;)
The Conversation -- September 15, 2023
Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department is asking the judge overseeing Donald Trump's federal election fraud trial to impose some limitations on the former president's public comments, saying he is seeking to undermine the criminal justice system with his incendiary rhetoric.... The request was made under seal earlier this month; a redacted version was published late Friday. Trump opposes the request.... The 'limited' order [prosecutors] request would bar specific statements about witnesses, as well as any 'disparaging and inflammatory, or intimidating' comments about anyone involved in the case, including potential jurors.... Right now, prosecutors say, Trump is making inappropriate comments on a 'near-daily basis.' Examples given in the 19-page filing include Truth Social posts in which Trump called [Jack] Smith 'deranged' and his fellow prosecutors 'thugs,' [Judge Tanya] Chutkan a 'fraud, [Mike] Pence 'delusional,' and D.C. 'filthy and crime ridden,' as well as one in which Trump simply wrote, the day after his arraignment, in all caps, 'If you go after me, I'm coming after you!'" The New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "... Donald Trump's public statements about the federal election interference investigation led to the harassment of witnesses, according to prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith's office. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the federal case against Trump related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, is weighing what to do with the special counsel prosecutors' complaints regarding the alleged harassment. The allegations were made public by the court Friday, after previous court filings indicated prosecutors were taking issue with Trump's 'extrajudicial statements' about the case. 'In its Motion, the government seeks to establish that Defendant has publicly criticized his perceived adversaries and is aware that this criticism has led to their harassment,' Chutkan wrote in an opinion Friday to unseal part of the discussions." This is a developing story. ~~~
~~~ Here's the government's motion, via Politico.
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Federal prosecutors secretly argued in April that if Donald Trump learned of their efforts to access his Twitter account, his public disclosure of the development could 'precipitate violence.'... Informing Trump about the Twitter search warrant 'could precipitate violence as occurred following the public disclosure of the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago,' the prosecutors warned. The new filings, part of a monthslong legal battle between Twitter ... and the special counsel's team over whether the social media company ... could inform Trump about the search warrant the investigators had obtained before it complied with its directives.... Prosecutors -- and ultimately U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell -- ... sharply rejected Twitter's notion that Trump's account might contain privileged material. Howell held Twitter in contempt in February and fined the company $350,000 for missing court-ordered deadlines to comply with the prosecutors' search warrant." ~~~
~~~ Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "Twitter turned over at least 32 direct messages from ... Donald Trump's account -- @realDonaldTrump – to special counsel Jack Smith earlier this year as part of the federal election subversion investigation, according to newly unsealed court filings. In seeking the messages, prosecutors specifically argued that Trump posed a risk of tampering with evidence.... It is not clear exactly how the [direct] messages have informed the investigation."
Marie: Last week I saw speculation that how Kristi Noem would be tapped as Donald Trump's 2024 running mate. Well, maybe not: ~~~
~~~ Ken Silverstein & Laura Collins of the Daily Mail: "A rising Republican star tipped by many to be Donald Trump's running mate should he win the presidential nomination has been involved in a clandestine affair for years, multiple sources tell DailyMail.com. Married South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, 51 -- who stresses her belief in 'family values' -- and Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski, who is also married, began carrying on in 2019, if not before. Now news of the relationship threatens to wreck Noem's chances of joining Trump's ticket in a potential rematch with President Joe Biden." MB: It is the Daily Mail. But still.
~~~~~~~~~~
Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "Thousands of members of the United Automobile Workers union went on strike Friday at three plants in three Midwestern states in what was the first strike simultaneously affecting all three Detroit automakers. The union and the companies -- General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler -- remained deadlocked in negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement when the current contract expired at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.... At the outset, the strike will idle one plant owned by each automaker, and could force the automakers to halt production at other locations, shaking local economies in factory towns across the Midwest.... The plants designated for walkouts on Friday represent only a small portion of all the unionized factories of G.M., Ford and Stellantis and of those companies' 150,000 U.A.W. members." ~~~
~~~ CNN is liveblogging developments here. The New York Times' liveblog is here.
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden challenged his Republican opponents on Thursday in their area of political strength, arguing that he has done a better job of managing the economy than ... Donald J. Trump did and accusing his predecessor's congressional allies of undercutting working-class Americans.... 'They have a very different vision for America,' Mr. Biden said in a speech at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Md., just outside the nation's capital, where he held up a copy of budget plans by House Republicans. 'Their plan, MAGAnomics, is more extreme than anything America has ever seen before.' Mr. Biden trained his criticism on Republicans who are threatening to shut down the federal government if their plans are not enacted. The president accused the Republicans of caring more about the wealthy than the working class, pointing to proposals to cut taxes for high-income households and corporations; wring savings from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; and reverse initiatives to lower the cost of insulin and other prescription medicine."
Michael Schmidt & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Hunter Biden, the president's son, was charged on Thursday by federal prosecutors with lying about his drug use in connection with his purchase of a handgun in 2018, a move that could put him on trial next year as his father runs for re-election. The decision to file criminal charges against President Biden's troubled youngest son was an extraordinary step for the Justice Department and the lead prosecutor on the case, David C. Weiss, whom Attorney General Merrick B. Garland named as a special counsel last month. Mr. Garland gave Mr. Weiss that status after the last-minute collapse of a previous deal that would have resolved the long-running investigation without Mr. Biden serving prison time.... The gun charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, is only sporadically brought against first-time offenders, particularly ones like Mr. Biden, who is not accused of using the weapon in another crime. Mr. Biden's lawyers have argued to Justice Department officials that the charge will ultimately be thrown out because a series of Supreme Court and appeals court decisions have cast doubt on the constitutionality of the federal government putting certain conditions on firearms purchases." The NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Andrew Weissmann said on MSNBC that it is odd that a few weeks ago these same Trump-appointed prosecutor was going to accept a plea deal and now -- after Congressional Republicans amped up the volume on their whining -- and now he suddenly thinks the same set of facts is worth three criminal charges. Indeed, many people thought the original plea deal itself was too harsh and unusual under the circumstances. Weissmann expects Hunter's attorneys will justifiably argue selective prosecution. MB: So is Hunter getting special treatment? Why, yes, yes, he is. In the meantime, here's my advice to the parties: negotiate a plea deal! (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Ken Dilanian of NBC News: "Prosecutors and FBI agents involved in the Hunter Biden investigation have been the targets of threats and harassment by people who think they haven't been tough enough on the president's son, according to government officials and congressional testimony obtained exclusively by NBC News. It's part of a dramatic uptick in threats against FBI agents that has coincided with attacks on the FBI and the Justice Department by congressional Republicans and ... Donald Trump, who have accused both agencies of participating in a conspiracy to subvert justice amid two federal indictments of Trump. The threats have prompted the FBI to create a stand-alone unit to investigate and mitigate them, according to a previously unreleased transcript of congressional testimony." (Also linked yesterday.)
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "An urgent push by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avert a government shutdown collapsed on Thursday as he bowed to resistance from his most conservative members and abandoned an effort to bring up a Pentagon spending measure this week." A related NPR story is here. ~~~
~~~ Emily Brooks & Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) vented his frustration about the hard-line conservatives holding up appropriations, dropping an expletive as he dared his fiercest critics to attempt a vote to oust him. During a closed-door conference meeting Thursday, McCarthy addressed an uptick in threats from members to call a motion to vacate the chair -- a move to force a vote on ousting the Speaker. 'If you want to file a motion to vacate, then file the f[uck]ing motion,' McCarthy said, Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) recounted. McCarthy's comments follow Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) earlier this week explicitly threatening to call a motion to vacate if McCarthy does not follow through with a number of spending priorities and votes on bills that his detractors were promised in January." (Also linked yesterday.)
Annie Karni of the New York Times: Mitt Romney "appears to be exiting [public life] in a blaze of tea-spilling glory, choosing to share his unfiltered -- and often unflattering -- thoughts about his colleagues and his dismay about what has become of the modern-day G.O.P. by participating in a deeply reported biography.... The senator sat for hours of interviews with the author, McKay Coppins of The Atlantic, giving him access to emails, texts and his journals that Mr. Romney had been saving to potentially write a memoir.... Here are six takeaways [from an excerpt of the book published in the Atlantic]." Worth a read. ~~~
~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Senator Mitt Romney of Utah has framed [his retirement] as a passing of the torch.... 'The next generation of leaders must take America to the next stage of global leadership.' The problem with this argument is that Romney despises the next generation of Republican leaders.... So ... I don't think [the gerontocracy is] why Romney is bowing out. Rather..., [it's because his brand of stolid, upstanding conservatism has become obsolete, replaced with a conspiratorial, histrionic and sometimes violent authoritarianism. His reluctance to say so clearly, at the cost of breaking with his party definitively, is evidence of something tragic in his character.... By putting age at the center of his argument, he's setting himself above the fray, pretending that both parties are equally at fault in bringing the country to this perilous pass."
Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "... the latest census report on income and poverty made me angry. It showed that child poverty more than doubled between 2021 and 2022. That's 5.1 million children pushed into misery.... This didn't have to happen. Soaring child poverty wasn't caused by inflation or other macroeconomic problems. It was instead a political choice.... Republicans and a handful of conservative Democrats blocked the extension of federal programs that had drastically reduced child poverty over the previous two years, and as a result just about all of the gains were lost.... First, avoiding much of this human catastrophe would have cost remarkably little money. Second, child poverty is, in the long run, very expensive for the nation as a whole: Americans who live in poverty as children grow up to become less healthy and productive adults than they should be."
Connor O'Brien of Politico: "President Joe Biden's nominee to be the Navy's top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, said it could take the service years to recover from the impacts of Sen. Tommy Tuberville's blockade of hundreds of senior military promotions. Franchetti told the Senate Armed Services Committee during her confirmation hearing Thursday that the impasse has created 'a lot of uncertainty' for Navy families."
Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A judge on Thursday granted ... Donald J. Trump and 16 others a separate trial from two of their co-defendants, who will go to trial next month in the Georgia election interference case. The judge, Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court, has laid out an expedited trial schedule for Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell.... The two had invoked their right under Georgia law to seek a speedy trial, in part to avoid the high cost of a more protracted legal fight. Their trial is set to begin on Oct. 23." The ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Spencer Hsu & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday urged U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan to refuse a request by Donald Trump's attorneys that she disqualify herself from his federal election obstruction case, saying Trump's team had failed to supply evidence that she was biased against him.... Before the special counsel investigation began, while sentencing people who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, Chutkan twice noted that Trump and other leaders claiming the election was stolen had not been charged with crimes.... Legal analysts said views that a judge expresses at the sentencing of one defendant usually cannot be the basis for recusing them in the case of a different defendant, as that is the basis of their job, and they are trusted to not let their views bias them against other defendants. A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that a judge must recuse from a case based on 'opinions formed' through court proceedings only if those opinions 'display a deep-seated favoritism or antagonism that would make fair judgment impossible.'"
Dave Collins of the AP: "As Alex Jones continues telling his Infowars audience about his money problems and pleads for them to buy his products, his own documents show life is not all that bad -- his net worth is around $14 million and his personal spending topped $93,000 in July alone, including thousands of dollars on meals and entertainment. The conspiracy theorist and his lawyers file monthly financial reports in his personal bankruptcy case, and the latest one has struck a nerve with the families of victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. They're still seeking the $1.5 billion they won last year in lawsuits against Jones and his media company for repeatedly calling the 2012 massacre a hoax on his shows." The Sandy Hook families have not seen a penny.
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Kentucky. Well, That Didn't Take Long. Gloria Oladipo of the Guardian & Agencies: "A former Kentucky county clerk is being ordered to pay $100,000 to a local couple who sued the clerk after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Kim Davis, the former clerk of Rowan county in eastern Kentucky, rose to national prominence for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses in 2015, arguing that such actions violated her religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman.... Last year, a federal judge ruled that Davis violated the constitutional rights of the two gay couples who sued her.... This week, in a trial to determine damages Davis must pay, a federal jury ordered Davis to pay $50,000 each to David Ermold and David Moore, according to lawyers of Davis, the Associated Press reported. The second couple who sued, James Yates and Will Smith, were awarded no damages." (Also linked yesterday.)
Texas. Robert Downen of the Texas Tribune: "Ken Paxton's defense team rested their case Thursday evening after a full day of testimony in which they attacked several of the 16 impeachment articles and downplayed the suspended attorney general's conduct as merely a part of his duties. The prosecution and defense will present closing arguments beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, after which the rules call for senators to deliberate in private before emerging to cast votes on each of 16 articles of impeachment."
Marie: Here's why I fear/am ashamed of being an American:
~~~ Washington. Justine McDaniel of the Washington Post: "A man who was trying to slow traffic in his neighborhood because deer were crossing the street was shot and killed by another man who was driving past, authorities in western Washington state said. Dan Spaeth of Snohomish, Wash., was outside his home with his wife on the evening of Sept. 7, trying to alert passing cars to deer that were crossing the road, Snohomish County Sheriff's Office Det. Kendra Conley wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed in court. He was shot once by a man driving by, who later told authorities that seeing Spaeth and his wife in the street made him afraid and he fired the shot to scare the couple, according to the affidavit. After a search for the car, police detained Dylan Picard, 22, of Lake Stevens, Wash. He is charged with second-degree murder. Picard told detectives he did not know Spaeth or his wife.... Spaeth's death is another in a growing list of killings by Americans who have shot people in seemingly innocuous situations...." MB: Who wants to live in a country like this?
Wisconsin. Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate voted Thursday to fire the swing state's top elections official, who argued lawmakers didn't have the power to oust her and said she would stay in office. About an hour after the vote, she sued GOP lawmakers, seeking validation from the courts that she can keep her job. The vote ignited a dispute over who is in charge of overseeing elections in a state that is expected to play a critical role in next year's presidential contest and that may have to redraw its legislative districts within months. The Republicans' own lawyers, as well as the state's Democratic attorney general, told the senators before the vote that they didn't have the authority to remove Meagan Wolfe, the director of the state's bipartisan elections commission. Wolfe, whose position is nonpartisan, has won praise from voting administrators across the country as well as local officials in Wisconsin."
Wisconsin. Patrick Marley & Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "Planned Parenthood plans to resume offering abortions in Wisconsin next week, more than a year after it stopped providing the service because of the Supreme Court's decision overturning the right to abortion. Planned Parenthood and others stopped providing abortions after the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization because of an 1849 law that was broadly viewed as banning nearly all abortions. The Wisconsin attorney general, a Democrat, sued in state court to try to overturn that law. A judge in July issued an initial ruling that concluded the 1849 law did not ban anyone from seeking abortions but rather barred someone from battering a pregnant woman and killing her unborn child. The judge is expected to issue a final ruling in the case soon, but Planned Parenthood announced Thursday it was not waiting for that ruling and instead would resume offering services on Monday at clinics in Milwaukee and Madison."
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Reader Comments (13)
An overweight child with curiously tiny hands and a motor mouth generating word salads faster than a glitchy ChatGPT bot, revealed the reason—the real reason—the Party of Traitors is going after Biden with the first of probably seven impeachments:
“They did it to me! Waaaah!”
So, in what amounts to an I know you are but what am I? declaration of a colicky baby, the former guy sez what we all know to be true.
There’s no rationale, no constitutional cause, no underlying criminality at the heart of this hippity-hop at the barbershop impeachment thingie. It’s all “Well, they did it to me so I’m doing to them.” A pronouncement followed with folded arms and a pouty baby puss.
It still fries my synaptic network that this fucking idiot, this big baby, was President* and could be again!
So now we have, in addition to presidential statements of great import,
Ask not what your country can do for you…
Mystic chords of memory…
A day that will live in infamy…
It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company…
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom…
we now have:
I know you are, but what am I?
Saint Kim of Kentucky has to fork over one hundred thousand smackers for being an asshole. Oh yeah, and for tossing her oath of office into the dumpster. Kind of a regular thing with Party of Traitor elected officials these days.
That’s a lot of semoleons to come up with so I’m guessing St. Kim will once again tell those guys she already screwed over once to take a hike. But hang on…St. Kim’s return to the news with a report of this finding against her will cement her martyrdom in the eyes of Evangelicals who put their personal religious beliefs ahead of the law, the Constitution, common decency, and in St. Kim’s case, the job she was paid to do. She’s a hee-roe, and sure to make a killing on the religious right grift circuit. Maybe the American Legion will give her a rifle with her name inscribed on it. She can pick off gay guys walking down the street. For Jesus, of course.
Oh, one other thing…just a quibble. The Guardian story makes reference to Kentucky’s “Republican-leaning legislature”. Yeah, okay. Lemme tell ya, kids, it ain’t “leaning”. It fell over to the right and crashed into the ground with greater force than the Yucatán asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. There’s a gigantic impact crater inversely proportional in size to James Comer’s brain . “Leaning”, my ass.
My comment on the Goldberg piece:
"Romney's problem is distinctly old-school Republican. It has always been the party of money-grubbers and that hasn't changed. They still are. They're just more obvious and less picky and shameless about it.
If it pays, Republicans are for it. All Republican morality is pretense. Vulture capitalism? Mitt was all over it. It made him rich and powerful regardless of consequence to others. In his scripture, greed as always OK, maybe even a virtue.
Now that racism and misogyny more overtly energize his party, as for much of its history they energized his church, poor Mitt is uncomfortable. But those elements have always found a home under the Republican roof and now that they are out in the open--when the party's chosen leader is a proudly and obviously corrupt, wealthy racist--those values too are money makers.
And for Republicans, as always, it's the money and the power--not its source-- that counts."
And that disturbing Washington State story strikes very close to home....or to my home town...
Rudy Giuliani has said that he wants to be the lead counsel during the
House Republicans impeachment efforts against President Joe Biden,
even as the former NY mayor awaits trial on charges alongside former
President Donald Trump.
Says he "that's what I do best, scare the bejesus out of them" and" all
we need is Hunter Biden's laptop."
Has Rudy been disbarred? I can't seem to remember. But I guess that
doesn't matter if you're one of the mob.
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/
rudy-giualini-joe-biden-impeachment-b2410751.html
I notice that Giuliani's name is spelled wrong in the original link so
that's what I put in the link above.
Kristi Noem seems perfectly consistent with Trump Family values.
And speaking of the former first couple, I wish that people would correctly pronounce her name. It's Mel-ah-NEE-ah,
rhymes with gonorrhea.
And what else do you call a nude model and paid escort, who marries a serial adulterer and sexual predator for money?
Hint: what's a five letter word that rhymes with 'chore'?
Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump, all heroes to the family values holy roller crew, and all unfaithful cheaters, adulterers, and liars.
Sounds like perfect representatives of the Party of Traitors. Traitors to the country, to their spouses, their families, and their vows, none of which mean anything to these grifting “I come first” assholes.
@D in Md: I finally got it, that five letter word. She's a spore, the
lowest life form.
Do I win?
Am just trying this: Got a new computer and my post this mornng didn't go through but IT said "Your post has been submitted and will appear shortly,"
Forrest,
Jesus, man. Spore? You mean these predatory protozoans will propagate? Holy fungal infection, Batman!
What else could it be? Swore? As in swore to be faithful? Nah. Unpossible. Abhor? Yeah…getting warmer…
Snore? Well, if you mean unconscious to decency and honor, sure.
S’more? Please god, no!
How ‘bout crore?
“the number that is represented as a one followed by 7 zeros; ten million” ie, the number of times these people have sucked…
Okay, I realize I’m straying a bit from the initial reference to Melanie (although the connection to gonorrhea is a pretty good one, for several reasons), but “whore” serves as an excellent descriptor for all of these double crossing chiselers who pimp themselves out for money and power.
I’m back to abhor.
When you see “will appear shortly”, it’s often a reference to height, ie, will appear, but will be too short for anyone to see.
See?
Forest and Akhilleus,
The correct answer (and my favorite answer to many questions) is "all of the above".
See-see, at the end of the last post, made me think of this great sketch.
See?
Hey, it’s Friday. Si?
Was Jack Benny great, or what?
Well, it seems that Jack Smith has issued a species of gag rule on the Orange Roughy issuing torrents of abuse every time he opens his mouth or types to these MAGATs. About damn time.
The Washington story is brutal and sad. I too am ashamed of this country, but I always remember, there are people working to rid us of this "troublesome priest" and his entire cadre of followers, who are universally violent, stupid, vicious, mean and don't deserve our respect in any way. That is not everyone. Everyone did not kill that man, but everyone needs to work to get rid of the malfeasing morons.