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Andrew here. I want to speak with you directly this morning, so this may feel a bit more personal than usual.<\/p>\n
The attack on the U.S. Capitol yesterday by supporters of President Trump was among the lowest moments I have seen in my career covering everything from 9\/11 to the 2008 financial crisis to the pandemic. It was unfathomable to witness this violent effort to upend the certification of the election, incited by the president. The damage to America\u2019s reputation is real.<\/p>\n
This newsletter focuses on the intersection of business and policy. We try not to be political. Yet in this moment when our democracy is under siege, important questions must be asked about business leaders who enabled Mr. Trump and, in turn, share some degree of responsibility for the disgraceful acts that took place in Washington yesterday.<\/p>\n
And there were many enablers \u2014 educated, smart, articulate, often wealthy people who were willing to ignore Mr. Trump\u2019s threat to democracy in the name of economic growth, lower taxes, lighter regulations, or simply access and proximity to power.<\/p>\n
At a time when business leaders tout their \u201cvalues\u201d and \u201csocial responsibility,\u201d how should those enablers \u2014 and the institutions they run \u2014 be considered after all this?<\/p>\n
Take Steve Schwarzman, the Blackstone Group co-founder. He was one of Mr. Trump\u2019s most ardent backers and confidants on Wall Street. Knowing the president\u2019s proclivity to lie and incite his followers, Mr. Schwarzman still supported his election campaigns. Should that matter to pension funds and other investors doing business with Blackstone and its companies?<\/p>\n
To his credit, Mr. Schwarzman broke with Mr. Trump and publicly accepted Joe Biden\u2019s election in November. The private equity chief also put out a damning statement last night: \u201cThe insurrection that followed the president\u2019s remarks today is appalling and an affront to the democratic values we hold dear as Americans. I am shocked and horrified by this mob\u2019s attempt to undermine our constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of Blackstone\u2019s other senior executives publicly backed Mr. Biden or stayed out of politics altogether. Add it all up, and what does it mean for the company?<\/p>\n
What about Oracle\u2019s Larry Ellison and Safra Catz, who held fund-raisers for Mr. Trump? What should their company\u2019s employees now think? And their clients?<\/p>\n
The list of Mr. Trump\u2019s backers in corporate America goes on: the billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, the Apollo Global Management co-founder Marc Rowan, the Workday chairman David Duffield and the investor Peter Thiel, to name several more.<\/p>\n
And what about Trump cabinet officials who will now be seeking jobs? Will a Wall Street bank or blue-chip corporation hire Secretary of State Mike Pompeo? What about Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin? <\/p>\n
Then there are politicians like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who helped stir up this moment with provocative challenges to Mr. Biden\u2019s legitimate election win. Business leaders will have to make hard decisions about how to interact with these lawmakers in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Business is about accountability, and this sad episode in our nation\u2019s history deserves more of it.<\/p>\n
Congress confirms Joe Biden\u2019s electoral victory.<\/strong> At about 3:40 a.m. Eastern, lawmakers finished certifying states\u2019 votes for the president-elect, rejecting challenges from some Republican members. Shortly afterward, President Trump said in a statement that \u201cthere will be an orderly transition on January 20th,\u201d while continuing to baselessly allege election fraud.<\/p>\n The Senate officially flips to the Democrats.<\/strong> News outlets declared Jon Ossoff the winner of the second Georgia runoff, after the Rev. Raphael Warnock\u2019s victory earlier in the day. With Democrats winning both of the state\u2019s Senate seats, they now control Congress\u2019s upper chamber, bolstering Mr. Biden\u2019s ability to enact his agenda.<\/p>\n Merrick Garland is Mr. Biden\u2019s nominee for attorney general.<\/strong> The centrist federal judge, whose Supreme Court nomination in 2016 was blocked by Senate Republicans, has bipartisan support. If confirmed, he would lead a Justice Department that some insiders say has become overly politicized.<\/p>\n Scientists warn about U.S. vulnerability to the new coronavirus variant.<\/strong> Health experts said that the highly transmissible strain now surging through Britain could soon spread rapidly throughout the U.S. unless the country adopts better genetic surveillance. Separately, minutes from the Fed\u2019s meeting last month showed concern among officials that rising infections are putting the economic recovery at risk.<\/p>\n Investigators examine a software maker\u2019s potential role in the Russian hacking.<\/strong> American intelligence officials and private cybersecurity experts are focusing on whether hackers infiltrated an app from JetBrains to help break into U.S. government and corporate computer systems.<\/p>\n Corporate leaders and groups were quick to condemn yesterday\u2019s mayhem at the Capitol, with some forcefully criticizing President Trump. Investors, however, were more sanguine.<\/p>\n Cautious words went by the wayside<\/strong> as executives and trade groups assailed those they held responsible for the violence. The National Association of Manufacturers declared the rampage \u201csedition\u201d \u2014 and called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke a provision of the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office.<\/p>\n Even before the mob violence, dozens of C.E.O.s who participated in a virtual summit this week said they were considering withholding donations to lawmakers who sought to impede the presidential transition.<\/p>\n More reactions from corporate America:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe lawlessness and violence occurring on Capitol Hill today is the antithesis of democracy, and we strongly condemn it.\u201d \u2014 Sundar Pichai of Alphabet<\/p>\n \u201cIf this were a Black crowd, if this was a Latino, Mexican, any kind of shaded crowd, they\u2019d be dead.\u201d \u2014 Ursula Burns, the former Xerox C.E.O.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not who we are as a people or a country. We are better than this.\u201d \u2014 Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase<\/p>\n Markets took things in stride.<\/strong> The Dow set a record, even as the Capitol rampage broke out midafternoon, while the S&P 500 slipped a bit but still closed up 0.6 percent on the day. Stock futures are up this morning.<\/p>\n Investors appeared to be looking past the chaos \u2014 as they did during the huge racial justice protests last year \u2014 and focusing on the possibility of additional stimulus under a Democratic White House and Congress. \u201cGenerally, markets have confidence in underlying institutions and believe that riots will have little or no practical economic effect,\u201d John Authers of Bloomberg Opinion writes.<\/p>\n About the 25th Amendment:<\/strong> Seventeen members of Congress, in a letter sent to Mr. Pence last night, joined calls to invoke the amendment against Mr. Trump. But the law is intended to remove presidents who are incapacitated and unable to govern, not those who merely do \u201cbad things,\u201d the Michigan State constitutional law scholar Brian Kalt told DealBook. It also gives strong protections for a president refuting the claims. \u201cIt\u2019s not meant as a substitute for impeachment and removal,\u201d he said. Used together, the amendment and an impeachment ending in a conviction, he said, would immediately disempower Mr. Trump and make him ineligible to run for office in the future.<\/p>\n \u2014 Chris Sacca, a tech investor and early backer of Twitter, <\/em>in a message<\/em> directed at Twitter\u2019s Jack Dorsey and Facebook\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg about President Trump\u2019s social media activity<\/em><\/p>\n Facebook and Twitter temporarily suspended Mr. Trump\u2019s accounts yesterday after he published a string of inaccurate and inflammatory messages. <\/span>The actions followed years of resistance by the platforms to strongly crack down on Mr. Trump\u2019s messages, arguing that all statements from the U.S. president were in the public interest.<\/p>\n The New York Stock Exchange said it would proceed with delisting three Chinese telecom companies by Monday, officially reversing its reversal after facing pressure from the White House, which may expand its market ban for Chinese businesses.<\/p>\n The Big Board said it was complying with new guidance<\/strong> from the Treasury Department declaring that the delistings were necessary to comply with an order barring Americans from investing in companies with ties to China\u2019s military. (To recap: The N.Y.S.E. said on Dec. 31 that it would delist the companies, then backed off that decision this week.)<\/p>\n Separately, the Trump administration is reportedly considering adding the Chinese internet giants Alibaba and Tencent to its investment block list, potentially escalating tensions with Beijing. This follows the White House\u2019s banning of eight Chinese apps this week.<\/p>\n Enforcement of the orders will be up to President-elect Joe Biden<\/strong>, who faces a dilemma: keep up a tougher stance against a major geopolitical rival, or try to reset relations to avoid the disruption and retaliation that American companies might meet.<\/p>\n Few edifices inspire Americans, past or present, to wax poetic like the U.S. Capitol. \u201cWe have built no national temples but the Capitol; we consult no common oracle but the Constitution,\u201d said Rufus Choate, a Massachusetts senator, in 1833.<\/p>\n The grandeur isn\u2019t accidental.<\/strong> The late-18th-century building, like the layout of the city that houses it, was designed to reflect the United States founders\u2019 expansive democratic vision. Over the years, it has served as both a glorious structure and adored symbol. President Trump issued an order last month deeming the classical style the default design mode for federal construction.<\/p>\n \u201cThis temple to democracy was desecrated, its windows smashed, our offices vandalized,\u201d <\/strong>said Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader. Members of the mob hung from walls, lounged at lecterns and stole \u201ctrophies.\u201d A woman who was shot in the melee was pronounced dead at a hospital.<\/p>\n It dealt a blow to a precious symbol<\/strong>, and the substance it represents, showing that democracy is delicate, however elegant and solid its appearance. The broken windows will be easily repaired, but the shattered norms are another story.<\/p>\n Deals<\/strong><\/p>\n The gaming platform Roblox, which delayed its I.P.O. plans last month, said it would instead pursue a direct listing and announced a $520 million fund-raising round. (Bloomberg)<\/p>\n The insurer UnitedHealth agreed to buy Change Healthcare, a billing and payments processor, for $7.8 billion. (Reuters)<\/p>\nLatest Updates<\/h2>\n
\u2018This is sedition\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u201cInciting violent treason is not a free speech exercise.\u201d<\/h2>\n
The latest on Chinese delistings<\/h2>\n
On appreciation of the classics<\/h2>\n
THE SPEED READ <\/span><\/h3>\n