;)
September 24, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's attorneys are fighting a secret court battle to block a federal grand jury from gathering information from an expanding circle of close Trump aides about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, people briefed on the matter told CNN. The high-stakes legal dispute -- which included the appearance of three attorneys representing Trump at the Washington, DC, federal courthouse on Thursday afternoon -- is the most aggressive step taken by the former President to assert executive and attorney-client privileges in order to prevent some witnesses from sharing information in the criminal investigation [of] events surrounding January 6, 2021.... Former Trump White House adviser and lawyer Eric Herschmann ... is not ... fighting the [grand jury] subpoena [he received]. Instead, Trump's lawyers are asking a judge to recognize the former President's privilege claims and the right to confidentiality around his dealings. Herschmann's grand jury testimony has been postponed."
Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Career prosecutors have recommended against charging Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in a long-running sex-trafficking investigation -- telling Justice Department superiors that a conviction is unlikely in part because of credibility questions with the two central witnesses, according to people familiar with the matter. Senior department officials have not made a final decision on whether to charge Gaetz, but it is rare for such advice to be rejected...." MB: Matt's Tip O' the Day for Lawbreakers: hang out with people too sleazy to be believed. It won't matter if they finger you.
On this Washington Post page, you can find out just how hot it was this summer in your home county (or any other county, of course). The page compares day & nighttime temp as well as rainfall to temps & precipitation prior years.
~~~ Watch to the end. Marie: I did laugh at the "Breaking Squirrel News," but, truth be told, my behavior would have been similar/identical to Squirrel Man's.
~~~~~~~~~~
Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "Over the past week, >a federal appeals court in Atlanta -- along with Mr. Trump's choice for a special master ... -- undermined a bulwark of his effort to justify his actions: Both suggested that there was no evidence to support the assertion that Mr. Trump had declassified everything -- in writing, verbally or wordlessly -- despite what the former president may have said on TV. On Thursday, the special master, Judge Raymond J. Dearie, also appeared to take aim at another one of Mr. Trump's excuses -- that federal agents had planted some of the records when they searched his Mar-a-Lago estate. In an order issued after the appellate court had ruled, Judge Dearie instructed Mr. Trump's lawyers to let him know if there were any discrepancies between the documents that were kept at Mar-a-Lago and those that the F.B.I. said it had hauled away....
"On Thursday, Judge [Aileen] Cannon modified her order for the special master review to exclude documents marked as classified, in line with the appeals court decision. Nonetheless, the order seemed to raise new questions. Judge Cannon did not issue a written opinion explaining why she had taken that step before Mr. Trump indicated whether he would appeal to the Supreme Court. By pre-emptively removing the portions of the order that the appeals court had blocked, she may have rendered any further litigation over the matter moot. Mr. Trump's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment." ~~~
~~~ Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "The Mar-a-Lago special master on Thursday ordered Donald Trump's lawyers to state in a court filing whether they believe FBI agents lied about documents seized from the former president's Florida residence in a court-authorized search last month, or claimed to have taken items that were not actually in Trump's possession. In a Thursday afternoon filing, U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie -- the special master -- told Trump's legal team to state by Sept. 30 whether they believe any of the seized items were incorrectly described in the Justice Department's 11-page inventory list, which said some of the documents were highly classified. Dearie also told them to say whether they are claiming that any items on the inventory list were not in fact taken from the premises. Trump has said on social media and in television interviews that the FBI planted items when they searched his Mar-a-Lago residence and private club on Aug. 8.... Dearie's order, in essence, demands that Trump's lawyers back up their client's claims." An NBC News story is here, and a CNN story is here.
~~~ Marie: So five judges whacked Trump in less than 24 hours: the three appellate judges, Dearie & even Cannon. I expect Cannon screwed Trump because she was so shaken by the Appellate Court's takedown of her stupid ruling that she didn't think to find out that she should give the Biggest Loser a chance to appeal to the Supremes. (Or she's so dumb she would not have thought of that in any event.) But Judge Dearie knew what he was doing when he forced Trump's lawyers to provide some proof that FBI agents had planted documents at Mar-a-Lardo. He was putting that line of bull to rest. Even if the FBI had planted incriminating docs, Trump could never prove it because I serious doubt he had kept his own inventory of what-all he had stolen. Of course, thieves probably don't usually inventory their take, so that's understandable. ~~~
~~~ And Another Thing. David Rohde of the New Yorker said on MSNBC last night that the FBI has a lead that Trump shared a classified document with a person not authorized to see it. Now, if Trump had declassified the docs, (using telepathy or other means) when he was president*, that would be okay. Those documents were marked "classified," but they were no longer classified. However, Rohde's remark brings up the more pressing -- and alarming -- issue: how many U.S. & what damaging information has Trump shared with unauthorized people? We already suspect/know that unauthorized people were handling the documents & had opportunities to rifle through them and choose some favorites, and now the FBI is developing evidence that Trump purposely shared government secrets with at least one unauthoized person. I still think the FBI should haul him in & interrogate him under a harsh light. Maybe that will happen.
Quinta Jurecic, et al., of Lawfare: "The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon was a hot mess, as we and others detailed when she handed it down, and the grounds for an almost-inevitable appellate court intervention were obvious at the time. That said, the 29-page opinion is important in a number of respects.... Its unanimity and speed emphasize the fact that Judge Cannon's interference in the Justice Department's investigation was a gross impropriety, not a plausible legal position. That two of the panel members were, like Judge Cannon, appointed by President Trump further emphasizes that this is a matter of professionalism, not a matter of ideology or the sort of judicial philosophy that reasonably separates conservative from liberal jurists.... While the Eleventh Circuit emphasized that it was ruling on the narrow matter before it -- whether to stay Judge Cannon's ruling appointing a special master and enjoining the government from using the fruits of the Mar-a-Lago search with respect to 100 documents marked classified -- most of the logic of the opinion applies with equal force to the entire case.... In fact, if one takes [the appeals court ruling] at face value, it means the whole case should be thrown out.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "As U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon ruled twice in the Mar-a-Lago documents case for the former president who nominated her to the bench, many legal experts -- including conservatives and executive-power advocates --; have strained to understand how she could have reached such conclusions about Donald Trump's claims. On Wednesday night, two fellow Trump nominees joined with another judge to provide the rebuke of Cannon's jurisprudence that those experts suggested might be coming.... They repeatedly rejected not just the Trump legal team's lack of arguments, but also Cannon's acceptance of them. Indeed, they suggested it was inexplicable that Cannon ruled for Trump even by her own logic." MB: I do wonder what lesson Cannon will take from this rebuke. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Charlie Savage of the New York Times explains presidential power to declassify information. It would be a good idea if Donald Trump read the article. Much of the article addresses the declassification system in Q&A format. Here's my favorite: "Can a president secretly declassify information without leaving a written record or telling anyone? That question, according to specialists in the law of government secrecy, is borderline incoherent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Andrew Weissmann, speaking on MSNBC this morning or last night was amused by Trump's assertion that "if you're the president of the United States, you can declassify ... even by thinking about it." Weissmann called that the "Bewitched Defense." It is my firm opinion that to successfully raise that defense, Trump would have had to wiggle his porky snout.
Renato Mariotti in a Politico Magazine opinion piece: "It's not hard to see why [New York State Attorney General Letitia] James is taking such a hard line [against Donald Trump, et al., & the Trump Organization]. She has a winning hand.... James' lawsuit is full of seemingly damning evidence, outlining a wide-ranging scheme to defraud lenders by vastly inflating the value of Trump's assets.... James alleges that Trump and his kids did this approximately 200 times between 2011 and 2021, sometimes inflating the value of properties by as much as tenfold.... Perhaps the biggest reason James has such a winning hand is this: Trump dealt her the cards. In early August he invoked the Fifth Amendment some 440 times during his deposition in this case.... Trump, his son Eric, and others took the Fifth hundreds of times.... Taking the Fifth has severe consequences in this case.... The jury will likely be instructed they can infer that when Trump [and others] took the Fifth, [the] answer[s] would have been adverse to [them]."
Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A Jan. 6 rioter who has dressed up as Adolf Hitler and held a security clearance was sentenced to four years in federal prison during a hearing on Thursday. Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, 32, of New Jersey, who was an Army reservist when he stormed the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, was convicted in May after he failed to convince jurors that he didn't know that Congress met at the Capitol, a claim he made on the stand to avoid a conviction for obstruction of Congress." MB: As Molly Ivins would have said, his improbable defense "probably sounded better in the original German." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Marianne Levine & Burgess Everett of Politico: "Even as House GOP leaders whipped against the post-Jan. 6 legislation this week [-- which would clean up the 19th-century Electoral Count Act that Trump tried to exploit to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell has encouraged his members to seek a deal with Democrats and is himself leaning toward backing the effort, according to senators in both parties.... The Senate's bipartisan bill already has support from 11 Republicans, more than enough to break a filibuster."
Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "In an explosive hearing in July, an unidentified former Twitter employee testified to the House Jan. 6 committee that the company had tolerated false and rule-breaking tweets from Donald Trump for years because executives knew their service was his 'favorite and most-used -- and enjoyed having that sort of power.' Now, in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, the whistleblower, Anika Collier Navaroli, reveals the terror she felt about coming forward and how eventually that fear was overcome by her worry that extremism and political disinformation on social media pose an 'imminent threat not just to American democracy, but to the societal fabric of our planet.'... Twitter banned Trump two days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, citing fears he could incite further violence. By that time, he had sent more than 56,000 tweets over 12 years, many of which included lies and baseless accusations about election fraud." Worth a read.
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "A federal watchdog on Thursday found that fraudsters may have stolen $45.6 billion from the nation's unemployment insurance program during the pandemic, using the Social Security numbers of dead people and other tactics to deceive and bilk the U.S. government. The new estimate is a dramatic increase from the roughly $16 billion in potential fraud identified a year ago, and it illustrates the immense task still ahead of Washington as it seeks to pinpoint the losses, recover the funds and hold criminals accountable for stealing from a vast array of federal relief programs.... To siphon away funds, scammers allegedly filed billions of dollars in unemployment claims in multiple states simultaneously and relied on suspicious, hard-to-trace emails. In some cases, they used more than 205,000 Social Security numbers that belonged to dead people. Other suspected criminals obtained benefits using the identities of prisoners who are ineligible for aid." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: It appears state employees who processed these claims were as gullible as the marks who fall for emails telling them they have a big inheritance awaiting them in a Nigerian bank account, but they need to send $2,314 in processing & late fees to get the money out.
Digby has more on scammer Gov. Ron DeSantis' unrealized promise to fly migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Delaware. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) And of course, old-fashioned corruption is part of the story: ~~~
~~~ Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: The company that flew asylum-seekers from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard -- Destin[, Florida]-based Vertol Systems Company -- "'was familiar to a key member of the DeSantis administration: Larry Keefe, the state's "public safety czar" responsible for carrying out the governor's anti-immigration programs. The company also has a private jet that flew from Florida to San Antonio a week before charter flights took 48 migrants to Martha's Vineyard,' the Miami Herald reported. 'Before DeSantis hired Keefe, and before he was named U.S. Attorney for Florida's Northern District by ... Donald Trump, Keefe represented Vertol Systems in a dozen lawsuits between 2010 and 2017,' the newspaper reported. '... So far, Keefe's ties to Vertol Systems are the best explanation of why the state hired the company." MB: Nice to see Trump gets a cameo in another corruption story. ~~~
~~~ AND Gaetz! Marc Caputo of NBC News: "The air charter company Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration hired for his migrant-moving program has contributed big money to some top allies of the governor and was once legally represented by Rep. Matt Gaetz and his former partner [Larry Keefe], who is now Florida's 'public safety czar' in charge of immigration policy. DeSantis' administration has refused to release a copy of the $12 million contract with Vertol Systems Company Inc. for its role in administering the 'unauthorized alien' program -- which state Democrats sought to block with a lawsuit Thursday -- nor will the governor's office comment on the nearly $1.6 million the company has received to send migrants to so-called sanctuary cities that welcome immigrants.... The state budget authorizing the program specifies that 'unauthorized aliens' are supposed to be flown from 'this state' of Florida -- not any other state -- and Republicans who crafted the program this year said publicly that Venezuelans seeking asylum are not considered 'unauthorized aliens' because they're allowed to be in this country."
Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Christiane Amanpour was all set to interview Iran's president in New York on Wednesday when Iranian officials stepped in with a last-minute condition: The CNN host would have to wear a head covering, in deference to Iranian custom and an Islamic religious ritual. Amanpour said she refused -- at which point aides to president Ebrahim Raisi canceled the interview, setting off an incident that underscored tensions over women's rights in Iran. 'I refused to fold or cave to enable [the Iranians] to impose the laws of their land on our land,' Amanpour told The Washington Post on Thursday.... The incident comes as protests take place across Iran over Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died while in police custody last week. Amini was arrested in Tehran by Iran's 'morality police' over her public attire. Her family has disputed Iranian officials' claims that she died of heart failure. In protest, demonstrators have burned hijabs and other such coverings, and women have publicly cut their hair in defiance of the country's leadership. Security forces attempting to quell the protests have killed at least eight people, according to the human rights group Amnesty International."
Amy Wang & Min Joo Kim of the Washington Post: "South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was caught on a hot mic Wednesday insulting U.S. Congress members as 'idiots' who could be a potential embarrassment for President Biden if they did not approve funding for global public health. Yoon had just met with Biden at the Global Fund's Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York City. There, Biden had pledged $6 billion from the United States to the public health campaign, which fights AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria worldwide. The funding would require congressional approval. 'It would be so humiliating for Biden if these idiots don't pass it in Congress,' Yoon was overheard telling a group of aides as they left the event. Video of the exchange quickly went viral in South Korea, where Yoon took office in May as a political rookie. He has never held elected office before and lacks prior experience in foreign policy." MB: Gosh, I'm so upset.
Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "A jury in a federal civil case on Thursday found that Project Veritas, a conservative group known for its deceptive tactics, had violated wiretapping laws and fraudulently misrepresented itself as part of a lengthy sting operation against Democratic political consultants. The jury awarded the consulting firm, Democracy Partners, $120,000. The decision amounted to a sharp rebuke of the practices that Project Veritas and its founder, James O'Keefe, have relied on. During the trial, lawyers for Project Veritas portrayed the operation as news gathering and its employees as journalists following the facts.... Project Veritas said it would appeal the decision."
Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: "Alex Jones's initial day of testimony in a trial for damages after years of lying about the Sandy Hook shootings ended in chaos. Confronted on Thursday with the harm he had done by repeatedly lying on his Infowars radio and online show that Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie died in the massacre, was an actor, Mr. Jones erupted in a rant that drew a contempt threat by Judge Barbara Bellis of [Connecticut] State Superior Court. '... I'm done saying I'm sorry,' Mr. Jones responded, as his lawyer shouted objections.... At the end of the day, after the jury had gone, [Judge Bellis] warned Mr. Jones as well as his lawyer, Norm Pattis, that she would enforce a zero-tolerance policy on Friday for ignoring her orders about decorum in the courtroom. Mr. Pattis had repeatedly objected as his client shouted.... Mr. Jones's effort to defend himself on Thursday was punctuated by violations of the judge's order barring mentions of partisan politics or politicians." ~~~
~~~ Anna Merlan of Vice: While Alex Jones was on the stand yesterday, "he also managed to get in a plug for 'challenge coins' he's selling on the site, and publicly asked whoever has been anonymously sending him large crypto donations to keep doing it.... He spelled out the website where his audience can send crypto donations to him. [Plaintiffs' attorney Chris] Mattei asked incredulously if he was doing an ad; Jones responded, 'We're fighting the Deep State, we need to make money.'" Oh, read on.
Marie: It was a bad day in court for wingnuts: Trump, Fake Hitler, O'Keefe, Jones.
McKenna Oxenden of the New York Times: "Two New Jersey-based companies have agreed to pay a total of $325,000 in fines for selling a pesticide that federal officials say was falsely marketed as a disinfectant spray that could help eliminate the coronavirus, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The product, Zoono Microbe Shield, from Zoono USA and Zoono Holdings, was sold online through Amazon and other websites and to community centers and was even purchased by United Airlines during the height of the pandemic to disinfect cabins, the E.P.A. said Wednesday in a statement announcing the settlement. The E.P.A. said that while reviewing Zoono Microbe Shield's label, the agency discovered that it was sold with claims about public health that 'substantially differed' from what was registered with the agency, which is illegal, and that the claims were 'false' and 'misleading.'"
Karina Tsui> of the Washington Post: "Cities along the coasts of South and Southeast Asia are sinking -- even faster than similar cities elsewhere -- because of rapid, poorly controlled urbanization, scientists say, heightening risks already posed by rising sea levels."
Beyond the Beltway
Peter Stone of the Guardian: "Fossil fuel giant Koch Industries has poured over $1m into backing -- directly and indirectly -- dozens of House and Senate candidates who voted against certifying Joe Biden's win on 6 January 2021. Koch, which is controlled by multibillionaire Charles Koch, boasts a corporate Pac that has donated $607,000 to the campaigns or leadership Pacs of 52 election deniers since January 2021, making Koch's Pac the top corporate funder of members who opposed the election results, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign spending. In addition, the Super Pac Americans for Prosperity Action to which Koch Industries has given over $6m since January 2021, has backed some election deniers with advertising and other communications support, as well as a few candidates Donald Trump has endorsed who tried to help him overturn the 2020 election, or raised doubts about the final results."
Florida. Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "A Florida prosecutor suspended by Ron DeSantis for defying a new 15-week abortion law says a federal judge's decision to send his reinstatement appeal to trial means a reckoning is coming for the state's Republican governor. Andrew Warren, a Democrat, was removed as Hillsborough county state attorney on 4 August after saying he would not enforce the abortion ban or prosecute providers of gender transition treatment for young people. DeSantis cited Warren's alleged 'woke agenda' in reasons for his decision. At a hearing in Tallahassee on Monday, Judge Robert Hinkle denied motions from DeSantis to dismiss Warren’s lawsuit, and another by Warren seeking an immediate return to office, instead requesting their differences be settled at a trial in the coming weeks.... The closely watched case is expected to give clarity to DeSantis's power to purge elected officials who disagree with him."
Georgia Senate Race. Another Herschel Walker Lie. David Fahrenthold & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Back when he was a businessman running a food-distribution company, Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia..., pledged that 15 percent of [company] profits would go to charities, a promise the company said was 'part of its corporate charter.' For years, Mr. Walker's company named four specific charities as beneficiaries of those donations, including the Boy Scouts of America and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. But there is scant evidence that Mr. Walker's giving matched those promises. When The New York Times contacted those four charities, one declined to comment and the other three said they had no record or recollection of any gifts from the company in the last decade.... The Times's reporting did not conclusively prove that Mr. Walker's company failed to donate profits. It is possible that his company donated to other charities without naming them in public." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Indiana. Eliza Fawcett of the New York Times: "An Indiana judge temporarily halted the state's ban on most abortions on Thursday, a week after the law took effect. The decision came as part of a lawsuit brought by abortion providers challenging the state ban, which prohibits most abortions from conception. Indiana was the first state to pass new, sweeping restrictions on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedure in June. The judge's ruling for now restores wider legal rights to abortion in the state, which has played a prominent role in the nation's abortion debate, while the court case proceeds." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ohio Congressional Race. Josh Kraushaar of Axios: "House Republicans have withdrawn their [$1MM] advertising [budget] for Ohio Republican J.R. Majewski, a MAGA-aligned candidate who was at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots.... [Rep. Marcy] Kaptur's [D] redrawn district -- which backed Trump by three points in 2020 -- once looked like an easy pickup for House Republicans. The GOP is now at risk of squandering another race because Republican primary voters nominated an extreme candidate.... The AP wrote: '[Majewski's] post-military career has been defined by exaggerations, conspiracy theories, talk of violent action against the U.S. government and occasional financial duress.... House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) campaigned for Majewski last month, seeing his race as key to the party's efforts to win back the House majority. Former President Trump didn't endorse Majewski, but praised him at an Ohio rally before the contested primary." ~~~
~~~ Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "J.R. Majewski, a Republican House candidate in northern Ohio, has frequently promoted himself as a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but the U.S. Air Force has no record that he served there, unraveling a central narrative of his political ascension that has been heralded by ... Donald J. Trump.... Mr. Majewski first gained attention in Ohio in 2020 by turning his lawn into a 19,000-square-foot 'Trump 2020' sign." See also CNN story linked on yesterday's page. ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemiuex in LG&$: "Amazing that a guy who turned his home into a literal shrine for Donald Trump would turn out to be a fake-macho liar. Entirely unforeseeable."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Friday are here: "Moscow launched referendums on Friday in four Ukrainian territories under its control, a dramatic escalation of the Kremlin's bid to consolidate control over swaths of the country.... The referendums on the prospect of joining Russia, illegal under Ukrainian and international law, will last five days for the separatist Luhansk and Donetsk territories, which make up the eastern Donbas region, as well as in the southern Kherson region and occupied parts of nearby Zaporizhzhia. Russian news agencies said that hundreds of polling stations would open and that refugees in Russia would be able to take part in the referendums, which have drawn global condemnation.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attacked the legitimacy of the sham referendums. Speaking in Russian, he urged Russians to resist the military mobilization which Putin announced this week....
"The U.N. nuclear watchdog said 'detailed talks' about a safety zone at the Zaporizhzhia plant are underway.... Diplomats clashed over allegations of Russian war crimes at a heated U.N. Security Council meeting on Thursday. [U.S.] Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia's withdrawal from the Ukrainian cities of Izyum and Bucha revealed gruesome torture and killings that could not be dismissed as the actions of a few bad actors. In a brief appearance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied the charges and condemned Western support for Kyiv before leaving the room."
Paul Sonne & John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The United States for several months has been sending private communications to Moscow warning Russia's leadership of the grave consequences that would follow the use of a nuclear weapon, according to U.S. officials, who said the messages underscore what President Biden and his aides have articulated publicly. The Biden administration generally has decided to keep warnings about the consequences of a nuclear strike deliberately vague, so the Kremlin worries about how Washington might respond, the officials said.... The attempt by the White House to cultivate what's known in the nuclear deterrence world as 'strategic ambiguity' comes as Russia continues to escalate its rhetoric about possible nuclear weapons use amid a domestic mobilization aimed at stanching Russian military losses in eastern Ukraine."
Robyn Dixon, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian families bade tearful farewells on Thursday to thousands of sons and husbands abruptly summoned for military duty as part of President Vladimir Putin's new mobilization, while pro-war Russian nationalists raged over the release of commanders of Ukraine's controversial Azov Regiment in a highly secretive prisoner exchange.... More than 1,300 people were arrested at anti-mobilization protests in cities and towns across Russia on Wednesday and Thursday.... In the city of Togliatti, a military commissariat, or local military recruitment and draft office, was set on fire, one of dozens of similar attacks across Russia in recent months.... The dual backlash over mobilization and the prisoner exchange showed Putin facing his most acute crisis since the he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine." MB: Putin does seem to be on increasingly shaky ground. I sure hope he ends his rule not with a bang, but a whimper. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
CNBC: "Stocks tumbled on Friday to close out a brutal week for financial markets as surging interest rates and foreign currency turmoil heightened fears of a global recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 700 points to fall below 30,000 to a new low for the year. The 30-stock index is fell 20% from its high, known as bear market territory on Wall Street. It was last trading 756 points lower, or 2.5%. The S&P 500 fell 2.7% and headed for a new 2022 closing low, while the Nasdaq Composite slid about 2.8%."
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Reader Comments (15)
In T****'s interview with hannity, which I listened to in this morning's clip of All In on YouTube, the phrase right after " just by thinking about it" caught my attention: "because you're sending it to Mar a Lago (!!!)or to wherever you're sending it(!!!)..."
He is admitting he has sent Classified documents to more places than just to MaL. Write the search warrants now!
https://youtu.be/MMc5lfQc8Q0?t=163
He goes on to say he "declassified _EVERYTHING_!" To me, that says he's got a lot more stuff.
@NiskyGuy: Yes to all that. What's also interesting is that Judge Dearie & those 11th Circuit judges have not only been reading the news of Trump's false public excuses for stealing government docs, they've been addressing his hoo-hah in opinions & orders. Dearie has demanded Trump's lawyers provide evidence that the FBI planted docs at Mar-a-Lardo -- an assertion the lawyers never made in court, as far as I know -- and the 11th Circuit judges called Trump's magical declassification assertions -- which the lawyers refused to back up in court -- a red herring.
Marie wrote, about Trump’s theft of classified material: “Of course, thieves probably don't usually inventory their take…”
Not unless they’re smart thieves, but only one of those words applies to Trump.
Every day brings additional news of the many people following Fatty with manure buckets, sweeping up all the shit he squirts everywhere as he struts along like he was Man o’ War, fresh off his win at the Kentucky Derby.
And here’s Alex Jones, circling the drain in the toilet bowl still yelping for money for his scams. Give that turd a second flush, please.
Hilary Mantel is dead at 70. This brilliant writer has left us much too soon. After I read her first book on the life of Thomas Cromwell I was enchanted by her writing. I never knew she was in chronic pain from endometriosis–--even after a hysterectomy she still suffered from pain and yet––she kept writing––every day. She never had children–--her books were her brood–--I imagine.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/23/books/hilary-mantel-dead.html
Good for another woman who deserves high praise–--Christiane –-refusing to don a head covering. Those Iranian males! Bully boys who degrade women by covering them up while putting them down. Looks like the ladies have about had it with all that––-riots in the street and shaving off their hair.
Meanwhile the Turds keep on keeping on and the biggest one of all is still trying to convince us he isn't full of shit! Looks like he's begining to show the stain and the pain of it all has just begun.
Marie wrote: “It was a bad day in court for wingnuts: Trump, Fake Hitler, O'Keefe, Jones.” All true, but about that Fake Hitler asshole, Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, what’s very much not fake is the virulent anti-semitism that he represents permeating confederate circles.
Watching the Ken Burns documentary on the US and the Holocaust, seeing antisemitic Hitler fans like Lindbergh and others brandish the exact same America First bullshit that has propelled Donald Trump to the top of every white nationalist’s dance card, gives me the willies.
Just a few weeks ago, Herr Drumpf goose stepped onto a stage in Pennsylvania to stump for his horde of sieg-heiling, antisemitic assholes. First, MTG, self-professed Christian Nationalist, who has railed against a “Zionist” (ie Jewish) takeover of the world. Then came another nut, Cynthia Hughes, founder of something called Patriot Patriot Freeeedom something*, who has collected piles of cash supposedly meant to help those poor misunderstood criminals and traitors who supported Fatty’s attempted Reichstag Fire at the Capitol. Oh yeah, she was also there shouting for the immediate release of her nephew, Tim (Hitler wannabe) Cusanelli.
And leave us not forget the bigot of honor, Doug Mastriano, another Christian Nationalist whose ties to far-right white supremacist groups have been well documented. Mastriano, in his attempt to slither into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, paid Gab, a Nazi site, $5,000 for “consulting services”. According to the website “Moment”, “Gab is the platform of choice for white nationalists and antisemites, among them Robert Bowers, who murdered 11 Jews in the Tree of Life synagogue attack in 2018.” Gee, what could be wrong with that?
All of this, combined with the near complete takeover of the Republican Party by pro-Trump (who is pro-white supremacy) bigots, should scare everyone who does not share their beliefs.
And don’t forget the modified Nazi salute that appears with increasing regularity at Trump and Mastriano rallies.
That Cusanelli shithead might be a fake Hitler, but the ideology he represents, along with the support of America First fascists like Trump and DeSantolini, is frighteningly real.
One of the most stunning points made in the Burns documentary is the way stories about the treatment of Jews in Europe (even before the Final Solution kicked in) were pooh-poohed by many in the States as nonsense.
What we’re seeing here is not anything like the Holocaust, of course, but when you hear R pols saying publicly that Hitler was a great leader, and hear Trump describing neo-Nazis as “good people”, and you see him being sieg-heiled by Q-Anon fascists, well, none of that is good news.
*According to various sources, Hughes’s Patriot Freedom thing is a complete scam. She has collected almost $1 million but little of that has gone to defense funds for the Jan. 6 traitors, apparently. Her “board of directors” is comprised of herself and two other family members. They’re all fucking grifters and con artists.
@Akhilleus: I think we're at a point where about half the stories about Republicans require you to know the meanings of "corruption, grift, scam, con, fraud" and the like. If you add "lie" and "misrepresentation," the percentage is above 50. Throw in "Trump" and it's 98 percent. (Surely, surely, there's some legitimate MSM story about Trump that doesn't mention his lies and corruption; I just can't think of one.)
Marie,
There isn’t one. Not even in the Trump-friendly press which talks about his lies and corruption, but presents those as good things.
Ivana's NYT obit is also largely about DiJiT and doesn't mention lies or corruption.
But it's really about Ivana, so probably doesn't count.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/14/nyregion/ivana-trump-dead.html
Patrick,
I’m guessing Ivana’s obit may have included a reference to Trump’s adultery, so there’s that. An asshole any way you look at it.
@Patrick: A little unfair, because as you say, an obituary is supposed to be about, you know, the person who died. But there was this: the NYT obit called Donald "brash and uncouth." It does, as Akhilleus surmises, reference Donald's adulterous behavior a few times. I know I didn't include "rape" in my list of words associated with Republicans, but there's this in the obit: "In a deposition, Ms. Trump accused him [Donald] of raping her, though she later said that she had not meant the word literally." And this: "... a court granted the couple a divorce in December 1990 on the grounds of cruel and inhumane treatment by Mr. Trump." I'll admit that language may have been standard fare, as New York State took a long time to permit no-fault divorce. But "cruel & inhumane" does fit what we know about Donald.
So, you win. But I'm proudly taking "brash, uncouth, adultery, cruel & inhumane" as being good for the runner-up prize.
Okay, the Colbert piece was very funny. I especially loved the part where Trump tells his diapey changer, Sean Hannity, that he declassified EVERYTHING. Hey, why not? Let it all hang out there. THEN, he sez the NY investigation into his corrupt, sleazy, lying business practices was all wrong. Why? “Becuz the banks should have KNOWN I was lying! Whassamatter for you, eh?”
Wow. Really? That’s your defense? I’m a lying piece of shit. And so are my kids. Oh, okay. Case dismissed then.
Oh, and about that squirrel guy? That would not have been my reaction. I have a dog. I’d just shout “Rocket! Squirrel! Get ‘im!”
I’m teaching him to “Get Trump” just in case we have that opportunity. I throw him a fat yam with hair stapled on. “Get him, Rocket! Get that fat thing!”
@Akhilleus: Thanks for the LOL.
I Yam Trump. Trump I Yam.
That Trump-I-Yam! I do not like that Trump-I-Yam.
The House Republicans accidentally and temporally published their GOP agenda of criminalizing abortion, raising drug prices and depressing voter turnout.