;)
Saturday
Mar062021
The Commentariat -- March 6, 2021
Afternoon Update:
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Saturday approved a sweeping coronavirus relief bill strictly on a party-line vote after a marathon session, giving Democrats their first legislative victory since reclaiming the majority. Democrats cheered the 50-49 vote as it was gaveled closed. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) missed the vote. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), seen as the only potential swing vote in the end, voted against the $1.9 trillion bill." The Washington Post story by Jeff Stein & others, also linked below, has been updated to reflect passage of the bill.
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Manchin Is Runner-up for Time-Killing Prize. Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Senate in the early morning hours of Saturday inched toward approving President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, as Democrats pressed forward with their major economic and public health relief package. Numerous senators appeared sleepy and tripped over their words on the floor of the Senate, with debate over various amendments pushed by Republicans stretching the process beyond 3 a.m. Democrats plowed ahead with the measure after resolving an approximately nine-hour standoff on Friday over changes to extending unemployment benefits demanded by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) that resulted in significant changes to the bill. Democrats are within reach of passing the sweeping legislation that would send out a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks, $350 billion to cities and states, $130 billion to schools, billions for a national vaccine program and more. Democrats are moving through dozens of amendments in a chaotic process known as a 'vote-a-rama' that could continue for hours on Saturday." ~~~
~~~ Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine of Politico: Sen. Joe "Manchin's outsized influence has cast its shadow over the Senate since the day the Democrats captured their scant 50-50 majority. He's already derailed a Cabinet nominee and led the opposition to a federal $15 minimum wage even as his party's leaders pushed for it.... Friday ... the centrist Democrat paralyzed the entire Senate for more than 10 hours and threatened to side with Republicans seeking to cut weeks of unemployment benefits. In the end, it took a direct call from President Biden, a meeting with [Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and significant concessions to get Manchin on board. He trimmed several weeks of unemployment benefits off of Sen. Tom Carper's (D-Del.) compromise amendment from earlier in the day and added a $150,000 cap to the proposal's tax deduction for up to $10,200 in unemployment benefits.... Manchin's dramatic play on Friday perplexed even his West Virginia counterpart, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). Their state's governor had been pushing Congress to go bigger, not smaller. 'I have no idea what he's doing, to be quite frank,' she said." ~~~
~~~ Burgess Everett of Politico: "The Senate on Friday is set to squash a bid to tack a $15 minimum wage to President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill, with eight Democratic caucus members joining all 50 Republicans in rejecting the change. The Senate parliamentarian had ruled that the wage increase could not be added to the bill and approved by a simple majority of senators despite House passage of the provision last week. After Senate Democrats stripped it from the Covid package, a group of progressive senators led by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) forced a vote on the policy change anyway." ~~~
~~~ Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Democrats maneuvered frantically Friday to push President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill over the finish line in the Senate, agreeing to a last-minute change sought by moderates to keep federal unemployment benefits at their current $300-per-week level instead of raising them to $400-per-week.... The fast-moving developments came as the Senate launched into rancorous partisan debate on the overall relief measure, with Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowing to stay in session until they pass the massive legislation as Republicans threatened a cascade of amendments aimed at slowing if not stopping the bill." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Side Note on the Stupidest, Biggest Jerk in the Senate. Reuters: "The day after he single-handedly delayed the U.S. Senate's debate on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill for 11 hours, Republican Senator Ron Johnson said on Friday that he could retire from office when his term expires. The two-term Republican told Wisconsin media outlets that he has not decided whether to run for reelection in 2022 but added that not seeking another term is 'probably my preference now.'" MB: Yes, RonAnon, that would be my preference, too. Thanks to Ken W. for the link.
Katie Benner, et al., of the New York Times: "A member of the far-right nationalist Proud Boys was in communication with a person associated with the White House in the days just before the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Location, cellular and call record data revealed a call tying a Proud Boys member to the Trump White House, the official said. The F.B.I. has not determined what they discussed, and the official would not reveal the names of either party. The connection revealed by the communications data comes as the F.B.I. intensifies its investigation of contacts among far-right extremists, Trump White House associates and conservative members of Congress in the days before the attack. The same data has [have!] revealed no evidence of communications between the rioters and members of Congress during the deadly attack, the official said." ~~~
Marie: This from the report, which I found interesting because I'd never heard of such a law enforcement tool: "The F.B.I. also obtained a 'geofence' warrant for all the Android devices that Google recorded within the building during the assault, the officials said. A geofence warrant legally gives law enforcement a list of mobile devices that are able to be identified in a particular geographic area. Jill Sanborn, the head of counterterrorism at the F.B.I., testified before a Senate panel on Wednesday that all the data the F.B.I. had gathered in its investigation into the riot was obtained legally through subpoenas and search warrants."
Lauren Fox of CNN: "Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren has quietly posted a nearly 2,000-page report documenting social media posts by her Republican colleagues who voted against certifying results of the presidential election on January 6. The information compiled isn't secret, but the report is another sign of the deep distrust that has settled into the US Capitol in the weeks since the insurrection. The report chronicles the social media activity of members on public forums immediately before the November election and right after the January 6 riot. The report has been online for a week.... In a preamble to the report, Lofgren -- the chair of the House Administration Committee -- wrote that she had asked her staff to pull the relevant social media posts and compile them in an effort to gather facts." Thanks to RAS for the link. The main page of Lofgren's report, Which RAS also linked, is here.
Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A House Democrat who unsuccessfully prosecuted Donald J. Trump at his impeachment trial last month sued him in federal court on Friday for acts of terrorism and incitement to riot, attempting to use the justice system to punish the former president for his role in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. The suit brought by Representative Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, accuses Mr. Trump and key allies of inciting the deadly attack and conspiring with rioters to try to prevent Congress from formalizing President Biden's election victory. And like the case laid out in the Senate, which acquitted him, it meticulously traces a monthslong campaign by Mr. Trump to undermine confidence in the 2020 election and then overturn its results.... Though not a criminal case, the suit charges Mr. Trump and his allies with several counts including conspiracy to violate civil rights, negligence, incitement to riot, disorderly conduct, terrorism and inflicting serious emotional distress -- findings that could severely tarnish his legacy and political standing. If found liable, Mr. Trump could be subject to compensatory and punitive damages; if the case proceeds, it might also lead to an open-ended discovery process that could turn up information about his conduct and communications that eluded impeachment prosecutors.... The suit also names as defendants his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and Representative Mo Brooks, Republican of Alabama, who led the effort to overturn Mr. Trump's election defeat...." An ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ By the time Swalwell's and other suits against the former terrorist-in-chief get to court, the FBI & other agencies are likely to give the plaintiffs more fodder for their suit.
Katie Benner of the New York Times has more on Federico Klein, the Trump appointee who was arrested on charges of participating in the January 6 Capitol insurrection: "The F.B.I. said on Thursday that it had arrested a former State Department aide on charges related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including unlawful entry, violent and disorderly conduct, obstructing Congress and law enforcement, and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon. The former midlevel aide, Federico G. Klein, who federal investigators said in court documents was seen in videos of the riot resisting officers and assaulting them with a stolen riot shield, is the first member of the Trump administration to face criminal charges in connection with the storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.... The F.B.I. determined that when Mr. Klein allegedly attacked Congress on Jan. 6 to help Mr. Trump unlawfully maintain power, he was still employed by the State Department and possessed a Top Secret security clearance...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ An earlier Politico report, linked below, did not have the details of Klein's alleged actions on January 6 nor of the charges against him. The Politico story has been updated. BTW, according to the Politico report, Freddie didn't exactly tell his mom the whole truth. As far as she could recall, he told her only that he'd been "on the Mall." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's headline is on point: "State Department aide appointed by Trump stormed the Capitol, beat police with a riot shield, FBI says." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Chris Hayes of MSNBC highlights photos & videos of Klein doing stuff he didn't tell his mom about:
~~~ Then there's this headline to a story by Pete Williams of NBC News: "Federico Klein, former Trump appointee charged in Capitol riot, wants jail cell without cockroaches." MB: Isn't that an impossible request to fill, what with Klein himself being a coachroach?
But He Saved the Muffins! Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The lawyer for the horned shaman who became one of the most iconic figures involved in the storming of the Capitol in January is in hot water with a federal judge after facilitating an interview that the judge said violated federal rules. At a hearing Friday on the case against QAnon follower Jacob Chansley, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth dressed down Chansley's attorney Al Watkins for using his privileges as a lawyer to arrange an interview with Chansley for the online edition of '60 Minutes.'... The judge said he was asked by the marshals if he'd approved the interview at the Alexandria Detention Center and he said he had not.... 'The jail was only told this was an attorney-client interview video. I asked for a Zoom conference with him,' the defense lawyer [told Judge Lamberth]. 'I didn't tell them it was for an interview with "60 Minutes."' 'I'm sure you didn't,' Lamberth shot back." Later in the hearing, as Watkins sought to rehabilitate Chansley's reputation as an ordinary, law-abiding half-naked, spear-toting citizen who happened into the Capitol building at the invitation of Capitol Police, the lawyer claimed that Chansley "prevented the theft of muffins from a Capitol break room...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I am now properly ashamed that on January 7, I republished this photo, obtained via the BBC, of Chansley during the insurrection, before learning he was a hero who "prevented the theft of muffins from a Capitol break room." ~~~
Anders Anglesey of Newsweek: "A D.C. grand jury has indicted a Pennsylvania mother-of-eight over her alleged participation in the storming of the U.S. Capitol building. Rachel Powell, of Mercer County, was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, D.C. on eight charges that allegedly took place on January 6.... Court documents claimed Powell, also known as 'Bullhorn Lady,' had carried an ice axe and wooden pole into the Capitol and called both 'deadly and dangerous weapons,' according to the York Daily Record."
Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "Despite publicly welcoming a court fight over his false claims about voting machines being used to steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani doesn't seem to be in much of a rush to respond to the billion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed against him by Dominion Voting Systems. After repeatedly dodging process servers last month, the former New York City mayor on Thursday asked a federal judge in Washington D.C. for a 35-day extension to respond to the $1.3 billion complaint filed by Dominion. Giuliani's motion for more time, which was unopposed, was filed one day after the deadline for his response had passed. The motion was entered on the docket Friday." Giuliani filed his own plea.
Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "The White House fired the general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Friday, continuing a push to oust controversial Trump appointees viewed as hostile to the mission of the agencies they worked for. Sharon Gustafson, who as the commission's general counsel was in charge of its high-stakes litigation over workplace discrimination on issues like race, religion and sex, was dismissed by the White House by letter on Friday afternoon after refusing to resign, according to Gustafson's resignation letter, obtained by The Washington Post, as well as a source familiar with the White House letter.... Gustafson had raised the hackles of civil rights, LGBTQ and women's groups during her confirmation hearing, by what they saw as 'evasive' answers she gave about the rights of LGBTQ workers during her Senate confirmation hearing.... While on the commission, Gustafson had been involved with anti-religious discrimination work."
Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "The billionaire accused of running the biggest tax fraud scheme in U.S. history was a prolific donor to Republican groups and causes. The leaders of those organizations have kept quiet on the federal charges against him. Robert Brockman, former CEO of Ohio-based software company Reynolds & Reynolds, was charged in October with running a $2 billion tax fraud scheme. Department of Justice officials said at the time that the businessman had hidden capital gains income for more than 20 years through various offshore entities in Bermuda and Nevis and secret bank accounts. Brockman has pleaded not guilty to the alleged crimes.... 'Congressional Republicans spent the last four years gutting IRS enforcement and cutting taxes for billionaires while being bankrolled by the biggest tax cheat in American history,' Max Steele, an American Bridge spokesman, told CNBC. [American Bridge is a Democratic super-PAC that "first flagged the Brockman contributions to CNBC."] 'While they should return or donate the money, we know they won't. After all, how can a party blindly loyal to Donald Trump afford to oppose billionaires committing tax fraud?' Brockman, through companies he controlled, also heavily financed a super PAC backing Mitt Romney for president in 2012, according to a report by Mother Jones." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Hmmm. I wonder if Offshore Mitt will express outrage & return Brockman's contributions.
Michael Ruane of the Washington Post: "The remains of Emil J. Kapaun, the Catholic priest and Korean War POW who was given the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2013, have been identified, the Pentagon said Friday. The almost complete set of Kapaun's remains had been exhumed from a cemetery in Hawaii where they had been buried as unknown after the 1950-1953 war, his nephew, Ray Kapaun, said Friday. The identification was made using dental records and DNA, he said.... Emil Kapaun, who is also a candidate for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church, was beloved for ministering to American soldiers during the war's fierce fighting, rescuing them under fire and caring for them when they became prisoners of war. He died of illness and maltreatment on May 23, 1951, and his place of burial was lost. He was 35." An NBC News story is here. ~~~
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.
Todd Frankel of the Washington Post: "Today, most employees forced by the pandemic to work at home fail to qualify for the home office deduction, which might have shaved hundreds or even thousands of dollars off an individual tax bill. No deduction for the cost of printer paper, new office furniture or the additional heating required for being home during the workday.... The pandemic forced two-thirds of the full-time U.S. workforce to work at home for at least part of 2020, according to surveys. At one point over the summer, nearly twice as many employees were working from home than traditional workplaces, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research reported.... The federal tax code for years used to help out this kind of WFH employee. They could reduce taxable income by deducting the cost of running home offices and for other unreimbursed employee expenses. But those deductions were killed off by the 2017 tax overhaul passed under ... Donald Trump, which slashed corporate tax rates while rejiggering individual rates -- allowing for a higher standard deduction but fewer itemized deductions.... In an ironic twist, companies still enjoy a tax benefit for providing office space for employees, despite many workplaces sitting empty as those same employees work at home." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So if you had to clear out your exercise room, your crafts room or your guest room to accommodate a home office, if you spent hundreds on office supplies, file drawers, faster printer, etc., about the only thing you can do is go out in the front yard and yell an ironic, "Thanks, Donald!"
Jeff Schogol of Task & Purpose: "The Navy has repeatedly blamed Capt. Brett Crozier for the unprecedented novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt last year, but newly-released emails show several of Crozier's colleagues instantly recognized that he had put the lives of his crew above his own career. 'You are a great leader and Naval Officer,' Rear Adm. Stephen Barnett, commander of Navy Region Northwest, told Crozier in April. The Navy's top brass would say the opposite two months later when Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday accused Crozier of acting too slowly to contain the disease and putting his ship at risk by lifting a quarantine.... Crozier wrote an urgent letter to other Navy commanders on March 30 warning that his sailors would die unless most of the ship's crew was moved into individual quarantine ashore. He was fired on April 2, shortly after the San Francisco Chronicle published a leaked copy of his letter.... Before Crozier was relieved of command, the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson sent him an email with words of encouragement. 'I read your letter yesterday in the SF Chronicle,' Capt. Matthew Paradise wrote on April 1. 'I thought it was awesome and a textbook example of speaking truth to power and taking care of your troops.'"
Alabama. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama has proved, in her four years in office, to be a reliably conformist Southern Republican, with a record of defending ... Donald J. Trump, the Second Amendment and monuments to the Confederacy. But this week, Ms. Ivey, a 76-year-old veteran of Southern politics, demonstrated, yet again, that she harbored a pronounced maverick streak when it came to the emotionally charged matter of mask-wearing during the coronavirus pandemic. Bucking pressure from fellow Alabama Republicans, Ms. Ivey declared on Thursday that she would extend the state's mask mandate until April 9, even as Republican governors in Texas and Mississippi lifted such requirements in the name of personal freedom." MB: Yesterday, I misstated Ivey's position, based on something I heard on the teevee.
Beyond the Beltway
New York. Twenty-four Years in Jail for a Crime They Didn't Commit. Troy Closson of the New York Times: "On the weekend before Christmas in 1996, a shop owner was opening his check-cashing store in East Elmhurst, Queens, alongside an off-duty police officer who was working security, when the two were ambushed by a group of men, shot and killed. The case touched off a ferocious manhunt, and within days, three men were arrested. They were convicted in separate trials and sentenced to between 50 years and life in prison for murder. But more than two decades later, the case has collapsed. On Friday, a state judge in Queens threw out the convictions of all three men and admonished prosecutors for withholding evidence that would have cast serious doubt on their guilt. Prosecutors never turned over police reports showing that investigators had linked the killings to other men, the members of a local robbery ring. And five witness accounts -- never seen by defense lawyers -- contradicted the men's confessions, which were wrong on key details of the crime, and which lawyers say were coerced. The three men -- Gary Johnson, 46, George Bell, 44, and Rohan Bolt, 59 -- stepped outside the walls of Green Haven Correctional Facility..., on Friday afternoon, each with tears streaming down their faces as they embraced their families." A Greenpoint Post report is here.
New York. Norah O'Donnell, et al., of CBS News: "When asked Wednesday if he had completed sexual harassment training, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the 'Short answer is yes.' But Charlotte Bennett, one of the women accusing the governor of sexual harassment, said his office director completed the training for him in 2019. 'In 2019, he did not take the sexual harassment training,' Bennett told 'CBS Evening News' anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell. 'I was there. I heard [the office director] say, "I can't believe I'm doing this for you" and making a joke about the fact that she was completing the training for him. And then I heard her at the end ask him to sign the certificate.' Stephanie Benton, Cuomo's office director, 'categorically denies the exchange,' according to a statement from the governor's office that added, 'this is not true.'" MB: Whatever the case, he flunked. ~~~
~~~ Shannon Young & Bill Mahoney of Politico: "Democrats in the New York Legislature on Friday took their most concrete step against an increasingly embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo, passing a bill that imposes some limits on his king-like emergency powers as they grow increasingly frustrated with the leader of their party. Republicans weren't sold that this bill actually does much. But as the allegations against the three-term governor continue to snowball, the list of Democrats hinting at more severe steps against Cuomo continued to grow in the hours before the vote.... The Senate passed the bill on party lines mid-afternoon Friday. The Assembly did the same later in the day.... Cuomo was not involved in the negotiations. But he announced on Wednesday that he had 'worked with the Legislature' in reaching an agreement on the bill, giving plenty of Republicans fodder to argue that the measure was not a terribly serious blow against the governor." MB: Seems to me Cuomo still has to sign the bill.
Way Beyond
Nicole Winfield & Qassim Abdul-Zahra of the AP: "Pope Francis and Iraq's top Shiite cleric delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence Saturday, urging Muslims in the war-weary Arab nation to embrace Iraq's long-beleaguered Christian minority during a historic meeting in the holy city of Najaf. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq's Christians, and that Christians should live in peace and enjoy the same rights as other Iraqis. The Vatican said Francis thanked al-Sistani for having 'raised his voice in defense of the weakest and most persecuted' during some of the most violent times in Iraq's recent history. Al-Sistani, 90, is one of the most senior clerics in Shiite Islam and his rare but powerful political interventions have helped shape present-day Iraq."
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Reader Comments (14)
As Susan Glasser was interviewing General Mark Milley in a private cabin on an Air Force jet, Fatty's face was flickering on the T.V. screen. The day before Trump told Steve Hilton on Fox News that " he had been so worried about the prospect of violence in Washington on Jan. 6 that he had ordered the military to deploy ten thousand troops there, only to be rebuffed by the people at the Capitol."
Here's what Milley had to say about that! ( along with other matters–-worth a read)
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/what-does-national-security-even-mean-anymore-after-january-6th-and-the-pandemic
The fact that Fatty could/can spin these fabrications–--all those thousands and thousands of LIES–––and still be standing tall in the R.C. cabal is a testament to magical thinking writ large. And these tens of millions of followers–-perhaps "worshippers" would be more accurate a term–-would fight to the death for him tells me once again that Trump did not create his people; his people created Trump.
@PD Pepe: Could you copy & paste the graf from Glasser's New Yorker interview about whatever it was Milley said about Trump's lie? I'd heard this on the teevee, but from Milleys statements I've read recently, he has not directly refuted Trump's very unlikely claim. If he does so to Glasser, I'd love to see it nailed down, tho I expect eventually he'll have to do so in public testimony. Thanks.
Milbank makes it simple...as it really is.
(Apologies if this one was linked before.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/05/republicans-arent-fighting-democrats-theyre-fighting-democracy/?arc404=true
Marie,
Milbank op-ed link I just sent still lost in space, I see, but will forward this from the Glasser anyway, just in case it's what you requested from PD and it manages the crosscountry trip.
"When I asked Milley about what Trump had said, his reply was clear. “As the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, if there was an order for ten thousand National Guardsmen, I would like to believe I would know that,” he said. “I know that was never transmitted to me by anyone—the President, the Secretary of Defense, or anyone else—for the 6th of January.”
A clear answer, with a little hedge methinks.
@Ken Winkes: Yeah, that's clear enough to me. Milley says no one told him Trump had ordered 10K National Guard to "stand back & stand by." And of course the chairman of the Joint Chiefs would have been in the loop. I don't know exactly how these things work, but I suspect Milley would have been among the very first to receive the order.
It might have gone just like this: Trump to Milley: "Mark, at noon on January 6, I'm calling on my supporters to march with me down to the Capitol & fight light hell, so you'd better get 10,000 National Guard out there to fend us off." But, uh, gee, that doesn't seem to make much sense.
Thought this interesting. Says a lot about how the other half "learns."
https://twitter.com/facebookstop10?lang=en
The Corporate Cash spigot did not stay closed for long
"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce revealed Friday it won't withhold political donations from lawmakers who simply voted against certifying the presidential election results and instead decide on a case-by-case basis.
"We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification," the Chamber's Senior Political Strategist Ashlee Rich Stephenson wrote in the recent memo.
Translation: "They're Republicans. Their economic ideas are our our economic ideas. Of course we're going to back them."
"TRUMPS SENDS CEASE-AND-DESIST TO RNC, NRCC AND NRSC. Lawyers for former President DONALD TRUMP sent out cease-and-desist letters Friday to the three largest fundraising entities for the Republican Party — the RNC, NRCC and NRSC — for using his name and likeness on fundraising emails and merchandise, a Trump adviser tells Playbook."
His new grift is going to be to make every Republican pay him a royalty each time they use his name. The GOP is eventually going to be literally paying for the privilege to praise Trump.
@ RAS - Digby nailed it re Trump & the RNC: They were apparently under the impression that he was a member of their party. They were wrong. The Republican Party is a member of the Trump Organization ...
Yup.
The Republican Party handed their balls to the now former Pretend President and invited him to squeeze.
Looks like he's taking them up on their invitation.
"God comprimsing with Satan"
It explains the attempted overthrow of our government and it also explains how no Republicans voted for covid relief. It's been in the works for a long time.
"October 2, 2013 A warning from Bruce Bartlett, former Senior Policy Analyst in the Reagan White House and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy in the G.H.W. Bush administration, and Michael Lofgren, a former staff member on the House and Senate Budget Committees."
A beautiful aspect of DiJiT's cease & desist to the RNC & Co. is that he can't make it stick legally. He can say it's a brand, but it is the name of a public figure, so unless the GOPs use it in context of his businesses, toughski shytsky y'all as they say in S. Russia.
And of course if he sends a C&D to the DNC et al, the hootin and hollerin laughter will be heard from Maine to SoCal. And for what it's worth, Joe doesn't say the name of "former guy" anyway. Pretty soon headlines will refer to DiJiT just as "FG".
Patrick,
Had the same thought.
But my non-lawyer brain wonders if the same rules apply to the Pretender as past or potential Republican candidate as they would/should to the Pretender Organization, tho' as we know he spent fours years working very hard to blur the lines between the two.
Yes, he has been a public official, but now that he's out of office I'm thinking he might still have the right to refuse the use of his name as an implied potential candidate (if that's what's happening) when he has made no such announcement.
Very confusing, of course, because he still insists he won.
Quite a tangle,
@Ken: thanks for honoring M.B's request.
and yes––a tangled web it is that and more.