The Daily Valet. - 6/17/22, Friday

✔️ It's Hard to Believe

June 17, 2022

Friday, June 17th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Don’t forget your dad this weekend.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

↦ We will be off on Monday, in observance of Juneteenth.
↦ See you back here on Tuesday.

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

Day 3 of Hearings

Aides told Trump that overturning the election was illegal, but he continued to push Pence to block the certification

The more we find out, the scarier it seems. In its third hearing, the Jan. 6 panel laid out evidence that former President Trump knew his order to former Vice President Mike Pence was unlawful. But he pursued it anyway.

According to reporters in the room, the hearings “swerved wildly at times between wonky discussions of constitutional law and unsettling images of the threats and violence that Trump’s attacks on Pence inspired.”

But at the heart of the committee’s presentation was a straightforward narrative: Weeks before the mob attack on the Capitol, Trump joined forces with a law professor named John Eastman, who was suggesting a theory that Pence (in his role as president of the Senate), had the power to alter the outcome of the election.

However, on Jan. 4, Eastman acknowledged to Trump and several others in the Oval Office that his strategy violated the Electoral Count Act and was illegal, Greg Jacob, Pence’s lawyer testified. But a day later, Eastman had reversed course and was again pushing the Pence team to pursue the most aggressive option: reject electors from contested states in a bid to overturn the election. We all know now that Pence steadfastly refused.

On the morning of the 6th, Trump berated Pence on a phone call shortly before he addressed his supporters at the rally. A former assistant to Trump said that he used the word “wimp” several times. Ivanka Trump testified that she was taken aback when she overheard her father. “It was a different tone than I had heard him take with the vice president before,” she told the committee. And her chief of staff Julie Radford told the committee that Ivanka has said her father called Pence “the P-word.”

That afternoon, after Trump sent out a tweet that said, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done,” witnesses testified that rioters became even more violent. Rioters came within 40 feet of where Pence and others had been evacuated. Witnesses from within Trump’s own administration called his last-ditch efforts “nuts,” and “crazy.” And when you see it all back, it shows you how close the nation came to a genuine constitutional crisis. The question now, though, is what happens next, and how real is the possibility that prosecutors at the Justice Department will, in fact, publicly open an investigation.

↦ FYI: Today’s the 50th anniversary of Watergate. The Washington Post looks back at its legacy and how trust in government was shattered ... and never recovered.

Will He, Won’t He?

Elon Musk had a worse Thursday than you

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, saw his fortune shrink by $14.2 billion Thursday, as shares of his electric vehicle company slid 8.5%. Amazingly, the outspoken billionaire, whose tweets often send the stock sinking and soaring, barely even opened his mouth.

He did call into Twitter HQ. Despite the drop in wealth, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO appeared to reiterate his commitment to purchasing Twitter during a virtual all-hands Q&A session with employees, which didn't go over so well.

When asked about his position on free speech, Musk said that users should be allowed to tweet nearly anything that doesn't violate existing laws, though he said that tweeting a message “doesn't necessarily equate to amplification of that message.” Pushing back on the company's current hybrid structure, he said people should be in the office. But then said that workers who are “exceptional” can sometimes work remotely. Cringe.

Asked about his vision for the company, Musk said he wanted a billion people a day to use Twitter. That's pretty ambitious. Just 229 million people use Twitter daily right now. He deflected a question about whether he planned to become the CEO, saying he doesn't care about titles, but plans to give a lot of input about the direction of the platform.

↦ Meanwhile: The one-lane tunnel owned by Musk’s Boring Company is expanding into what Gizmodo calls a full boondoggle.

Partner

Still not sure what to get dad? This tasteful outfitter has some seriously stylish options to make your father feel at home.

The Warriors Win NBA Finals

In Stephen Curry’s crowning achievement, Warriors win fourth NBA title in eight years

Stephen Curry captured his fourth NBA title Thursday night with an 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, and he also was named Finals MVP for the first time in his illustrious career.

The best-of-seven NBA Final series ended in six games, with the Warriors winning the final three after falling behind, 2-1. The San Francisco-based club has now won seven NBA championships in franchise history, with the Larry O'Brien Trophy most recently making its way to NorCal in 2015, 2017 and 2018 in this recent run.

According to Bleacher Report, Curry led all scorers in each of the first four games of the NBA Finals, becoming the first player since Michael Jordan in 1998 to do so.

Curry may be something of a cold-blooded killer on a basketball court, but in the final seconds of the 2022 NBA Finals, NBC Sports said he finally allowed emotions to get the best of him. After a two-year playoff hiatus, including a season in which they finished with the worst record in the league, the Warriors had climbed back to the NBA mountaintop, he began to cry as he realized what he and his team had just accomplished. Gotta love a comeback story.

↦ FYI: ESPN says the Warriors are the favorites to win next year's championship too, but that could change during an offseason with big-name free agents on the market.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Spiderhead’ + The Prisoner Red Blend

What do you get by mixing a New Yorker short story, the writers of Deadpool, the director of Top Gun: Maverick and stars Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller? Spiderhead—an intelligent, moving and sometimes funny examination of pharmaceutically enhanced emotions—which starts streaming on Netflix today. It's a little bit sci-fi and a little bit action.

Hemsworth plays the director of an innovative penitentiary that doubles as a testing laboratory for drugs that control your emotions. Teller plays his prize prisoner and guinea pig. The prison itself is located on what appears to be a remote island; the building is a brutalist structure outside and looks like a 1970s vision of the future from inside. To me, the film seems suspenseful and stylish. Reviews are mostly positive but several remind us not to get distracted by the overly violent ending. As Michael Ordoña writes in the Los Angeles Times, “Even with the addition of action scenes and more sinister underpinnings, the main attraction of the film remains the short story's personal drama.”

↦ Your Pairing:With a name like Prisoner, I had to choose this popular red wine for this week’s pairing. Made with a blend of Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon, along with Syrah and Charbono, it features a diverse combination of dark grapes that creates a bold, luscious wine with a surprisingly smooth finish.

In Other News

↦ Omicron May Be Less Likely to Cause Long COVID, But That’s Not the Whole Story

↦ MIT Scientists Propose Space Bubbles to Reverse the Worst of Climate Change

↦ Honda and Sony Sign Agreement for New EV Joint Venture Brand

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Dogs remain great

An Amex card made from a plane

Reef safe sunscreen

Partner

What to Get Discerning Dads

Luxe last-minute Father’s Day gift ideas

Tilton recliner, $3,727

Is your dad a man of good taste? If he's not the type that responds to hokey novelty items for Father's Day, impress him with something well-made and stylish. For more than three decades Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams has been selling high-end home furnishings. We have been fans for some time—in fact, we have a leather Major Chair at Valet. HQ.

Their earth-friendly upholstered furniture is handcrafted in North Carolina. Each piece is carefully bench-made by skilled artisans to create a work of art that will stand the test of time. They also source unique and high-end accessories and other furnishings to complete a home. If your father has a den, this is the place to outfit it with. We picked a few our current favorites—the kind of pieces that any discerning dad would appreciate. Including the world's most stylish recliner, ever.