Michael Schaffer

Washington, D.C.

Capital City columnizer, @POLITICOmag. Co-host, @citycast_dc. Formerly: Editor of @washingtonian & @wcp. D.C. Native. Admirer of schemes.

Articles

Ed Martin Called Jan. 6 ‘Mardi Gras.’ Now He’s Trying to Put a Guy in Jail for a Nonviolent Protest.

1 week ago | politico.com | Michael Schaffer

I spoke to a half-dozen lawyers who have worked both sides of protest arrests and they all said the legacy of Jan. 6 is likely to shape future proceedings, either in court or in the minds of jurors.
Trump’s Controversial US Attorney Is Coming for Medical Marijuana

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Michael Schaffer

The Donald Trump era has cost the District of Columbia thousands of jobs, blown a billion-dollar hole in its budget and caused a downgrade of the city’s AAA bond rating. Now Trump’s interim U.S. Attorney, Ed Martin, is coming for the capital’s weed, too — and threatening to upend a tacit agreement where federal prosecutors have respected Washington’s local marijuana laws. The opening salvo came via a letter from Martin to a D.C. medical-marijuana vendor.
Trump’s Controversial US Attorney Is Coming for Medical Marijuana

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Michael Schaffer

1 hour agoThe state of California plans to increase pot taxes to the highest level allowed by law California’s beleaguered pot industry was given another piece of bad news Thursday afternoon: The state cannabis tax rate will increase from 15% to 19% on July 1, the highest allowed by state law. The 26% change, …
"Ci, którzy go podziwiali, teraz są na niego wściekli za bezwstydne podlizywanie się Trumpowi". Ale to nie Jeff Bezos się zmienił, tylko zasady [OPINIA]

3 weeks ago | wiadomosci.onet.pl | Michael Schaffer

W 2016 r., niedługo po nabyciu "The Washington Post", założyciel Amazona zwrócił uwagę na dawne muzeum o powierzchni 17 000 stóp [około 5200 m kw] zaprojektowane przez architekta Jefferson Memorial [Johna Russella Pope'a]. Wkrótce po zakupie go za 23 mln dol. [86 mln 421 tys. zł] w gotówce, zaczął go remontować, aby organizować przyjęcia, podążając śladami kultowej poprzedniczki [kierującej "The Washington Post" przez 20 lat, między innymi w okresie afery Watergate].
Jeff Bezos Didn’t Change. DC Did.

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Michael Schaffer

It’s hard to remember now, but there was a time when people in Washington were positively giddy about Jeff Bezos’ new mansion on S Street. In 2016, not long after acquiring The Washington Post, the Amazon founder set his eyes on a 17,000-foot former museum designed by the architect of the Jefferson Memorial. Soon after buying it for $23 million in cash, he set about renovating it to host parties, following in the footsteps of an iconic Post predecessor.
DC Statehood is Going Nowhere. Is It Time to Think About Joining Maryland?

4 weeks ago | politico.com | Michael Schaffer

The fear is epic: When the president posted a bizarre AI video depicting a Trumpified Gaza, one city source told me, colleagues worried they’d be next. In this environment, no one is talking seriously about statehood. Or, at least, they’re not talking about 51st statehood.
DC Isn’t Becoming a State. But It Could Become Maryland.

4 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Michael Schaffer

To protect the District of Columbia, it might be necessary to eliminate the District of Columbia — and merge it into the neighboring state of Maryland. It’s an idea that many people think makes eminent practical sense in the name of running the city. Yet it’s only in the air right now because of dramatic political reversals in the age of Donald Trump.
Mark Zuckerberg Is the Mystery Buyer of a $23 Million DC Mansion

1 month ago | politico.com | Michael Schaffer

And on Wednesday, the same day Zuckerberg was spotted at the White House, a Meta spokesperson confirmed it to POLITICO Magazine: “Mark and Priscilla have purchased a home in D.C., which will allow Mark to spend more time there as Meta continues the work on policy issues related to American technology leadership,” the spokesperson told me in a statement referencing Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
It’s Now a Hate Crime to Vandalize Teslas in DC

1 month ago | politico.com | Michael Schaffer

The document was accompanied by security-camera pictures of a man and a woman believed to be the perps. They are still at large. The department’s X post about the investigation was subsequently reposted without comment by Musk himself. Even in a month when Bowser placated Republican critics by tearing up the iconic Black Lives Matter Plaza on 16th Street, the tone seemed over the top. The incidents, after all, involved writing on car windows, not blowing up automobiles.
They Were Raised to Serve America. MAGA Sees Them as Its Enemies.

1 month ago | politico.com | Michael Schaffer

Michael Abramowitz and James Boasberg both grew up as children of Washington notables, becoming friends at Saint Albans, the venerable prep school where the local elite has long educated its kids. Their fellow students included future Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), future White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and the sons of a vast array of Washington VIPs ranging from Jesse Jackson to G. Gordon Liddy.