The Daily Valet. - 2/12/21, Friday

✔️ House Managers Rest Their Case

February 12, 2021

Friday, February 12th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day. And Presidents’ Day. I’ll see you back here on Tuesday.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

House Managers Rest Their Case

The trial now turns to Trump’s defense team, which will begin presenting its case

House impeachment managers rested their case against Donald Trump on Thursday insisting that the Senate’s refusal to convict him would pave the way for a future commander-in-chief to subvert the democratic process and stoke the recruitment of domestic terrorists through dangerous rhetoric.

“Is there any political leader in this room who believes that if he’s ever allowed to get back into the Oval Office, Donald Trump would stop inciting violence to get his way?” Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead impeachment manager, asked the senators. “Would you bet the lives of more police officers on that?” Speaking of which, a fuller picture of the injuries sustained by police officers during the riot has emerged from court documents and it’s gruesome.

Prosecutors used their final day of arguments to try to convince senators that Trump invited the rioters to Washington on Jan. 6. They argued that the “insurrectionists” were not acting on their own. Meanwhile, the Justice Department has made it clear that a leader of the Oath Keepers militia (who planned and led others in the Capitol siege) believed she was responding to the call from then-President Donald Trump himself.

But for all of the drama of the prosecution’s case, most Republican senators appeared unswayed. According to Politico, Trump is almost certain to be acquitted, with the vast majority of Republican senators saying the House has not met the legal standard to charge Trump with inciting the violence, and that the Senate has no constitutional authority to try a former president.

Confident of acquittal, Trump was spotted on a golf course in Florida on Thursday, while his legal team prepared an abbreviated defense presentation to offer later today rather than take the permitted two full days.

President Biden signaled his own desire to move past the trial on Thursday, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he was paying more attention to pursuing his policy agenda. “I’m focused on my job . . . to deal with the promises I made,” Biden said. “And we all know we have to move on.”

↦ What's Next? After Trump's defense team presentation today, there will be a question-and-answer period this afternoon and most likely a final vote by Saturday.

More Vaccine Doses Are On the Way

Fauci says it will be ‘open season’ by April for everyone to receive vaccines

The White House said Thursday that the Biden administration had finalized deals for another 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines authorized in the United States, providing the country with enough vaccines by the end of July to cover every American adult.

The new deals don't immediately expand access to shots, which remain in short supply throughout much of the country. Los Angeles vaccination sites that were slated to close Friday due to supply shortages ran out of doses sooner than expected and had to turn people away Thursday. In Alabama, which ranks last in the U.S. in per capita vaccinations, all sites are now booked solid for the next two months.

However, former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC that this scene will likely shift in the coming months, and the U.S. will be forced to open up availability so as not to waste doses. “At some point in March, states are going to have to make decisions about how to open this up more widely,” predicted Gottlieb, who serves on Pfizer's board of directors.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious-disease expert, agrees. “By the time we get to April, that'll be what I'd call 'open season,' namely, virtually anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated,” he told NBC News. It echoed his sentiment from days earlier that he expects the pace of vaccinations to improve in the months ahead—especially with these new doses now secured.

↦ Dig Deeper: At least 35.4 million Americans have received one or both doses of the vaccine, according to the Washington Post's vaccine tracker.

AutoCamp Is Opening New Airstream Sites

These luxury campsites come with everything you need to get away. Or work remotely from nature.

Add this to your list of socially distanced trips to take: AutoCamp is opening three new U.S. locations of its luxury campsites with stylish accommodations in sleek lodges, Scandi-style tents and kitted-out Airstreams.

Autocamp, which already has sites around Yosemite National Park and Cape Cod, is opening near Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California this fall, as well as expand to the Catskills and Utah's Zion National Park in 2022, reports Travel + Leisure.

According to Surface, when Autocamp first opened in California's wine country in 2016, it instilled a sheen of sophistication into the camping experience thanks to founder Neil DiPaola’s vision and a smartly devised blueprint by Anacapa Architecture and Geremia Design.

The intent was never to create a glamping experience—the world has enough of those—but more like camping+. The 25-acre Joshua Tree location will kick things up a notch with an outdoor bar, combined hot tub and plunge pool, as well an on-site general store. To reduce the site’s environmental impact, it will have an onsite water treatment system, landscaping that requires little water and dark-sky-compliant lighting ideal for stargazing.

A Quirky Sale for Presidents’ Day

George Washington’s hair and other artifacts going up for auction

Presidents' Day is upon us, and so are the big sales. But the slew of discounted goods may well be eclipsed by an auction—of actual presidents' stuff.

Locks of George Washington's hair and Andrew Johnson's order of a national day of mourning after Abraham Lincoln's assassination are among a trove of nearly 300 presidential artifacts hitting the auction block. So is JFK's Harvard sweater, Ronald Reagan's watch and the pen that Warren Harding used to end Ameriacn involvement in World War I.

Boston-based RR Auction kicked off online bidding Thursday and the sale runs through Feb. 18. Auction spokesperson Mike Graff told the Associated Press that the collection “honors America's esteemed commanders-in-chief.”

↦ FYI: A rare, complete issue of the “Dewey Defeats Truman” edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune of Nov. 3, 1948 that announced the wrong winner of the election could go for $200.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The Climate Corps

Food grammar

Some very cool New Balances

What Are We Watching This Valentine’s Day?

You can't go out, so you might as well stream

You’d be forgiven for not being thrilled about celebrating Valentine’s Day during a pandemic. The holiday is often a stressful occasion in the best of times. This year, we can’t even go out to a restaurant.

Not that going out for an over-priced meal in a packed restaurant was ideal, but at this point, I'd kill to be stuffed between two other couples sharing dessert. Instead—whether you are single or happily coupled—fire up the streaming device of your choice and watch a romantic movie in the serene privacy of your home.

Maybe you want a sappy, feel-good rom-com to wash away the sting. Perhaps your tastes swing the other way and you prefer something a little darker and twisted. Vulture pulled together the nine best horror movies to watch on Valentine's Day. And The Ringer makes a compelling case for revisiting The Silence of the Lambs.

Of course, this being a love-centered holiday, i-D pulls together some steamy arthouse films that stoke the fires of desire. Who says you can't get highbrow and get your rocks off?