further funding hostage.
- And the quid-pro-quo they seek is changes to border and immigration policy.
- But they’re perfectly prepared to proceed with impeachment proceedings against President Biden which will run through the election year.
- The Atlantic magazine joins the growing chorus of media spelling out what is at stake from a possible second Trump presidency. Like others recently, their road map isn’t pretty.
“In his first term, Trump’s corruption and brutality were mitigated by his ignorance and laziness. In a second, Trump would arrive with a much better understanding of the system’s vulnerabilities, more willing enablers in tow, and a much more focused agenda of retaliation against his adversaries and impunity for himself. When people wonder what another Trump term might hold, their minds underestimate the chaos that would lie ahead.”
- Former Republican Rep Liz Cheney appeared on Rachel Maddow’s show to mark the launch of her book. It is a sobering watch.
- Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has now been in detention in Russia for 250 days on charges of spying, which he and his paper have denied.
***
December 3:
- As Israel expands its ground invasion in southern Gaza, the US has warned against the “forced displacement” of Palestinians.
- US Central Command said there had been drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
- There is confusion over COP28’s unity in its approach to demands for a phase-out of fossil fuels.
- Liz Cheney kicked off her book tour by saying Donald Trump’s re-election “would mean the end of our republic.”
- Baseball’s Winter Meetings are under way in Nashville, with speculation intensifying over the future of free agent Shohei Ohtani.
***
December 2:
- Israel bombarded more than 400 targets in Gaza and ordered Palestinians in several border towns to leave, likely setting the stage for another ground invasion
- One person was killed in an apparent terror attack near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
- At COP28, a message from Pope Francis called for an end to fossil fuels.
- A tsunami warning was issued after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Philippines.
- The Michigan Wolverines became Big Ten Champions for the third straight year.
***
December 1:
- Truce ends and Israel resumes airstrikes in Gaza.
- Israel ‘wants a buffer zone’ with Gaza
- Rep George Santos expelled from House of Representatives.
- Appeals court rules Donald Trump can be sued for allegedly inciting Jan 6th riot.
- As COP28 opens, US oil production hits record levels.
- First woman Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor died aged 93.
***
The November Month-by-Month is here
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2023
The October Month-by-Month is here
The September Month-by-Month is here
The August Month-by-Month is here
*
Take me to the July Month-by-Month
Take me to the June Month-by-Month
Take me to the May Month-by-Month
*
Take me to the April Month-by-Month
Take me to the March Month-by-Month
Take me to the February Month-by-Month
Take me to the January Month-by-Month
*
States of Play 