trump27

Liberty In Peril

formerly,

The Llano Ledger

4-9-21

Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.

Egregious dishonor of the profession. United Press International reports:

"Federal agents on Friday arrested a former Salt Lake City police officer on allegations he took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said. Michael Hardin, of Kaysville, Utah, faces charges of knowingly entering or remaining in restricted grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in restricted grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and demonstrating in a Capitol building. The Justice Department said Hardin was one of thousands of former President Donald Trump's supporters who forced entry into the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. An anonymous tipster told the FBI that Hardin told them about his plans to travel to Washington, D.C., and texted them on Jan. 6, "We stormed the Capitol, I am in here now!" according to a statement of facts from the Justice Department. Hardin also texted, "I know you don't like Trump, but He is the rightful President!" and "We will return until we win!" A second tipster, who described themselves as a 20-year friend of Hardin, confirmed his identity in multiple photos taken inside the Capitol during the riot. In one photo, Hardin can be seen posing next to a bust of President Abraham Lincoln in the Capitol Crypt. Hardin allegedly sent the photo directly to the tipster. The statement of facts said federal investigators also tied Hardin to the Capitol riot through location data on his cellphone. The FBI has arrested hundreds of people on charges they were involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection, which left five people dead, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick."

Sad, isn't it?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve. Forfeiture of liberty. At the hands of outrageously corrupt and abusive government.

4-2-21

The Trump nazi remains a congenital liar. CBS News reports:

"Former President Trump on Thursday defended his supporters who laid siege to the U.S. Capitol on January 6 in an attack that resulted in five deaths, arguing they posed "zero threat." Lawmakers were inside the Capitol that day to confirm the Electoral College results certifying Joe Biden's presidential victory. "It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat," Mr. Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham."

A lie. Simply, not true:

"The flood of rioters who broke into the Capitol crushed through windows and pressed up stairways, and sent lawmakers and law enforcement running for their lives. Some of the rioters may have sought to harm or assassinate lawmakers present, according to court documents, including former Vice President Mike Pence, who was present at the Capitol to preside over the certification of election results. The assault led to five deaths, including that of a Capitol police officer who died due to injuries sustained during the riots. Two West Virginia men were arrested for allegedly assaulting the officer, Brian Sicknick. They are accused of spraying police officers with a chemical spray. Approximately 140 Capitol and Metropolitan police officers were seriously harmed, with Capitol Police union leader Gus Papathanasiou saying in a statement in January that injuries included cracked ribs, brain injuries, smashed spinal disks and one officer losing an eye. Two Capitol Police officers present that day died by suicide after the riots."

The congenital liar Trump nazi can't, won't be confused by the truth.

Remains delusionally insane:

"Mr. Trump did acknowledge that some people "went in [to the Capitol], they shouldn't have done it." But he slammed federal law enforcement for "persecuting" the Capitol rioters, complaining that "nothing happens" to left-wing protesters."

Mr. Trump is ferociously reminded peaceful protesters of law enforcement get the living shit beaten out of them by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue, then arrested, hauled to jail, quickly charged. Last summer, proof positive. Then again, a nazi in the mold of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini can't, won't be confused by the truth.

"He also falsely claimed that the insurrectionists had "great relationships" with law enforcement. "Some of them went in and they're, they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in and then they walked in and they walked out," Mr. Trump said."

Raw insanity by this nazi former 'president.'

Here's the truth:

"Officers were verbally abused by rioters, many of whom belonged to white nationalist groups. Officer Harry Dunn, a Black Capitol Police officer, told The New York Times last month that rioters repeatedly used racial slurs against him. Mr. Trump delivered a speech at a rally before the attack, urging his supporters to "fight like hell" to overturn the election results. The House impeached Mr. Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection on January 13. He was later acquitted by the Senate. While, seven Republicans joined all Democrats in voting "guilty," Democrats failed to get the two-thirds majority needed to convict the former president. Hundreds of people have been charged in connection to the attack on January 6. In an interview with "60 Minutes," Michael Sherwin, a federal prosecutor who had been leading the criminal investigation until March 19, said there are more than "400 defendants." Authorities have connected at least 52 alleged rioters to extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, Texas Freedom Force and the conspiracy ideology QAnon."

... A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Seig Heil!, Mr. Trump.

3-26-21

Former Green Beret charged in January 6 insurrection. The Washington Post reports:

"A former Army Special Forces soldier charged with a half-dozen crimes stemming from the Capitol riot threw a flagpole at a police officer like a spear and assaulted three other officers, according to the FBI and court documents. Jeffrey McKellop, 55, who was arrested Wednesday, is among more than 30 veterans charged in the Jan. 6 incident but appears to be the first so far who served in Special Operations, according to service records analyzed by The Washington Post. McKellop, of Augusta County, Va., faces six charges, among them assaulting a police officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He did not enter a plea on Thursday. His attorneys Greg Hunter and Seth Peritz declined to comment on his case. The former soldier served two enlistments for a total of 22 years, according to his Army service record. His second enlistment, from 1993 to 2010, included time as a mechanic and a Special Forces communications sergeant. The role includes overseeing radios and other communications vital to small team Green Beret missions. The Army did not say how long he served in Special Forces, but his two tours each in Iraq and Afghanistan, spanning from 2002 to 2006, lasted a few months, which is typical for groups like Green Berets and Navy SEALs. McKellop was recorded on several body cameras worn by officers, the FBI alleged, during the violent melee inside and outside the Capitol in an attempt to interrupt the certification of President Biden’s election. Clad in a helmet and tactical body armor, and wearing his own gas mask, McKellop was filmed pushing an officer, throwing a bottle at police and trying to wrestle away a can of riot-control spray from another officer, the FBI said. In one moment, McKellop picked a flag off the ground and thrust it in the face of a D.C. police officer, then heaved the flagpole at the officer “similar in fashion to throwing a spear,” the FBI said. The officer suffered lacerations near his eye, investigators said. At one point, McKellop held a “thin blue line” flag popular with police and law enforcement advocates, the agency said. An associate of McKellop who did not attend the rally or the riot may be charged as a conspirator, according to a person familiar with the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity to frankly discuss the matter. It is unclear what level of participation the associate had, the person said.

"The number of veterans charged in the riot, which includes at least two men serving in the Army Reserve and one in the National Guard, has prompted Pentagon officials to reassess how it detects and roots out troops with extremist ideologies. Veterans recruited by extremist groups and self-styled militias are prized for weapon and tactical experience but also their social capital that confers legitimacy, the Pentagon has said. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he was “very disappointed” in the number of veterans charged in the riot, which is about 10 percent of more than 300 total people who have been charged. “This is an issue that I think can erode the great respect that our American citizens have for our military,” Austin said in a “60 Minutes” interview. While most veterans charged in the riot had typical duties, such as infantry members, vehicle drivers and mechanics, a few had notable records that require restrictive security clearances, such as one required for Special Forces soldiers. One veteran worked as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer. Another was a crew chief in the presidential helicopter squadron. That role requires a specialized top secret security clearance, the Marine Corps said."

3-26-21

Nothing quite like hypocrisy, is there? Worse? Nothing quite like following in the Trump nazi's footsteps to be sure. LOL. -- But, here we are. The following is truly appalling. ABC News reports:

"The U.S. government set up a fake university as a sting operation ostensibly to catch foreigners using school admission for visas. Now, those caught up by it are seeking their time in court -- and say they have found the new presidential administration no friendlier to their fight."

Imagine that. Couldn't be, could it?

Get this:

"The Biden administration followed in the Trump administration's footsteps in February requesting a class-action lawsuit over the fake University of Farmington be dismissed from Federal Claims Court. The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 21, 2020 against the United States by would-be students who claim they lost millions in tuition when the university never provided any classes. No money was ever returned to the students."

Where could the money have gone? Into whose pocket?

"Almost 600 foreign-born people enrolled at the University of Farmington, hoping to take classes and graduate with a master's degree, according to the lawsuit, not knowing it was a sting operation run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations team. The university was created "to ferret out illegal conduct and ‘expose student visa fraud,'" according to the Biden administration's Feb. 24 reply in support of the motion to dismiss the lawsuit."

Where's the money, Mr. Biden? Couldn't care less, sir?

"On Nov. 29, 2019, then-Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted that the scheme behind the fraudulent school was not "just cruel, it's a waste of taxpayer dollars." Despite Harris now being vice president, there has been no change between the Biden and Trump administration's positions in this case. Both administrations have tried to dismiss the lawsuit, and both administrations have yet to give back the tuition paid by international students who enrolled at Farmington, many of whom legitimately thought they would be receiving an education, according to the lawsuit."

Jesus Christ. What the hell is going on here? Where's the tuition money?Where?

"Anna Nathanson, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said the Biden administration could have withdrawn the motion to dismiss or settled the case, rather than file a supportive reply on the motion to dismiss. ABC News has reached out to the White House and has not yet heard back. ABC News also reached out to ICE, who said they cannot comment due to pending litigation."

Convenient, isn't it?

"Pasam, 27, who asked ABC News to only use part of his name out of fear of retribution, is one of the students Nathanson represents. He says he paid $10,000 in tuition to the University of Farmington. Originally from India, he says he was a software developer working in Boston in October 2017 and only had about a month left before his student visa expired. To continue legally working and residing in the United States, he decided to apply for a master's program, according to the lawsuit. With a student visa, international students can remain in the United States and work for at least a year after they have graduated. Pasam was legally living and working in Boston, when he applied and was accepted to the University of Farmington. "It is a common and legal practice for people with international visas to remain legally working and living in the United States while getting an additional degree and student visa," Nathanson said. This student visa program, which allows students to work in the U.S., was implemented in 1953. "We have to stay legally, right?" Pasam said to ABC News, describing one of the reasons he was applying for his master's. "We don't want to break any law, because that is not a good thing, right?" After some research, he chose to attend the University of Farmington, a school that claimed to offer online classes towards a master's degree in technology."

Get this:

"According to the complaint, the school's website claimed it was accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, registered with the state of Michigan as a legitimate university and listed as "an institution approved for the Student and Exchange Visitor program" by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to Pasam, he thought the university was legitimate. He told ABC News he was excited because the university offered classes he was looking to take, the visa he was looking to obtain, and would allow him to continue living and working in Massachusetts. He applied and was admitted. "So, I got the visa, and I got the visa legally," Pasam said. He said he paid his tuition fee and received his I-20 visa, but that when classes didn't begin on time, he became suspicious. "We reached out to the university," Pasam told ABC News. "We called multiples times. Sometimes they answered us, sometimes they didn't answer." Pasam paid $10,000 in tuition fees to the University of Farmington. He hasn't received any of that money back."

Imagine that. Sounds like fraud, doesn't it?

"He said the university told him it was planning to begin classes "very soon" and to "not worry about that process." As time continued to pass and classes never began, Pasam said he decided to try and take matters into his own hands. He said he requested to transfer schools so he could get the education he was paying for, but the University of Farmington never completed his request to send on his acceptance letter and other proof he was a student."

Couldn't be, could it? The U.S. government would never engage in fraud, would it?

"Unbeknownst to Pasam at the time, the "sole purpose of the Government's activities were grounded in law-enforcement objectives," according to the government's motion to dismiss filed on Jan. 8, 2021. "The University was staffed with law enforcement personnel who presented themselves as administrators," the motion later said. "I've spoken to several Farmington students," Nathanson, the lawyer, told ABC News. "I haven't met anyone who wasn't tricked." When the news broke about what Farmington really was, Pasam said he was sent a letter by the government requesting he leave the country within a week. His visa, which he argues he had obtained legally by attending Farmington, had been terminated. "I lost my hope," Pasam said. "I lost my job, I lost my income, I lost my health plan."

Surprised? Why? We live in a de facto fascist police-state. Democratic republic in name only.

"He said he and his girlfriend had planned to get married that year, but everything changed when that letter arrived. After Pasam's visa was terminated, he left the United States within the week. He now lives in India. Pasam chose to take the legal route and left the United States within the week. But approximately 250 of his potential classmates didn't, and were later arrested by ICE, according to The Washington Post. "The students impacted by Farmington lost the chance to eventually apply for a work visa," Nathanson said, adding it is common for international students to eventually get a work visa to stay in the United States. "In an alternate world that's probably what many of them would have been able to do." Pasam, who now lives in India, said he and his girlfriend have since broken up due to the distance, and he's struggled a lot during the last two years. Despite what he's been through, Pasam hopes to return to work in the United States one day. But first, he wants to win the lawsuit. "I want to get my money back," he told ABC News. According to Nathanson, the students of Farmington would be happy to settle with the United States. "That is something that was wanted and that they're not offering at this time," Nathanson said. The hearing on the motion to dismiss should take place in the next month, according to Nathanson."

Engage in such fraudulent activity as a private citizen, guess what? Your sorry ass rightfully goes to prison. Not, however, when government does the same. Double standard. Nazi justice. Nazi America. A de facto fascist police-state. A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Seig Heil!

When did we lose ourselves? How are we any better than any other autocracy, dictatorship on the Extreme Left or Extreme Right?

3-26-21

Portend of far worse to come. NPR reports:

"A new report from the U.S. intelligence community warns of future, unspecified, violence committed by domestic extremists, who have been emboldened by the siege on the U.S. Capitol and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and coronavirus pandemic. President Biden commissioned a threat assessment shortly after taking office. An unclassified summary of the findings, issued by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, was released Wednesday. The full, classified report was sent to the White House and Congress. It concludes that racially and ethnically motivated extremists, such as white supremacists and those tied to violent militias, are considered the "most lethal" threats. Lone offenders or smaller cells of extremists are more likely than organizations to carry out attacks, and are proving harder for law enforcement to track. The threat of militia extremist groups increased last year and is expected to continue to heighten throughout 2021, the report said. That's because of "sociopolitical factors" motivating these groups, "such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting violence." The Jan. 6 attack insurrection at the Capitol was preceded by false election-rigging claims by President Donald Trump and others close to him. Those allegations have been repeatedly dispelled. "Domestic violent extremism is typically fueled by false narratives, conspiracy theories, and extremist rhetoric usually spread through social media and other online platforms," said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in prepared remarks before the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. The conclusions in Wednesday's report echo earlier analyses by the FBI warning of the ongoing dangers of domestic terrorism. Mayorkas said Wednesday that, for the first time, DHS designated "combating domestic extremism" a national priority area."

Fascinating, isn't it? Chilling, as well. Then again, this has been in the offing the last seven decades.

"White supremacy groups are most likely to commit mass casualty attacks against civilians, the intelligence agencies said. Militia-like organizations are more focused on targeting law enforcement and other government personnel and their facilities. Lone offenders pose the most significant challenges to tracking and disrupting their plans, the report summary said. That's because of their "capacity for independent radicalization to violence, ability to mobilize discretely, and access to firearms." Connections are also being made to extremist groups with similar mindsets in other countries, the report said. White supremacy groups in particular are frequently communicating with similar organizations overseas and influencing one other. U.S. agencies have found a small number of those groups have traveled abroad to connect with one another. Germany has reported its own issues of right-wing extremism plaguing the nation's police and security agencies. Recent reports indicate the country's domestic intelligence agency put the nation's largest opposition party, Alternative for Germany, under surveillance as a potential threat to the country's constitution."

3-19-21

Two charged in Capitol assault of officer who later died. NBC News reports:

"Two people were arrested and charged in connection with the alleged assault of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, but federal authorities stopped short of charging them with his death, according to court documents. Julian Elie Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, 39 of West Virginia, were taken into custody on Sunday and accused of using spray during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, officials said. Sicknick died a day after the riots, and authorities suspect he may have inhaled a spray-type irritant, such as bear spray, during the riot. Khater and Tanios have been charged with assault, but not for killing Sicknick. The FBI has video of both Khater and Tanios "working together to assault law enforcement officers with an unknown chemical substance by spraying officers directly in the face and eyes," FBI Special Agent Riley Palmertree wrote in a search warrant application. There's also footage of Khater reaching into Tanois' backpack while saying, “Give me that bear sh-t" as Khater is later "seen holding a white can with a black top that appears to be a can of chemical spray," the application said. "Many of the federal police officers were injured and several were admitted to the hospital," Palmertree wrote of the Jan. 6 mayhem. "The subjects also confronted and terrorized members of Congress, Congressional staff, and the media. The subjects carried weapons including tire irons, sledgehammers, bear spray, and tasers." A body camera of one officer allegedly captured Khater "holding a canister in his right hand and aiming it in the officers’ direction while moving his right arm from side to side," Palmertree wrote. Three officers, including Sicknick, appeared to be hit with the chemical. "The officers immediately retreat from the line, bring their hands to their faces and rush to find water to wash out their eyes," Palmertree wrote. "The officers were temporarily blinded by the substance, were temporarily disabled from performing their duties and needed medical attention and assistance from fellow officers." Khater and Tanios are longtime friends, having grown up together in New Jersey, according to the court document. Tanios is the owner and operator of the Sandwich University restaurant in Morgantown."

NPR reports:

"Two men have been arrested for allegedly spraying a chemical on Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and two other law enforcement officers, during the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Sicknick died one day later; officials have recently said they're still determining what factors might have led to his death. The two men are Julian Elie Khater, 32, of State College, Penn., and George Pierre Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, W. Va. They were arrested Sunday, charged with "conspiring to injure officers and assaulting federal officers" and other crimes, the Justice Department says. Tanios was arrested at his home; Khater was arrested as he was getting off an airplane at New Jersey's Newark Airport. Sicknick died one day after he sustained injuries during the attack by a mob of Trump supporters who were attempting to block Congress from certifying President Biden's victory over the former president. Shortly after the Capitol Police officer died, the Justice Department opened a federal murder investigation into Sicknick's death. News of the pair of arrests comes two weeks after the FBI singled out a person who was seen spraying a substance on Sicknick and other law enforcement officers. At the time, the Capitol Police emphasized the medical examiner's report into Sicknick's death was not yet complete, adding that they were still awaiting toxicology results. During a standoff with police at the Capitol, Khater asked Tanios to "give me that bear s*it," according to the Justice Department, citing video footage from the scene. After pulling a canister from Tanios' backpack, Khater moved to the front of the crowd, next to the police perimeter. He then raised his hand, aimed the canister at Sicknick and two other officers who were standing just a few feet away, and waved his arm from side to side, the agency says. The three officers – Sicknick and C. Edwards from the Capitol Police and D. Chapman from Washington's Metropolitan Police – were immediately forced to retreat, "holding their hands to their faces and rushing to find water to wash out their eyes," the Justice Department said. The agency did not provide the officers' first names."

Excellent investigative work:

"Investigators say they were alerted to Khater and Tanios by tips from the public, including one person who said they "knew each other and grew up together in New Jersey," according to a criminal complaint and affidavit in the case. At the Capitol, Tanios was seen wearing a hoodie bearing the logo of the Sandwich University restaurant in Morgantown, known for its "Fat Sandwich." A witness told the FBI that Tanios owns the "Fat Sandwich" restaurant, and social media accounts show that "George Pierre Tanios" is affiliated with the account "kingofthefatsandwich." Khater was located after a tip pointed investigators to his LinkedIn page – which they then used to contact a witness who identified him. The witness said they had worked with Khater at a "food establishment" in State College. Both Khater and Tanios face "one count of conspiracy to injure an officer; three counts of assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon; one count of civil disorder; one count of obstructing or impeding an official proceeding; one count of physical violence on restricted grounds, while carrying dangerous weapon and resulting in significant bodily injury; and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct, act of physical violence on Capitol grounds," the Justice Department says."

3-12-21

Nothing quite like corruption in office, is there? Get this. NPR reports:

"In her time as former President Donald Trump's transportation secretary, Elaine Chao repeatedly used her position and agency staff to help family members who run a shipping business with ties to China, in potential violation of federal ethics laws, according to an Office of Inspector General report. The findings were uncovered in the Transportation Department's inspector general report released Wednesday that detailed the office's investigation into Chao's dealings as secretary. The inspector general referred the findings to the Justice Department in December 2020. But with the Trump administration coming to a close, the DOJ declined to open its own investigation, citing "there is not predication" to do so. Chao, who is married to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced her resignation Jan. 7, saying she was deeply troubled by the previous day's mob attack on the Capitol "in a way that I simply cannot set aside." Her term was set to end at President Biden's swearing-in. The Transportation Department watchdog launched the probe into Chao's actions as secretary following news reports that detailed her interactions with family in her post as the agency's head. That included an official trip to China in 2017 in which her father and sister were set to join her and participate in high-level meetings. But as the OIG report details, Chao tasked her staff with far more than travel planning. The internal watchdog cited Chao for four kinds of ethics violations, including requiring DOT's staff to help with personal errands and with marketing her father's biography."

How about that? Anything goes, does it?

"Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform Carolyn B. Maloney of New York also requested an investigation into Chao following initial media reports. Maloney on Wednesday called Chao's use of her official position and resources to help her family a "flagrant abuse of her office." The congresswoman added that lawmakers should use this report as evidence for further ethics and transparency reforms."

You think? Yet, to the Republican nazi element in our formerly great country day is night, night is day, and shit smells perversely sweet. All ass backwards from reality:

"In a statement, a spokesperson for Chao said the report "exonerates the Secretary from baseless accusations and closes the book on an election-year effort to impugn her history-making career as the first Asian American woman appointed to a President's Cabinet and her outstanding record as the longest tenured Cabinet member since World War II."

Jesus Christ. Give the long-suffering public a break. What a crock of shit.

"The OIG report doesn't offer a formal conclusion that Chao violated federal ethics laws, but it did highlight several instances that deserved further scrutiny, especially in situations tied to the secretary's family, the report said. Federal ethics laws bar employees from using their public office for private gain, which could mean publicity or favors from others. Employees must also act impartially and ensure they don't offer any preferential treatment to any private organization or person. Federal employees cannot use their public office to endorse a product, service or company or for the private gain of friends, family or others. Chao is no novice when it comes to the ethics rules of being a federal agency official. She was previously the labor secretary under former President George W. Bush. Yet during her time at the Department of Transportation, Chao's office handled matters related to her father, James Chao, who founded the shipping company Foremost Group, and her sister, Angela Chao, who runs the company. Secretary Chao made extensive plans to include family members in events during her official trip to China in November 2017. The itinerary included stops at Shanghai Maritime University and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other locations that had received support from her family's business. Chao also requested, through the State Department, for China's Transport Ministry to arrange for two vehicles for her delegation, which included her sister and father. Officials at the State and Transportation departments raised ethics concerns with the trip and it was ultimately canceled. The former secretary also directed her staffers to send copies of her father's memoir, Fearless Against the Wind, to a well-known, unnamed CEO of a major U.S. company not regulated by her agency. She asked her staff to request that he write the foreword for the book. A third staffer was asked to edit the sample foreword sent to the CEO, emails reviewed by the OIG showed. Similar requests were made to several other prominent individuals, including unnamed heads of "elite" U.S. schools, according to the report. Transportation's public affairs office also lent support to her father to help market his biography, to keep a running list of his awards, and to edit his Wikipedia page, the OIG report said. Chao also tasked political appointees on her staff to contact the Department of Homeland Security regarding the status of a work permit application for a student studying at a U.S. university who was a recipient of her family's philanthropic foundation. Chao also used agency resources and staff for small, personal tasks such as checking on the repairs of an item at a store for her father or sending Christmas ornaments to her family."

Clearly, anything goes at the top of the food chain.

"In defense of her actions, Chao's office sent a memo dated Sept. 24, 2020, citing "filial piety." The memo states, "Anyone familiar with Asian culture knows it is a core value in Asian communities to express honor and filial respect toward one's parents, and this ingrained value of love, respect, and filial piety always takes precedence over self-promotion and self-aggrandizement." It went on to say, "As the eldest daughter, she is expected to assume a leadership role in family occasions that honor her father and her late mother."

At taxpayer expense?

"The OIG said that over the years no Transportation Department employees questioned by investigators felt "ordered or coerced" to do any of the tasks asked of them by Chao. DeFazio criticized the timing of the OIG report as it was released nearly two months after Chao resigned. He said Wednesday, "I am even more disappointed that the Department of Justice declined to further pursue the matters that the IG's office substantiated in its investigation. Public servants, especially those responsible for leading tens of thousands of other public servants, must know that they serve the public and not their family's private commercial interests."

You think?

3-12-21

Nothing quite like hypocrisy, is there? The Washington Post reports:

"North Carolina’s Republican Party acted quickly last month to censure one of its most senior members, Sen. Richard Burr, for voting to convict President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. Burr’s vote was “shocking and disappointing,” said Michael Whatley, chairman of the state party. But the state GOP has shown no interest in exploring a similar action against one of its youngest elected leaders, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a pro-Trump freshman who is accused by a number of women of sexual harassment and has a record of making false statements and baseless claims."

3-12-21

No transparency in a de facto fascist police-state. The Associated Press reports:

"Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered her first Supreme Court majority opinion Thursday, ruling against an environmental group that had sought access to government records."

Expect better of a Republican fascist?

"President Donald Trump’s third nominee wrote for a 7-2 court that certain draft documents do not have to be disclosed under the federal Freedom of Information Act. The case was the first one Barrett heard after joining the court in late October, and it took four months for the 11-page opinion to be released. Two liberal justices, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, dissented. It is something of a tradition for new justices to be assigned a case in which the court is unanimous for their first opinion, but it doesn’t always happen. Both of Trump’s other nominees, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, wrote unanimous first opinions. Sotomayor also got a unanimous opinion for her first assignment, but President Barack Obama’s other nominee, Justice Elena Kagan, was assigned a first opinion where the court divided 8-1. The opinion Barrett wrote involved the environmental group the Sierra Club, which sued seeking access to federal government documents involving certain structures used to cool industrial equipment and their potential harm to endangered wildlife. Barrett began by explaining that FOIA makes “records available to the public upon request, unless those records fall within one of nine exemptions.” Those exemptions include “documents generated during an agency’s deliberations about a policy, as opposed to documents that embody or explain a policy that the agency adopts.” Barrett said the documents the Sierra Club was seeking were draft documents that did not need to be disclosed. And she dismissed concerns the group had raised that ruling against it would encourage officials to “stamp every document ‘draft’” to avoid disclosing them. Barrett said that if “evidence establishes that an agency has hidden a functionally final decision in draft form” then it won’t be protected from disclosure requirements."

3-12-21

Couldn't be Republicans are starting to wake up, could it? NBC News reports:

"The GOP is having a change of heart on economics. It could have implications for policymaking."

Think so? Think Trump agrees?

"Deep economic hardship — rising income inequality and escalating costs of health care and college tuition — could be driving the shift."

Imagine that.

"The Republican Party is showing signs of softening its trademark fiscal conservative brand in favor of a new populist approach, a potentially seminal shift as the party becomes more reliant on blue-collar white voters after Donald Trump’s presidency. The last time Republicans were thrown out of power, in 2009, they embraced an unabashed tax-cutting and spending-cutting vision to find their way out of the wilderness. Now, the party is taking a different path as ambitious figures seek to curry favor with voters by pushing a larger government safety-net that includes cash to families and a minimum wage hike."

Too little. Too late. Sadly, so.

Reality bites:

"The new approach comes at a time of deep economic hardship — rising income inequality and escalating costs of health care and college tuition — made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. The trend, if it continues, will test the longstanding alliance between the GOP and big business and has the potential to reshape the future of American policymaking. "I hope there's support for getting working people a fair shot. Most Americans — they don't want to be taken care of. They would like a fair shot though — to be able to get a job, be able to raise their family," Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said. Hawley’s rhetoric echoes progressives who say the government has a larger role in providing equal economic opportunity. He has been a vocal supporter of direct cash payments to Americans, even teaming up with democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently on the issue."

While capitalism is indeed the best financial system to live under, it must be regulated. If not, it's the worst. Winner-take-all.

"But despite his interest in fiscal liberalism, Hawley breaks sharply from Democrats by embracing Trump’s cultural conservatism, skepticism of immigration and even his promoting of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election result — a potential new model for the party."

Sadly, like Trump, Hawley at heart is a national socialist, a fascist.

"Republicans need to have a broader conversation about what we're going to do to support working people, working families in the middle of the country, where I'm from, but all across the country," Hawley said. "So I hope that that's the direction that we're headed." The party-line vote Saturday to approve a $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill shows there remain economic differences between the two parties. Yet 48 Republicans voted in the process to spend $650 billion on measures including direct cash, jobless aid and child care."

Highly indicative of the fact they're desperate to remain in office.

"Perhaps no Republican embodies the change quite like Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. He ran for president in 2012 on a platform of slashing taxes, raising the Social Security retirement age and cutting Medicare spending. He picked as his running mate Paul Ryan, the vanguard of traditional fiscal conservatism. Now, Romney is leading efforts in his party to expand the safety net with a substantial child allowance and a minimum wage hike to $10 per hour, one that's tied to stricter immigration enforcement. And he was an early proponent of direct payments amid the pandemic. "With regards to each of those plans, the effort is to make our safety net more effective," Romney told NBC News, while emphasizing that his plans are paid for. In some ways, Romney is Trump's polar opposite and chief antagonist — the only Republican who voted twice to find him guilty on impeachment charges. But Trump's pro-spending and anti-immigration attitudes created space for the policies Romney is pushing. Case in point, his minimum wage proposal is co-sponsored by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., one of the chamber's most conservative members and someone who is considered a likely presidential candidate. "It's time for the minimum wage to be raised. It hasn't been raised in a long, long, long time," Romney said. "But do so gradually and consistent with the rate of inflation — and marry that with immigration enforcement to make sure that we don't have people coming in illegally, taking away jobs from those at the entry level."

Does nothing to change the fact even in the poorest areas of our formerly great country a livable wage is at least $15 per hour.

3-5-21

Raw nazism. The Washington Post reports:

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have tapped a private database containing hundreds of millions of phone, water, electricity and other utility records while pursuing immigration violations, according to public documents uncovered by Georgetown Law researchers and shared with The Washington Post."

An exigent threat to a democratic republic.

"ICE’s use of the private database is another example of how government agencies have exploited commercial sources to access information they are not authorized to compile on their own. It also highlights how real-world surveillance efforts are being fueled by information people may never have expected would land in the hands of law enforcement. The database, CLEAR, includes more than 400 million names, addresses and service records from more than 80 utility companies covering all the staples of modern life, including water, gas and electricity, and phone, Internet and cable TV. CLEAR documents say the database includes billions of records related to people’s employment, housing, credit reports, criminal histories and vehicle registrations from utility companies in all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is updated daily, meaning even a recent move or new utility sign-up could be reflected in an individual search."

A democratic republic in name only. In reality, a de facto fascist police-state. ... Hear the rumble?

"CLEAR is run by the media and data conglomerate Thomson Reuters, which sells “legal investigation software solution” subscriptions to a broad range of companies and public agencies. The company has said in documents that its utility data comes from the credit-reporting giant Equifax. Thomson Reuters, based in Toronto, also owns the international news service Reuters as well as other prominent subscription databases, including Westlaw. Thomson Reuters has not provided a full client list for CLEAR, but the company has said in marketing documents that the system has been used by police in Detroit, a credit union in California and a fraud investigator in the Midwest. Federal purchasing records show that the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense are among the federal agencies with ongoing contracts for CLEAR data use. On Friday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent letters to the chief executives of Thomson Reuters and Equifax seeking documents and other information on how ICE has used the utility data in recent years."

What took so goddamned long? Bought and paid for?

“We are concerned that Thomson Reuters’ commercialization of personal and use data of utility customers and sale of broad access to ICE is an abuse of privacy, and that ICE’s use of this database is an abuse of power,” said the letters, which were signed by Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), the committee’s vice chair, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the chairman of a subcommittee on economic and consumer policy. Thomson Reuters directed requests for comment to ICE, which declined to comment on its “investigative techniques, tactics or tools,” citing “law-enforcement sensitivities.” Equifax did not respond to requests for comment."

... Hear the rumble?

"ICE has not shared how often it has used utility records to track people, saying such details should be confidential because they outline protected investigative techniques. But an immigration-case investigator appeared to note the access last June in an email to officials at the Georgia Department of Driver Services. The email was revealed as part of a Freedom of Information Act request by Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology and reviewed by The Post. In the heavily redacted email, the officer said immigration authorities are pursuing a “straight-up Pleasure Visitor” accused of overstaying a visa and that a search of unspecified utility records had showed that the target had “recently departed” from an address. In a separate letter to a Texas sheriff’s office in 2019, also obtained by Georgetown researchers and shared with The Post, a Thomson Reuters specialist said CLEAR’s utility data offered investigators a powerful way to find “people who are not easily traceable via traditional sources.”

Nazi America. De facto fascist police-state.

"Nina Wang, a policy associate at the Georgetown center, said the database offered ICE officers a way to pursue undocumented immigrants who may have tried to stay off the grid by avoiding activities as getting driver’s licenses but could not live without paying to keep the lights on at home. “There needs to be a line drawn in defense of people’s basic dignity. And when the fear of deportation could endanger their ability to access these basic services, that line is being crossed,” she said. “It’s a massive betrayal of people’s trust. … When you sign up for electricity, you don’t expect them to send immigration agents to your front door.” ICE has a $21 million contract with a Thomson Reuters subsidiary for the data, though the subscription is scheduled to expire on Sunday. ICE published a new solicitation for a “Law Enforcement Investigative Database Subscription” in November, but it is unclear whether the Biden administration will renew the deal or award a new contract. ICE is tapping into a huge license-plate database, ACLU says, raising new privacy concerns about surveillance. Jacinta Gonzalez, a senior campaign organizer at the Latino civil rights group Mijente, said her group has been alarmed and “horrified” by how quickly ICE has expanded its surveillance network through the use of private databases, which members suspect have been used by ICE officers to plan raids on people’s homes. “People would say to us, ‘How did ICE get my address? I’ve never had interactions with the police, I’ve never used this address publicly,’” she said. “It puts people in a tremendously difficult situation. They have to decide whether to have electricity or subject themselves to having ICE get access to this information.”

A goddamned de facto fascist police-state.

"Equifax has said it gathers utility-bill records from the National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange, a consumer-credit reporting bureau that gathers data on people’s account and payment history with companies including Verizon and AT&T. The data-exchange bureau has defended its data collection as “empowering” for the “underserved and underbanked community,” because the records help big companies assess the creditworthiness of people by using “alternative data sources” beyond traditional credit reports. FBI, ICE find state driver’s license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches. It’s unclear whether the utility data from Equifax comes from NCTUE or some other source, though the two firms have a long-standing data-sharing agreement. Speaking of the partnership in a letter to the Justice Department in 2001, a NCTUE representative wrote that Equifax had a “commitment to find and exploit appropriate opportunities for third-party access to exchange data.” Federal laws such as the Privacy Act of 1974 regulate how federal agencies can gather or use Americans’ personal information, but they do not cover CLEAR or other private databases, and federal law enforcement has increasingly turned to them for information it otherwise is not allowed to collect without a court order."

Goddamned f--king jackbooted nazis. An exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Traitors.

"Immigration agents have accessed information from a private database of license-plate readers holding billions of records related to vehicle locations from scanners on tow trucks, toll roads and speed-limit cameras. Agents have run facial recognition searches on people’s photos to see if they match any of the millions of faces in state driver’s license databases. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials also have used cellphone location data without warrants to track people inside the country. The data is gathered through a mix of weather, gaming and other apps, then bundled and resold by companies to marketers and federal agencies. An inspector general for the Treasury Department said in a letter last week to Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that similar uses of commercial location data by the Internal Revenue Service could conflict with a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that found such searches should require a warrant. Lawyers for the IRS and other agencies have argued that they had not needed a warrant because phone users had “voluntarily granted access” to the data-sharing apps."

What a crock of shit. Time to wake up. ... Hear the rumble?

3-5-21

January 6, 2021 was a sad day for good law enforcement. ABC News reports:

"The union representing United States Capitol Police officers said "many" members of the force are looking to retire from or leave the federal law enforcement agency after the Jan. 6 insurrection. "Many officers that are retirement eligible are seriously looking at turning in their retirement papers. Since January 6th, several Officers have retired as a result," Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the United States Capitol Police Labor Committee, said in a statement Friday. "Additionally, I cannot tell you the number of younger officers who have confided in me since the insurrection who are actively looking at other police agencies or even new careers." Papathanasiou said the two main drivers are "a lack of trust in our leadership who clearly failed us on January 6th" and the fact that many other agencies "offer better working conditions and better retirement benefits" than the U.S. Capitol Police. "If Congress wants to recruit and retain officers to meet the heightened security threat," he added, "they are going to have address both the leadership and quality of life issues driving officers to leave this department."

What is so stunning about this is the fact one would have thought the Capitol should have been one of the best places to work as a law enforcement officer. That is, an historic institution with a low risk of violence and death compared to major cities in our formerly great country. Certainly, not with a nazi former president in office clearly willing to incite an insurrection:

"The events of Jan. 6 occurred after then-President Donald Trump and his allies held a rally in Washington, D.C., urging Congress not to certify the results of the November presidential election, in which Trump lost to Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Trump vowed to "never concede" and urged his supporters "to fight," as he continued to push baseless claims of election fraud. Crowds of people then made their way to the steps of the U.S. Capitol, pushing through barricades, officers in riot gear and other security measures that were put in place in anticipation of the protest. An angry mob breached the Capitol building, forcing a lockdown with members of Congress and their staff holed up inside. It took hours for law enforcement to clear the building and establish a perimeter around the area. Five people, including U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, died during the rampage and dozens more were injured. So far, more than 300 people have been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 siege, according to the U.S. Justice Department. U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned amid criticism over the department's handling of the attack. Meanwhile, six U.S. Capitol Police officers have been suspended with pay and 29 others have been placed under investigation for their actions during the insurrection."

Get this:

"In his statement Friday, Papathanasiou referenced reports that a draft review by retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who was appointed to examine security on Capitol Hill following the insurrection, calls for the hiring of an additional 1,000 officers, of which approximately 350 would be detailed to provide personal security to members of Congress. The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) "made it clear" in its budget submission to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Appropriations in February 2020 that it "did not have enough officers to meet mission requirements," according to Papathanasiou. "The fact we were understaffed was no secret," he said. "Recruiting, hiring, and training these additional officers is going to take years. As the USCP'S mission has increased drastically over the last few years, our manpower hasn't and we need more manpower, but my biggest concern right now is retaining the officers we already have. I have warned USCP leadership and Members of Congress that many USCP officers are on the fence about whether to stay with this department." In addition to inadequate staffing, Papathanasiou said "one of the primary challenges on January 6th is that we did not have a fixed perimeter that we could easily defend." "The bicycle racks that were put in place did not stop anyone and they were actually used as a weapons against the officers by the insurrectionists," he added. "We need to be able to establish a fixed perimeter for future protests. Whether it's a permanent fence or temporary that can quickly be deployed is open for discussion. However, we definitely need a solution so that January 6th never happens again."

The question remains why wasn't this done decades ago? While nothing of the magnitude of January 6 occurred in the last 75 years, there have been other incidents.

3-5-21

More on the January 6 insurrection. The Associated Press reports:

"Defense Department leaders placed unusual restrictions on the National Guard for the day of the Capitol riot and delayed sending help for hours despite an urgent plea from police for reinforcement, according to testimony Wednesday that added to the finger-pointing about the government response. Maj. Gen. William Walker, commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, told senators that the then-chief of the Capitol Police requested military support in a “voice cracking with emotion” in a 1:49 p.m. call as rioters began pushing toward the Capitol. Walker said he immediately relayed the request to the Army but did not learn until 5:08 p.m. that the Defense Department had approved it. Guard troops who had been waiting on buses were then rushed to the Capitol, arriving in 18 minutes, Walker said. The hourslong delay cost the National Guard precious minutes in the early hours of the rioting. Walker said he could have sent personnel within 20 minutes of getting approval. It also stood in contrast to the immediate authorization for National Guard support that Walker said was granted in response to the civil unrest that roiled America last spring as an outgrowth of racial justice protests. Mindful of criticism that the response to those demonstrations was heavy-handed, military officials expressed concern about the optics of a substantial National Guard presence at the Capitol, as well as concerned that such visuals could inflame the rioters, Walker said. Another military official who testified said that then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller wanted to make the decisions of how the National Guard was used following criticism last spring. “The Army senior leadership” expressed to officials on the call “that it would not be their best military advice to have uniformed Guardsmen on the Capitol,” Walker said.

"As chaos escalated on Jan. 6, then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund asked him for National Guard help in a frantic call and then again on a call with Army officials, who said they did not “think that it looked good” to have a military presence. “The response to the request took too long, so I think there needs to be a study done to make sure that never happens again,” Walker said. “It shouldn’t take three hours to get a yes or no answer.” That account was consistent with the recollection of Robert Contee, the acting chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, who told senators at a separate hearing last week that he was “stunned” over the delayed response. Contee said Sund was pleading with Army officials to deploy National Guard troops as the rioting escalated."

3-5-21

The FBI needs to identify the culprit, secure the evidence, make an arrest. NPR reports:

"The FBI has singled out an individual seen on a video of the Jan. 6 insurrection spraying law enforcement officers, including a Capitol Police officer who died from injuries sustained while defending the building, according to a law enforcement official. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was injured while fending off the mob of Trump supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. He died the following evening from his injuries. The Justice Department opened a federal murder investigation into his death. A law enforcement official says the FBI now has a video in which an individual can be seen spraying Sicknick and others during the Capitol assault. The official did not say what kind of spray it was. The official also cautioned that the bureau has not identified the suspect by name, and the video does not directly tie the individual to Sicknick's death. The news was first reported by The New York Times."

This officer died in the line of duty, upholding his oath of office.

"The Justice Department declined to comment on the video, and authorities have not provided the public details about Sicknick's death, including its specific cause. The Capitol Police reiterated Friday night that the medical examiner's report is not yet complete. The U.S. attorney's office for Washington, D.C., which is leading the Capitol riot investigation, has said Sicknick's death is a top priority, and the office has devoted a specialized team to look into it. It is just one aspect of a sprawling, nationwide investigation into the events of Jan. 6. The acting deputy attorney general, John Carlin, told reporters Friday that more than 300 people have been charged so far in connection with the insurrection, and some 280 have been arrested. Among those facing charges are members of extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers."

3-5-21

DA gets Trump tax records. The Associated Press reports:

"A New York prosecutor has obtained copies of Donald Trump’s tax records after the Supreme Court this week rejected the former president’s last-ditch effort to prevent them from being handed over. The Manhattan district attorney’s office enforced a subpoena on Trump’s accounting firm within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday and now has the documents in hand, a spokesperson for the office, Danny Frost, said Thursday. District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. had been fighting for a year and a half for access to Trump’s tax records for a criminal grand jury investigation into his business dealings. The documents are protected by grand jury secrecy rules and are not expected to be made public. Vance, a Democrat, is conducting a wide-ranging investigation that includes an examination of whether Trump or his businesses lied about the value of assets to gain favorable loan terms and tax benefits. The district attorney is also scrutinizing hush-money payments paid to women on Trump’s behalf. Vance’s office issued a subpoena to Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, in August 2019 seeking eight years of his tax returns and related documents. Trump’s lawyers immediately went to court to block its enforcement, first arguing that he was immune from being investigated while president. When the Supreme Court rejected that argument 7-2 last July, Trump’s lawyers returned to a lower court and argued the subpoena was issued in bad faith, overly broad, might have been politically motivated and amounted to harassment. An appellate court rejected that argument and the Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene."

Get this:

"Vance, whose term expires at the end of the year, hasn’t announced if he will seek reelection, leaving questions about who will lead any Trump-related prosecutions in the future. Vance’s subpoena sought from Mazars USA not only the final versions of Trump’s tax returns, but also draft versions of those returns and “any and all statements of financial condition, annual statements, periodic financial reports, and independent auditors’ reports” held by the company. Mazars did not object to the subpoena and, in a statement at the time, said it would “respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.” The Mazars subpoena also sought engagement agreements that define the accountants’ role in creating the tax returns and financial statements; source documents providing the accountants with raw financial data; and work papers and communications between the firm and Trump representatives. Those would include communications showing how the raw data was analyzed and treated in the preparation of the records. The New York Times separately obtained years of Trump’s tax data and published stories last year detailing some of his finances, including that he paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2017 and no income tax in 11 of 18 years because of major losses."

2-26-21

Accountability. NPR reports:

"The U.S. Capitol Police has suspended six officers with pay for their actions on Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of President Biden's Electoral College victory, according to a department statement. An additional 29 officers remain under investigation as part of the department's ongoing probe into the events that unfolded that day. "The investigation into the January 6 attack remains under investigation. Our Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the actions of 35 police officers from that day. We currently have suspended six of those officers with pay," the department said in a statement. Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman further directed that any member whose behavior is not in keeping with the department's Rules of Conduct "will face appropriate discipline."

Hopefully, that's true.

"Last month, Pittman announced that the department is conducting an investigation after images and videos shared on social media raised questions about the actions of some USCP officers. The department "has been actively reviewing video and other open source materials of some USCP officers and officials that appear to be in violation of Department regulations and policies," she said on Jan. 11. Videos from the day of the attack appear to show some officers escorting rioters inside the building. In one video, USCP officers can be seen opening barricades allowing the mob to enter the Capitol complex without resistance."

Get this:

"At least 140 Capitol Police officers sustained injuries during the riot, according to a statement by Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the USCP Labor Committee, the union representing Capitol Police officers. "I have officers who were not issued helmets prior to the attack who have sustained brain injuries. One officer has two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal discs. One officer is going to lose his eye, and another was stabbed with a metal fence stake," he said. Capitol Police Officer, Brian Sicknick died of injuries suffered during the riots. Two other officers who responded to the riot, one with the Capitol Police and the other with the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, later died by suicide. Following the events, the union said that the department's leadership failed its officers by not relaying important information ahead of Jan. 6. "The disclosure that the entire executive team ... knew what was coming but did not better prepare us for potential violence, including the possible use of firearms against us, is unconscionable," Papathanasiou said. "The entire executive team failed us, and they must be held accountable. Their inaction cost lives."

That's right. Inexcusable. Massive failure.

"The current turmoil within the USCP was further highlighted by last week's overwhelming no-confidence vote for the force's top brass."

2-26-21

Uncommon Valor. ABC News reports:

"When Sen. Richard Burr stood and said “guilty” there were hushed gasps in the Senate chamber. But the North Carolina Republican’s vote to convict former President Donald Trump should not have come as a shock. In a way, he had been telegraphing his willingness to hold Trump accountable for several years. Months before Trump would begin falsely claiming that the November election had been stolen from him, the Senate Intelligence Committee led by Burr warned that sitting public officials should use the “absolute greatest amount of restraint and caution if they are considering publicly calling the validity of an upcoming election into question.” Such grave allegations, the committee said in February 2020, can have “significant” consequences for national security."

No question. Presents an exigent threat to a democratic republic. A traitorous act.

"Explaining his vote to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Burr returned to that theme. He said Trump “promoted unfounded conspiracy theories to cast doubt on the integrity of a free and fair election.” There was no widespread fraud in the election, as Trump claimed falsely over several months and again to his supporters just before the riot, a fact confirmed by election officials across the country and even Trump's then-attorney general, William Barr. When the Capitol was attacked, Burr said in the statement, Trump “used his office to first inflame the situation instead of immediately calling for an end to the assault.”

Traitorous act by an American 'president.'

"For Burr, it was an emphatic statement after years of careful commentary about Trump, much of it made as he investigated Trump's ties to Russia. The “guilty” vote placed him among a group of seven Republicans in the Senate -- and 10 Republicans in the House -- who made Trump’s second impeachment the most bipartisan in history."

Uncommon Valor by the Republicans who stood tall, placed principle ahead of partisanship.

"With Burr retiring at the end of his term in 2022, it’s a vote that could end up defining his career. It also came with [a] price. The North Carolina Republican Party unanimously voted to censure Burr in the days after the Feb. 13 vote as Republicans in the state and across the country made clear their continued loyalty to Trump."

Raw insanity by the nazi element in our formerly great country.

“Wrong vote, Sen. Burr,” tweeted former Republican Rep. Mark Walker, who has already declared his Senate candidacy. “I am running to replace Richard Burr because North Carolina needs a true conservative champion as their next senator.”

Goddamned nazi. Not a conservative.

"Burr declined to be interviewed for this story. But many of his GOP colleagues praised him after the vote. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who voted to acquit Trump, said after the state censure vote that Burr is a “great friend and a great senator” who had voted his conscience. Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, one of the seven Republicans who voted to convict and a member of the Intelligence Committee, said Burr "is a leader, not a motormouth" who distinguished himself with bipartisan work on the committee. “Richard doesn’t shy away from making tough calls because he does his homework and knows the facts — he doesn’t waste time sticking his finger in the wind,” Sasse said. A quirky, quiet politician known for his dry sense of humor, his distaste for wearing socks and for driving a 1970s-era convertible Volkswagen plastered with bumper stickers, Burr has served in Congress for almost three decades. A former Wake Forest football player and lawn equipment salesman, he was elected to the House during the Republican wave of 1994 and became close friends with Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, before Boehner ascended to speaker. First elected to the Senate in 2004, Burr said after his reelection in 2016 that his third term would be his last —- a preemptive retirement from politics that proved consequential. After Trump’s election, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wrestled with how to respond to allegations of Russia’s interference in the presidential election that Trump had just won. With Burr not seeking another term, he was an ideal candidate to lead the politically explosive investigation. Empowered as committee chairman, Burr gradually became a quiet check on Trump’s powers during the three-year investigation. He worked closely the top Democrat on the committee, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, as they sifted through highly classified information, some of it about Trump and his associates. Burr kept up the partnership until the end, even as Republicans turned sharply against the Russia investigation and followed Trump’s lead in labeling it all a “hoax.” Warner said in an interview that he thinks that one of main things that guided Burr was to ensure that intelligence agencies got “the respect they deserve.” That meant pushing back on Trump, who criticized the agencies for investigating Russia and suggested they had conspired against him by undermining the 2016 election. Burr endorsed the agencies’ 2017 conclusion that Russia had interfered in the election and had favored Trump, even as the former president declined to do so. Burr has “shown time and again he’s going to do what he thinks is right,” Warner said. Warner’s counterpart across the Capitol, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Burr worked with Democrats in good faith and was committed to ensuring that the agencies “could do their jobs without fear of politicization.”

Uncommon Valor. Hat's off.

2-26-21

Delusionally believe we're out of the woods? NPR reports:

"The mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol may have been a fringe group of extremists, but politically motivated violence has the support of a significant share of the U.S. public, according to a new survey by the American Enterprise Institute. The survey found that nearly three in 10 Americans, including 39% of Republicans, agreed that "if elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent actions." That result was "a really dramatic finding," says Daniel Cox, director of the AEI Survey Center on American Life. "I think any time you have a significant number of the public saying use of force can be justified in our political system, that's pretty scary."

Been a problem quite some time as reported in this publication and elsewhere. An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. Time to wake up. Before too late.

"The survey found stark divisions between Republicans and Democrats on the 2020 presidential election, with two out of three Republicans saying President Biden was not legitimately elected, while 98% of Democrats and 73% of independents acknowledged Biden's victory."

Unbridled, raw insanity:

"The level of distrust among Republicans evident in the survey was such that about 8 in 10 said the current political system is "stacked against conservatives and people with traditional values." A majority agreed with the statement: "The traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it." The survey found that to be a minority sentiment — two out of three Americans overall rejected the use of violence in pursuit of political ends – and Cox emphasized that the finding reflected "attitudes and beliefs" rather than a disposition to do something. "If I believe something, I may act on it, and I may not," Cox says. "We shouldn't run out and say, 'Oh, my goodness, 40% of Republicans are going to attack the Capitol.' But under the right circumstances, if you have this worldview, then you are more inclined to act in a certain way if you are presented with that option."

That's right. Things could also quickly change in an highly unstable environment. -- For the worst.

"The AEI survey found that partisan divisions were also evident along religious lines. About 3 in 5 white evangelicals told the pollsters that Biden was not legitimately elected, that it was not accurate to say former President Donald Trump encouraged the attack on the Capitol, and that a Biden presidency has them feeling disappointed, angry or frightened. On all those questions, Cox says, white evangelicals are "politically quite distinct." Majorities of white mainline Protestants, Black Protestants, Catholics, followers of non-Christian religions and the religiously unaffiliated all viewed Biden's victory as legitimate."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"The AEI survey found that white evangelicals were especially prone to subscribe to the QAnon movement's conspiracy theories. Twenty-seven percent said it was "mostly" or "completely" accurate to say Trump "has been secretly fighting a group of child sex traffickers that include prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites." That share was higher than for any other faith group and more than double the support for QAnon beliefs evident among Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics and non-Christians. "As with a lot of questions in the survey, white evangelicals stand out in terms of their belief in conspiracy theories and the idea that violence can be necessary," Cox says. "They're far more likely to embrace all these different conspiracies." The survey also found "considerable cleavages" among Americans with respect to pride in their national identity. About 6 in 10 said they are proud to be an American, but the finding varied along generational and race lines, with significantly lower levels of national pride among younger and nonwhite people. The AEI report was based on a survey of 2,016 U.S. adults conducted between Jan. 21 and Jan. 30."

2-26-21

Trump to get his? The Associated Press reports:

"In a significant defeat for former President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to step in to halt the turnover of his tax records to a New York state prosecutor. The court’s action is the apparent culmination of a lengthy legal battle that had already reached the high court once before. Trump’s tax records are not supposed to become public as part of prosecutors’ criminal investigation, but the high court’s action is a blow to Trump because he has long fought on so many fronts to keep his tax records shielded from view. The ongoing investigation that the records are part of could also become an issue for Trump in his life after the presidency. Trump has called it “a fishing expedition” and “a continuation of the witch hunt — the greatest witch hunt in history.” The Supreme Court waited months to act in the case. The last of the written briefs in the case was filed Oct. 19. But a court that includes three Trump appointees waited through the election, Trump’s challenge to his defeat and a month after Trump left office before issuing its order. The court offered no explanation for the delay, and the legal issue before the justices did not involve whether Trump was due any special deference because he was president. The court’s order is a win for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who has been seeking Trump’s tax records since 2019 as part of an investigation. Vance, a Democrat, had subpoenaed the records from the Mazars accounting firm that has long done work for Trump and his businesses. Mazars has said it would comply with the subpoena, but Trump, a Republican, sued to block the records’ release. Vance’s office had said it would be free to enforce the subpoena and obtain the records in the event the Supreme Court declined to step in and halt the records’ turnover, but it was unclear when that might happen. In a three-word statement, Vance on Monday said only: “The work continues.”

2-12-21

Nazi justice in a de facto fascist police-state. Get this. The Washington Post reports:

"A Texas woman who bragged in a Facebook live stream about storming the U.S. Capitol can vacation in Mexico later this month, a judge said Friday, as the defendant’s case expanded significantly with new federal charges. Jenny Cudd’s attorney had asked the judge to let her travel this month to Riviera Maya on a four-day trip with employees of her flower shop — “a work-related bonding retreat for employees and their spouses,” attorney Farheena Siddiqui wrote in a motion, saying Cudd attended her scheduled court appearance and has stayed “in constant contact with her attorney.” Noting that neither Cudd’s pretrial services officer nor the government opposed Cudd’s request for “pre-paid, work-related travel” Feb. 18 through Feb. 21, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden wrote that the defendant has no criminal history and said there is “no evidence before the Court suggesting the Defendant is a flight risk or poses a danger to others.”

Special treatment.

"A federal grand jury this week charged Cudd, a 36-year-old florist in Midland, Tex., with obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. She also was indicted on two counts related to disorderly or disruptive conduct in the building. The indictment highlights the evolving federal investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol assault, showing authorities’ willingness to enhance the prosecutions of alleged rioters by tacking on additional counts as they gather evidence. Cudd initially was charged with two misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining on restricted grounds and disorderly conduct or violent entry. She was released on her own recognizance. The new charges are more serious. The most significant, obstruction of an official proceeding, is a felony that falls under a section of federal law related to tampering with a witness, victim or informant. It carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and potential fines."

What if she disappears in Mexico?

"A onetime mayoral candidate and vociferous anti-masker, Cudd gained notoriety for a Facebook live stream in which she boasted about her involvement in the attack on the Capitol. Draped in the Trump flag she’d worn inside the Rotunda and Statuary Hall, she announced, “We did break down … Nancy Pelosi’s office door.” Cudd said she “charged the Capitol today with patriots,” adding, “Hell yes, I am proud of my actions.” Two days later, she gave an interview to local TV station NewsWest9. In the 14-minute video, she said people who had turned her in to the FBI and left negative reviews of her business were trying to “cancel me because I stood up for what it is that I believe in.” The backlash, she added, “is 100 percent cancel culture.”

Raw nazism.

"Cudd insisted that she did not personally destroy anything or go into any offices. Instead, she said, she used the term “we” to refer to “we the patriots.” She said she had walked through an open door after the barricades were broken down. And although the storming of the Capitol left a police officer and four others dead, she continued to defend it. “I’ve told everybody this: I would do it again in a heartbeat because I did not break any laws,” Cudd said. She was arrested the next week. In a Jan. 12 federal complaint, the FBI cited Cudd’s statements on social media and in the TV interview. Federal authorities have debated how aggressive they should be in prosecuting people who took part in the Capitol riots, weighing the value of going after those who entered the building but did not engage in violent or destructive behavior. Authorities have identified hundreds of suspects and arrested more than 150 so far."

2-12-21

In follow-up to last week's edition, The Associated Press reports:

"Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene lashed out Friday at “morons” in both parties who voted to kick her off her committees, a day after the House meted out the unprecedented punishment that Democrats said she’d earned by spreading hateful and violent conspiracy theories. Underscoring the political vise her inflammatory commentary has clamped her party into, all but 11 Republicans voted against the Democratic move on Thursday but none rose to defend her lengthy history of outrageous social media posts. In the most riveting moment of that day’s debate, the freshman Republican from a deep-red corner of Georgia took to the House floor on her own behalf. She offered a mixture of backpedaling and finger-pointing as she wore a dark mask emblazoned with the words “FREE SPEECH.” The chamber’s near party-line 230-199 vote was the latest instance of conspiracy theories becoming pitched political battlefields, an increasingly familiar occurrence during Donald Trump’s presidency. He faces a Senate trial next week for his House impeachment for inciting insurrection after a mob he fueled with his false narrative of a stolen election attacked the Capitol."

Neither party is worth a shit for totally different reasons. Sad, isn't it? Founders? Spinning in their graves. -- Wouldn't recognize the country they spawned.

"Thursday’s fight also underscored the uproar and political complexities that Greene — a master of provoking Democrats, promoting herself and raising campaign money — has prompted since becoming a House candidate last year. Greene showed no signs of repentance Friday."

What idiot would?

“I woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats (+11) are for giving some one like me free time,” she tweeted. At a news conference later outside the Capitol, Greene accused news organizations of “addicting our nation to hate.” She deflected a question about her past online suggestion that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could be executed for treason, and warned that Republicans opposing her should remember that Trump — with whom she is closely allied — controls the GOP. “The party is his,” she said. “It doesn’t belong to anybody else.” A day earlier on the House floor, Greene tried to dissociate herself from her “words of the past.” Contradicting past social media posts, she said she believes the 9/11 attacks and mass school shootings were real and no longer believes QAnon conspiracy theories, which include lies about Democratic-run pedophile rings. But she didn’t explicitly apologize for supportive online remarks she’s made on other subjects, as when she mulled Pelosi, D-Calif., being assassinated or the possibility of Jewish-controlled space rays causing wildfires. And she portrayed herself as the victim of unscrupulous “big media companies.” News organizations “can take teeny, tiny pieces of words that I’ve said, that you have said, any of us, and can portray us as someone that we’re not,” she said. She added that “we’re in a real big problem” if the House punished her but tolerated “members that condone riots that have hurt American people” — a clear reference to last summer’s social justice protests that in some instances became violent."

This legislator has serious problems. Inability to grasp the truth. State the truth. Embrace reality.

The Washington Post reports:

"A fiery Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) declared Friday that the House’s decision to remove her from her committee assignments has liberated her to build a political network aimed at supporting former president Donald Trump and pushing the GOP further to the right. Greene’s comments during a 20-minute news conference outside the Capitol demonstrated that — far from being cowed by the uproar over the various extremist remarks she made in the years leading up to her election in November — she has only been emboldened in her social-media-fueled campaign against Democrats, cultural elites and the media. “Going forward, I’ve been freed,” she said. “I have a lot of free time on my hands, which means I can talk to a whole lot more people all over this country and … make connections and build a huge amount of support that I’ve already got started with.” Asked about how she saw her role, Greene said she planned to “vote very conservative” and use her influence to cement Trump’s imprint on the GOP: “I’m going to be holding the Republican Party accountable and pushing them to the right.”

A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Seig Heil!, Rep. Greene?

2-12-21

Biden has his problems. One of them may wind up being lack of credibility. NPR reports:

"President Biden said on Friday that his plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour is unlikely to happen as part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package. "I don't think it's going to survive," Biden said in an excerpt of a CBS Evening News interview with Norah O'Donnell released ahead of the Super Bowl. The full interview is scheduled to air on Sunday."

Jesus Christ. Reneging already, Mr. President? Before the fight even begins? Sadly, $15 isn't even a livable wage in most areas of this country. Precisely, why the top of the food chain continues to increase in wealth while the bottom and middle class take it, figuratively, hard up the ass. Delusionally, believe that's sustainable? At a time when an unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms?

"Democrats in Congress are moving to advance the aid package using a procedure known as budget reconciliation. Biden said in the interview that "the rules of the United States Senate" probably mean that the minimum wage hike will have to be dropped."

Why? Political expediency?

"My guess is it will not be in it," Biden said. But he said he remains committed to trying to negotiate an increase to the minimum wage, even if it's a gradual rise from the current level of $7.25 per hour."

Not good enough, Mr. President. Reneging already?

"The Senate late Thursday approved a measure prohibiting an increase of the federal minimum wage during the global pandemic. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said a $15 minimum would be "devastating" for small businesses already hurt by the pandemic."

If these businesses cannot survive paying a livable wage, they have no business being in business. Republican national socialists have argued this bullshit for decades. Have seen their pockets lined by the business community while the bottom and middle class struggled to survive.

"In the interview, Biden also said he is prepared to negotiate on who gets the $1,400 checks he has promised will be in the aid package. He said that the "phaseout" for the direct payments may be in the range of $75,000 for an individual or $150,000 for a couple. "But again, I'm wide open on what that is," Biden said. Biden didn't comment on the upcoming impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, but did say that he doesn't think Trump should continue to receive intelligence briefings "because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection." "I just think that there is no need for him to have the — the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?" he said."

Why didn't you end the practice upon taking office, Mr. President?

"Former presidents are typically allowed intelligence briefings similar to those they received while in office, but a number of security experts have called for those privileges to be revoked from Trump. Earlier this week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration is reviewing whether to allow Trump access to the briefings."

The Washington Post reports:

"Raising the minimum wage to $15-an-hour would significantly reduce poverty and increase earnings for millions of low wage workers, while adding to the federal deficit and cutting overall employment, according to a new study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office."

Amazing how 'doom and gloom' has successfully managed for decades to ensure the bottom and middle class don't receive a livable wage. -- While the top of the food chain grows richer and richer. Most convenient, isn't it?

"The report is sure to animate the already heated debate whether to include raising the federal minimum wage in a budget resolution to help the sputtering economic recovery and aid vaccine distribution amid the pressures of the pandemic."

Called reality. -- The shit finally hitting the fan after decades of the bottom and middle class not earning a livable wage.

2-12-21

Secretary of Defense stands tall. NPR reports:

"Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is directing commanding officers and supervisors throughout the military to institute a one-day stand down within the next 60 days to address concerns of extremism within the armed forces. As the Pentagon wrestles with concerns over right-wing extremism among service members, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has signed a memo directing commanding officers and supervisors to institute a one-day stand down within the next 60 days to address extremism within the nation's armed forces. The Department of Defense announced Friday that Austin had formally signed the memo, which will require military leaders at all levels to select one day to lead discussions focusing on "the importance of our oath of office; a description of impermissible behaviors; and procedures for reporting suspected, or actual, extremist behaviors." "We will not tolerate actions that go against the fundamental principles of the oath we share, including actions associated with extremist or dissident ideologies," the memo reads. "Service members, DoD civilian employees, and all those who support our mission, deserve an environment free of discrimination, hate, and harassment." Austin writes in the memo that the stand down is the first step in "what I believe must be a concerted effort to better educate ourselves and our people about the scope of this problem and to develop sustainable ways to eliminate the corrosive effects that extremist ideology and conduct have on the workforce." "We owe it to the oath we each took and the trust the American people have in our institution," the memo says. The stand-down order was first announced by the Pentagon on Wednesday. The department said that Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark Milley, had met with civilian leaders and service chiefs to discuss the problem of extremism in the military — an issue that has come under growing scrutiny after the arrests of several current service members and veterans for the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol."

Here's the problem:

"According to the Pentagon, Austin said in the meeting that although the number of service members who adhered to such ideologies were small, they were "not as small as anyone would like." "One of the challenges here and one of the reasons why he wants to do this is we don't know the full breadth and depth of it," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. Kirby noted that military personnel are prohibited from "actively advocating for and participating in supremacist, extremist or criminal gang doctrine, ideology or causes." The prevalence of extremist and white supremacist ties among service members and veterans was expected to be an urgent issue for President Biden and Austin, who is the first Black man to lead the Pentagon. A recent NPR analysis found that nearly 1 in 5 charged in the aftermath of the Capitol siege appeared to have a military history. Two weeks after the Capitol insurrection, roughly a dozen National Guard troops were dismissed from inauguration duties — at least two of whom for alleged links to extremism. The challenge is not a new one. In 2019 a survey by The Military Times found that 36% of its active-duty readers surveyed had seen "evidence of white supremacist and racist ideologies in the military," up from 22% one year earlier. Last year, there were 143 notifications of FBI investigations into current and former military members, with 68 pertaining to domestic extremism cases, a senior defense told NPR in January."

Not sustainable. A cancer that must be rooted out. If not, presents an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

2-12-21

Uncommon Valor. A Republican stands tall. NPR reports:

"The Wyoming Republican Party voted Saturday to censure Rep. Liz Cheney and also asked her to resign for her vote last month to impeach then-President Donald Trump after the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6."

The Congresswoman stood tall. Placed truth and principle ahead of partisanship. Hat's off.

"On Sunday, Cheney defended her decision. "I think that the people in the party are mistaken. They believe that [Black Lives Matter] and Antifa were behind what happened here at the Capitol. That's just simply not the case, it's not true," she told Fox News Sunday about the censure, in which just eight of the party central committee's 74 members opposed the resolution. Evidence and arrests thus far have shown it was largely far-right groups and pro-Trump extremists who planned and carried out the Capitol attack. "People have been lied to," Cheney added. "The extent to which President Trump, for months leading up to Jan. 6, spread the notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged was a lie, and people need to understand that."

That's right. It's the truth.

"Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, was one of 10 members of her party who voted to impeach Trump for an unprecedented second time. She has come under fire from Trump loyalists for siding with Democrats in the impeachment."

She did the right thing. Upheld her oath of office.

Uncommon Valor:

"As I've explained and will continue to explain to supporters all across the state, voters all across the state: The oath that I took to the Constitution compelled me to vote for impeachment," she said. "It doesn't bend to partisanship, it doesn't bend to political pressure. It's the most important oath that we take, and so I will stand by that."

Continues to stand tall:

"Cheney also doubled down on her criticism of Trump, whom she said "does not have a role as the leader of our party going forward." "The single greatest threat to our republic is a president who would put his own self interest above the Constitution, above the national interest," she told Fox."

A nazi dictator. Out of control.

"Cheney's censure by her state's GOP is largely symbolic, and it comes after House Republicans decided to let her hold onto her leadership role in Congress. The Wyoming committee also called on her to "immediately resign," according to a copy of the censure published by Forbes. The House vote to impeach Trump, the letter reportedly reads, was done "with no formal hearings held, no quantifiable evidence presented, no witnesses sworn to give testimony, and no right to cross examine the accusers provided." It reportedly says Cheney "violated the trust of her voters, failed to faithfully represent a very large majority of motivated Wyoming voters, and neglected her duty to represent the party" and the will of the state's voters. The resolution also falsely states, according to the letter copy, that there was "ample" video evidence that the riot at the Capitol was "instigated by Antifa and BLM radicals." NPR's calls to the Wyoming Republican Party were not answered."

What could they say? They're lying. How do you credibly defend a lie? How?

The rabid insanity continues:

"The pressure on Cheney is unlikely to dissipate following the censure. Anthony Bouchard, a state senator planning to run against Cheney in 2022, tweeted a photo of an empty chair with her name on it from Saturday's meeting. "Today's vote to censure illustrates that Liz Cheney is hopelessly out of touch with Wyoming, Trump's best state TWICE," he said.

"Today's vote to censure illustrates that Liz Cheney is hopelessly out of touch with Wyoming, Trump's best state TWICE. Maybe Liz should run inside the DC Beltway in VA where she lives fulltime, because she's never here and has no clue how we think. And doesn't care. #AWOL pic.twitter.com/BerG7wVTVL
— Anthony Bouchard for Congress Against Cheney (@AnthonyBouchard) February 6, 2021"

Insane nazism. When did we lose ourselves?

The Associated Press reports:

"Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House GOP leader, said Sunday she was undeterred by a censure from Wyoming Republicans and criticism from some House colleagues over her vote to impeach Donald Trump, and will not resign or back off her repudiation of the former president. Cheney said the oath she took to the Constitution compelled her vote for impeachment, “and it doesn’t bend to partisanship, it doesn’t bend to political pressure.” She suggested that if she were in the Senate, she might vote to convict Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Trump’s trial in the Senate begins Tuesday. “I would listen to the testimony — I would listen to the evidence,” Cheney told “Fox News Sunday.” “I obviously believe and did then that what we already know is enough for his impeachment. What we already know does constitute the gravest violation of his oath of office by any president in the history of the country, and this is not something that we can simply look past or pretend didn’t happen or try to move on.” “We’ve got to make sure this never happens again,” she said.

"Cheney has said repeatedly she voted her conscience in backing impeachment for the riot, which followed a rally where Trump encouraged supporters to get rid of lawmakers who “aren’t any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world.” Far from leading a peaceful demonstration, Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” Cheney said in a statement before the Jan. 13 impeachment vote. About two-thirds of House Republicans voted to back Trump’s effort to overturn his November election loss — just hours after his supporters’ deadly siege of the Capitol. “People have been lied to,” she said Sunday. “The extent to which the president, President Trump, for months leading up to Jan. 6 spread the notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged was a lie.”

Time for all Republicans and Democrats to place truth and principle ahead of partisanship:

"Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said she was “afraid to say anything good about Ms. Cheney, I might get her in trouble. But she voted her conscience and we’re all going to have to find some ways to put all of this bickering aside because the American people are counting on us to get some things done.” Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., called Cheney “a terrific, capable leader.” Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and a fixture of the party establishment, blasted her state party for the censure, noting that state Republicans embraced conspiracy theories such as the inaccurate claim that non-Trump supporters were behind the violent protests. She also was critical of her House colleagues for standing behind Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, saying that her party — not Democrats — should have been the ones to punish the hard-right Georgia Republican for her online embrace of racist and violent views and bizarre conspiracy theories. The Democratic-led House on Thursday voted to strip Greene of her assignments on the House Education and Budget committees, with only 11 Republicans joining to support the move. “We are the party of Lincoln, we are not the party of QAnon or anti-Semitism or Holocaust-deniers, or white supremacy or conspiracy theories. That’s not who we are,” Cheney said."

Hopefully, that's true.

“We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth and that we’re being honest about what really did happen in 2020, so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024,” she said."

NBC News reports:

"Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., called on her colleagues to cut off former President Donald Trump as his second Senate impeachment trial is set to begin this week. Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, was one of 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of impeaching Trump last month for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Cheney was censured by her state party over the vote and is facing a primary challenge, though she easily won a vote of confidence last week to remain House Republican Conference chair. "We have to take a really hard look at who we are and what we stand for, what we believe in," Cheney told "Fox News Sunday." "I think that when you look at both [Trump's] actions leading up to Jan. 6, that he was impeached in a bipartisan fashion, the fact that he lost the presidency, the fact that we lost the Senate. We have to be in a position where we can say we stand for principles, for ideals." "We should not be embracing the former president," she added.

After a vote in which 45 Senate Republicans sought to declare Trump's impeachment trial unconstitutional because he has already left office, it appears highly unlikely the former president will be convicted as at least 67 votes are needed to do so. But Cheney said that in terms of accountability for the former president's role in the riot, the Senate trial "is a snapshot." "There's a massive criminal investigation underway, there will be a massive criminal investigation of everything that happened on Jan. 6 and in the days before," Cheney said. "People will want to know exactly what the president was doing. They will want to know, for example, whether the tweet that he sent out calling Vice President Pence a coward while the attack was underway, whether that tweet, for example, was a premeditated effort to provoke violence." "There are a lot of questions that have to be answered and there will be many many criminal investigations looking at every aspect of this and everyone who was involved, as there should be," she said, adding, "We have never seen that kind of an assault by a president of the United States on another branch of government, and that can never happen again." Cheney said if she were a senator, she would weigh the evidence and arguments before reaching a conclusion, but said that what is already known was worthy of impeachment. "What we already know does constitute the greatest violation of his oath of office by any president in the history of the country," she said. "And this is not something that we can simply look past or pretend didn't happen or try and move on. We've got to make sure this never happens again."

"Cheney said much of the pushback she's faced since voting for impeachment is a result of misinformation. "They believe that [Black Lives Matter] and Antifa were behind what happened here at Capitol," she said of the state party leaders who voted to censure her. That's just simply not the case. It's not true, and we're going to have a lot of work we have to do. People have been lied to." "The extent to which the president, President Trump, for months leading up to Jan. 6 spread the notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged was a lie, and people need to understand that," she continued. "We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth and that we're being honest about what really did happen in 2020, so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024."

2-12-21

Delusionally believe the GOP hasn't embraced national socialism? Wake up. NPR reports:

"After an election that saw record voter turnout, with many of those voters casting their ballots early and by mail, some Republican state lawmakers are proposing a wave of new voting laws that would effectively make it more difficult to vote in future elections."

Called nazism. Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion. 'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter.

Clearly, Republicans still haven't smartened up:

"The proposals come in the aftermath of the unprecedented onslaught of disinformation about the conduct of the 2020 election by former President Donald Trump and some of his allies in the Republican Party. "Some folks bring these proposals forward and say, 'Well, we just need to address confidence in our election systems,' when it's some of those very same people, or at least their allies and enablers, [who] have denigrated our election system by either telling lies or at least leveraging or relying on other people's lies to justify some of these policies," said Steve Simon, Minnesota's Democratic secretary of state, at a news conference organized last week by the Voter Protection Program."

Sadly, called aggressive stupidity:

"A recent analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice found that 106 bills have been filed by Republican lawmakers in 28 states that would restrict voting (the group also found 406 bills in 35 states that would expand voting access). Many of the bills would limit voting by mail, add new voter ID requirements, make it more difficult to register voters and give states greater leeway to purge voter files if voters don't consistently cast ballots in every election. "Some of them are for show; some of them have to be taken more seriously," said Trey Grayson, a former Republican secretary of state in Kentucky, at the same news conference. Some of the most sweeping proposals come in Arizona and Georgia, where President Biden won narrowly but where Republicans control all levers of the state government."

Also, called treason. Not to neglect to mention, failure to honor their falsely sworn oaths of office to uphold the United States Constitution.

The following is traitorous:

"If all the proposals announced by Republicans in the Georgia Senate last week became law, future elections in the rapidly changing state would look dramatically different. If enacted, only a small subset of Georgians currently able to vote absentee by mail would be eligible to do so, and those who qualify would have to submit some sort of photo ID with their application, either online or on paper. They would not be allowed to get an application from outside groups and could return ballots only through the mail or by delivering them in person to the county elections office. If someone moves to Georgia or moves within the state, the person would have to remember to opt in to having the Department of Driver Services update their voter registration. If they relocate to Georgia after a November general election, they wouldn't be able to participate in a runoff."

Lying throughout our formerly great country has become congenital:

"Some of the lawmakers proposing the bills spent the past few months making baseless claims of voter fraud in Georgia's elections. Democrats and their allies have denounced the proposed bills. "This unhinged set of voter suppression bills from a radical Senate Republican leadership appears intended to appease conspiracy theorists like those who stormed the Capitol last month," said Seth Bringman, spokesman for the voting rights group Fair Fight. "The bills are unnecessary by Republicans' own assessments of the 2020 election and designed to limit access and help Republicans stop losing elections in Georgia. Republicans wrote Georgia's election laws, but they were humiliated on Nov. 3 and Jan. 5, so they are seeking to silence Georgians, particularly communities of color, who exercised their power to change Georgia."

These measures are antithetical to a democratic republic. Truly, traitorous. Treasonous. Un-American. GOP nazism:

"Voters at a polling location on Nov. 3 in Eloy, Ariz. Arizona lawmakers are considering a number of measures, including one that would allow the state legislature to ignore voters' wishes and award the state's electoral votes itself. In Arizona, where a record number of voters cast ballots last fall, primarily by mail, Republicans legislators have used the backdrop of misinformation and doubt to propose dozens of bills that critics warn would make it harder to vote in the future and easier to challenge election results. Those include direct attacks on Arizona's ballot-by-mail system. Most Arizonans opt to receive an early ballot in the mail and then have the option to mail it back or hand-deliver it to collection sites, county election headquarters or polling places. One bill would abolish the state's permanent early-voting list, though the sponsor walked it back within hours. He is still pushing legislation that would require early-ballot envelopes to be notarized."

Outrageous. Raw nazism.

"Another bill would allow voters to receive ballots by mail but would bar them from mailing the ballot back, and any ballots returned by mail would no longer be counted. Beyond bills that affect how Arizonans vote, other legislation would directly impact the results of presidential elections. By law, Arizona's 11 Electoral College votes are awarded to the winner of the popular vote statewide. One bill pushed by a GOP lawmaker would divide up electors by the state's nine congressional districts, similar to how electors are awarded in Maine and Nebraska. But instead of awarding two at-large electors to the winner of the popular vote, the Republican-controlled legislature would assign those electors to its preferred candidate."

Raw nazism. Adolf and Benito? Likely, wildly cheering on their fiery perches.

Gets worse. Get this:

"Another separate proposal by GOP Rep. Shawnna Bolick would allow the legislature to simply override the will of the voters by allowing legislators to overturn the certification of presidential electors by a simple majority vote at any time before the inauguration. The bill was introduced on the heels of calls by some legislative Republicans to appoint electors for Trump, despite the state's voters choosing Biden. In a statement, Bolick defended the bill as a "democratic check and balance."

What goddamned nazi bullshit. Double talk. Outrageously, antithetical to a democratic republic. Raw nazism.

Simply, not true:

"The mainstream media is using this elections bill as clickbait to generate misleading headlines. This bill would give the Arizona Legislature back the power it delegated to certify the electors," she said."

A congenital liar. Delusional. Direct threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"In Michigan, another swing state that Biden won amid record voter turnout, Republican lawmakers have held more than 26 hours of oversight hearings about the administration of the 2020 elections. In a recent hearing, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum urged lawmakers to "acknowledge that the Big Lie was just that — a lie," adding, "I would ask that you announce to the public what you know to be true of all of these hearings: that the Nov. 3, 2020, election was fair and free of fraud. Repeating the false claims that have been disproven time and time again will do nothing but continue to weaken the faith in our elections."

The delusional nazism continues unabated:

"Yet key Republicans, including state Rep. Matt Hall, who hosted a hearing with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, continue to argue, "The trust in our elections process has been shaken, and it must be restored."

Faith in the ability of Republicans to tell the truth is what must be restored.

"As far as reforms go, there is widespread agreement that the state was unprepared for the massive increase in absentee voting that was driven by the coronavirus pandemic and new state voting laws. But Democrats and Republicans disagree on what needs to happen next. Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced in early February that she'd like to mail absentee ballot applications to all registered voters in advance of federal elections, allow early processing of absentee ballots and ban open-carry firearms within 100 feet of polling places. But it's unlikely that Republicans will be eager to pass any of Benson's reforms. Republican Rep. Ann Bollin, chair of the state House Elections and Ethics Committee, said, "If her goal is truly to work together in a bipartisan manner, I can't imagine why she would continue to bring up emotionally charged policy proposals that have already been struck down by the courts." While Benson's decision to mail absentee ballot applications in 2020 was repeatedly labeled as illegal by Republican Party operatives and targeted by the president, two lower courts ruled in Benson's favor, saying she acted legally in sending applications. However, it's unlikely Republicans like Bollin who control the legislature would enshrine that process in law. Possible areas of common ground in election reform include more training for poll challengers and election workers and early processing of absentee ballots."

Time to wake up. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. Too deaf to hear? Or, too stupid?

2-12-21

Trump Senate impeachment trial. NBC News reports:

"The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump kicked off Tuesday afternoon with a jarring video montage of the devastating events of the Capitol riots, forcing the chamber of senators to relive some of the most intense moments from Jan. 6. Following a quick procedural vote on an organizing resolution dictating the structure of the trial, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the Democrats' lead impeachment manager, announced in his initial remarks that the case against Trump "is based on cold, hard facts." Raskin, delaying what had been scheduled to be a roughly four-hour debate over the constitutionality of the trial, then played a devastating 20-minute video reel featuring the most intense moments from the Jan. 6. riots."

Reality check for clueless Republican supporters of their fuhrer, the Trump nazi:

"The video showed rioters smashing windows and overrunning barriers until they breached the Capitol building hurling expletives at Capitol Police officers and stalking down lawmakers still in the chamber. Footage of the rioters was interspersed with scenes of Trump encouraging his supporters while speaking at the Jan. 6 rally and in footage posted to Twitter. The former president can be heard telling his supporters that "we will stop the steal," and falsely claiming that "we won this election," before telling them, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol" and telling them, "you’ll never take back our country with weakness." In the video posted to Twitter, Trump tells his supporters, who at the time were still wreaking havoc, that he loves them and they are "very special."

Goddamned f--king nazis just like him.

"The riots left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. Another two officers died by suicide in the weeks after the violence. Twitter eventually flagged Trump's tweets for spreading false election claims and posing "a risk of violence." The sounds of the montage echoed through the chamber, filling the air with the haunting chants and screams of the mob. When the video concluded, the room was silent."

How can Republican nazis in the Senate justify this assault? Refuse to hold Trump accountable?When did they lose themselves?

"Raskin, resuming his remarks, then said Trump was responsible for the historic destruction of the Capitol. "You ask what a high crime and misdemeanor is under our Constitution? That's a high crime and misdemeanor," he said. "If that's not an impeachable offense, then there is no such thing," he added. Impeachment managers then proceeded with debate over the constitutionality of the trial. The debate is expected to take up to four hours. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., another impeachment manager, outlined Democrats' legal justification for trying a former president, saying the Senate had both a legal and ethical obligation to hear the case. "If Congress were just to stand completely aside in the face of such an extraordinary crime against the republic, it would invite future presidents to use their power without any fear of accountability," Neguse said. "Presidents can't inflame insurrection in their final weeks and then walk away like nothing happened." Raskin then recalled some of the moments from the riot that moved him the most, including seeing images and reports of violence that included rioters in Trump paraphernalia shoving and punching Capitol Police officers, gouging their eyes and beating them with flagpoles. "This cannot be the future," said Raskin, holding back tears."

It's un-American. Raw nazism.

"Earlier Tuesday, a senior aide on the impeachment manager team said the case that House Democrats had built against Trump in his second impeachment trial would resemble a "violent crime criminal prosecution" — a plan the eye-popping video opening appeared to corroborate. The House managers also plan to use evidence against Trump that hasn't been seen before, aides told reporters ahead of the start of proceedings, although they did not provide any details. In their presentation, the managers will attempt to show that Trump spent weeks laying the groundwork for the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and that after he saw what was happening "he incited it further," an aide said.

"In a legal briefing outlining some of the arguments they intend to make against Trump, House managers on Tuesday laid out how they were prepared to counter a potential defense from the former president's lawyers that his statements at the Jan. 6 rally were protected by the First Amendment. "Accepting President Trump’s argument would mean that Congress could not impeach a president who burned an American flag on national television, or who spoke at a Ku Klux Klan rally in a white hood, or who wore a swastika while leading a march through a Jewish neighborhood — all of which is expression protected by the First Amendment but would obviously be grounds for impeachment," they wrote. They also appeared to preview how they'll respond to efforts by Trump's lawyers to claim he did not incite the riot. "The rally, set for the day when Congress was to count the electoral votes, was the culmination of President Trump’s months-long campaign to overturn the results of a specific election he lost. In his speech, President Trump did not direct his supporters to go home and lobby their state legislatures, but instead directed them to march to the Capitol and fight," the managers wrote.

"And critically, they wrote about how they might plan to dismiss claims by Trump's legal team that impeaching and convicting a former president is unconstitutional. "President Trump does not even attempt to explain why the Framers would have provided that a sitting president found to have endangered the nation should be disqualified from returning to office, but a former president found to have done the exact same thing should be free to return," the managers wrote. "It is inconceivable that the Framers designed impeachment to be virtually useless in a president’s final weeks or days, when opportunities to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power are most present."

The Associated Press reports:

"Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial opened Tuesday in the Senate with graphic video of the deadly Jan. 6 attack on Congress and the defeated former president whipping up a rally crowd — “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol!” — as he encouraged a futile fight over his presidency. The lead House prosecutor told senators the case would present “cold, hard facts” against Trump, who is charged with inciting the siege of the Capitol to overturn the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Senators sitting as jurors, many who themselves fled for safety that day, watched the jarring video of the chaotic scene, rioters pushing past police to storm the halls, Trump flags waving. “That’s a high crime and misdemeanor,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in opening remarks. “If that’s not an impeachable offense, then there’s no such thing.” Trump is the first president to face impeachment charges after leaving office and the first to be twice impeached. The Capitol siege stunned the world as rioters ransacked the building to try to stop the certification of Biden’s victory, a domestic attack on the nation’s seat of government unlike any in its history. Five people died. Acquittal is likely, but the trial will test the nation’s attitude toward his brand of presidential power, the Democrats’ resolve in pursuing him, and the loyalty of Trump’s Republican allies defending him. Trump’s lawyers are insisting that he is not guilty of the sole charge of “incitement of insurrection,” his fiery words just a figure of speech as he encouraged a rally crowd to “fight like hell” for his presidency. But prosecutors say he “has no good defense” and they promise new evidence. “Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye,” the acting sergeant at arms intoned to start the trial. Security remained extremely tight at the Capitol, a changed place after the attack, fenced off with razor wire and armed National Guard troops on patrol. The nine House managers walked across the shuttered building to prosecute the case before the Senate."

The Washington Post reports:

"Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), his voice quivering and at times breaking, closed the House managers’ opening arguments with a personal reflection on Jan. 6, the day after he had buried his son, who had died by suicide days earlier. In an extraordinarily raw recounting of what he experienced, Raskin shared how his daughter and son-in-law had come with him to Capitol Hill that day, wanting to remain close in their grief. He gave a speech on unity as his children watched from the gallery above. His children were in an office off the House floor when the attack occurred and he couldn’t get to them. All around him lawmakers were calling loved ones and saying their goodbyes. From the floor, he could hear “the sound of pounding on the door like a battering ram,” which he described as the “most haunting sound I ever heard.” His daughter and son-in-law were barricaded inside the office, “hiding under the desk, placing what they thought were their final texts and whispered phone calls to say their goodbyes. They thought they were going to die.” When it was all over and they were reunited, Raskin’s daughter told him she never wanted to come back to the Capitol. Repeating her words, Raskin’s voice broke and filled with tears. He described in detail the torture and abuse that law enforcement endured that day: “Officers ended up with head damage and brain damage. People’s eyes were gouged. An officer had a heart attack. An officer lost three fingers that day. Two officers have taken their own lives,” Raskin said, his voice breaking again. “Senators, this cannot be our future,” Raskin pleaded. “This cannot be the future of America.”

That's right. It's raw nazism.

"Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), another of the House impeachment managers, cited Trump’s remarks in a tweet the former president sent hours after the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6. While the rest of the country was “absolutely horrified” by the events that were unfolding at the Capitol that day, “we also know how President Trump himself felt about the attack,” Cicilline said. He then read aloud a tweet that Trump sent that afternoon: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!” The tweet was deleted before Twitter later suspended Trump’s account due to such statements. “Every time I read that tweet, it chills me to the core,” Cicilline said. “The president of the United States sided with the insurrectionists. He celebrated their cause. He validated their attack. He told them, ‘Remember this day forever,’ hours after they marched through these halls looking to assassinate Vice President Pence, the speaker of the House and any of us they could find.”

Raw nazism. Wake up.

"Cicilline also pushed back on the Trump legal team’s claim that there is a “slippery slope” when it comes to the impeachment of private citizens. “The trial of a former official for abuses he committed as an official, arising from an impeachment that occurred while he was an official, poses absolutely no risk whatsoever of subjecting a private citizen to impeachment for their private conduct,” Cicilline said.

"Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) closed his remarks about the historical precedent for convicting Trump by making it personal for the senators. “Like every one of you, I was in the Capitol on January 6,” he said. “Like every one of you, I was evacuated as this violent mob stormed the Capitol’s gates. What you experienced that day, what we experienced that day, what our country experienced that day, is the framers’ worst nightmare come to life.”

Raw nazism. Antithesis of a democratic republic.

"Neguse summed up his argument for why a president can’t be absolved of wrongdoing just because it’s the end of his term this way: “Presidents can’t inflame insurrection in their final weeks and then walk away like nothing happened.”

Republicans think so.

"Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), one of the House impeachment managers, cited historical precedents and the views of several conservative legal scholars as he sought to make the case that it was constitutional for the Senate to try Trump after he has already left office. Neguse walked senators through the impeachments of Sen. William Blount in 1797 and Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876, both of which occurred after the men were no longer in office. Blount, a senator from Tennessee, was caught conspiring with the British to try to sell Florida and Louisiana and President John Adams caught him, Neguse relayed. “He turned over the evidence to Congress,” Neguse said. “Four days later, the House of Representatives impeached him. A day after that, this body, the United States Senate, expelled him from office. So he was very much a former official. Despite that, the House went forward with its impeachment proceeding in order to disqualify him from ever again holding federal office. And so, [t]he Senate proceeded with the trial with none other than Thomas Jefferson presiding.” Belknap, President Ulysses S. Grant’s longtime secretary of war, was found to have accepted bribes. As the House voted on whether to impeach him, Belknap resigned. But the House voted unanimously to impeach him anyway on five counts, including “basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain.” The Senate decided it did have the authority to try former officials and conducted a trial in April and May of 1876. “The Belknap case is clear precedent that the Senate must proceed with this trial,” Neguse said, referring to Trump’s case. He also cited several contemporary conservative legal scholars who have argued that Trump can be tried by the Senate, including Charles J. Cooper. He said in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that Republicans were wrong to argue that it is unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a former president."

Get this:

"Almost every senatorial eye in the chamber was glued to the screens as lead House manager Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) played a 13-minute video depicting the events of Jan. 6 to introduce the impeachment case against Trump — with a few notable exceptions. While the screen showed demonstrators marching on the Capitol, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) looked down at the pad of lined paper in his lap, where he had already begun doodling with a pencil. Behind him, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) studied papers in his lap, taking only the tiniest glimpses at the screen to his right. A few seats over, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also focused most of his attention on papers in front of him instead of on the images depicting the insurrection at the Capitol, and a few seats from him, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) did the same."

Clueless, gutless pieces of shit. National socialists. Fascists.

"The senators on the floor all lived through the events of Jan. 6, and it is impossible to know why certain individuals chose to look away. The facial expressions of those who did watch were varied: Some were focused intently, others stared blankly, some frowned, and at least one Republican senator’s face appeared to redden the longer the video went on. But the video — its pieces collected by the managers and their support team, and compiled by the firm Debevoise & Plimpton — was the first taste of the audiovisual evidence that form a central part of the managers’ case. To them, it undoubtedly matters whether senators are watching. As Raskin spoke — and stood, for the duration of the video — the other managers were not visible on the House floor or in the upper gallery. Barry Berke, a white-collar crime lawyer who also assisted with Trump’s first impeachment, sat next to Raskin at the manager’s table, where the seats were placed far apart to accommodate social distancing. Senators also have the option of sitting in the gallery to create more space between lawmakers, but all chose to stay at their desks. Of those on the floor, two elected not to wear masks: Paul didn’t put on one at all, while Sen. Cynthia M. Lummis (R-Wyo.) sat with hers pulled down below her chin."

Aggressive stupidity.

"Lawmakers opened the impeachment proceedings with debate about the legality of putting Donald Trump on trial now that he is no longer president. Most Republicans and Trump’s attorneys argue that the Senate trial is unconstitutional because of the timing. One of the leading scholars on the constitutional question says Trump’s attorneys were “disingenuous and misleading” in citing his views in their Senate brief. In a 2001 law-review article, Brian C. Kalt found that post-presidential impeachment, conviction and disqualification from holding future office is permitted. Kalt, a Michigan State University law professor, recently helped craft a letter from more than 150 constitutional scholars concluding that former officials remain subject to the power of impeachment even after leaving office. “My article presented all of the evidence I found on both sides, so there was lots for them to use fairly,” Kalt tweeted Monday. “They didn’t have to be disingenuous and misleading like this.” In response, Trump attorney David I. Schoen said in an email that the brief cited Kalt’s explanations “for the arguments he presented that we agreed with (even if he did not find them ultimately convincing) and not for the ones we did not agree with.” “Nowhere did we say that he agreed with our views, and I can assure you that it was never our intention to in any way mislead as to Professor Kalt’s position,” Schoen said."

Think so?

"In the hours before the Senate impeachment trial will commence, the House managers argued that a cornerstone of the Trump defense — that the former president’s Jan. 6 rally speech was protected by the First Amendment — is wrong. “The First Amendment protects our democratic system — but it does not protect a President who incites his supporters to imperil that system through violence,” the House managers wrote in a reply brief to Trump’s latest filing. “Accepting President Trump’s argument would mean that Congress could not impeach a President who burned an American flag on national television, or who spoke at a Ku Klux Klan rally in a white hood, or who wore a swastika while leading a march through a Jewish neighborhood — all of which is expression protected by the First Amendment but would obviously be grounds for impeachment,” they added. The managers also sought to dismantle the argument advanced by many Republicans and Trump’s lawyers that it is unconstitutional to impeach a president after he’s left office, calling it “inconceivable that the Framers designed impeachment to be virtually useless in a President’s final weeks or days, when opportunities to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power are most present.”

United Press International reports:

"House impeachment managers opened their case on Wednesday arguing for a conviction in the Senate trial of former President Donald Trump, for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last month. In their opening statement, Democratic managers laid out a road map for their case, which will include new security video footage of the Capitol attack. "We have the goods," the aides told reporters. "Yesterday was our dry constitutional argument day. Today, the actual trial begins. Calling Trump the "inciter in chief," lead manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the former president was "no innocent bystander," as Trump's lawyers have claimed. "Trump saw it coming and was not remotely surprised by the violence," he said. Raskin and impeachment manager Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., recalled Trump's words to "fight like hell" and "stop the steal." Raskin described that federal authorities warned beforehand that thousands of "violent and armed" people were planning to attend Trump's "Save America" rally near the White House -- at which Trump incited violence and then "went home and watched it on television like a reality show." In his remarks Wednesday, Raskin also rejected arguments from defense attorneys and said freedom of speech does not protect inciting violence. "You can't yell fire in a crowded theater," he said, adding that Trump's behavior was more like a case of a fire chief sending a mob to set the fire and then watching the flames "spread on TV with glee and delight." Neguse said the riot was incited and "foreseeable." "He told them it was their patriotic duty because the election had been stolen and invited them to march to the Capitol," he said. "The president used this speech as a call to arms. It was not rhetorical," Neguse added. "[Trump] assembled, the mob; he summoned the mob and he incited the mob."

Get this:

"CNN, The New York Times and Fox News all reported that Trump was upset by the performance of his legal team and their efforts to defend him Tuesday. He remains out of public view at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where he's been since leaving Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20."

The Associated Press reports:

"Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial said Wednesday they would prove that Trump was no “innocent bystander” but the “inciter in chief” of the deadly attack at the Capitol aimed at overturning his election loss to Joe Biden. Opening the first full day of arguments, the lead House prosecutor promised to lay out evidence that shows the president encouraged a rally crowd to head to the Capitol, then did nothing to stem the violence and watched with “glee” as a mob stormed the iconic building. Five people died. “To us it may have felt like chaos and madness, but there was method to the madness that day,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md."

Trouble in paradise:

"The day’s proceedings were unfolding after an emotional Tuesday start to the trial that left the former president fuming when his attorneys delivered a meandering defense and failed to halt the trial on constitutional grounds. Some allies called for yet another shakeup to his legal team. Trump is the first president to face an impeachment trial after leaving office and the first to be twice impeached. The riot followed a rally during which Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell,” words his lawyers say were simply a figure of speech. He is charged with “incitement of insurrection.” Senators, many of whom fled for safety the day of the attack, watched Tuesday’s graphic videos of the Trump supporters who battled past police to storm the halls, Trump flags waving. More video is expected Wednesday, including some that hasn’t been seen before. The prosecutors are arguing that Trump’s words weren’t just free speech but part of “the big lie” — his relentless efforts to sow doubts about the election results. Those began long before the votes were tabulated, revving up his followers to “stop the steal” though there was no evidence of substantial fraud. Trump knew very well what would happen when he took to the microphone at the outdoor White House rally that day, almost to the hour that Congress gaveled in to certify Biden’s win, said Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo. “This was not just a speech,” he said. Trump’s supporters were prepped and armed, ready to descend on the Capitol, Neguse said. “When they heard his speech, they understood his words.”

Sad we're currently living in a de facto fascist police-state:

"Security remained extremely tight Wednesday at the Capitol, fenced off with razor wire and patrolled by National Guard troops."

Trump's defense team was off to an incredibly poor start:

"The difficulty facing Trump’s defense team became apparent at the start of the trial as they leaned on the process of the trial, unlike any other, rather than the substance of the case against the former president. As the House impeachment managers described police officers maimed in the chaos and rioters parading in the very chamber where the trial was being held, Trump’s team countered that the Constitution doesn’t allow impeachment at this late date. Even though the Senate rejected that argument in Tuesday’s vote to proceed to the trial, the legal issue could resonate with Senate Republicans eager to acquit Trump without being seen as condoning his behavior."

Gutless pieces of shit. Unwilling to face reality, stand for principle.

"On Tuesday, lead defense lawyer Bruce Castor said he shifted his planned approach after hearing the prosecutors’ emotional opening and instead spoke conversationally to the senators, saying Trump’s team would denounce the “repugnant” attack and “in the strongest possible way denounce the rioters.” He encouraged the senators to be “cool headed” as they assessed the arguments. Trump attorney Schoen turned the trial toward starkly partisan tones, arguing the Democrats were fueled by a “base hatred” of the former president. Republicans made it clear that they were unhappy with Trump’s defense, many of them saying they didn’t understand where it was going — particularly Castor’s opening. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted with Democrats to move forward with the trial, said that Trump’s team did a “terrible job.” Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who also voted with Democrats, said she was “perplexed.” Sen. Lisa Murkowki of Alaska said it was a “missed opportunity” for the defense."

How do you credibly defend the indefensible?

"The House prosecutors had argued there is no “January exception” for a president to avoid impeachment on his way out the door. Rep. Neguse referred to the corruption case of William Belknap, a war secretary in the Grant administration, who was impeached, tried and ultimately acquitted by the Senate after leaving office. If Congress stands by, “it would invite future presidents to use their power without any fear of accountability,” he said. It appears unlikely that the House prosecutors will call witnesses, and Trump has declined a request to testify. The trial is expected to continue into the weekend."

2-12-21

Trouble for Trump in Georgia. The Associated Press reports:

"A Georgia prosecutor said Wednesday that she has opened a criminal investigation into “attempts to influence” last year’s general election, including a call in which President Donald Trump asked a top official to find enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state. In a Jan. 2 call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump repeatedly argued that Raffensperger could change the certified results of the presidential election, an assertion the secretary of state firmly rejected. “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said. “Because we won the state.” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat elected to the job in November, did not specifically mention Trump in the letters announcing her investigation. But the former president has been under intense criticism for the call. Willis spokesman Jeff DiSantis told The Associated Press that while he could not name the subjects under investigation, he confirmed that the call to Raffensperger was “part of it” and said “the matters reported on over the last several weeks are the matters being investigated.” In her letters, Willis also remarks that officials “have no reason to believe that any Georgia official is a target of this investigation.” The letters, sent to Raffensperger, Gov. Brian Kemp, the lieutenant governor and the attorney general, instruct the four Republican officials to preserve all records related to the election, particularly those that may contain evidence of attempts to influence elections officials. Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller decried the district attorney’s announcement, saying “the timing here is not accidental given today’s impeachment trial.” “This is simply the Democrats’ latest attempt to score political points by continuing their witch hunt against President Trump, and everybody sees through it,” Miller said."

Think so?

"Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the watchdog group last month sent a criminal complaint to Willis’ office outlining laws that it said Trump appeared to have broken on his call with Raffensperger. The group asked Willis to begin a criminal investigation. “Trump’s conduct violates not only the law, but the foundation on which our democracy is built,” Bookbinder wrote in an emailed statement. “He may have been able to evade facing criminal charges as president, but he is no longer president. We applaud Fulton County District Attorney Willis for launching this investigation and showing that no one is above the law.” Willis’ letters note the investigation is looking into “potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration.” The district attorney added that she will request grand jury subpoenas for the investigation when the next Fulton County grand jury meets in March. Earlier this week, Raffensperger’s office opened an administrative investigation after a third party filed a complaint alleging that Trump’s call to Raffensperger violated Georgia laws. Investigators with the secretary of state’s office who look into such complaints typically present their findings to the state election board, which then decides how to proceed. If the board believes there’s evidence that a crime occurred, it can take action ranging from issuing a letter of reprimand to referring the case to Georgia’s attorney general or to a local district attorney such as Willis."

2-5-21

Uncommon Valor. In follow-up to an earlier edition of this publication and elsewhere, CBS News reports:

"Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died from injuries after the January 6 pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, will lie in honor in the Rotunda next week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Friday that Sicknick's body will arrive at the Capitol on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET for a viewing ceremony for Capitol Police officers overnight. On Wednesday morning, Congress members will have a viewing period, followed by a tribute from lawmakers."

Uncommon Valor:

"The U.S. Congress is united in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the service and sacrifice of Officer Brian Sicknick," Schumer and Pelosi said in a statement Friday. "The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution. His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve."

Indeed.

"Lying in state" is typically reserved for elected officials, which is why Sicknick's ceremony is designated as "lying in honor." "May this ceremony and the knowledge that so many mourn with and pray for them be a comfort to Officer Sicknick's family during this sad time," Pelosi and Schumer said. South Carolina Republicans Rep. Ralph Norman and Sen. Tim Scott had urged the ceremony earlier this week. On Thursday, they introduced a bill for the House Sergeant at Arms to pay for Sicknick's funeral expenses, and to put up a commemorative plaque in the building. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremonies will be closed to the general public. Sicknick, who joined the Capitol Police in 2008 after serving in the New Jersey Air National Guard, suffered a head injury "while physically engaging with protesters," police said. When he returned to his division office, he collapsed, and died at a hospital the day after the riot. He was 42. Sicknick was one of several people who died in the attack, which led to the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump for incitement of insurrection. So far, federal prosecutors have charged at least 172 people for their alleged roles in the riot and opened over 400 investigations into possible criminals. At least 15 of those arrested are veterans and two are currently serving in the Army Reserve, according to military service records obtained by CBS News. Sicknick will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery."

Uncommon Valor.

2-5-21

Uncommon Valor. CBS News reports:

"More details are emerging about the two FBI agents who were shot and killed when they arrived to search an apartment in a child pornography case in Florida on Tuesday. FBI Director Christopher A. Wray identified the two slain agents as Laura Schwartzenberger and Daniel Alfin, both of whom specialized in investigating crimes against children. Three other officers were wounded in the shooting. The suspect also died. The shootings marked one of the bloodiest days in FBI history in South Florida and among the deadliest nationally as well, according to the FBI website. Schwartzenberger, a native of Pueblo, Colorado, is the third female agent to die in the line of duty outside of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, CBS Denver reports. Schwartzenberger, 43, had been an agent with the FBI since December 2005 and worked in the Miami field office on a squad of agents handling violent crimes against children, according to court records. Her work primarily focused on tracking offenders who sexually exploit children online and investigating other crimes against children. Schwartzenberger is survived by a husband and two children, said George Piro, who leads the FBI's Miami field office, said at a news conference. CBS affiliate WPEC-TV spoke with Schwartzenberg in 2018 for an investigative piece on sex extortion. In 2013, she also spoke to CBS Miami about catching those who exploit others, including children. "Extortion is a form of exploitation in which the perpetrator uses coercion in which to obtain sexual images or videos, money, or even sex from the victim. The victim can be an adult, could be a teenager, or could be a child," she said. Alfin, 36, who also investigated child exploitation cases, had previously worked at FBI headquarters handling major cases involving violent crimes against children, according to court records. He had a degree in information technology and went through the FBI's specialized training programs for cybercrimes. He was involved in a major child exploitation investigation dubbed Playpen that resulted in arrests around the world. "It's the same with any criminal violation," Alfin said in 2017 about the Playpen case. "As they get smarter, we adapt, we find them. It's a cat-and-mouse game, except it's not a game. Kids are being abused, and it's our job to stop that."

Indeed.

"Alfin is survived by a wife and child, Piro said. Alfin's brother is a sergeant with the Coral Springs Police Department and his sister-in-law is with Pembroke Pines PD, CBS Miami reported. Alfin began his FBI career at the Albany FBI office in 2009 before leaving in 2014, CBS affiliate WRGB-TV reported. In a statement, the Albany office said it was "heartbroken," calling Alfin an incredible agent. After the shootings Tuesday, police motorcycles with their lights flashing escorted a fire rescue truck as it brought the body of one of the agents to the medical examiner's office in nearby Dania Beach. Law enforcement officials from numerous agencies lined up to pay their respects as a flag-covered body was removed from the vehicle and taken inside. "Special Agent Alfin and Special Agent Schwartzenberger exemplified heroism today in defense of their country," Wray said in a statement. "The FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and will be forever grateful for their bravery." President Joe Biden offered his condolences during an immigration event at the White House. "They put their lives on the line and that's a hell of a price to pay," he said of the agents. "My heart aches for the families."

Uncommon Valor.

2-5-21

Think granting law enforcement additional power after the Capitol insurrection wise? The Associated Press reports:

"As federal officials grapple with how to confront the national security threat from domestic extremists after the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol, civil rights groups and communities of color are watching warily for any moves to expand law enforcement power or authority. They say their communities have felt the brunt of security scrutiny over the last two decades and fear new tools meant to target right-wing extremism or white nationalists risk harming Muslims, Black Americans and other groups, even if unintentionally. Their position underscores the complexity of the national debate surrounding how to balance First Amendment expression protections with law enforcement’s need to prevent extremist violence before it occurs. In particular, many Muslim advocates oppose as unnecessary the creation of any new domestic terror statute, saying there are enough laws on the books to cover violent extremist conduct. “The answer ought to be to sort of pause. Because the instinct to do something is something I’m really quite afraid of,” said Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, one of more than 130 civil and human rights organizations that say the FBI already has the tools it needs. “There’s an entire federal code in place that allows you to successfully go after this violence before you need to sort of say, ‘Oh, wait, you know, there’s this existing gap and we need more power,’” she added. The debate over how to prevent extremist violence, and whether new domestic terrorism laws are required, has surfaced before, including after rampages that targeted Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue and Latinos in a Texas Walmart. But the Jan. 6 attack, when an overwhelmingly white mob of Donald Trump supporters and members of far-right groups violently breached the Capitol, has refocused attention on white extremism and prompted questions about whether a racial double standard exists in investigating and countering violence.

"The debate now is how to address the rise of white supremacist violence while not targeting the same people white supremacists seek to harm. Not only that, law enforcement officials pressured to crack down more on domestic extremists have to do so while staying mindful of broad First Amendment protections that prevent the arrests of people for abhorrent or hateful speech short of threatening violence. “White violence is consistently perpetuated and then used as justification for increased surveillance or increased state power against communities of color,” said 26-year-old Iranian American activist Hoda Katebi, who is Muslim, wears a headscarf and grew up defending herself against harassment and being called a terrorist in the years after Sept. 11, 2001. The Justice Department has not said publicly if it intends to seek any additional powers, or whether it even needs new ones to deal with domestic extremism. Though there is no federal law that explicitly charges crimes as domestic terrorism, prosecutors have successfully used other statutes to cover conduct that might reasonably be seen as terrorism, including at the Capitol."

Legislators need to very, very carefully consider granting law enforcement additional power. As a nation, we are still suffering from the effects of the USA 'Patriot' Act imposed after 9/11. Forget? We live in a de facto fascist police-state since its passage. ... Hear the rumble? Too deaf to hear? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms.

2-5-21

Surprise, surprise. Time to wake up. NBC News reports:

"Election workers watched along with the rest of America as a violent pro-Trump mob ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, leaving five people dead. They were horrified and shocked, but not surprised. “I think in the back of [a] lot of our minds, this was like, an attack on our country was being invited,” Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said in an interview. “All of us have been saying this kind of misinformation is dangerous, and, unfortunately, this is the outcome of that kind of disinformation.” Hobbs, a Democrat, was doxxed, threatened and harassed last year, enduring months of sustained abuse as a consequence of then-President Donald Trump’s stolen election lie. There were incidents early on that hinted at the potential for real-world action underneath a mostly verbal and virtual barrage: angry Trump supporters showing up at her house in mid-November, waving flags and shouting because they refused to believe that Joe Biden had won the state. What she experienced was not what any public servant signed up for, she said, and she’s still struggling to process what happened to her and to the country. She is one of a dozen election officials and workers interviewed by NBC News who told a similar story: nightmarish months of trying to put aside violent threats, scared for themselves and their families, to do a vitally important job that had already been made more difficult by the pandemic. They spoke of lingering trauma, unheeded warnings and fears for the future amid what the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged is a growing threat from domestic extremists fueled at least in part by “the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives,” and possibly now emboldened even more by the Capitol attack. Gabriel Sterling, a Republican and a top election official in Georgia, tried to raise the alarm in December about what he considered the potential for imminent violence. In a blistering news conference, he warned that “someone’s going to get shot” as a direct result of the misinformation and the lies about the results of the election being promoted by Trump and repeated and embraced by his supporters. Sterling said watching the deadly rampage at the Capitol made him nauseous. He knew something like that could happen, but he didn’t think it actually would. “You could see the logical train going from point A to point B, and if you didn’t, again, that’s irresponsible,” he told NBC News last week. Georgia election workers at all levels described some of the more alarming threats and abuse. They escalated the minute it became clear that Biden had flipped Georgia, a traditionally red state, blue for the first time in decades, state officials said. Everyone from Sterling, the election systems manager, to hourly employees to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, also a Republican, was inundated. With the state’s two U.S. Senate races proceeding to runoff elections that wouldn’t take place until January — and would decide control of the Senate — workers were targeted long past November."

Report goes on and on. In great detail. Time to wake up.

2-5-21

Biden Executive Orders. United Press International reports:

"President Joe Biden on Thursday signed executive orders that aim to fulfill two campaign promises -- expanding Americans' access to healthcare and protecting women's health and reproductive rights. In the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, Biden signed one order to reopen enrollment to the Health Insurance Marketplace and take steps to strengthen Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The other order aims to safeguard women's health in the United States and abroad. He said the orders were meant to "undo the damage [former President Donald] Trump has done." "There's nothing new that we're doing here other than restoring the Affordable Care Act and restoring the Medicaid to the way it was before Trump became president, which by fiat he changed and made more inaccessible, more expensive and more difficult for people to qualify for either of those two items," Biden said."

Here are the details:

"The first order extends a special enrollment period for health insurance coverage under Medicaid and the Healthcare.gov exchange between Feb. 15 and May 15. "This Special Enrollment Period will give Americans that need healthcare coverage during this global pandemic the opportunity to sign up," the White House said in a statement. "[The orders] also direct federal agencies to reconsider rules and other policies that limit Americans' access to healthcare and consider actions that will protect and strengthen that access." Among the things the directive asks federal agencies to evaluate are policies that "undermine protections" for those with pre-existing conditions, items that may reduce coverage and policies that make it harder to enroll. Biden's order to protect women's health rescinds the Trump administration's global reproductive health gag rule called the "Mexico City Policy" -- which has barred U.S. funding from going to non-profits that provide abortion or reproductive rights counseling. The policy was first ordered by former President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and lasted for eight years until it was revoked by President Bill Clinton. President George W. Bush revived the rule in 2001 and it remained in force until President Barack Obama took office in 2009."

The Associated Press reports:

"President Joe Biden on Thursday rescinded a regulation that barred U.S. foreign aid from being used to perform or promote abortions. His decision, while expected, was cheered by abortion-choice advocates and some humanitarian groups and denounced by anti-abortion groups. The move also included a restoration of American funding to the U.N. Population Fund and withdraws the U.S. from an international accord that promotes anti-abortion policies. The steps came just a week after he was inaugurated and fulfills a campaign pledge to reverse a policy that previous Republican presidents, including his immediate predecessor, Donald Trump, had instated immediately on taking office. The policy — known as the “Mexico City” rule, after the place where it was first announced at an international population conference, or the “global gag rule” — has been a political ping-pong ball, bouncing back and forth between Republican and Democratic presidents since it was first enacted in 1985 during President Ronald Reagan’s second term."

This needs to change. Why should women suffer loss of rights and benefits every time a Republican becomes president?

“These excessive conditions on foreign and development assistance undermine the United States’ efforts to advance gender equality globally by restricting our ability to support women’s health and programs that prevent and respond to gender-based violence,” Biden said in a memorandum to his Cabinet. “The expansion of the policy has also affected all other areas of global health assistance, limiting the United States’ ability to work with local partners around the world and inhibiting their efforts to confront serious health challenges such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, among others,” he said. “Such restrictions on global health assistance are particularly harmful in light of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.”

No question.

"Accompanying Biden’s determination was a decision to restore funding to the United Nations Population Fund, which Trump had ended over its alleged support for forced abortions and sterilizations in China. The fund has denied those allegations. The year before Trump terminated the funding, the U.S. had provided $69 million to the UNFPA. In addition, Biden directed the State Department and Department of Health and Human Services to withdraw from the so-called Geneva Consensus, an October 2020 document signed by 34 countries that sought to promote anti-abortion policies and others deemed “pro-family” worldwide. The consensus had been co-sponsored by the U.S. and was signed by numerous nations critics consider to be undemocratic or authoritarian. Critics of Trump’s policies say they had hurt women’s reproductive health care and contributed to poverty worldwide. Supporters argue they are essential to preserve the sanctity of life."

What about the sanctity of the lives of all the innocent, unarmed civilians murdered by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue all over our formerly great country? People of all races and colors. Where is the outrage of Republican nazis to this ongoing carnage? Where? The hypocrisy of these fascists is stunning. Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion. 'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter.

"Trump had expanded the Mexico City rule to include nearly all federal health funding, but its effects were felt most abroad, where U.S. assistance can be an essential part of a country’s health care spending. Although supporters of the policy argue that the overall amount of U.S. health care aid was not affected, critics maintain it contributed to a rise in pregnancy-related complications as well other issues by forcing some clinics to reduce broader health services, including for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases, if they wanted to retain funding. Reaction to Biden’s decision was swift and sharp, even before it was officially announced. Abortion-rights groups and Democratic lawmakers hailed it as key to improving women’s lives, while anti-abortion groups denounced it as immoral and unnecessary. “The Global Gag Rule has had a sweeping effect on lifesaving health care in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the only woman on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “It is shameful that the Trump administration chose to not only implement but exponentially expand this ill-conceived policy to historic proportions.” She called it “an important first step to restore access to family planning services and mitigate the damage caused by an administration that pursued this dangerous policy without regard for its impact.”

A nazi only cares about ideology, lining his pockets, strengthening his power, taking care of the top of the food chain at expense of the rest of the population. What we saw in Trump was a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.

Doctors Without Borders, which has spoken out against the Mexico City policy, welcomed the move but said more must be done to address the global health care crisis. “While we are relieved to see a halt to this dangerous policy, there is much more work to do to mitigate the damage we have witnessed. Rescinding the Global Gag Rule is just a first step,” it said. “Millions of women still don’t have access to safe abortion care because of restrictive laws, cost, stigma, a lack of trained providers, or other unnecessary barriers, such as mandatory waiting periods or misleading information.”

Can't confuse the rabid nazi element with the truth:

Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers were equally as strident in their condemnation. “U.S. foreign policy — and the foreign entities we fund with billions of dollars in grant money — should consistently affirm, care for, and tangibly assist women and children — including unborn baby girls and boys,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who has been one of the most vocal abortion opponents in Congress. “Funneling U.S. tax dollars to abortion groups overseas is an abhorrent practice that flies in the face of the ‘unity’ Joe Biden and Kamala Harris promised to inspire,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which seeks to elect anti-abortion candidates to Congress and other offices. Echoing the comments of others, she blasted the Biden administration for once again allowing taxpayer money to fund abortions, maintaining the move was payback for a group of “abortion industry giants” that support the president’s campaign for president. “Pushing abortion on other nations is not compassion, it is ideological neo-colonization,” said Lila Rose of Live Action, a national anti-abortion group. “This decision is a dark day for our nation — it will lead to more deaths of more children and for that, Joe Biden should be ashamed.”

Who the hell are you national socialists, i.e. nazis to force your perverse religious views on all? You fascist bastards truly believe you own a woman's uterus? That delusional? Abortions were illegal in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Hundreds of thousands of our best and brightest died fighting this ideology. Second World War European Theater. Have you no shame?

2-5-21

Precedent Republicans deny. NPR reports:

"The forming narrative among those who don't want a Senate impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump is along the lines of, "He's out of office. What's the point?"

It's called justice. Accountability.

"Others are going so far as to claim that conducting an impeachment trial for Trump now that he's out of office is unconstitutional."

Simply, not true.

"I think the ex-president's rhetoric on the day was inflammatory," said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who was criticized for his role in the Jan. 6 violence as well. Hawley was one of the instigators of objecting to Congress' traditionally ceremonial electoral vote counting. "I think it was irresponsible. I think it was wrong. But I think that this impeachment effort is, I mean, I think it's blatantly unconstitutional. It's a really, really, really dangerous precedent."

-- What 'precedent' is that? ... The precedent of accountability?

"It's not blatantly unconstitutional. And there is already precedent for the Senate trying an official after he has left office. It happened 145 years ago, and the impeachment managers in that 19th-century case believed that by holding that trial no one would again question whether it was allowed. Still, even a more moderate senator, like retiring Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, sided with 44 other Republicans on Tuesday in a failed attempt to dismiss the trial based on Trump being a private citizen."

No guts. Blatant ignorance, as well:

"I've been very clear that former President Trump bears some responsibility for what happened on Jan. 6 through his words and actions," Portman said in a statement after the vote. "I will listen as a juror, but as I have said, I do have questions about the constitutionality of holding a Senate trial and removing from office someone who is now a private citizen."

Here's the problem:

"Republicans are relying, at least in part, on a professor who appears to be at odds with himself — arguing now that it's unconstitutional, but writing the opposite 22 years ago, after a Democrat had been impeached. So let's dive into the constitutionality question, as well as that 1876 case that Democrats have begun citing as evidence that trying a president after he leaves office is well within the bounds of what the Senate can do. Trump's presidency made practical what were previously esoteric constitutional questions, the stuff of hypothetical "what if" scholarly journal articles. These events are rare. Only 20 people in U.S. history have ever been impeached — 15 judges, a U.S. senator, a Cabinet member and three presidents. The Senate has convicted only eight, all federal judges."

Founders intended it to be difficult, -- and a last resort.

"Only two presidents had ever been impeached before Trump; a president had never been impeached twice before Trump; and no president has ever been tried by the Senate after leaving office. President Richard Nixon resigned before the House voted on articles of impeachment filed against him. The House then dropped the case. But is the Senate allowed to take up an impeachment trial after someone leaves office? What does the Constitution say about it, and what did the Framers think? There is certainly some debate about it, as NPR's Nina Totenberg explored this month. But the prevailing consensus is that it is within the scope of the Senate, especially considering it voted on the very subject in 1876 and said, yes, it did have jurisdiction. That vote wasn't without controversy, though. Let's start with what the Constitution says: "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment ... and Conviction." Some conservatives point to that language and say it means impeachment applies to only current officeholders — and that the principal goal of impeachment and conviction is to remove someone from office. But that's not the view of the preponderance of scholars. This is from a Congressional Research Service legal briefing on Jan. 15, two days after Trump's impeachment and in anticipation of the likelihood that the Senate would take up an impeachment trial after Trump's term was up: "Though the text [of the Constitution] is open to debate, it appears that most scholars who have closely examined the question have concluded that Congress has authority to extend the impeachment process to officials who are no longer in office." There are two penalties for impeachment: Removal from office is one, but barring someone from holding public office again is another option."

Carefully, consider the following:

"Here's Article 1, Section 3, Clause 7 (emphasis ours): "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law." Given that, there's good reason to believe impeachment applies to former officeholders. "If impeachment does not apply to former officials," the CRS report notes, "then Congress could never bar an official from holding office in the future as long as that individual resigns first." There is also evidence that the delegates at the Constitutional Convention accepted that officials could be impeached after stepping down, according to the CRS report. And it notes, "This understanding also tracks with certain state constitutions predating the Constitution, which allowed for impeachments of officials after they left office." There is actually an example of a former British governor, Warren Hastings, who was impeached by the British government two years after he left office. He was tried for corruption and was eventually acquitted, but all of it happened at the time of the Constitutional Convention. His impeachment "was noted expressly by the delegates without expressing disapproval of the timing," according to the CRS report. "While the Framers were aware of the British and state practices of impeaching former officials, scholars have noted that they chose not to explicitly rule out impeachment after an official leaves office."

That's right. Certainly, true.

"Former President John Quincy Adams, who wasn't a Founding Father, but was the son of one, also subscribed to this view. "I hold myself, so long as I have the breath of life in my body, amenable to impeachment by this House for everything I did during the time I held any public office," he said in 1846, after he left office. The CRS report also makes another important point — that impeachable offenses are not necessarily ones a politician can or will be tried for in the court system: "Alexander Hamilton noted that impeachable offenses were 'political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.' For example, Congress has impeached federal judges for misconduct and corruption that was not necessarily criminal. One scholar notes that impeachment after an official leaves office is important because it 'reaches offenses and provides punishment that the criminal process' does not."

That's right. Certainly, true.

Get this:

"Even the professor whom Republicans lunched with Tuesday, Jonathan Turley of George Washington University, who now claims "removal of a president is the primary purpose of such a trial," was saying something very different 22 years ago, as pointed out by University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck. Drawing on the 1876 Senate impeachment trial of William Belknap — who was war secretary under President Ulysses S. Grant and who was tried after he resigned — Turley argued that the Senate "was correct in its view that impeachments historically had extended to former officials, such as Warren Hastings." He wrote in the Duke Law Journal that a trial of a former officeholder would serve as a "deterrent to the executive branch" and stand up for "core values in a society," even if the person wasn't convicted and "even if the only penalty is disqualification from future office." That was in 1999, the year after Democratic President Bill Clinton was impeached."

Fascinating, isn't it?

Carefully, consider the following:

"Who was William Belknap? Belknap was a former Iowa state legislator who went on to be a Civil War hero and general for the Union Army. Grant made him his secretary of war, a post he held for eight years. But Belknap became known in Washington instead for his high-society living and lavish parties and spending, according to the Senate Historical Office. No one knew where the money was coming from — until they did."

How about that? LOL.

"Belknap made a salary of $8,000 a year, about $200,000 in today's money. That's a very good salary, but not enough to prop up the kind of lifestyle Belknap was leading. It turned out Belknap was on the take. Someone he installed to run a military trading post in Indian territory promised kickbacks for the appointment. And he delivered. Belknap was pulling in some $20,000 a quarter from the scheme, 10 times his salary, for an equivalent today of about $2 million a year. When Congress found out about it, articles of impeachment were filed that included "basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain."

... Sounds familiar, doesn't it? LOL.

"In an effort to stave off the impeachment, "Belknap raced to the White House, handed Grant his resignation, and burst into tears," the Senate Historian's office notes. It didn't work. The House impeached him later that day. When the case moved to the Senate, Belknap's lawyer argued that he couldn't be tried because he was now a private citizen. The House impeachment managers countered that all the charges stemmed from things Belknap did when he was war secretary. After three days of hearing arguments about it and two weeks of secret deliberations, the Senate voted 37-29 that Belknap was "amenable to trial by impeachment for acts done as Secretary of War, notwithstanding his resignation of said office before he was impeached." In the end, a majority of senators voted to convict Belknap, but that was short of the two-thirds necessary. Nearly two dozen senators who voted to acquit cited their belief that the Senate lacked jurisdiction. Just three said their vote was because of the evidence. In a report after the case, the House impeachment managers said those who voted to acquit because they didn't think the Senate had the right to try the case showed they "refused to be governed by the deliberate judgment of the majority." In the end, though, they thought going through with the case was important because it would set the precedent that just because someone had left office didn't mean the person was immune from consequences of Congress. "It has been settled thereby that persons who have held civil office in the United States are impeachable, and that the Senate has jurisdiction to try them," they wrote. They said the effort was "worth infinitely more than all the time, labor, and expense of the protracted trial closed by the verdict of yesterday."

Masterful investigative reporting by Domenico Montanaro. Hat's off.

NBC News reports:

"At least three attorneys have parted ways with former President Donald Trump after he asked them to focus on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud as part of his defense strategy in his second impeachment trial, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The three lawyers are Butch Bowers, Deborah Barbier and Joshua Howard, the sources said. Earlier, a source had said it had been a "mutual decision" to part ways before the trial starts in the Senate next Tuesday. Two new attorneys — David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr. — were named Sunday evening, just days before a pre-trial brief is due. Trump wanted his original team to falsely argue that he had won the election and continue his baseless suggestions that the count was somehow “rigged,” per one person with knowledge of the discussions, but the attorneys were not comfortable with amplifying misinformation. Instead, they wanted to use a Constitutional argument. Forty-five Republican senators voted last week in support of a measure declaring that impeaching a former president is unconstitutional. Another source familiar with the matter said that Trump wanted his lawyers to pursue a case that would detail fraud claims in places like Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia, despite no evidence such widespread fraud exists. Trump adviser Jason Miller said that the former president did not ask the lawyers to do so and that any suggestion otherwise was “fake news.” A statement announcing the new legal team said that Schoen and Castor “agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional.” Castor is the former Pennsylvania district attorney who declined to prosecute disgraced comedian and actor Bill Cosby in 2005 over an encounter with Andrea Constand the year before. Cosby was convicted of sexually assaulting Constand in 2018 after a different prosecutor pursued the case. Schoen is a civil and criminal defense lawyer with offices in Alabama and New York. In a statement, Trump's office said Schoen had already been preparing the case with other advisers."

Pending Trump impeachment trial in Senate. The Washington Post reports:

"One of Trump’s new lawyers declined to charge Bill Cosby. The other maintains Jeffrey Epstein was murdered. When Bruce L. Castor Jr. ran for district attorney in Montgomery County, Pa., in 2015, the campaign hinged on his decision years earlier not to charge comedian Bill Cosby with sexual assault. And after Castor lost the race, he sued the woman he blamed for the defeat: one of Cosby’s victims. His suit, which was dismissed in 2018, made national headlines as the prosecutor who defeated him criminally charged Cosby, eventually sending him to prison. Now, Castor is poised to represent another politician dismayed over a recent election loss: former president Donald Trump. Following a sudden exodus of lawyers who had been working on Trump’s defense for his Feb. 9 impeachment trial, the former president on Sunday announced that he’ll be represented by Castor and David Schoen, another attorney with ties to several high-profile, controversial defendants, including Roger Stone and Jeffrey Epstein. Castor and Schoen will take on the job after Trump’s previous attorneys left over his insistence that they argue he actually won the 2020 presidential election, a false claim the former president has often repeated since November, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Trump’s team denied that explanation, and said the defense would focus on constitutional questions involved in the impeachment trial. And Schoen also said he plans to focus on attacking the “weaponization of the impeachment process” and arguing that it is not constitutional to impeach a president once he is out of office. “I am not a person who will put forward a theory of election fraud,” Schoen told The Post late Sunday night. “That’s not what this impeachment trial is about.”

That right? LOL.

"While both lawyers are just stepping into their leading roles on Trump’s team in the politically fraught impeachment trial, neither Castor nor Schoen are new to controversy. Castor, a Republican, served as the top prosecutor in Montgomery County from 2000 to 2008. In 2005, Andrea Constand reported that Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted her the previous year, but Castor declined to pursue criminal charges. Ten years later, after Constand filed suit with 13 women volunteering to testify about their own allegations against Cosby, Castor was forced to account for that decision as he ran for district attorney again. Constand also sued Castor for defamation in 2015, just before the election. He publicly suggested there had been inconsistencies in Constand’s account of the crime, but the growing #MeToo movement made his handling of the Cosby case a key issue in the race. He lost to Democrat Kevin Steele, who chose to prosecute Cosby. During the criminal case, Cosby’s lawyers argued that Castor had secretly promised the actor immunity in 2005. A judge dismissed that argument. Cosby was convicted on three felony counts and sentenced in 2018 to three to 10 years in prison. Constand and Castor confidentially settled the defamation claim in 2019.

"Schoen is an Atlanta-based civil rights and criminal defense attorney who most recently made waves by representing Stone, a Trump confidant who was convicted in 2019 of witness tampering and lying to Congress about his role in pursuing hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election. “Somebody recommended me to him and, I don’t know, I liked him,” Schoen told The Post, explaining his decision to take on Stone’s appeal in 2020. “It seemed like a challenge. He was really up against it.” He previously told the Atlanta Jewish Times that he took up Stone’s case because he believed the trial had been “very unfair and politicized.” Schoen’s work with Stone, whom he has described as “very bright, full of personality and flair,” came to an abrupt end last July when Trump commuted Stone’s 40-month prison sentence. Trump fully pardoned Stone in December. Days before Jeffrey Epstein’s death in 2019, Schoen also met with the financier, who was accused of sexually abusing dozens of girls. Schoen has publicly disputed official reports that Epstein killed himself inside the Manhattan jail, and maintains his belief that Epstein may have been murdered. Schoen denies subscribing to some of the implausible claims that have circulated online since Epstein’s death and conceded that there were no compelling suspects or alternate theories to the official account. “He just didn’t strike me as a guy who would commit suicide, but who knows, it’s always possible,” Schoen told The Post on Sunday. “I don’t think they had a medical basis [for the cause of death] but they also don’t have a killer.” Schoen described his “bread-and-butter” work as civil rights cases, with a focus on police misconduct, which he has pursued for nearly 36 years. His recent caseload has included a wrongful death and police misconduct suit for the fatal police shooting of a Black man in Florida and a wrongful death and medical malpractice suit against officials in an Alabama jail who ignored an inmate’s perforated ulcer for seven days, leading to his death. With just over a week before Trump’s impeachment trail is set to begin, Schoen and Castor do not have much time to prepare a defense for the former president. Schoen told The Post he expects to focus on the “important constitutional issues,” including whether a former president can legally be tried for impeachment. “I’ve done constitutional litigation my entire career, and I think this case raised important constitutional questions,” Schoen told The Post. “I do feel honored to represent the [former] president of the United States and the Constitution.” Schoen said he did not think the lawyers who left Trump’s team did so because of election fraud claims and rejected the suggestion that the new team would try to litigate the validity of the election results. “It’s not what has drawn me into this impeachment trial,” he said. “I think the proceedings are unconstitutional.”

The Associated Press reports:

"Donald Trump endangered the lives of all members of Congress when he aimed a mob of supporters “like a loaded cannon” at the U.S. Capitol, House Democrats said Tuesday in making their most detailed case yet for why the former president should be convicted and permanently barred from office. Trump denied the allegations through his lawyers and called the trial unconstitutional. The Democratic legal brief forcefully linked Trump’s baseless efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election to the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, saying he bears “unmistakable” blame for actions that threatened the foundation of American democracy. It argued that he must be found guilty when his impeachment trial opens before the Senate next week on a charge of inciting the siege. And it used evocative language to conjure the day’s chaos, when “terrified members were trapped in the chamber” and called loved ones “for fear they would not survive.” “His conduct endangered the life of every single member of Congress, jeopardized the peaceful transition of power and line of succession, and compromised our national security,” the Democratic managers of the impeachment case wrote. “This is precisely the sort of constitutional offense that warrants disqualification from federal office.”

Think it will happen? ... Or, has our formerly great country gone too Right Wing Nazi?

"Trump’s lawyers responded with their own filing that denied that he had incited the riot by disputing the election results or by exhorting his followers to “fight like hell.” In any event, they said, the trial was unconstitutional now that Trump has left the White House. The dueling filings offer the first public glimpse of the arguments that both sides intend to present at the impeachment trial, Trump’s second. They show how Democrats will look to explicitly fault Trump for his role in the riot and to also make the case that his behavior was so egregious as to require permanent disqualification from office. On the other side will be challenges to the trial’s constitutionality and claims that Trump’s speech was protected by the First Amendment. “It is denied that President Trump ever endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government,” defense lawyers wrote in a 14-page brief."

Democrats seem to mean business, willing to go all out:

"The Constitution specifies that disqualification from office can be a punishment for an impeachment conviction. “This is not a case where elections alone are a sufficient safeguard against future abuse; it is the electoral process itself that President Trump attacked and that must be protected from him and anyone else who would seek to mimic his behavior,” the Democrats wrote. The Democrats drew heavily on the words of prominent Republicans who have criticized the former president. Among them are Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted for Trump’s impeachment and said there has never been a “greater betrayal” by a president, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Trump “provoked” the rioters. “The only honorable path at that point was for President Trump to accept the results and concede his electoral defeat. Instead, he summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue,” the Democrats wrote in their 77-page brief."

Republicans clearly don't want their fuhrer, the Trump nazi, held accountable:

"Still, Republicans have signaled that acquittal is likely, with many saying they think Congress should move on and questioning the constitutionality of an impeachment trial — Trump’s second — now that he has left office. In a test vote in the Senate last week, 45 Republicans, including McConnell, voted in favor of an effort to dismiss the trial over those constitutional concerns. Though no president has been tried after departing the White House, Democrats say there is precedent, pointing to an 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who resigned his office in a last-ditch attempt to avoid an impeachment trial. The Senate held it anyway. The Democrats wrote that the framers of the Constitution would not have wanted to leave the country defenseless against “a president’s treachery in his final days, allowing him to misuse power, violate his Oath, and incite insurrection against Congress and our electoral institutions” simply because he is leaving office. Setting that precedent now would “horrify the Framers,” the brief said. “There is no ‘January Exception’ to impeachment or any other provision of the Constitution,” the Democrats wrote. “A president must answer comprehensively for his conduct in office from his first day in office through his last.” Trump was impeached by the House while still in office, they noted, forcing a Senate trial. And there are precedents for trying former officials. “Trump is personally responsible for a violent attack on the Capitol,” they wrote. “He was impeached while still in office. The case for trying him after he has left office is stronger than any of the precedents.” The brief also traced Trump’s efforts to subvert democracy back to the summer of 2020, when he first declined to say he would accept the election results, through the election and his many failed attempts to challenge the results in court. When those efforts failed, the Democrats wrote, “he turned to improper and abusive means of staying in power,” specifically by launching a pressure campaign aimed at state election officials, the Justice Department and Congress. The Democrats cited his unsuccessful efforts to sway Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and former Attorney General William Barr. Trump then became “fixated” on Jan. 6, the managers wrote. They note that many of his supporters, including the Proud Boys — who Trump told to “stand back and stand by” at a September debate — were already primed for violence. “Given all that, the crowd which assembled on January 6 unsurprisingly included many who were armed, angry, and dangerous—and poised on a hair trigger for President Trump to confirm that they indeed had to “fight” to save America from an imagined conspiracy,” the Democrats wrote."

2-5-21

Judicial change. Clock ticking. NBC News reports:

"President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats are vetting civil rights lawyers and public defenders to nominate as judges, embarking on a mission to shape the courts after Republicans overhauled them in the last four years, according to senior party officials and activists. Democrats have a wafer-thin Senate majority that gives them control over appointments. They believe they have two years to make their mark and fill a growing number of vacancies before the midterm elections, where the party in power historically loses seats. Some are preparing for a Supreme Court retirement as early as this summer, with most of the speculation centered on 82-year-old Justice Stephen Breyer, a Democratic appointee. In addition to forming a new commission to study structural changes to the judiciary, the Biden White House has asked senators to recruit civil rights attorneys and defense lawyers for judgeships. Officials who work on the issue say they’ve seen an outpouring of interest and have begun holding sessions to offer information and advice on navigating the confirmation gauntlet."

Hard to believe two years is anywhere near sufficient to effectively combat Trump's nazification of the judiciary. -- Especially, with six Republican nazis currently owning the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We’ll see the proof of this in President Biden’s first set of nominees. I expect they’re going to look very different than the kind of judges that Democratic presidents have put forward in the past,” said Chris Kang, co-founder of the progressive group Demand Justice and former deputy counsel in the Obama White House. “Their backgrounds will be radically different overall, and that will make a huge difference in our courts.”

Hopefully, that will be the case. Republicans, indeed, have successfully nazified the judiciary. At expense of the bottom and middle class. Taken a raucous hard dump on the Bill of Rights, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"For decades, Republicans have prioritized the courts in elections to stir up their base. Democrats have all but ignored the issue on the campaign trail and are now playing catch-up after their voters watched in horror as then-President Donald Trump and Republicans filled up more than one-fourth of the U.S. judiciary with predominantly young conservatives."

They're not conservatives. They're fascists. Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion. 'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter. Moreover, Democrats have indeed egregiously failed to combat this pernicious, growing nazism embraced by Republicans at least since the McCarthy Era of the early 50s. Certainly, a problem during the Nixon years. To say nothing of Reagan. Coup de grace? Particularly, during the pinnacle embrace of nazism by most Republicans during the last four years of the Trump nazi? Gutlessly, traitorously, treasonously marched in goose step with the racist nazi. ... Ignoring the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of our best and brightest who gave their lives fighting this ideology, -- Second World War European Theater. A raucous, boot clicking, goose stepping, treacherous, traitorous, treasonous Seig Heil!, Mr. Trump?

"Senate Democrats are considering the procedural tools to use to assure success — some are calling for eliminating the “blue slip” courtesy that gives senators a veto over judicial nominees who would serve in their states. Republicans ended it for circuit judges, and now Democrats are considering whether to extend that to district nominees. Many Democrats remain furious about Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's refusal to let them fill a Supreme Court vacancy months ahead of the 2016 election, an extraordinary move that he followed by confirming a conservative justice the week before the 2020 election. “I call it repair the courts,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview. “We have to make sure that we are filling vacancies with credible, neutral, fair-minded judges, rather than the political operatives that we saw so many of in the Trump years.” “The prospect that we won’t always have a Democratic president and a Democratic majority in the Senate should motivate us to move with real dispatch this time,” Whitehouse said, calling it “a very prudent goal” to fill every judicial vacancy by the end of 2022. He urged Democratic colleagues to ignore “Republican procedural caterwauling” on matters like blue slips after the tactics they used to tilt the courts to the right."

Aggressive stupidity. Get this:

"One Democratic aide who works on nominations said the Senate's priority on judges will be to fill district court vacancies in blue states. The aide said Democrats will "wait and see" if Republicans deal with the fewer red-state vacancies in good faith before deciding whether to push ahead and fill them."

You trust these bastards to do the right thing? Got to be kidding. LOL. ... After "Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's refusal to let them fill a Supreme Court vacancy months ahead of the 2016 election, an extraordinary move that he followed by confirming a conservative justice the week before the 2020 election?"

Time for Democrats to finally wake up. Republicans are not the only ones lacking credibility. For totally different reasons.

"There are already about four dozen vacancies on federal district courts and a handful on circuit courts. That number will undoubtedly grow when more judges retire and if Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland is confirmed, forcing him to vacate his District of Columbia Circuit seat. “We have many vacancies we’d like to fill. We want to do it in an orderly, sensible way,” incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told NBC News. Even though the Senate is split 50-50, under the power-sharing agreement leaders are likely to approve, if all the Democrats stick together, they can approve judges without any Republican support. With Democrats focused on confirming Biden’s Cabinet and advancing his Covid-19 relief package, some people involved in the judicial process say they expect the first batch of judicial nominations to land in the spring."

Why the delay? Get up off your ass. Stop making excuses.

"White House counsel Dana Remus told senators in a recent letter to recommend candidates for district court vacancies within 45 days of a vacancy, so they can “expeditiously” be considered. “With respect to U.S. District Court positions, we are particularly focused on nominating individuals whose legal experiences have been historically underrepresented on the federal bench, including those who are public defenders, civil rights and legal aid attorneys, and those who represent Americans in every walk of life,” Remus wrote in the letter, which was obtained by NBC News."

... Instead of the top of the food chain.

"That means fewer prosecutors and “big corporate lawyers,” who Whitehouse said tend to have a “high-speed lane” to the judiciary. He said plaintiff’s lawyers will get pushback from groups like the Chamber of Commerce but praised Biden for seeking “professional diversity” along with demographic diversity. The Remus letter "really did light a fire" under the Senate, the Democratic aide said, adding that regular conversations are occurring between senators and the White House. Republicans, aided by a well-funded network of conservative groups, expect to fight the Democratic effort to shape the judiciary. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is poised to become ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, serving as the party's first line of defense against Biden's nominees. But the GOP will have to pick its battles. “There's always deference to a president,” Grassley said in an interview, promising not to approach the issue “any different than I did in the past.” The slim Democratic majority means the most aggressive ideas progressives had pushed for — including adding up to four seats to the Supreme Court — are probably going nowhere."

That's right. Sad, as well. ... Hear the rumble? Too deaf to hear? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms as our formerly great country continues to be torn apart by the Nazi Right.

"Biden has begun a commission he promised on the campaign trail that will review the structure of the courts and recommend changes. It will be co-chaired by Bob Bauer (who served as a top Biden lawyer during the election) and Cristina Rodriguez (a Yale Law School professor and former Justice Department lawyer), according to an administration source familiar with Biden’s plans. The commission will include a "wide range of expert views" and feature public testimony, said the administration source, who said recruitment of commissioners has "progressed significantly" but isn't finished. The source added that the focus will include lower courts — not just the Supreme Court. A White House official said Biden “remains committed to an expert study of the role and debate over reform of the court and will have more to say in the coming weeks.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hasn’t taken a position on Supreme Court expansion, saying he’ll wait to see what Biden’s commission proposes. But he has said lower courts should get new seats, arguing that some parts of his state, like Buffalo, “don’t have enough” judges. He told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in a Tuesday interview that Democrats “can fill up a lot” of seats. “There will be lots of vacancies that come up. And I think there are a lot of judges — Democratic appointees who didn't take senior status while Trump was president who now will,” Schumer said. “Then we get to fill it.”

The damage done by the Trump nazi to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties remains an exigent problem that continues to tear this nation apart.

2-5-21

Insanity continues on Capitol Hill. NBC News reports:

"Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said Friday that she’s moving her congressional office away from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's after the Georgia Republican and her staff “berated” her in a hallway. “A maskless Marjorie Taylor Greene & her staff berated me in a hallway. She targeted me & others on social media. I'm moving my office away from hers for my team's safety,” tweeted Bush, a freshman House member. Bush added in her tweet, “I've called for the expulsion of members who incited the insurrection from Day 1. Bring H.Res 25 to a vote.” Greene, who is also a freshman member of the House, responded on Twitter by claiming Bush was lying about the encounter and that in fact, the Democratic congresswoman berated her. Greene added a video she claims is of the encounter showing her talking into her phone in selfie format while walking through a Capitol hallway, during which she condemns the "small group" of Trump supporters who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6 as well as Democrats for what she claims is their downplaying of violence during last year's protests over police brutality and racial discrimination. Partway through, she is interrupted by someone shouting nearby, off-camera, to which she responds after donning her mask. "This is arguing with my Democrat, Democrat colleagues, supposed colleagues," Greene then says after turning back to the camera. "That's how it is. That's how it is now in America."

Get this:

"House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California will meet with Greene next week, a senior GOP aide told NBC News. Axios reported earlier this week that McCarthy would have a conversation with her but the timing was unknown. The aide did not disclose the exact details of the meeting, and Greene’s office told NBC News that they “do not comment on private member-to-member communication.” Bush provided a new statement Friday afternoon about what happened, saying, “On January 13, I was walking with my staff to vote. I was in the tunnel between the Cannon Office Building and the Capitol when Marjorie Taylor Greene came up from behind me, ranting loudly into her phone while not wearing a mask. This took place one day after multiple of my House colleagues announced they had tested positive for COVID-19 after being in a room with Taylor Greene during the white supremacist attack on the Capitol.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ordered Bush's office change after the Missouri congresswoman made the request following the incident, an aide to the speaker told NBC News on Friday. Until now, Bush’s office has been located just a few doors down from Greene’s in the Longworth House Office Building. It’s rare for members to move rooms during a session of Congress. The locations of freshmen members' offices are typically determined during a room lottery that occurs during orientation, a few weeks before their term starts. Incoming lawmakers, however, aren’t always aware which members’ offices will be near their own."

Greene has some serious problems:

"The kerfuffle comes as Greene faces calls from lawmakers for her expulsion from Congress or at least removal from the House Education and Labor Committee, to which she was appointed this week by House Republican leaders. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said on MSNBC on Friday that since the Capitol attack it has been difficult working with some Republicans and there has been noticeable anxiety among members. "There are too many members of the Republican Party who are refusing to wear masks, are refusing to go through metal detectors," said Jayapal, who tested positive for Covid-19 after being huddled in a room during the riots. "And here we are with these colleagues who are trying to bring guns onto the floor and refusing to follow the laws that have been established to be a member of Congress." She added, "The security threat to us individually, in our homes, in our districts, and on the floor are real, and so is the rage at Republicans who are choosing a cult party and a cult figure over the Constitution, and that’s what it is." Pelosi lashed out at her GOP counterparts Thursday for the decision to appoint Greene to the committee given her statements questioning the legitimacy of mass shootings and her harassment of student survivors."

Raw insanity:

"Greene has also expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory and called for violence against top Democrats, including Pelosi. The speaker said Thursday that her members are not only under threat from outside groups but from “the enemy is within,” referring to other lawmakers. At a White House press briefing Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki was asked specifically about Greene and whether someone who has supported QAnon and expressed racist and anti-Semitic views should be serving on House committees. “We don’t want to elevate conspiracy theories further in the briefing room,” Psaki said, adding that the White House would leave decisions about committees to Congress. Meanwhile, Reps. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., and Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., said Friday that they plan to unveil a resolution next week that would formally censure Greene and call for her resignation from Congress, their offices said."

The Washington Post reports:

"As Marjorie Taylor Greene entered a runoff last year to be the Republican nominee for a U.S. House seat in Georgia, her opponent sounded the alarm. He warned top party officials that she had made a series of dangerous, baseless claims, and that she would tear apart the GOP if she won. But Greene’s widely reported comments about the radical ideology of QAnon and other matters had not stopped a coterie of top Republicans from urging her to run for the seat representing a deeply conservative district in north Georgia, and then issuing fervent endorsements."

Mass insanity.

"Greene was “exactly the kind of fighter needed in Washington to stand with me against the radical left,” declared Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Debbie Meadows, who ran an influential political action committee and whose husband, Mark Meadows, became Trump’s chief of staff, gushed, “We cannot wait to welcome her to Congress.”

Jesus Christ. Are you clueless bastards deliberately trying to destroy the GOP?

"Greene trounced neurosurgeon John Cowan in the runoff and easily won in the fall — paving the way for her emergence as a symbol of the radicalized ideology that believes in QAnon, which inspired the pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and has enveloped much of the Republican Party while sparking fears of additional violence. While some Republicans have tried to portray Greene as a political anomaly, her ascent demonstrates the extent to which key party leaders embraced her and propelled her to victory despite her well-documented history of spreading false claims and violent rhetoric. Critical to Greene’s success was the early intervention on her behalf by some of the party’s most staunchly pro-Trump figures and Greene’s ability to tap into the far-right online world where baseless claims thrive. “She really got ingratiated with the House Freedom Caucus, and they’re the ones who really spring-boarded her,” Cowan told The Washington Post. “They were clearly picking their favorite from very early on.” A resolution to expel Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from Congress was drafted on Jan. 28, following her recently unveiled endorsements of political violence. (The Washington Post)"

Sad, isn't it? Where, when did we lose ourselves?

"Now, Democrats point to Greene as a direct threat to their physical safety, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the “enemy is within the House,” in an apparent reference to Greene and other gun-toting House members, and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) on Friday announcing she was moving her office away from Greene’s. Cowan said he warned that Greene’s support of QAnon and other theories would harm the party. QAnon represents a sprawling set of false claims that have coalesced into an extremist ideology that has radicalized its followers, some of whom participated in the Capitol attack. Among those Cowan called was Ben Carson, Trump’s secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, who had taught Cowan in medical school and had performed surgeries with him. Cowan said that Carson told him there was nothing he could do. Carson could not be reached for comment."

Why not?

"Yet for a brief moment in the summer of 2020 as Greene faced Cowan in a runoff, it seemed that other Republican Party officials would turn against her. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Greene’s comments were “appalling,” and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said they were “disgusting.” But they did little beyond issue their statements."

Have they all lost their minds?

"Greene, meanwhile, hired an advertising consultant who had once said the NAACP is “the Black KKK, only more violent and dangerous.” She spent $211,000 to advertise on Parler, the social media site that attracted adherents to QAnon, according to Federal Election Commission records. The next highest amount spent on Parler by a congressional candidate last year was $1,400. Parler declined to comment. Now, Republicans have rewarded Greene with a coveted seat on the Education and Labor Committee, a post that she likely could not have won without the acquiescence of her onetime critics, McCarthy and Scalise."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"The appointment, along with daily revelations of Greene’s past postings on social media, has led Democrats to call for some form of punishment. After reports emerged that Greene in 2019 endorsed the execution of Democrats and said Pelosi “is guilty of treason ... a crime punishable by death,” Pelosi said the decision by Republican leaders to put Greene on the Education panel was “absolutely appalling.” Greene said in a statement to The Post that “Democrats and their spokesmen in the Fake News Media will stop at nothing to defeat conservative Republicans.” She tweeted Saturday that she’d had “a GREAT call with my all time favorite POTUS, President Trump! I’m so grateful for his support. ... I can promise you this. ...I won’t back down, I’ll never apologize. And I’ll always keep fighting for the people.”

Insane nazism.

"Greene became an avid Trump supporter, but she initially presented her views in a markedly non-adversarial way. In a Facebook post on the day of a presidential debate in October 2016, Greene wrote that “I just want a president, cabinet, and congress that will work on real solutions like our 20 trillion dollar national debt, sinking healthcare system and create a growing economy that increases jobs for Americans. I don’t care if they are red or blue, I really don’t. To be honest I’m sick and tired of politicians anyway.” Soon, however, Greene began filming herself spreading an array of far-right views, laying the groundwork for her political persona. Energized by Trump’s election, she became particularly entranced by QAnon. She adopted the baseless belief an anonymous person called Q was revealing secrets about a child trafficking ring orchestrated by Democrats and global elites. “Have you guys been following 4chan Q? Any of that stuff?” Greene asked her followers in November 2017. “Q is a patriot, we know that for sure....He is someone that very much loves his country, and he’s on the same page as us, and he is very pro-Trump.” In that video, which Greene has since removed from her social media accounts but has been reposted to YouTube, the future congresswoman told the uninitiated where to go to learn more: AmericanTruthSeekers.com, a now-defunct blog. Greene’s author page on an archived version of the site, highlighted by NBC News in August, says she wrote 59 posts. One is headlined: “MUST READ — Democratic Party Involved With Child Sex, Satanism, and The Occult.” A January 2018 post extolled Q for possessing “obvious intelligence beyond the normal person.” Greene also began advancing baseless theories that appeal to extreme gun rights advocates: that a series of mass shootings were “false flag” events that were staged by gun control proponents. Greene said that these included the 2017 massacre in Las Vegas and the 2018 Parkland school shooting."

No truth to any of this. Time to wake up.

"As QAnon grew in prominence, so did Greene. She thrived in the algorithm-driven ecosystem of online right-wing commentary, said Michael Edison Hayden, spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy group focused on extremism that highlighted her views on its Hatewatch website in August 2019. “Greene comes up in that world,” Hayden said. “She seeks to become an influencer on social media and is really a person of this new landscape for right wing media, building her way up in popularity by embracing increasingly deranged conspiracy theories.” Greene also embraced bogus claims about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and she has posited that laser beams from space may have started California wildfires, another baseless QAnon theory. In August, Greene told Fox News that she once had supported the theories of QAnon but said she “decided that I would choose another path.” Greene supplemented her QAnon and gun theories with rants about Muslims. Greene said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, represented “an Islamic invasion into our government offices.” She said, falsely, that they couldn’t be sworn into Congress with a Koran, saying that Bible must be used. After her election, Greene’s support in extreme corners of the Internet is stronger than ever. On Patriots.win — a website that descended from Reddit’s forum /r/The_Donald, which was banned last year — users cheered her on. “They are trying to discredit her,” one wrote. “It won't work, it will only make us love her more.” Another wrote, “I wish we had a million more just like her.”

Ms. Greene presents an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"Now, in the same place where she once filmed her Facebook videos about extremist theories, Greene roams the Capitol as a member of the House. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) said he plans to introduce a resolution expelling her from Congress. “What she is doing matters and can lead to violence,” Gomez said in an interview. Some Republican leaders, just as they did during her campaign, have once again expressed outrage at her comments, even as they stand by their decision to put her on the Education and Labor Committee. A spokesman on Wednesday said McCarthy found Greene’s comments “deeply disturbing” and said the house minority leader “plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman about them” next week. Scalise said in a statement that “there is no place for comments like that in our political discourse.” Scalise and McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment about Greene’s future. On Thursday, CNN reported that Greene had agreed to transfer $175,000 from her campaign to the National Republican Campaign Committee, which works to elect GOP members to House. The transfer was confirmed by a knowledgeable official. As of Friday, there was no word that Republican leaders had raised concerns directly with Greene."

NPR reports:

"Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — the controversial, QAnon-supporting freshman congresswoman — on Monday found herself facing blowback from her own party's leadership for espousing dangerous and unfounded conspiracies about American politics. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called her views, which have at various points included such baseless accusations as blaming the Jewish people for California wildfires and accusing mass shooting events of having been staged, a "cancer" on the Republican Party. "Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country. Somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.'s airplane is not living in reality," McConnell said in a short statement Monday night that doesn't directly cite her by name. "This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party." McConnell's condemnation comes as Democrats in the House have called for Greene to be censured for her past remarks or even expelled from office. Greene responded to McConnell's comments in a Monday Twitter post, saying: "The real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully. This is why we are losing our country." Greene has in recent days somewhat walked back some of her more extreme views, particularly regarding recent school shootings, according to an MSNBC interview with the mother of a victim of the 2018 Parkland school shooting. But publicly, on Twitter, she has appeared unrepentant, repeatedly accusing Democrats and the "fake news media" for America's ills. "The DC Swamp and the Fake News Media are attacking me because I am not one of them. I am one of you. And they hate me for it," she wrote on Monday."

... A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Seig Heil!, Rep. Greene?

2-5-21

Myanmar military coup. Highly reminiscent of what could have happened here January 6, but didn't. The U.S. military stood tall. Honored its oath of office. NBC News reports:

"Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's civilian government, urged people across the country to oppose a military takeover of the country on Monday. Suu Kyi and other leading officials were detained the day before legislators elected in November were due to start a new parliamentary term in office. "I urge people not to accept this, to respond and wholeheartedly to protest against the coup by the military," according to a statement that carried Suu Kyi's name but not her signature. "Only the people are important." A handwritten note at the bottom of the statement posted to Facebook by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, or NLD, said it was written before Monday in anticipation of the army's seizure of power. The NLD won 83 percent of the vote in the November election and the country's election commission has rejected allegations of impropriety. The army has declared a state of emergency for a year and says it will hold elections after that. The military's leader, Min Aung-Hliang, will now head the government, according to Myawaddy TV, which is controlled by the army. The military said it seized control in response to "election fraud."

Sounds strikingly familiar, doesn't it?

"President Joe Biden said Monday that the military’s actions were a “direct assault” on the country’s transition to democracy and rule of law and said the U.S. would work with its partners to hold to account those responsible for overturning the country’s democratic transition. “For almost a decade, the people of Burma have been steadily working to establish elections, civilian governance, and the peaceful transfer of power,” he said in a statement, using the country's name until it was changed by the ruling military junta in 1989. “That progress should be respected.” Biden said America would review its sanction laws and authorities “followed by appropriate action” and called on the international community to press the military to relinquish power, release officials, and to refrain from violence against civilians. “The United States is taking note of those who stand with the people of Burma in this difficult hour,” he said."

"Suu Kyi, 75, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, won a landslide election victory in 2015 after 15 years of house arrest. Her reputation was tarnished after it emerged that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled army persecution in 2017, but she remains popular at home. Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a human rights activist in Yangon, called what was happ[en]ing a repeat of history in reference to the NLD's 1990 landslide election. "The military has used the same tactics when they don't agree with the result of an election," she said. "We are concerned about how long this coup will take place," she added. "Before when they did it in 1962, it lasted for decades."

The following quote is exceptionally poignant. Heartrendingly, so. NPR reports:

"STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

"Here's a bit of very recent history in the United States. Just six weeks ago, retired General Michael Flynn, an ally of President Trump, called for a military takeover in the United States. Endorsing false claims of election fraud, Flynn called for martial law paired with a promise to rerun the election. That never happened. The U.S. military upheld the constitution, the facts and the law. But in Myanmar, democratic safeguards were not as strong. And Myanmar's military has executed a plan similar to that proposed by Michael Flynn. The military claimed election fraud and now has seized power, promising to rerun the election later. Troops also detained the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and several other senior members of her ruling National League for Democracy."

What happened there could have happened here, but didn't. Hat's off to our military. Hat's off to those Republicans who stood tall and left the party in response.

1-29-21

Fallout from the Capitol insurrection continues unabated. NBC News reports:

"After an FBI and Houston Police Department investigation determined that veteran Officer Tam Pham had participated in the deadly breach at the U.S. Capitol this month, his departure from the department was swift. He was placed on administrative leave and resigned, with no pushback from the group that would usually advocate on behalf of an officer accused of wrongdoing. The Houston Police Officers' Union has fiercely defended its officers, even in cases that call officer conduct into question — including one last year when officers shot and killed a man with a history of mental health issues who was on his knees. The president of the union at the time called the firings of four officers in September "unjust and deplorable" and said the organization would represent them at their arbitration hearings."

Outrageous. Raw nazism.

In juxtaposition, notice the change:

"The union's response has been markedly different in the case of Pham, who faces two federal misdemeanor charges related to entering the Capitol. Anyone who breached the Capitol "should be charged and receive whatever punishment is assigned to that," said Douglas Griffith, who is now the union president. "No matter if they're a police officer or not." Pham has not yet entered a plea. His attorney said Pham "is deeply saddened to be associated with the domestic terrorists who attacked our Capitol" and "believes strongly in the rule of law." Griffith said that what separates what Pham is accused of from the charges other officers have faced in unrelated incidents is that the Capitol riot "was an attack on our democracy" that led to the death of an officer and to others' being seriously injured. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in events related to the attack. "As an officer, I would expect, if I saw some officers being attacked, I'd be stepping in between them," Griffith said in an interview. "I wouldn't be participating in that kind of activity."

The hypocrisy? Appalling. Apparently, according to these assholes, it's indeed okay for an officer to murder an innocent, unarmed civilian. Not so for officers to mount an insurrection against fellow officers in the Capitol injuring many of them, killing one. A double standard. Raw jackbooted nazism.

"Police departments in New York City, Seattle and Virginia are investigating whether their officers participated in the pro-Trump riot. As they do, police unions are confronting the dilemma of whether or not to defend officers who took part. In Chicago, for example, the union president initially defended the mob before backing down. And in Seattle, the union head is under administrative investigation after he falsely claimed that Black Lives Matter was responsible. Kalfani Ture, a former police officer in Georgia who is an assistant professor of criminal justice and policing at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, said the growing number of off-duty police officers who are suspected of having taken part in the riot creates an interesting paradox for police unions, which have largely shielded bad cops from accountability. "When we see an officer lose his life, when we see other officers injured, when you see these figures attacking other police officers, how do you justify that?" Ture asked."

Jesus Christ. How do you justify a jackbooted piece of shit in blue murdering an innocent, unarmed civilian? How?

The following is more than obvious:

"Ture said police unions are breaking from their own because of the Capitol Police officer's death and the injuries sustained by dozens of other officers. "If it wasn't for the optics, if it wasn't for the loss of life, if it wasn't for 50 police officers, both Capitol Police officers and Metropolitan Police, being injured — severely injured — to the extent that it removed them from duty, if it wasn't for all of that, I wouldn't be surprised if the various police unions" said: "No one was really hurt. It was just an exercise of their First Amendment rights that essentially got out of hand."

Precisely, why law enforcement has zero credibility.

"John Catanzara, the president of Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police lodge, initially defended the mob that stormed the Capitol at President Donald Trump's behest. "There was no arson. There was no burning of anything. There was no looting. There was very little destruction of property," Catanzara told WBEZ, Chicago's main public radio station, in an interview the evening of Jan. 6. "It was a bunch of pissed-off people that feel an election was stolen, somehow, some way."

Psychotic nazism.

"Photos and video of the incident show that the rioters overwhelmed police, smashed windows of the Capitol, overturned tables and ransacked offices. A 19th-century marble bust of President Zachary Taylor was defaced with what appeared to be blood. Residue of pepper sprays, tear gas and fire extinguishers — deployed by both rioters and law enforcement officers — was also evident in the aftermath. Catanzara, a staunch supporter of Trump, told WBEZ that he believed, as Trump has falsely claimed repeatedly, that the election was stolen, but he admitted that there is no proof. Catanzara said what rioters did was "very different than what happened all across this country all summer long in Democratic-ran cities, and nobody had a problem with that."

That's goddamned bullshit. A lie. Doesn't jive with reality. Most protesters were peaceful, yet viciously assaulted by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue with impunity.

"After it was announced that a Capitol Police officer had died, Catanzara apologized, saying he had "showed a lapse in judgment" in the WBEZ interview."

Expect better of a nazi with his head figuratively, securely lodged up his achingly clueless ass?

"I certainly would never justify any attacks on citizens, democracy or law enforcement," he wrote in a statement posted on Facebook. He did not mention the officer's death, but he said that he was sorry and that "after seeing more video and the full aftermath, my comments would have been different." Catanzara, who faces calls to resign, declined a request for an interview, but he told NBC News on Thursday that he does not plan to step down. His comments drew harsh criticism from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Patrick Yoes, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, who said Catanzara's remarks do no[t?] represent the opinions of its 356,000 members. "There is no question that, in addition to the tragic loss of life, these criminals left a wide swath of damage, in the building that is the heart of our democracy and threatened our elected officials, Congressional staff as well as our brother and sister officers," Yoes said in a strongly worded statement that mentioned Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after he was hit in the head by a rioter wielding a fire extinguisher. "The National FOP rejects this gross mischaracterization and sees the incident for what it was — a violent mob of looters and vandals, visiting fear and destruction on one of our nation's most sacred spaces," Yoes wrote."

How about all the innocent, unarmed civilians of all races and colors who have been murdered by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue all across our formerly great country?

"Officer Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, faces increasing calls for his resignation from the union and the police department after he falsely suggested that Black Lives Matter activists played a role in the violence at the Capitol. At least five Seattle police officers are being investigated for possible involvement. Mayor Jenny Durkan and former Police Chief Carmen Best have called for Solan to retract his words and apologize or resign. Solan did not respond to requests for comment. Seattle's Office of Police Accountability is investigating Solan's tweets, including one on Jan. 8 saying the "far right and far left are responsible for that sad day," to determine whether they violated department policy. The New York City Police Benevolent Association has decried the riot as a "despicable attack," which an unidentified officer is alleged to have participated in. Jack Glaser, a professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said the pro-Trump rioters "undermined or really laid bare the reality of most of these groups, which is really not about law and order but more about racial hegemony."

Ferociously pointedly, more precisely, it's about racist jackbooted nazism.

"The union, which represents about 24,000 rank-and-file officers, endorsed Trump for re-election last year. The union did not return multiple requests for comment."

What could they say? How do you credibly defend the indefensible?

"Glaser said he suspects that the rioters' "violation of basic democratic principles is enough that the unions feel like they cannot back that up." "I think what we see here is that the violence on the part of the rioters, of the insurrectionists, in the name of the thin blue line — some of them carrying the modified American flag with the blue lines — I think that that was an offense to policing professionals and what had been seen as a supportive alliance," Glaser said. "This really stripped away the pretense of those symbols." Ture agreed, citing the "profoundly great" contradiction between the espoused support for law enforcement and the actions at the Capitol. He added that unions that defended officers involved in the attack would struggle to sever themselves from the images of people bearing Confederate flags and other racist insignia associated with white supremacists. "If you had taken part in this campaign," he said, referring to the attack, "you cannot easily disassociate yourself with that type of bigoted prejudice, that evil terrorism."

Raw racist nazism in a de facto fascist police-state.

The Associated Press reports:

"For two Virginia police officers who posed for a photo during the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection, the reckoning has been swift and public: They were identified, charged with crimes and arrested. But for five Seattle officers the outcome is less clear. Their identities still secret, two are on leave and three continue to work while a police watchdog investigates whether their actions in the nation’s capital on Jan. 6 crossed the line from protected political speech to lawbreaking. The contrasting cases highlight the dilemma faced by police departments nationwide as they review the behavior of dozens of officers who were in Washington the day of the riot by supporters of President Donald Trump. Officials and experts agree that officers who were involved in the melee should be fired and charged for their role. But what about those officers who attended only the Trump rally before the riot? How does a department balance an officer’s free speech rights with the blow to public trust that comes from the attendance of law enforcement at an event with far-right militants and white nationalists who went on to assault the seat of American democracy?"

The answer is clear. Racists and nazis have no place in law enforcement. Present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"An Associated Press survey of law enforcement agencies nationwide found that at least 31 officers in 12 states are being scrutinized by their supervisors for their behavior in the District of Columbia or face criminal charges for participating in the riot. Officials are looking into whether the officers violated any laws or policies or participated in the violence while in Washington. A Capitol Police officer died after he was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher as rioters descended on the building and many other officers were injured. A woman was shot to death by Capitol Police and three other people died after medical emergencies during the chaos. Most of the officers have not been publicly identified; only a few have been charged. Some were identified by online sleuths. Others were reported by their colleagues or turned themselves in. They come from some of the country’s largest cities — three Los Angeles officers and a sheriff’s deputy, for instance — as well as state agencies and a Pennsylvania police department with nine officers. Among them are an Oklahoma sheriff and New Hampshire police chief who have acknowledged being at the rally, but denied entering the Capitol or breaking the law. “If they were off-duty, it’s totally free speech,” said Will Aitchison, a lawyer in Portland, Oregon, who represents law enforcement officers. “People have the right to express their political views regardless of who’s standing next to them. You just don’t get guilt by association.”

That's right. You don't. They are not, however, fit to be officers. Present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"But Ayesha Bell Hardaway, a professor at Case Western Reserve University law school, said an officer’s presence at the rally creates a credibility issue as law enforcement agencies work to repair community trust, especially after last summer’s protests against police brutality sparked by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Communities will question the integrity of officers who attended the rally along with “individuals who proudly profess racist and divisive viewpoints,” she said. “It calls into question whether those officers are interested in engaging in policing in a way that builds trust and legitimacy in all communities, including communities of color.”

No question.

"In Rocky Mount, a Virginia town of about 1,000, Sgt. Thomas Robertson and Officer Jacob Fracker face criminal charges after posting a photo of themselves inside the Capitol during the riot. According to court records, Robertson wrote on social media that the “Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem … The right IN ONE DAY took the f(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk) U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us.” Robertson said Rocky Mount is firing the officers, the Roanoke Times reported Sunday. The officers had been suspended without pay as of Friday. Attempts to contact the officers were unsuccessful and court records do not list lawyers. Leaders in Rocky Mount declined to be interviewed. In a statement, they said the events at the Capitol were tragic. “We stand with and add our support to those who have denounced the violence and illegal activity that took place that day,” said Police Chief Ken Criner, Capt. Mark Lovern and Town Manager James Ervin. “Our town and our police department absolutely does not condone illegal or unethical behavior by anyone, including our officers and staff.” On the other side of the country, five Seattle officers are under investigation by the city’s Office of Police Accountability. Two officers posted photos of themselves on social media while in the district and officials are investigating to determine where they were and what they were doing. Three others told supervisors that they went to Washington for the events and are being investigated for what they did while there. Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said his department supports officers’ freedom of speech and that those who were in the nation’s capital will be fired if they “were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.”

Here's the problem:

"But police leaders need to evaluate more than just clear criminal behavior, according to Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a policing research and policy group. They must also consider how their actions affect a department’s credibility, he said. Officers’ First Amendment rights “don’t extend to expressing words that may be violent or maybe express some prejudice,” Wexler said, “because that’s going to reflect on what they do when they’re working, when they’re testifying in court.” Through the summer and fall, Seattle police — along with officers elsewhere — came under criticism for their handling of mass protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd. The city received more than 19,000 complaints against officers, most for excessive use of force and improper use of pepper spray."

How many of these pieces of human excrement in blue were prosecuted and remain in jail? How many?

"Andrew Myerberg, director of the Seattle Office of Police Accountability, said none of the officers now under investigation were involved in those cases. But Sakara Remmu, cofounder of Black Lives Matter Seattle/King County, said the officers should be fired regardless. Their public declarations of solidarity with Trump fosters not just community distrust, but terror of the entire department, she said. “It absolutely does matter when the decorum of racial peace cracks and racial hatred comes through, because we already have a documented history and legacy of what that means in this country,” Remmu said.

"Malik Aziz, the former chair and executive director of the National Black Police Association, compared condemning all officers who were in Washington to tarring all the protesters who took to streets after the killing of George Floyd with the violent and destructive acts of some. A major with the Dallas Police Department, Aziz said police acting privately have the same rights as other Americans, but that knowingly going to a bigoted event should be disqualifying for an officer. “There’s no place in law enforcement for that individual,” Aziz said."

That's right. No question.

In follow-up to the above, CBS News reports:

"Two Virginia police officers who photographed themselves inside the U.S. Capitol building during the January 6 riot have been fired. Sergeant Thomas Robertson and Officer Jacob Fracker are also facing federal charges. Robertson and Fracker were terminated from their jobs with the Rocky Mount police department on Tuesday, according to a statement from the town of Rocky Mount. The two were charged in federal court January 13 with unlawful entry into a restricted area and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and had been on unpaid leave from their jobs during a town review. Officials said the town does not normally comment on personnel matters, but the "very public nature" of the situation led them to release the statement. "We hear those who have communicated their anger and frustration about the actions of these individuals or our response to those actions," the statement said. "There is no playbook for dealing with what occurred on January 6." It noted that town officials took the review seriously. "Our officers are held to high standards for how they conduct themselves on and off-duty and we are proud of the dedication and sacrifice made to keeping our community safe," the statement said. "The process we have gone through reinforces how seriously we aim to uphold these standards and how important it is to communicate that the department works in the best interest of everyone's safety." The officers' actions have thrust the central Virginia town of about 1,000 into the national spotlight "in ways that do not reflect our whole community and the people who call Rocky Mount home," the statement said. Robertson and Fracker, who were off-duty at the time, bragged about storming the Capitol on social media. The social media posts and a selfie of the two standing in front of a statute inside the Capitol, with one of them pointing and the other making an obscene gesture, were cited by federal investigators in a criminal complaint. In a comment on social media, Robertson allegedly said he was "proud" of the photo because it showed he and Fracker were "willing to put skin in the game," the complaint said. Robertson previously told CBS station WDBJ that he and Fracker were at the back of the Capitol building and did not see or participate in any acts of violence. "We were allowed by Capitol police to be where we were and were given water bottles and told where we could go and where we couldn't," Robertson told the station. The complaint makes note of Robertson's claims to several media outlets that Capitol police didn't object to their presence inside the building. But it also points to another social media post by Robertson that read: "CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business ... The right IN ONE DAY took the f***** U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us." Robertson made these claims notwithstanding his previous posts that he had 'attacked the government' and 'took the f**** Capitol'," the complaint states. Dozens of people are facing charges in the January 6 assault on the Capitol that left five dead. At least 31 law enforcement officers in 12 states are under review by their supervisors for their alleged involvement, or face criminal charges for participating in the riot, an Associated Press survey of law enforcement agencies found."

The Washington Post reports:

"The commander of the D.C. National Guard said the Pentagon restricted his authority ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol, requiring higher-level sign-off to respond that cost time as the events that day spiraled out of control. Local commanders typically have the power to take military action on their own to save lives or prevent significant property damage in an urgent situation when there isn’t enough time to obtain approval from headquarters. But Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, said the Pentagon essentially took that power and other authorities away from him ahead of a pro-Trump protest on Jan. 6. That meant he couldn’t immediately roll out troops when he received a panicked phone call from the Capitol Police chief warning that rioters were about to enter the U.S. Capitol. “All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions — federal property and life,” Walker said in an interview. “But in this instance I did not have that authority.” Walker and former Army secretary Ryan D. McCarthy are set to brief the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday behind closed doors about the events, the beginning of what is likely to become a robust congressional inquiry into the preparations for a rally that devolved into a riot at the Capitol, leaving five people dead and representing a significant security failure. The military, which isn’t structured to be a first responder like law enforcement, took hours to arrive at the scene primarily because the Capitol Police and the District government hadn’t asked the D.C. Guard to prepare a contingency force for a riot. The Capitol Police chief also didn’t call Walker to tell him a request for Guard backup was imminent until about 25 minutes before rioters breached the Capitol. But the restrictions the Pentagon placed on Walker also contributed to the delay. He needed to wait for approval from McCarthy and acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller before dispatching troops, even though some 40 soldiers were on standby as a quick reaction force. That standby force had been assembled in case the few hundred Guard members deployed that day on the District’s streets to assist police with traffic control and crowd management needed help, Walker said. The Pentagon required the highest-level approval for any moves beyond that narrow mission, in part because its leaders had been lambasted for actions the D.C. Guard took during last June’s racial justice protests, including helicopters that flew low over demonstrators in D.C. Top officials concluded those maneuvers resulted from “fragmentary orders” that hadn’t received high-level approval and were looking to prevent a repeat of that situation. “After June, the authorities were pulled back up to the secretary of defense’s office,” McCarthy said in comments to The Post. “Any time we would employ troops and guardsmen in the city, you had to go through a rigorous process. As you recall, there were events in the summer that got a lot of attention, and that was part of this.” McCarthy said he worked hard to ensure authority was pushed back down the chain of command to Walker ahead of the inauguration, during which Walker oversaw the 25,600 troops that came to the District. As for the preparations ahead of Jan. 6, McCarthy said, “It was everyone just being very careful. When you go back to times when we’ve done this, like June, we wanted to make sure we were very careful about the employment — careful about fragmentary orders.” Had he not been restricted, Walker said he could have dispatched members of the D.C. Guard sooner. Asked how quickly troops could have reached the Capitol, which is two miles from the D.C. Guard headquarters at the Armory, Walker said, “With all deliberate speed — I mean, they’re right down the street.” Still, even if Walker had been able to send the troops on standby to the Capitol immediately, and round up others in the District, it’s unclear how much that would have affected the situation, given the large size of the mob and the last-minute nature of the call for help."

Report goes on and on. Be very interesting to see what comes of all the investigations currently taking place.

1-29-21

Ethics complaint filed. NBC News reports:

"A group of Senate Democrats filed an ethics complaint against Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz on Thursday calling for an investigation to determine whether they coordinated with the organizers of the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally that preceded the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Senate Ethics Committee "should also offer recommendations for strong disciplinary action, including up to expulsion or censure, if warranted by the facts uncovered," the seven Democrats, led by Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, said in a letter to the committee's chair and vice chair."

What took so long?

"Hawley, R-Mo., and Cruz, R-Texas, had announced in the days before the riot that they would object to accepting the votes from states that former President Donald Trump falsely claimed to have won during the Jan. 6 electoral vote count, which "amplified claims of election fraud that had resulted in threats of violence against state and local officials around the country," the letter said. "The question the Senate must answer is not whether Sens. Hawley and Cruz had the right to object to the electors, but whether the senators failed to '[p]ut loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department' or engaged in 'improper conduct reflecting on the Senate' in connection with the violence on January 6," the letter said. It noted that both voted to reject electoral votes even after the violence at the Capitol disrupted the counting process. The letter said "the pair touted their plan to challenge the electors to drum up campaign contributions," even though it is "probable" that both knew the underlying election fraud claims were false. "These solicitations continued during and after the insurrection," the complaint said."

Continued stonewalling:

"Hawley and Cruz have denied any wrongdoing, and they maintain that they were trying to protect the integrity of the election. "Joe Biden and the Democrats talk about unity but are brazenly trying to silence dissent. This latest effort is a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge," Hawley said in a statement. Cruz told reporters Tuesday that he hadn't done anything to incite violence. "Debating a question of constitutional law on the floor of the Senate is the antithesis of trying to resolve conflicts through violent terrorist attack," he said."

Disingenuous bullshit. Went much further than that.

"The letter, which was also signed by Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, calls for an investigation into whether Hawley and Cruz had any involvement with the rally, where Trump called on his supporters to "fight" the election result to "save" the country. "The extent, if any, of communication or coordination between Sens. Hawley and Cruz and the organizers of the rally remains to be investigated. Three members of the House of Representatives who coordinated with Sens. Hawley and Cruz to object to the electors, Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and Mo Brooks, have been identified as alleged co-architects of the rally. Further investigation is necessary to determine whether and to what extent Senators Cruz and Hawley were also aware of these groups' activities or coordinated with their efforts," the letter said. The Ethics Committee, which is chaired by Chris Coons, D-Del., had no comment. The committee's Republican vice chair, James Lankford of Oklahoma, initially signed off on Cruz's challenge, but he withdrew his support after the riot."

NPR reports:

"A group of Senate Democrats filed an ethics complaint Thursday against Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz over their objections to the Jan. 6 certification of the presidential election results that coincided with the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. By objecting to the certification, Cruz, and Hawley, "lent legitimacy" to the violent mob of pro-Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol, the letter sent to incoming Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Chris Coons, D-Del., and Vice Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla., said. The letter, spearheaded by Rhode Island Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, asked for an investigation into the two members to "fully understand their role" as it relates to the attack on the Capitol and to determine whether disciplinary action is needed. Whitehouse and the six other Democrats who signed the letter want information on whether Hawley, Cruz or their staffers were in contact or coordinated with the organizers of the rally; what the senators knew about the plans for the Jan. 6 rally; whether they received donations from any of the organizations or donors that funded the rally; and whether the senators "engaged in criminal conduct or unethical or improper behavior." Until those questions are cleared up, "a cloud of uncertainty will hang over them and over this body," the letter said. Sens. Ron Wyden, Tina Smith, Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, Tim Kaine and Sherrod Brown also signed."

In response:

"Hawley, of Missouri, and Cruz, of Texas, have defended their actions by saying they were raising objections to what they saw as election irregularities in states that voted for Biden. There has been no proof for such claims. Hawley said Thursday that Biden and the Democrats are "trying to silence dissent." He added that the request for an investigation "is a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge." Both Hawley and Cruz, along with six other senators, have faced bipartisan criticism for voting against certification in Arizona and Pennsylvania. They maintained their position even after several of their fellow senators withdrew objections after Congress was forced to evacuate due to the mob attacking the Capitol building."

Possible ramifications:

"If an investigation goes forward and the committee finds any wrongdoing by the two senators, they could face discipline from the Senate. Under the Constitution, Congress has the exclusive power to discipline its members --though it is rare for members to face punishment. The Senate can expel or censure its members. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote in the chamber. Censure requires a majority vote. But according to Senate.gov, only 15 U.S. senators have been expelled since 1780 — all for disloyalty to the U.S. Most of them were removed for supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War. The Senate has censured nine of its members between 1811 and 1990 for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute." The majority of the most recent cases have involved senators who were found to improperly accept gifts or used campaign funds for their personal benefit.

"The seven Democrats who drafted the letter to the Ethics Committee believe Hawley and Cruz violated the Code of Ethics for Government Service, which requires elected officials to "[p]ut loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department" and "[u]phold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust." Sen. Smith, D-Minn., said Thursday that she believes Hawley and Cruz should be removed from the Senate. "Sens. Cruz and Hawley deserve a fair process and a chance to explain themselves and their role in the January 6 Capitol siege," Smith wrote in a tweet. "But unless we learn something new, based on what we've seen so far, I don't believe they deserve to remain in the Senate."

There has to be accountability.

1-29-21

Trump impeachment to go to Senate. The Associated Press reports:

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that she will send the article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, triggering the start of the former president’s trial on a charge of incitement of insurrection over the deadly Capitol Jan. 6 riot. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced Pelosi’s intentions for a quick trial on the Senate floor Friday, rejecting Republicans’ proposal to push it to mid-February to give Trump more time to prepare his case. Schumer said there will be “a full trial, it will be a fair trial.” Pelosi said her nine impeachment managers, or House prosecutors, are “ready to begin to make their case” against Trump. She said Trump’s team will have had the same amount of time.

"The riots two weeks ago left the Capitol badly shaken, and National Guard troops are still guarding the building. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in the mayhem, and the House impeached Trump a week later, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in support. Pelosi said Thursday that it would be “harmful to unity” to forget that “people died here on Jan. 6, the attempt to undermine our election, to undermine our democracy, to dishonor our Constitution.” “This year, the whole world bore witness to the president’s incitement,” Pelosi said."

The Associated Press reports:

"House Democrats delivered the impeachment case against Donald Trump to the Senate for the start of his historic trial, but Republican senators were easing off their criticism of the former president and shunning calls to convict him over the deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol. It’s an early sign of Trump’s enduring sway over the party. The nine House prosecutors carried the sole impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection” across the Capitol on Monday night in a solemn and ceremonial march to the Senate along the same halls the rioters ransacked just weeks ago. In a scene reminiscent of just a year ago — Trump is the first president twice impeached — the lead House prosecutor, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, stood before the Senate to read the House resolution charging “high crimes and misdemeanors.” But Republican denunciations of Trump have cooled since the Jan. 6 riot. Instead Republicans are presenting a tangle of legal arguments against the legitimacy of the trial and questioning whether Trump’s repeated demands to overturn Joe Biden’s election really amounted to incitement. What seemed for some Democrats like an open-and-shut case that played out for the world on live television, as Trump encouraged a rally mob to “fight like hell” for his presidency, is running into a Republican Party that feels very differently. Not only are there legal concerns, but senators are wary of crossing the former president and his legions of followers — who are their voters. Security remains tight at the Capitol.

"Arguments in the Senate trial will begin the week of Feb. 8, and the case against Trump, the first former president to face impeachment trial, will test a political party still sorting itself out for the post-Trump era. Republican senators are balancing the demands of deep-pocketed donors who are distancing themselves from Trump and voters who demand loyalty to him. One Republican, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, announced Monday he would not seek reelection in 2022, citing the polarized political atmosphere. For Democrats the tone, tenor and length of the upcoming trial, so early in Biden’s presidency, poses its own challenge, forcing them to strike a balance between their vow to hold Trump accountable and their eagerness to deliver on the new administration’s priorities following their sweep of control of the House, Senate and White House. Biden himself told CNN late Monday that the impeachment trial “has to happen.” While acknowledging the effect it could have on his agenda, he said there would be “a worse effect if it didn’t happen.” He said he didn’t think enough Republican senators would vote to convict, though he said the outcome might have been different if Trump had six months left in his term.

"Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is among those who say the Senate does not have the constitutional authority to convict a former president. Democrats reject that argument, pointing to an 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned and to opinions by many legal scholars. Democrats also say that a reckoning of the first invasion of the Capitol since the War of 1812, perpetrated by rioters egged on by a president as Electoral College votes were being tallied, is necessary. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said failing to conduct the trial would amount to a “get-out-jail-free card” for others accused of wrongdoing on their way out the door. He said there’s only one question “senators of both parties will have to answer before God and their own conscience: Is former President Trump guilty of inciting an insurrection against the United States?” A few GOP senators have agreed with Democrats, though not close to the number that will be needed to convict Trump. Mitt Romney of Utah said he believes “what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense. ... If not, what is?” Romney was the only Republican senator to vote for conviction when the Senate acquitted Trump in his first impeachment trial."

1-29-21

Alleged Trump plot. The New York Times reports:

"The Justice Department’s top leaders listened in stunned silence this month: One of their peers, they were told, had devised a plan with President Donald J. Trump to oust Jeffrey A. Rosen as acting attorney general and wield the department’s power to force Georgia state lawmakers to overturn its presidential election results. The unassuming lawyer who worked on the plan, Jeffrey Clark, had been devising ways to cast doubt on the election results and to bolster Mr. Trump’s continuing legal battles and the pressure on Georgia politicians. Because Mr. Rosen had refused the president’s entreaties to carry out those plans, Mr. Trump was about to decide whether to fire Mr. Rosen and replace him with Mr. Clark. The department officials, convened on a conference call, then asked each other: What will you do if Mr. Rosen is dismissed? The answer was unanimous. They would resign."

Stood tall.

"Their informal pact ultimately helped persuade Mr. Trump to keep Mr. Rosen in place, calculating that a furor over mass resignations at the top of the Justice Department would eclipse any attention on his baseless accusations of voter fraud. Mr. Trump’s decision came only after Mr. Rosen and Mr. Clark made their competing cases to him in a bizarre White House meeting that two officials compared with an episode of Mr. Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice,” albeit one that could prompt a constitutional crisis. The previously unknown chapter was the culmination of the president’s long-running effort to batter the Justice Department into advancing his personal agenda. He also pressed Mr. Rosen to appoint special counsels, including one who would look into Dominion Voting Systems, a maker of election equipment that Mr. Trump’s allies had falsely said was working with Venezuela to flip votes from Mr. Trump to Joseph R. Biden Jr. This account of the department’s final days under Mr. Trump’s leadership is based on interviews with four former Trump administration officials who asked not to be named because of fear of retaliation."

Need to stand up. Stand tall. Need to place principle ahead of self-interest. No matter the personal consequences.

"Mr. Clark said that this account contained inaccuracies but did not specify, adding that he could not discuss any conversations with Mr. Trump or Justice Department lawyers because of “the strictures of legal privilege.” “Senior Justice Department lawyers, not uncommonly, provide legal advice to the White House as part of our duties,” he said. “All my official communications were consistent with law.” Mr. Clark categorically denied that he devised any plan to oust Mr. Rosen, or to formulate recommendations for action based on factual inaccuracies gleaned from the internet. “My practice is to rely on sworn testimony to assess disputed factual claims,” Mr. Clark said. “There was a candid discussion of options and pros and cons with the president. It is unfortunate that those who were part of a privileged legal conversation would comment in public about such internal deliberations, while also distorting any discussions.”

That so? Or, is this simply an attorney covering his ass?

"Mr. Clark also noted that he was the lead signatory on a Justice Department request last month asking a federal judge to reject a lawsuit that sought to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of the election. Mr. Trump declined to comment. An adviser said that Mr. Trump has consistently argued that the justice system should investigate “rampant election fraud that has plagued our system for years.” The adviser added that “any assertion to the contrary is false and being driven by those who wish to keep the system broken.” Mr. Clark agreed and said that “legal privileges” prevented him from divulging specifics regarding the conversation. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, as did Mr. Rosen."

Outrageous lack of transparency.

"When Mr. Trump said on Dec. 14 that Attorney General William P. Barr was leaving the department, some officials thought that he might allow Mr. Rosen a short reprieve before pressing him about voter fraud. After all, Mr. Barr would be around for another week. Instead, Mr. Trump summoned Mr. Rosen to the Oval Office the next day. He wanted the Justice Department to file legal briefs supporting his allies’ lawsuits seeking to overturn his election loss. And he urged Mr. Rosen to appoint special counsels to investigate not only unfounded accusations of widespread voter fraud, but also Dominion, the voting machines firm. (Dominion has sued the pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who inserted those accusations into four federal lawsuits about voter irregularities that were all dismissed.) Mr. Rosen refused. He maintained that he would make decisions based on the facts and the law, and he reiterated what Mr. Barr had privately told Mr. Trump: The department had investigated voting irregularities and found no evidence of widespread fraud."

Not good enough for the Trump nazi:

"But Mr. Trump continued to press Mr. Rosen after the meeting — in phone calls and in person. He repeatedly said that he did not understand why the Justice Department had not found evidence that supported conspiracy theories about the election that some of his personal lawyers had espoused. He declared that the department was not fighting hard enough for him. As Mr. Rosen and the deputy attorney general, Richard P. Donoghue, pushed back, they were unaware that Mr. Clark had been introduced to Mr. Trump by a Pennsylvania politician and had told the president that he agreed that fraud had affected the election results. Mr. Trump quickly embraced Mr. Clark, who had been appointed the acting head of the civil division in September and was also the head of the department’s environmental and natural resources division. As December wore on, Mr. Clark mentioned to Mr. Rosen and Mr. Donoghue that he spent a lot of time reading on the internet — a comment that alarmed them because they inferred that he believed the unfounded conspiracy theory that Mr. Trump had won the election. Mr. Clark also told them that he wanted the department to hold a news conference announcing that it was investigating serious accusations of election fraud. Mr. Rosen and Mr. Donoghue rejected the proposal."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"As Mr. Trump focused increasingly on Georgia, a state he lost narrowly to Mr. Biden, he complained to Justice Department leaders that the U.S. attorney in Atlanta, Byung J. Pak, was not trying to find evidence for false election claims pushed by Mr. Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and others. Mr. Donoghue warned Mr. Pak that the president was now fixated on his office, and that it might not be tenable for him to continue to lead it, according to two people familiar with the conversation. That conversation and Mr. Trump’s efforts to pressure Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” him votes compelled Mr. Pak to abruptly resign this month. Mr. Clark was also focused on Georgia. He drafted a letter that he wanted Mr. Rosen to send to Georgia state legislators that wrongly said that the Justice Department was investigating accusations of voter fraud in their state, and that they should move to void Mr. Biden’s win there. Mr. Rosen and Mr. Donoghue again rejected Mr. Clark’s proposal."

Indeed, stood tall.

"On New Year’s Eve, the trio met to discuss Mr. Clark’s refusal to hew to the department’s conclusion that the election results were valid. Mr. Donoghue flatly told Mr. Clark that what he was doing was wrong. The next day, Mr. Clark told Mr. Rosen — who had mentored him while they worked together at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis — that he was going to discuss his strategy with the president early the next week, just before Congress was set to certify Mr. Biden’s electoral victory. Unbeknown to the acting attorney general, Mr. Clark’s timeline moved up. He met with Mr. Trump over the weekend, then informed Mr. Rosen midday on Sunday that the president intended to replace him with Mr. Clark, who could then try to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College results. He said that Mr. Rosen could stay on as his deputy attorney general, leaving Mr. Rosen speechless."

Jesus Christ. What could Clark possibly been thinking?

"Unwilling to step down without a fight, Mr. Rosen said that he needed to hear straight from Mr. Trump and worked with the White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, to convene a meeting for early that evening. Even as Mr. Clark’s pronouncement was sinking in, stunning news broke out of Georgia: State officials had recorded an hourlong call, published by The Washington Post, during which Mr. Trump pressured them to manufacture enough votes to declare him the victor. As the fallout from the recording ricocheted through Washington, the president’s desperate bid to change the outcome in Georgia came into sharp focus. Mr. Rosen and Mr. Donoghue pressed ahead, informing Steven Engel, the head of the Justice Department’s office of legal counsel, about Mr. Clark’s latest maneuver. Mr. Donoghue convened a late-afternoon call with the department’s remaining senior leaders, laying out Mr. Clark’s efforts to replace Mr. Rosen. Mr. Rosen planned to soon head to the White House to discuss his fate, Mr. Donoghue told the group. Should Mr. Rosen be fired, they all agreed to resign en masse. For some, the plan brought to mind the so-called Saturday Night Massacre of the Nixon era, where Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and his deputy resigned rather than carry out the president’s order to fire the special prosecutor investigating him. The Clark plan, the officials concluded, would seriously harm the department, the government and the rule of law. For hours, they anxiously messaged and called one another as they awaited Mr. Rosen’s fate."

Chilling, isn't it? Think it isn't under investigation by the Justice Department?

"Around 6 p.m., Mr. Rosen, Mr. Donoghue and Mr. Clark met at the White House with Mr. Trump, Mr. Cipollone, his deputy Patrick Philbin and other lawyers. Mr. Trump had Mr. Rosen and Mr. Clark present their arguments to him. Mr. Cipollone advised the president not to fire Mr. Rosen and he reiterated, as he had for days, that he did not recommend sending the letter to Georgia lawmakers. Mr. Engel advised Mr. Trump that he and the department’s remaining top officials would resign if he fired Mr. Rosen, leaving Mr. Clark alone at the department. Mr. Trump seemed somewhat swayed by the idea that firing Mr. Rosen would trigger not only chaos at the Justice Department, but also congressional investigations and possibly recriminations from other Republicans and distract attention from his efforts to overturn the election results. After nearly three hours, Mr. Trump ultimately decided that Mr. Clark’s plan would fail, and he allowed Mr. Rosen to stay. Mr. Rosen and his deputies concluded they had weathered the turmoil. Once Congress certified Mr. Biden’s victory, there would be little for them to do until they left along with Mr. Trump in two weeks. They began to exhale days later as the Electoral College certification at the Capitol got underway. And then they received word: The building had been breached."

Investigative reporting second to none. Hat's off.

The Washington Post reports:

"Then-President Donald Trump in early January entertained a plan to replace the acting attorney general with a different Justice Department lawyer who was more amenable to pursuing his unfounded claims of voter fraud, nearly touching off a crisis at the country’s premier federal law enforcement institution, people familiar with the matter said. The plan — if enacted — would have pushed out Jeffrey Rosen as the acting attorney general and installed in his place Jeffrey Clark, whom Trump had appointed to lead the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and who later would come to lead the Civil Division. Clark, then, could have taken steps to wield the Justice Department’s power to help keep Trump in office. But the president was ultimately dissuaded from moving forward after a high-stakes meeting with those involved, the people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive matter. The move was first reported by the New York Times. Legal analysts said it amounted to a disastrous attack on the Justice Department’s independence, and perhaps something worse."

No kidding.

“Before the insurrectionist assault on the US Capitol, there was an attempted coup at the Justice Dept. — fomented by the President of the United States,” former Justice Department official David Laufman wrote on Twitter. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, as did Rosen. In a statement that seemed to draw on language in the New York Times account, Clark said, “I categorically deny that I ‘devised a plan ... to oust’ Jeff Rosen. ... Nor did I formulate recommendations for action based on factual inaccuracies gleaned from the Internet.” “My practice is to rely on sworn testimony to assess disputed factual claims,” Clark said. “There were no ‘maneuver[s].’ There was a candid discussion of options and pros and cons with the President. It is unfortunate that those who were part of a privileged legal conversation would comment in public about such internal deliberations, while also distorting any discussions. ... Observing legal privileges, which I will adhere to even if others will not, prevent me from divulging specifics regarding the conversation.”

Somebody's lying. Guess who.

"Asked for a response to the article, a Trump adviser said, “President Trump has consistently argued that our justice system should be investigating the broader, rampant election fraud that has plagued our system for many years. Any assertion to the contrary is false and being driven by those who wish to keep the system broken.” Throughout his four years in office, Trump persistently pushed the Justice Department to make moves to benefit himself and his friends, though his moves in his final days in office threatened to be particularly damaging. Even former attorney general William P. Barr — who had been one of Trump’s most loyal and effective Cabinet secretaries — had publicly broken with the president on the issue of voter fraud, declaring publicly that investigators had found no evidence of substantial malfeasance that might affect the result of the election. Barr’s statements angered Trump, who, along with his allies, had been waging a public campaign to get Barr to appoint a special counsel to investigate election fraud. The men’s relationship was near a breaking point. Trump already had been angry that his attorney general had not taken public steps in two other investigations that might have helped his chances of winning: U.S. Attorney John Durham’s examination into the FBI probe of his 2016 campaign, and the Justice Department’s probe of Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son. On Dec. 14, Barr submitted a resignation letter indicating he would leave the department two days before Christmas. For the last month of the Trump administration, Rosen would be in charge. Barr was confident that Rosen shared his views and would thus not succumb to any pressure campaign to upend the election results, people familiar with the matter said. But soon, there emerged a bizarre plot to go around him, the people said."

Apparently, so:

"Clark, the people said, somehow connected with Trump and conveyed he felt fraud had impacted the election results. Then Clark began pressuring Rosen and others to do more on voter fraud — such as holding a news conference to announce they were investigating serious allegations, or taking particular steps in Georgia — though Rosen refused. At some point, Rosen was informed Clark would replace him, and he pushed for a meeting with Trump in person, the people said. It was theoretically possible that, if Clark were installed, he could push for some type of challenge to the election results. At the meeting were Trump, Clark and Rosen, along with Richard Donoghue, the acting deputy attorney general; Steven A. Engel, the head of the department’s Office of Legal Counsel; and Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, the people familiar with the matter said. The people said Rosen, Donoghue, Engel and Cipollone pushed against the idea of replacing Rosen, and warned of a mass resignation. Cipollone, one person said, pushed hard against a letter Clark wanted to send to Georgia state legislators, which wrongly asserted the department was investigating accusations of fraud in their state and Biden’s win should be voided, insisting it was based on a shoddy claim. “Pat pretty much saved Rosen’s job that day,” said one senior Trump White House official. Trump ultimately left Rosen in place."

1-29-21

The following is appalling. Get this. United Press International reports:

"The Arizona Republican Party on Sunday voted to censure three members who notably broke with former President Donald Trump including opposing his efforts to overturn President Joe Biden's election win in the state. The party passed three resolutions censuring Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, the wife of late Arizona Sen. John McCain, for what it described as a series of "failures." Ducey was censured over his decision to implement rules and restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the GOP said "restrict personal liberties and force compliance to unconstitutional edicts." The party penalized McCain, who endorsed Biden for president, saying that she "has supported globalist policies and candidates" and "condemned President Trump for his criticism of her husband and erroneously placed behaviors over actual presidential results." The party suggested that Flake, who chose not to run for re-election for his Senate seat, join the Democratic Party after saying he "condemned the Republican Party, rejected populism and rejected the interests of the American people over globalist interests."

Jesus Christ. What a crock of shit. These three Republicans stood tall against an insane nazi dictator. Uncommon Valor.

"Sunday's session also saw Kelli Ward narrowly win re-election as party chair after playing a message from Trump who told members he gave her his "complete and total endorsement" and embracing Trump's campaign slogan as she ended her speech by saying "Make America Great Again!" Sara Mueller, Ducey's political director, dismissed the censure as an insignificant matter. "These resolutions are of no consequence whatsoever and the people behind them have lost whatever little moral authority they may have once had," she said. Cindy McCain, referencing the fact that her husband had been censured by the party, said she would wear the designation as a "badge of honor." "It is a high honor to be included in a group of Arizonans who have served our state and our nation so well ... and who, like my late husband John, have been censured by the AZGOP," she wrote on Twitter. Flake posted a photo of the trio at Biden's inauguration with the caption "Good company." "If condoning President Trump's behavior is required to stay in AZGOP's good graces, I'm just fine being on the outs," he also wrote on Twitter."

1-29-21

No justice. The following is yet another example of how the top of the food chain is consistently protected and coddled. The Washington Post reports:

"The Supreme Court on Monday put an end to lawsuits alleging that former president Donald Trump violated a constitutional anti-corruption prohibition by profiting from his business empire while president. The justices, without comment or noted dissent, declined to hear Trump’s request to consider lower court orders that said lawsuits could go forward, agreeing with those on both sides of the issue that the cases became moot with Trump no longer in office." The justices also vacated the lower court judgments in the cases, one of which was filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia. It means that there is no definitive answer after years of legal wrangling over the Constitution’s emoluments clauses, which prohibit presidents and others from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments without congressional approval."

Convenient, isn't it? The system of 'justice' apparently allowed stonewalling of all these cases to protect and coddle the Trump nazi.

"The question has rarely been presented because presidents rarely maintain active business interests in office, as Trump did. Much of the litigation turned on the president’s interest in the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, near the White House, which became a magnet for foreign dignitaries and others doing business with the government. The litigation was consumed with questions about who had the right to bring such a suit, and legal questions without precedent."

Deliberate obfuscation of justice. No more. No less.

Clueless bullshit:

“We are proud that because of our case, a court ruled on the meaning of ‘emoluments’ for the first time in American history, finding that the Constitution prohibits federal officials from accepting almost anything of value from foreign or domestic governments,” District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said in a joint statement. They added: “History will note that at every step of this case, President Trump and political appointees at the Department of Justice went to extreme lengths to prevent us from uncovering the true extent of his corruption. He attempted to short-circuit the rules of legal procedure to have our case dismissed and avoid discovery into his finances, arguing that the law did not apply to him.”

What are you jackasses crowing about? Trump ultimately won. You lost. There was no justice.

"Their case was one of three testing for the first time the Constitution’s ban on the country’s leaders engaging in private business relationships with foreign governments. The Supreme Court declined in October to take up a case brought by Democratic members of Congress led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). The lawmakers had appealed a D.C. Circuit ruling that blocked individual members of Congress from trying to enforce the foreign emoluments clause. In a third case in New York, brought by the nonprofit watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) on behalf of Trump’s hospitality industry competitors, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said a lower-court judge had improperly thrown out the case in late 2017. The lawsuit alleged that Trump was illegally profiting from his hotels and restaurants in New York and the District. The full appeals court declined to rehear the case this summer, and Trump asked the high court to intervene."

Massive failure of the system of justice. Day is night, night is day, and shit smells perversely sweet. All ass backwards from reality. When did we lose ourselves?

1-29-21

The most severe long-term damage done by Trump to our democratic republic will likely be his lies.The Washington Post reports:

"Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year. The Fact Checker counted a total of 30,573 false or misleading claims made by President Trump during his White House tenure. Here’s what we learned. He overstated the “carnage” he was inheriting, then later exaggerated his “massive” crowd and claimed, despite clear evidence to the contrary, that it had not rained during his address. He repeated the rain claim the next day, along with the fabricated notion that he held the “all-time record” for appearing on the cover of Time magazine. And so it went, day after day, week after week, claim after claim, from the most mundane of topics to the most pressing issues."

Classic example of a congenital liar.

"Over time, Trump unleashed his falsehoods with increasing frequency and ferocity, often by the scores in a single campaign speech or tweetstorm. What began as a relative trickle of misrepresentations, including 10 on his first day and five on the second, built into a torrent through Trump’s final days as he frenetically spread wild theories that the coronavirus pandemic would disappear “like a miracle” and that the presidential election had been stolen — the claim that inspired Trump supporters to attack Congress on Jan. 6 and prompted his second impeachment. The final tally of Trump’s presidency: 30,573 false or misleading claims — with nearly half coming in his final year."

Fascinating, isn't it? -- Apparently, his stress level increased the lies.

"For more than 10 years, The Fact Checker has assessed the accuracy of claims made by politicians in both parties, and that practice will continue. But Trump, with his unusually flagrant disregard for facts, posed a new challenge, as so many of his claims did not merit full-fledged fact checks. What started as a weekly feature — “What Trump got wrong on Twitter this week” — turned into a project for Trump’s first 100 days. Then, in response to reader requests, the Trump database was maintained for four years, despite the increasing burden of keeping it up. The database became an untruth tracker for the ages, widely cited around the world as a measuring stick of Trump’s presidency — and as of noon Wednesday it was officially retired. Whether such a tracker will be necessary for future presidents is unclear. Nonetheless, the impact of Trump’s rhetoric may reverberate for years."

Here's the bottom line, true damage done by this insane nazi dictator:

“As a result of Trump’s constant lying through the presidential megaphone, more Americans are skeptical of genuine facts than ever before,” presidential historian Michael Beschloss said."

The Trump legacy.

"An assessment of the Fact Checker database shows the dramatic escalation in the rate of Trump’s dishonesty over time. Trump averaged about six claims a day in his first year as president, 16 claims [a] day in his second year, 22 claims [a] day in his third year — and 39 claims a day in his final year. Put another way, it took him 27 months to reach 10,000 claims and another 14 months to reach 20,000. He then exceeded the 30,000 mark less than five months later. Trump made false claims about just about everything, big and small, so the Fact Checker database provides a window into his obsessions (and the news cycle) at the time. When he felt under siege or in trouble, he responded by trying to craft an alternative reality for his supporters — and to viciously attack his foes. Nearly half of the false claims were communicated at his campaign rallies or via his now-suspended Twitter account."

Report continues in great detail. Yet, his supporters continue to believe his lies, support the indefensible.

1-22-21

Uncommon Valor. Seatbelts on. ABC News reports:

"The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and FBI Washington Field Office are seeking the public's assistance in identifying the suspect that attacked a Capitol police officer as he was being crushed by a door during the Jan. 6 siege. "During the insurrection at the United States Capitol, the suspect assaulted and used a clear police shield to pin MPD Officer Daniel Hodges in a door jam," the release, shared Friday, says. Two photos of the suspect were included in the release, which the police department also shared on Twitter. ABC News spoke to Hodges, 32, after a video taken during the attack on the Capitol showed him screaming in pain while being crushed in a doorway and beaten up by an angry mob of President Donald Trump's supporters. Hodges stood in the way of the violent protesters as they tried to enter the Capitol to stop the 2020 election from being affirmed."

Indeed. Uncommon Valor.

"As Hodges was pinned in the doorway, screaming for help, a protester tried to rip off his gas mask and started assaulting him. "The guy in front of me, that guy, he was he was practically foaming at the mouth. He was screaming and just grabbed my arm, grabbed my filter on my masks, started beating my head against the doorframe and ripping it off as best he could," Hodges said. "Once he got my mask off, he also was able to rip away my right baton from me and started beating me in the head with it." He said some of the protesters were "absolutely crazed," and at one point he thought he was going to die. "I thought, 'this could be the end,' or 'I could not get out of this completely intact,'" he said, adding that in the end, he's proud that he and his fellow officers "defended a democracy."

Indeed. Hat's off. Uncommon Valor.

ABC News reports:

"A little girl's touching letter to an officer who responded to the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol has received a response from the Metropolitan Police Department. Johnna Jablonski, mom to 10-year-old Emma, told "Good Morning America" that her daughter had seen news footage covering the now-viral video of Officer Daniel Hodges being crushed against a metal door frame inside the Capitol building. The rioting unfolded the afternoon of Jan. 6 after supporters of President Donald Trump made their way up the Capitol steps around 2:15 p.m. ET, pushing through barricades, officers in riot gear and other security measures that were put in place in anticipation of the moment. At least five were killed as a result. Hodges, 32, said he feared for his life multiple times that day, including when he was "surrounded" by pro-Trump rioters outside the Capitol building and beaten. "That was one of the three times that day where I thought: Well, this might be it," Hodges, a patrol officer in the 4th District, told ABC-affiliate WJLA in Washington. "This might be the end for me." Jablonski of Billings, Montana, said that Emma was triggered by the video of Hodges. "She kept saying, 'What are they doing to that man? He's just doing his job,'" Jablonski said. "She had this outpouring of care, concern and questions about why this was happening. My gut instinct would be to say, 'You're too young. You don't need to worry about that.' But, she was emotionally impacted." Jablonski suggested Emma put her thoughts on paper. The fourth grader decided to make a "get well" card for Hodges, and Jablonski tweeted a photo of the note in hopes it would reach him. Hours later, D.C. police responded and identified the officer as Hodges. The department said he was "recovering and doing well" and sent an address to Jablonski so Emma could mail Hodges the card directly. A little girl from Billings, Montana, named Emma Jablonski, 10, wrote a touching letter to an officer who responded to the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol. She has since received a response from the Metropolitan Police Department. A local news station even put Emma in touch with Hodges via video chat. Emma has since sent Hodges the card, along with some gifts. Jablonski said Emma hopes to connect with Hodges again in the near future."

1-22-21

Uncommon Valor. In follow-up to an earlier edition of this publication and elsewhere, NPR reports:

"On this day two weeks ago, U.S. Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman became a hero, as he bravely directed participants in the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol away from the Senate chamber. Today, officer Goodman was given the honor of escorting Vice President-elect Kamala Harris through that same building to the inaugural ceremony."

Readers will recall:

"Goodman, who is Black, is seen in a video confronting the mostly white mob, some holding Confederate flags, and diverting them away from the Senate chamber, where lawmakers were meeting in the process of certifying the results of the presidential election. Five people died in the rioting, and Goodman is credited with helping to avert additional bloodshed."

Uncommon Valor. Very best in policing.

"Legislation has been introduced in Congress to give Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal for his actions. He has also been named the acting deputy sergeant-at-arms for the House for Inauguration Day."

1-22-21

Egregious police misconduct. The Associated Press reports:

"A Seattle police officer who threw a tear gas canister that hit a reporter, and other officers who threw blast balls that hit individuals during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests violated policies, according to new reports from an independent agency tasked with investigating police misconduct. Protests erupted in Seattle and across the country after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The Office of Police Accountability received more than 19,000 complaints about police misconduct during protests. The office has released five batches of investigative reports since September, with the latest 22 cases posted Friday. To date, no officers have been disciplined for any of the sustained findings, Seattle police spokesman Det. Patrick Michaud said Tuesday."

Surprised? Why? Forget? We live in a de facto fascist police-state. A democratic republic in name only.

"Previous reports found that an officer who slammed a protester’s head to the ground, another who punched a demonstrator in the head a half dozen times and a third officer who put his knee on the necks of two looting suspects violated policies against using excessive force. No officers are named in the reports because the union contract with the city prohibits disclosing their identities. The latest findings are separate from three other investigations into Seattle officers by the Office of Police Accountability."

Protected and coddled. No equal justice.

"Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz has fired an officer who made racist remarks about a Black man last year and has threatened to fire two officers who reportedly attended the riots in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. Investigators are also looking into an officer who refused to wear a mask in the emergency room at a hospital. In the latest reports, investigators found that officers and one commander violated department policies while responding to demonstrations in Seattle. On June 1, officers were ordered to clear protesters from the area around the East Precinct and Cal Anderson Park after some in the group damaged property and threw things at police, the report said. One officer threw a tear gas canister toward the park that landed near a news crew that was in the process of leaving the area. The canister damaged a reporter’s jacket. The reporter said her crew was clearly marked as media at the time. The officer told investigators that he did not see the group’s press credentials and defended his actions, saying the use of the canister was appropriate “given ongoing assaults on officers,” the report said. But a review of videos and body cameras found that no one within the range of the officer was posing a threat or engaging in violent crimes. By throwing the canister overhand, the officer “did not exercise due care” and his “deployment appeared to be indiscriminate,” the report said. Based on those findings, investigators sustained the complaint saying the officer’s actions violated policy."

Why hasn't his sorry ass been arrested?

"Investigators also sustained findings against an incident commander who ordered officers to disperse a crowd, which led to the use of pepper spray and blast balls. Some protesters had opened umbrellas in front of a line of officers, and the officers responded aggressively. Another officer was found to have violated policy by throwing a blast ball at a man who was lying on the ground in the park with his face covered. The device struck near the man’s face and chest. His injuries required medical attention. Investigators said the man did not pose a threat and the officer should not have thrown the device “overhand.”

Why hasn't the officer been arrested?

"On the night of June 7, about 1,000 protesters gathered near the East Precinct and clashed with police. Some threw projectiles at officers and others breached the line, forcing officers to move back. One of the officers threw four blast balls at the crowd and one hit a woman who had been standing in an intersection. Before the device was thrown, the woman had knelt on the ground several times and put her head in her hands. As she walked toward a group of people, the officer threw the blast ball and it hit her in the chest. “It was later reported that the subject went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated three times prior to being transported to the hospital for further treatment,” the report said. Medical records revealed that several other issues were a factor, including alcohol and taking medication to treat seizures. Investigations found that the officer violated department policy by throwing the blast ball overhand toward a person who was unarmed and not throwing projectiles at officers."

Why isn't his sorry ass in jail?

1-22-21

Lockdown. The Associated Press reports:

"All federal prisons in the United States have been placed on lockdown, with officials aiming to quell any potential violence that could arise behind bars as law enforcement prepares for potentially violent protests across the country in the run-up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. The lockdown at more than 120 federal Bureau of Prisons facilities took effect at 12 a.m. Saturday, according to an email to employees from the president of the union representing federal correctional officers. “In light of current events occurring around the country, and out of an abundance of caution, the decision has been made to secure all institutions,” the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. The lockdown decision is precautionary, no specific information led to it and it is not in response to any significant events occurring inside facilities, the bureau said. To avoid backlash from inmates, the lockdown was not announced until after they were locked in their cells Friday evening. Shane Fausey, the president of the Council of Prison Locals, wrote in his email to staff that inmates should still be given access in small groups to showers, phones and email and can still be involved in preparing food and performing basic maintenance."

1-22-21

Think Trump may have finally met his match? That is, someone more than willing to hold his sorry ass accountable? The Washington Post reports:

"On the other side of Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency, the lawyers are waiting."

Indeed. Are they ever. LOL.

"Leaving aside his Senate impeachment trial, mounting government investigations include a civil probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a criminal probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., and a federal probe by acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. Michael Sherwin that may include Trump’s role in the catastrophic storming of the U.S. Capitol this month. But already pending for the soon-to-be South Florida retiree is a trio of lawsuits that allege defamation, fraud and more fraud — all of which are helmed by one attorney. Roberta Kaplan’s clients include writer E. Jean Carroll, who filed a defamation case after Trump claimed she was “totally lying” about her allegation that he raped her a quarter-century ago in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, and niece Mary L. Trump, who claims that Trump and two of his siblings deprived her of an inheritance worth millions. “I became the go-to person to sue the president,” says Kaplan, 54, with considerable relish."

Someone had to. LOL.

"She is in many ways the ideal legal adversary to take on Trump. Kaplan is a brash and original strategist, with neither a gift for patience nor silence, a crusader for underdogs who has won almost every legal accolade imaginable. Kaplan, says New York Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in an email, “has been indispensable in the fight against the cancer of hate and division that Trump spent four years exacerbating.” Before the presidency, Trump was often as engaged in legal tussles as he was in real estate, suing and threatening to sue his way out of financial trouble. With a return to private life, “his terror is that he will no longer be protected by the office and will have to deal with these lawsuits,” says his niece. Trump faces the prospect of spending considerable time in the role of defendant. Kaplan says she will seek to depose him in all three cases. Trump’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment on the cases in this story."

Attorneys having nothing to say? Has Hell frozen over? LOL.

Get this:

"For much of her career, there was little in Kaplan’s professional bio to suggest she would become an attorney suing behemoths. Kaplan, known to all as Robbie, is a self-described “traditionalist,” in pearls, pumps and, pre-coronavirus, superior blond highlights, who long worked as a top commercial litigator at Paul, Weiss, one of the nation’s preeminent firms, where the fees tend to be if-you-have-to-ask-you-surely-can’t-afford-us. But she became increasingly identified as an advocate for liberal causes and outside-the-box legal strategies. She is a lesbian, an observant Jew and a die-hard Democrat for whom 12 hours constitutes a light work day. “My maternal grandmother always hated a bully,” Kaplan says during a series of phone interviews. “One really good job for going after bullies is to be a lawyer.”

Wow. An attorney with principles. ... Has Hell indeed frozen over? LOL.

"Since launching her own firm four years ago, Kaplan has initiated a constellation of cases against powerful, often intimidating forces: white supremacists, major Hollywood players, the president of the United States. Legal writer Dahlia Lithwick calls her “an attorney general for the resistance.” Stanford University law professor Pamela Karlan says of their frequent legal conversations: “Robbie’s not calling about feelings. She wants to fix it first. She’s the least diffident person I’ve ever met. Plenty of smart people worry about failing. They worry about every little thing. Robbie doesn’t worry about that. In a really disarming way, she doesn’t care if people view her as hyperaggressive.”

Absolutely essential to be successful against great evil.

"In Kaplan’s third Trump case, she represents participants in ACN, a multilevel marketing company promoted on “The Celebrity Apprentice.” They’re suing not ACN, but the former host and his three oldest children, accusing them of endorsing the company as a promising business opportunity. While Trump billed himself as a populist, Kaplan perceived a consistent disconnect in how Trump University and other enterprises allegedly took advantage of the very people whose interests he claimed to champion."

Nothing quite like profound hypocrisy, is there?

No question. A despicable, self-serving son of a bitch:

“Because of his prominence, he marketed his ability to convince unsophisticated, very poor Americans to invest,” says Kaplan, who was indignant that Trump “would exploit people like this to line your own pockets.” (In a Business Insider story, a Trump organization spokesperson responded to the suit by saying, “Before enrolling with ACN, every participant acknowledged in writing that they are ‘not guaranteed any income.’ ” In that story, ACN co-founder Robert Stevanovski claimed the plaintiffs were told that Trump was getting paid to endorse the company. “I think it’s politically motivated that they’re going to sue him and the family and not us,” he said.)"

Nothing quite like excuse-making, is there? Indeed, a fine art none of them seem to have mastered. LOL.

"Kaplan remains most celebrated for the Edie Windsor case that, in 2013, successfully struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, paving the way with stunning alacrity for the legalization of same-sex marriage two years later to the day. Among Kaplan’s strategic moves — “I don’t know where I found the chutzpah to do this” — was to help coax Bill Clinton to publish a Washington Post opinion piece renouncing his 1996 support of DOMA before she appeared before the nation’s highest court. United States v. Windsor remains the only U.S. Supreme Court case that she has ever argued. “A little girl with a big mouth.” That’s how Kaplan’s grandmother described her, meant with affection. Growing up in Cleveland, she was a rigorous student who designed a plan. Head East to a top school (Harvard), train as a lawyer (Columbia), become a New Yorker. Five years ago, that plan expanded to landing a top Justice Department position in Hillary Clinton’s administration. So, no. Instead, in the summer of 2017, Kaplan launched her own boutique firm, still a rarity among female corporate lawyers, creating an unusual model that combines lucrative commercial litigation with a progressive public-interest practice. Free from the agendas of risk-averse institutional clients, Kaplan and her colleagues became free to take on any case they believed had merit."

Fascinating, isn't it, principle matters to some attorneys? LOL.

"One week after the firm moved into its 71st-floor offices of the Empire State Building, the furniture yet to arrive, Charlottesville erupted. Believing that Trump’s Justice Department seemed unlikely to seriously investigate and prosecute the people responsible for the violence during the “Unite the Right” rally — he infamously claimed there “were very fine people, on both sides” — Kaplan announced, and this was her precise language to friends and colleagues: “I want to sue Nazis.” Because, why not? Within days, Kaplan and her team flew to Virginia. The firm adopted an outside-the-box approach and sued two dozen avowed neo-Nazis, white supremacists and associated groups, invoking the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act to argue that they conspired for months to commit racially motivated violence, thereby making it more of a challenge for the organizers to adopt free speech as a defense. The case is scheduled for trial in October."

Get this:

"In the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct revelations, Kaplan co-founded the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which offers financial assistance for plaintiffs filing harassment cases, and she now serves as chair of the Time’s Up organization. Many women who say they have been sexually harassed or assaulted have come to her. The actress Amber Heard sought Kaplan’s representation in ex-husband Johnny Depp’s $50 million case involving a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece by Heard; he alleges she defamed him by implying that he domestically abused her. (The op-ed does not explicitly name him.) In the complaint, the actor denies any abuse took place. Heard says of Kaplan, “I’m instantly drawn to the type of individual who can look upon the Goliath and say ‘I think I can take you.’ That kind of energy and temerity is rare in the world, especially in the legal world.”

Called Uncommon Valor by a select few. Especially, in light of the following:

"Suing the powerful has brought repeated threats. Kaplan has an apartment in Manhattan but requested that her country home’s location, where she has spent the pandemic working, go unnamed."

Sad, isn't it? -- All the more reason great courage is required to stand up to great evil.

"Kaplan says the greatest abuse she’s received on social media has come not from neo-Nazis, white supremacists or Trump’s true believers, but from Depp’s vehement online champions."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"A hallmark of Kaplan, Hecker & Fink is crafting complaints in layman’s language that pack a wallop. The Mary Trump brief is a doozy. “For Donald J. Trump, his sister Maryanne, and their late brother Robert, fraud was not just the family business — it was a way of life,” the complaint begins, before alleging three duplicitous schemes, “The Grift,” “The Devaluing” and “The Squeeze-Out.” Says Mary Trump, “That brief is literature.”

Bet it is. LOL.

"The president’s lawyers, in an effort to have the case tossed, claimed that the complaint is “laden with conspiracy theories.” When Carroll first met with Kaplan, the lawyer quickly understood her client’s objective. “I don’t give two flying figs about an apology,” Carroll says. “I am dying to get him in a deposition. I want him to say that I’m not a liar. I just want him to admit that he lied and that, yes, it happened.” The last few years of Kaplan’s professional life, with her firm swelling from four to 43 elite lawyers, are inextricably intertwined with Trump. Without his election, Kaplan may not have launched her own firm as quickly or filed three lawsuits against him. “I’m ready. I’m excited,” says Kaplan. In the Carroll case, Kaplan believes that Trump’s proclivity for false and misleading statements, with more than 30,000 of them during his White House term, according to The Post, will be tested when he is under oath. During a 2007 Trump deposition, lawyers caught him making exaggerated claims 30 times, according to a 2016 Post investigation. “When we depose you, you’re not going to get away with that,” Kaplan says. “He had the mantle of the presidency, and that’s now gone.”

Tough, isn't it? LOL.

"Kaplan is celebrated for her candor. She’s active in LGBTQ causes, recently serving as the board chair of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. She rhapsodizes about her “big gay Jewish wedding” in 2005 to Rachel Lavine, a liberal activist who serves on New York’s Democratic committee. Yet Kaplan remained in the closet until law school graduation. “Robbie is one of the most conventional radicals you’ll ever meet,” Lithwick says. In 1991, Kaplan came out to her parents at age 25. It did not go well. Her mother walked up to a wall and began banging her head, repeatedly, in dismay. “Which she has apologized for over and over again,” Kaplan says. The family remains close. Kaplan experienced a rare episode of depression, which led her to consult a therapist named Thea Spyer, who referenced her lesbian relationship in an effort to comfort Kaplan — and whose death in 2009 left a punitive estate tax bill to her partner, Edie Windsor, because their marriage wasn’t legally recognized, sparking the Supreme Court case that helped define Kaplan’s career. Why did such an outspoken person hide her true identity for so long? “I’d never been a burn-down-the-ramparts sort of person. I believed in working in institutions,” says Kaplan. “Living a life very much on the margins didn’t appeal to me. I really wanted to have kids. I really wanted to be part of the Jewish community. I really wanted to have a career. All of this would have been unavailable in the world I grew up in.” She has all of that — the marriage, a son (Jacob, now 14), a goldendoodle. On Sunday mornings, she participates in a Talmud discussion group with her rabbi and Lithwick."

Get this:

"Citing logistical challenges that were better served by local counsel, Kaplan’s firm no longer represents Heard in the defamation case that is scheduled for trial in May. Yet Kaplan continues to offer Heard legal advice on the case and other legal matters. They speak regularly, sometimes daily. “She is the bravest lawyer I have ever met. She doesn’t get intimidated or scare easily,” Heard says. “The well-behaved woman never interested me. There’s a rebellious part of Robbie. I think of her as my Jewish mother.” Kaplan’s close friend Sharon Nelles, head of litigation at Sullivan & Cromwell, says: “If you can come at the world the way she does, you are not reined in by whether there are social constructs or boundaries. You can create your own mold. Lawyers for the most part react. Robbie acts.” Nelles recalls a time when Kaplan called to consult on a case. “She’s yapping at me on the phone and then lets out a little screech.” Nelles asked what was wrong. “Oh, I’m having a medical procedure,” Kaplan said. “Let me call you back when I get off the doctor’s table.”

LOL. One hell of a tough woman.

"Mary Trump hired Kaplan to sue President Trump, his sister Maryanne Trump Barry and the estate of his late brother Robert Trump “because I want justice for my daughter, and for me, and for my dad. If Donald Trump is not going to be held accountable for other things, he needs to be held accountable for this,” she says, adding: “Maybe that will start the dominoes to fall. Maybe other people will feel that they, too, have options and will come forward.” Kaplan’s firm regularly fields inquiries from potential clients who wish to sue Trump."

1-22-21

Capitol rioters included cops and military personnel. The Associated Press reports:

"As President Donald Trump’s supporters massed outside the Capitol last week and sang the national anthem, a line of men wearing olive-drab helmets and body armor trudged purposefully up the marble stairs in a single-file line, each man holding the jacket collar of the one ahead. The formation, known as “Ranger File,” is standard operating procedure for a combat team that is “stacking up” to breach a building — instantly recognizable to any U.S. soldier or Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a chilling sign that many at the vanguard of the mob that stormed the seat of American democracy either had military training or were trained by those who did."

Traitors.

"An Associated Press review of public records, social media posts and videos shows at least 21 current or former members of the U.S. military or law enforcement have been identified as being at or near the Capitol riot, with more than a dozen others under investigation but not yet named. In many cases, those who stormed the Capitol appeared to employ tactics, body armor and technology such as two-way radio headsets that were similar to those of the very police they were confronting. Experts in homegrown extremism have warned for years about efforts by far-right militants and white-supremacist groups to radicalize and recruit people with military and law enforcement training, and they say the Jan. 6 insurrection that left five people dead saw some of their worst fears realized."

We've lost ourselves.

“ISIS and al-Qaida would drool over having someone with the training and experience of a U.S. military officer,” said Michael German, a former FBI agent and fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “These people have training and capabilities that far exceed what any foreign terrorist group can do. Foreign terrorist groups don’t have any members who have badges.” Among the most prominent to emerge is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and decorated combat veteran from Texas who was arrested after he was photographed wearing a helmet and body armor on the floor of the Senate, holding a pair of zip-tie handcuffs. Another Air Force veteran from San Diego was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to leap through a barricade near the House chamber. A retired Navy SEAL, among the most elite special warfare operators in the military, posted a Facebook video about traveling from his Ohio home to the rally and seemingly approving of the invasion of “our building, our house.” Two police officers from a small Virginia town, both of them former infantrymen, were arrested by the FBI after posting a selfie of themselves inside the Capitol, one flashing his middle finger at the camera. Also under scrutiny is an active-duty psychological warfare captain from North Carolina who organized three busloads of people who headed to Washington for the “Save America” rally in support [of] the president’s false claim that the November election was stolen from him."

Sad when U.S. military personnel have to be reminded of the following:

"While the Pentagon declined to provide an estimate for how many other active-duty military personnel are under investigation, the military’s top leaders were concerned enough ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration that they issued a highly unusual warning to all service members this week that the right to free speech gives no one the right to commit violence."

Clearly, their oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution was falsely sworn:

"The chief of the U.S. Capitol Police was forced to resign following the breach and several officers have been suspended pending the outcome of investigations into their conduct, including one who posed for a selfie with a rioter and another who was seen wearing one of Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” caps. The AP’s review of hundreds of videos and photos from the insurrectionist riot shows scores of people mixed in the crowd who were wearing military-style gear, including helmets, body armor, rucksacks and two-way radios. Dozens carried canisters of bear spray, baseball bats, hockey sticks and pro-Trump flags attached to stout poles later used to bash police officers. A close examination of the group marching up the steps to help breach the Capitol shows they wore military-style patches that read “MILITIA” and “OATHKEEPER.” Others were wearing patches and insignias representing far-right militant groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and various self-styled state militias. The Oath Keepers, which claims to count thousands of current and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, have become fixtures at protests and counter-protests across the country, often heavily armed with semi-automatic carbines and tactical shotguns. Stewart Rhodes, an Army veteran who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 as a reaction to the presidency of Barack Obama, had been saying for weeks before the Capitol riot that his group was preparing for a civil war and was “armed, prepared to go in if the president calls us up.”

Traitors.

What a goddamned disgrace:

"Adam Newbold, the retired Navy SEAL from Lisbon, Ohio, whose more than two-decade military career includes multiple combat awards for valor, said in a Jan. 5 Facebook video, “We are just very prepared, very capable and very skilled patriots ready for a fight.” He later posted a since-deleted follow-up video after the riot saying he was “proud” of the assault. Newbold, 45, did not respond to multiple messages from the AP but in an interview with the Task & Purpose website he denied ever going inside the Capitol. He added that because of the fallout from the videos he has resigned from a program that helps prepare potential SEAL applicants. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. of Texas was released to home confinement Thursday after a prosecutor alleged the former fighter pilot had zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate floor because he planned to take hostages. “He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said. “His prior experience and training make him all the more dangerous.”

Achingly, delusional:

"Army commanders at Fort Bragg in North Carolina are investigating the possible involvement of Capt. Emily Rainey, the 30-year-old psychological operations officer and Afghanistan war veteran who told the AP she traveled with 100 others to Washington to “stand against election fraud.” She insisted she acted within Army regulations and that no one in her group entered the Capitol or broke the law. “I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights,” Rainey said."

Think so?

"More than 110 people have been arrested on charges related to the Capitol riot so far, ranging from curfew violations to serious federal felonies related to theft and weapons possession. Brian Harrell, who served as the assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security until last year, said it is “obviously problematic” when “extremist bad actors” have military and law enforcement backgrounds. “Many have specialized training, some have seen combat, and nearly all have been fed disinformation and propaganda from illegitimate sources,” Harrell said. “They are fueled by conspiracy theories, feel as if something is being stolen from them, and they are not interested in debate. This is a powder keg cocktail waiting to blow.” The FBI is warning of the potential for more bloodshed. In an internal bulletin issued Sunday, the bureau warned of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, police departments in such major cities as New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston and Philadelphia announced they were investigating whether members of their agencies participated in the Capitol riot. The Philadelphia area’s transit authority is also investigating whether seven of its police officers who attended Trump’s rally in Washington broke any laws."

Even if these people never stormed the Capitol, what the hell could they possibly been thinking?

"A Texas sheriff announced last week that he had reported one of his lieutenants to the FBI after she posted photos of herself on social media with a crowd outside the Capitol. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Lt. Roxanne Mathai, a 46-year-old jailer, had the right to attend the rally but he’s investigating whether she may have broken the law. One of the posts Mathai shared was a photo that appeared to be taken Jan. 6 from among the mass of Trump supporters outside the Capitol, captioned: “Not gonna lie. ... aside from my kids, this was, indeed, the best day of my life. And it’s not over yet.” A lawyer for Mathai, a mother and longtime San Antonio resident, said she attended the Trump rally but never entered the Capitol. In Houston, Police Chief Art Acevedo said an 18-year veteran of the department suspected of joining the mob that breached the Capitol resigned before a disciplinary hearing that was set for Friday. “There is no excuse for criminal activity, especially from a police officer,” Acevedo said. “I can’t tell you the anger I feel at the thought of a police officer, and other police officers, thinking they get to storm the Capitol.”

NPR reports:

"Nearly 30 sworn police officers from a dozen departments attended the pro-Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol last week, and several stormed Capitol with rioters and are facing federal criminal charges as well as possible expulsion or other discipline. The officers are from departments large and small. There was a veteran officer in Houston, the nation's eighth-largest department; a sergeant in the small town of Rocky Mount, Va., and a group of Philadelphia transit officers. Five people were killed in the riots, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by an officer when she attempted to breach a barricaded door inside the Capitol. Houston police officer Tam Pham, an 18-year veteran, resigned Thursday in the wake of federal charges against him, Houston Chief Art Acevedo said in a tweet. Photos emerged showing Pham inside the Capitol during the riots holding a Trump flag alongside other pro-Trump extremists. Federal prosecutors are investigating. "In Virginia, photos emerged showing Rocky Mount Police Sgt. T.J. Robertson and Officer Jacob Fracker inside the Capitol with other rioters. Robertson told The Roanoke Times that he and officer Fracker did nothing illegal. "Where I was at there was no violence. There was no fighting with police officers." Federal prosecutors say otherwise. Each officer has been charged with one federal count of "knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Both were arrested and released without bond."

Why no bond? Special treatment?

"In a since-deleted Facebook post, Fracker wrote after the riots: "Lol to anyone who's possibly concerned about the picture of me going around... Sorry I hate freedom? ...Not like I did anything illegal...y'all do what you feel you need to." And in screenshot of a Facebook post circulating, Robertson wrote: "CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business ... The right IN ONE DAY took the f——— U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us." Asked for comment, Town Manager James Ervin said in an email to NPR that the town supports their employees' "rights to engage in speech and assembly but expects the actions taken while doing so to be lawful." Ervin declined to comment further, citing the criminal probe. The officers are currently on paid leave, Ervin says, as per town policy."

Imagine that. A paid 'vacation.'

"The federal charges and ongoing investigations are likely to further erode public trust in police and again raise concerns about oversight and accountability, especially in the wake of 2020's nationwide protests against police brutality and for racial justice following the killings of Black men and women by police officers."

No question.

"Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, told NPR the charges against off-duty officers are all the more reprehensible because many officers on duty at the Capitol "acted heroically that day."

Certainly, true.

"Police officers should know more than others that engaging in mob behavior is abhorrent. At a time when people are questioning police legitimacy, this isn't helpful. It's worse than that, it's despicable. It's despicable because you have 50 officers hurt and one who died. This is just unconscionable," Wexler said, adding, "those officers who engaged in mob behavior should be held accountable and should not be police officers. Period."

Belong in prison. Traitors.

"Sue Rahr is the former King County, Wash., sheriff who now runs the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. "One of the top philosophical statements we make to recruits is you are guardians of the democracy. You're not just there to investigate crimes, but you're there to actually uphold the democracy, because our country depends on the rule of law," Rahr told NPR. "And what happened at the Capitol was completely against everything that the concept of the rule of law stands for."

That's right.

"In Texas, Bexar County Sheriff's Lt. Roxanne Mathai, an eight-year veteran of the force, is on unpaid administrative leave after posting photos of herself in the pro-Trump mob on a Capitol balcony after rioters stormed past police lines. She called it on Facebook "one of the best days" of her life. She also faces possible federal charges. A post on her Facebook page also says "and we are going in... in the crowd at the stairs...not inside the capitol like the others. Not catching a case lol." Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told KSAT TV: "My intent is that she never set foot in this building again."

Make it happen.

"Mathai's lawyer, Hector Cortes, told the news station that "her role in the chaos is really just attending a political rally for a president who she supports." A department spokesman, Deputy Johnny Garcia, told NPR that Mathai already was on administrative leave from a previous incident involving "an inappropriate relationship" with an inmate in the jail. Garcia declined to elaborate on either case since both are under investigation. The New York Police Department is looking into allegations one of their officers was among the rioters. John Miller, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said on Thursday, "We're taking outside tips, we're getting information from the FBI," adding that internal affairs "is the recipient of any allegations that anybody who is an employee of the NYPD conducted any illegal activity." Seven off-duty transit police officers in Philadelphia also face scrutiny after they attended the Trump rally preceding the attack on the Capitol, NPR member station WHYY reports. "They are being investigated to see if they were involved in riotous behavior or for violations of our social media policies," said Chief Thomas Nestel of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. In Seattle, two police officers who attended the rally are also under investigation. Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz in a statement said that while he fully supports all lawful expressions of free speech, "if any SPD officers were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I will immediately terminate them. While OPA investigates, these officers have been placed on administrative leave."

A paid vacation.

"In Chicago, there are calls for the resignation of John Catanzara, who heads the powerful police union. Catanzara at first strongly defended the rioters, called them nonviolent and echoed the president's false claims about election fraud in an interview with NPR station WBEZ. He later apologized. In Oklahoma, social media posts raise questions about Canadian County Sheriff Chris West, because of statements attributed to him on a since-deleted Facebook account. West said at a press conference that he only attended the rally and did not push past police or enter the Capitol. Last Friday, West said the "egregious crimes on our beacon and bastion of last hope for our nation, breaking into that and terrorizing it, I rebuke all of that, every bit of it." But KFOR TV in Oklahoma reports that a man named Bryan Harter claims he was in the Capitol with the sheriff during the insurrection, posting on Facebook, "I was in DC for the protest at the capitol with Sheriff West. I took a week's vacation spent my own money and drove 40 hours round trip! After 23 years of military service, I felt it my duty to stand for us. For fair elections. Honestly they are lucky we just occupied. We literally pushed past the police said we are here and left. Burned nothing looted nothing. Now we are called terrorists. People better wake up, before its too late."

Achingly, delusional. Unfit for office:

"And in the deleted Facebook account, KFOR reported, Sheriff West appears to embrace the baseless claims of election fraud pushed by President Trump. "If they're okay rigging an election and foreign help to steal the white house and control of WeThePeople, then I'm okay with using whatever means necessary to preserve America and save FREEDOM & LIBERTY."

Time for him to go.

"Police training executive Rahr says she sent a memo to all her recruits and staff reminding them of the important role law enforcement can play in reassuring the public "that our democracy can survive the politically divisive conflicts that are erupting." Rahr adds the majority of law enforcement officers in this country "are just as ashamed and disgusted as I am because the storming of the Capitol is, there's there's no defense for that. There just isn't."

No question.

The Washington Post reports:

"During the chaos at the Capitol, overwhelmed police officers confronted and combated a frenzied sea of rioters who transformed the seat of democracy into a battlefield. Now police chiefs across the country are confronting the uncomfortable reality that members in their own ranks were among the mob that faced off against other law enforcement officers. At least 13 off-duty law enforcement officials are suspected of taking part in the riot, a tally that could grow as investigators continue to pore over footage and records to identify participants. Police leaders are turning in their own to the FBI and taking the striking step of reminding officers in their departments that criminal misconduct could push them off the force and behind bars. The reckoning within police departments comes as plans for new demonstrations this weekend and on Inauguration Day are solidifying, with authorities warning of the potential for violence in state capitals. Participants are expected to protest election results that made Joe Biden president-elect. “We are making clear that they have First Amendment rights like all Americans,” said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who on Thursday accepted the resignation of an 18-year veteran in his department due to his involvement in the riot, which followed a rally at which President Trump urged his supporters to not accept his defeat. “However, engaging in activity that crosses the line into criminal conduct will not be tolerated.” The revelation that officers participated in the chaos was the latest hit for law enforcement’s reputation, coming on the heels of a year in which police violence spurred nationwide protests and activists called for cutting police funding. As photographs and videos of some off-duty officers at the riot emerged on social media, some residents back home felt betrayed, while police officials worried about a black eye for the entire profession’s credibility."

Sadly, currently, law enforcement has no credibility.

"Acevedo, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said the behavior is so egregious that it is often fellow officers who are alerting police chiefs and others to their colleagues’ participation in last week’s mob attack on the Capitol."

Certainly, encouraging. -- The 'Blue Wall' has been an egregious problem for decades.

"It marks a notable break in the so-called “blue wall of silence,” an aspect of police culture that encourages officers to turn a blind eye to misconduct by fellow officers. Craig Futterman, who directs the University of Chicago Law Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, said the Capitol riot was different. “The ‘Code of Silence’ is fundamentally about loyalty to your fellow officer and that ‘no one understands what we’re going through but us,’ ” Futterman said. By contrast, there’s something “fundamentally anti-police” about storming the Capitol, he said. That fellow police officers were the target of much of the mob’s brutality is another important factor that may have prompted whistleblowing. U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick was among the five people killed as a result of the riot. Dozens of other police officers were injured. While some officers have said they were merely at the rally, rather than participating in the riot, others were found to have gone farther."

Indeed. Jackbooted nazism:

"In Rocky Mount, Va., the presence of two officers in the riot, which included displays of the Confederate battle flag, came to light after a colleague and another city official leaked photos of them inside the Capitol to an area activist. The president of the local Black Lives Matter chapter posted them on her Facebook page and one of the officers quickly defended himself and threatened future violence. “A legitimate republic stands on 4 boxes,” Officer Thomas Robertson, 47, wrote in response on his Facebook page. “The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box and then the cartridge box. We just moved to step 3. Step 4 will not be pretty...I’ve spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. I'm about to become part of one, and a very effective one.”

Goddamned traitor.

"Robertson and fellow officer Jacob Fracker, 27, were both arrested Wednesday by the FBI and are so far the only law enforcement officers facing federal charges, which include one count each of “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority” and one count each of “violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.” A Washington Post analysis shows that at least 29 current and former officers attended the Jan. 6 rally, with some proceeding to the Capitol, according to a review of officers’ social media accounts, FBI reports and news reports. Of those, at least 13 officers are under investigation for possible participation in the rioting, as well more than a dozen Capitol Police officers who may have assisted the mob that seized the Capitol. The officers — and at least one police chief — came from tiny departments with less than a handful of officers to large agencies with thousands on their force. Reports of police among the rioters at the Capitol has police leaders worried about erosion of the public’s trust in law enforcement."

What trust?

“It creates an issue where the public has a hard time believing that the ... decisions they make off duty do not impact their choices and decisions they make while on duty,” said Andrew Walsh, a deputy chief with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. That force is investigating reports that “employees” may have been at the Capitol, he said. Since the start of his presidency, Trump styled himself as a champion of law enforcement who would restore to policing a level of respect, freedom and power he perceived to have been diminished under President Barack Obama."

Our sick, deluded fuhrer, the Trump nazi, ironically, accomplished the direct opposite. What a goddamned jackass.

A sick nazi dictator:

"Even before Trump declared himself the “law and order candidate” at a 2016 campaign event, he portrayed use of force against racial justice protesters and suspects in police custody as virtuous: As a candidate, he offered to pay the legal fees of his supporters who assaulted protesters disrupting his rallies. Not long after taking office in 2017, he told a crowd of police not to worry about injuring the people they arrest."

-- The son of a bitch, unfit for office.

An exceptionally dangerous legacy:

"In the four years of Trump’s administration, he has reversed police reform efforts and curbed the use of “pattern and practice” investigations into police departments for civil rights violations — something that had been a staple of the Obama-era Justice Department and is expected to resume under Biden. Police were keen to return the favor when Trump ran for a second term with many police unions enthusiastically offering their endorsement. Dennis Kenney, a former police officer and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said he was “not too terribly surprised” police were among those at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the riot, citing what he called “some pretty strident” police union support for Trump and “an authoritarian sort of regime.”

Unless and until that thinking changes, an unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. ... Hear the rumble?

"Police unions and policing groups backed Trump in the 2020 election, with the head of the National Association of Police Organizations last summer deeming him “the most pro-law enforcement president we’ve ever had.”

An insane, goddamned f--king nazi dictator. ... One reason of many law enforcement has no credibility.

"However, union leaders said they are shocked by how some of their members appeared to cross the line at the Capitol. They also said officers who breached the Capitol should not expect their unions’ support in their legal battles."

Imagine that. LOL. ... Where you been all these decades?

“We took an oath to protect the constitution and the rule of law,” said Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. “When people decide they are going to violate that — they are alone.”

Ferociously pointedly, again, where you been all these decades? All the abuse? All the murders of innocent, unarmed civilians? The hypocrisy? Stunning.

"Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said he had joked with Acevedo about how absurd it would be for any of the department’s 5,300 officers to be involved in the mob that stormed the Capitol. He said the resignation of 48-year-old Tam Pham, after having been identified as having been at the Capitol, has not changed how he is communicating with his members. Griffith believes the line some officers crossed is so bright, it doesn’t need to be explained to the rest of the force. Attempts to reach Pham were not successful. “We took an oath to uphold the law, not violate it,” Griffith said. “You have to have common sense and walk away. Think about it. There are [Capitol] officers being beaten. How, as an officer, do you not help out? How do you not understand that you shouldn't be there?”

... To say nothing of the failure to uphold, protect and defend the United States Constitution.

Another achingly deluded police chief:

"David Ellis, the police chief in Troy, N.H., attended the Trump rally. As he approached the Capitol and saw the mob was pushing past the Capitol Police, he understood he needed to turn away, he said. As he boarded a charter bus at Union Station with the rioting underway, he gave an interview to New York magazine, saying the violence was “not going to solve a thing” and characterized the way the Capitol Police were being treated as “ridiculous.” He defended going to the rally, saying, “There’s a lot of Trump supporters that are awesome people. Like me.” Ellis’s small department has three full-time officers, including him. Richard Thackston, chairman of the Troy Board of Selectmen, has defended Ellis. But the blowback on town officials was immediate and fierce. More than 100 people sent emails and voice-mail messages threatening violence. Troy Town Hall is now closed indefinitely."

The son of a bitch is unfit for office. Clueless.

“They are saying we are members of the Klan. They are calling us Nazis. They are saying we should be taken to a firing squad,” Thackston said. “There is a line for us. I don’t think we tell people they cannot attend rallies. They have First Amendment rights.”

Went well beyond free speech. Here's the problem:

"Chuck Wexler, director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said for years police chiefs have wrestled with racist, white supremacist and violent rhetoric that some officers post on social media. In those instances, Wexler said disciplinary action may be taken since such actions are often considered “conduct unbecoming an officer.” It tarnishes the credibility of the officer, making it difficult for them to testify in their own criminal cases, impairing their ability to fulfill their job duties. “This is an evolution, a big leap from the difficult waters that police departments have waded through in recent years as officers take to social media to express their political and sometimes racist views,” Wexler said. “What happened at the Capitol the other day is new territory. Going from freedom of speech to participating in a riot where a police officer dies, that takes it to a new level.” Brian Levin, a former police officer and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in California, said white supremacy and far-right-wing groups are successfully recruiting local law enforcement officers. They also encourage their young members to enter law enforcement, he said."

They're not fit.

“We are encountering a new insurgency, as far-right extremists become more active, as their connections to mainstream politics becomes attenuated, but police agencies have yet to adapt to this new threat which directly impacts their ranks and also national security,” he said."

"Bridgette Craighead saved videos of her dancing with Robertson, the Rocky Mount officer, at a Black Lives Matter event she organized in her Virginia hometown over the summer. She said she also became close to Officer Fracker. She was proud of the relationship they forged. “I thought we would be an example for the rest of the world,” Craighead said. “When we left our last protest, they told us they loved us. They escorted us home. Now I feel betrayed.” On Jan. 9, three days after the riot, Craighead received a copy of a photo of Robertson and Fracker posing inside the Capitol during the siege. They were standing in front of a statute of Revolutionary War General John Stark, who is know[n] for a toast he once wrote — “Live free or die.” Fracker is holding his middle finger up to the camera. She quickly posted it on her Facebook page. The next day, the two officers were placed on paid leave and the FBI was notified, according to a joint statement by Police Chief Ken Criner and Town Manager C. James Ervin. Criner and Ervin did not return calls seeking additional comment. In response to Craighead’s post, Robertson, who, according to local news reports is an Army veteran who received sniper training and served in Iraq, said he did not see a conflict or disparity between supporting local Black protesters and his protest that involved a breach of the Capitol. “I can protest for what I believe in and still support your protest fro [sic] what you believe in,” he wrote. “Just saying...after all, I fought for the right to do it.”

A deluded nazi. Sad.

"Fracker, who military.com said previously served as a Marine, also defended himself on Facebook, saying he believed he did nothing wrong. “Lol to anyone who’s possibly concerned about the picture of me going around,” he wrote. “Sorry I hate freedom? Not like I did anything illegal, way too much to lost [sic] to go there, but y’all do what you feel you need to do.” Three days later, Fracker and Robertson were arrested by the FBI."

NPR reports:

"The FBI informed the Defense Department of 68 current and former military members who were investigated in domestic extremism probes in 2020, according to a senior defense official. The FBI continues to investigate last week's mob attack on the Capitol and make arrests that include current and former military service members. Now NPR has learned the domestic extremism problem within the ranks may be more serious than officials realized. A senior defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly tells NPR that there were 143 notifications of investigations by the FBI last year of former and current military members. Of these, 68 pertained to domestic extremism cases the FBI had opened with current or former military personnel as subjects of investigation. The vast majority are former military; many with unfavorable discharge records, according to the official. The majority of these cases involve anti-government/anti-authority motivations, including attacks on government facilities and persons in positions of authority. One-fourth are associated with white nationalism."

Raw nazism. When did we lose ourselves?

The Associated Press reports:

"As the rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, many of the police officers had to decide on their own how to fight them off. There was no direction. No plan. And no top leadership."

Sad, isn't it? Exceptionally dangerous, as well:

"One cop ran from one side of the building to another, fighting hand-to-hand against rioters. Another decided to respond to any calls of officers in distress and spent three hours helping cops who had been immobilized by bear spray or other chemicals. Three officers were able to handcuff one rioter. But a crowd swarmed the group and took the arrested man away with the handcuffs still on. Interviews with four members of the U.S. Capitol Police who were overrun by rioters on Jan. 6 show just how quickly the command structure collapsed as throngs of people, egged on by President Donald Trump, set upon the Capitol. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because the department has threatened to suspend anyone who speaks to the media. “We were on our own,” one of the officers told The Associated Press. “Totally on our own.”

Not acceptable. Under such conditions, surprising there weren't more fatalities.

Get this:

"The officers who spoke to the AP said they were given next to no warning by leadership on the morning of Jan. 6 about what would become a growing force of thousands of rioters, many better armed than the officers themselves were. And once the riot began, they were given no instructions by the department’s leaders on how to stop the mob or rescue lawmakers who had barricaded themselves inside. There were only enough officers for a routine day."

How could that happen? Especially, in view of all the intelligence available for weeks before the assault.

"Three officers told the AP they did not hear Chief Steven Sund on the radio the entire afternoon. It turned out he was sheltering with Vice President Mike Pence in a secure location for some of the siege. Sund resigned the next day. His assistant chief, Yogananda Pittman, who is now interim chief, was heard over the radio telling the force to “lock the building down,” with no further instructions, two officers said. One specific order came from Lt. Tarik Johnson, who told officers not to use deadly force outside the building as the rioters descended, the officers recounted. The order almost certainly prevented deaths and more chaos, but it meant officers didn’t pull their weapons and were fighting back with fists and batons."

Indeed, Uncommon Valor. Vastly, outnumbered.

"Johnson has been suspended after being captured on video wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while moving through crowds of rioters. Johnson told colleagues he wore the hat as a tactic to gain the crowd’s confidence as he tried to reach other officers who were pinned down by rioters, one of the officers said. A video of the incident obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows Johnson asking rioters for help in getting his colleagues. Johnson, who could not be reached for comment, was heard by an officer on the radio repeatedly asking, “Does anybody have a plan?”

Jesus Christ.

"John Donohue, a 32-year veteran of the New York Police Department who advises the Capitol Police on intelligence matters, sent a memo on Jan. 3 warning of the potential for an attack on Congress from the pro-Trump crowd, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the memo first reported by The Washington Post. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal memo. Donohue was well-versed in the extremist threat. At a congressional hearing in July, before he starting advising the Capitol Police, Donohue told lawmakers the federal government needed a system to better monitor social media for domestic extremists. “America is at a crossroads,” he said in his testimony. “The intersection of constitutional rights and legitimate law enforcement has never been more at risk by domestic actors as it is now as seditionists actively promote a revolution.”

Been an increasing issue last 70 years since the McCarthy era.

"For major events, the Capitol Police normally holds meetings to brief officers on their responsibilities and plans in case of an emergency. Three of the officers interviewed by the AP said there were no meetings on or before Jan. 6. It’s also unclear whether the department held over its overnight shift or called in more officers early to help those who would be on duty that day. “During the 4th of July concerts and the Memorial Day concerts, we don’t have people come up and say, ‘We’re going to seize the Capitol,’” one officer said. “But yet, you bring everybody in, you meet before. That never happened for this event.” Another officer said he was only told that morning to pick up a riot helmet. He said he had training on dealing with large crowds, but not on how to handle a riot. “We were under the impression it was just going to be a lot of yelling, cursing,” he said. As Trump called on his supporters to go to the Capitol, telling them to “fight like hell,” members of the House and Senate were inside the building to certify Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College. Crowds of Trump supporters, many of them linked to far-right or white supremacist groups, began gathering on both sides of the Capitol. An officer working the western front of the building, which faces the White House and where risers were set up for the inauguration, quickly realized that the crowds were not peaceful. The rioters began breaking down short fences and systematically clipping off “Area Closed” signs, the officer said. Videos from the event show the crowd climbing the walls on the western side and eventually breaching the building."

Get this:

"One officer listed the various weapons used to hit him and people near him: batons, flagpoles, sections of fencing, batteries, rubber bullets and canisters of bear spray that went further than the chemicals the officers themselves had. Some of the rioters showed their badges from other law enforcement agencies, claiming they were on the side of the Capitol Police, the officer said. Most of the insurrectionists left without being arrested, which officers who spoke to the AP say was because it was next to impossible to arrest them given how badly the force was outnumbered. That was underscored by the rioters taking away a man who officers had tried to arrest inside the Capitol. “The group came and snatched him and took him away in cuffs,” one officer said. “Outside of shooting people, what are you supposed to do?”

Not only the rioters need to be held criminally accountable. So do the Trump nazi and his staff involved in the rally. To say nothing of the brass in law enforcement egregiously derelict in their duties to lead.

1-22-21

Think the rabid nazi element is not insane? The Washington Post reports:

"Two days after Guy Reffitt joined the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, federal officials said, he returned home to Wylie, Tex., and proudly told his family of his escapade. But by Jan. 11, when Reffitt learned the FBI was on to him, he changed his tune, according to an affidavit. “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors … traitors get shot,” Reffitt, 48, said to his son and daughter, according to his wife, who recounted the conversation to the FBI, which did not name the relatives. On Saturday, the FBI caught up to him. Reffitt, an oil worker with ties to self-styled militia and right-wing extremist groups, was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly threatening his family and unlawful entry into the Capitol. Reffitt is one of more than 100 individuals who have been charged with breaching the Capitol earlier this month. In recent days, the FBI has arrested several with alleged connections to extremist groups, signaling the investigation into the violence at the Capitol is homing in on people who were more prepared, organized and encouraged violence, The Washington Post reported. Reffitt’s wife told federal agents that her husband is also a member of the Three Percenters, a right-wing movement founded on the false belief that only 3 percent of colonists fought the British during the Revolutionary War. According to an affidavit from FBI agent Thomas B. Ryan submitted in D.C. federal court on Saturday, Reffitt appeared in video footage of the insurrection published by Reuters. The footage was later shown on Fox News, according to court documents. Reffitt is seen wearing a blue jacket, tactical-style vest and a black helmet with a GoPro camera affixed to the front as he appeared to pour water on his eyes to flush out chemical irritants. The Post obtained hours of video footage, some exclusively, and placed it within a digital 3-D model of the building. (TWP) The FBI agent identified Reffitt by comparing the image in the video to his driver’s license, according to the affidavit. The agent then found his cellphone and email address on a website for “Texas Freedom Force,” which the FBI identified as a militia extremist group. Cellphone tracking data placed Reffitt at the Capitol on Jan. 6."

What could these insurrectionists possibly been thinking? That authorities weren't capable of tracking them down? That their fuhrer, the Trump nazi, would pardon them?

"Federal agents searched Reffitt’s home on Saturday. His son told an FBI agent that his father came home two days after the attempted insurrection carrying his AR-15 rifle and a Smith & Wesson pistol and revealed he had gone armed to Washington, “stormed the Capitol” and recorded the events on his GoPro. Reffitt’s son told authorities that around Jan. 11, he told him and his sister to “erase everything.” The man then allegedly told his son that if he “crossed the line and reported Reffitt to the police, putting the family in jeopardy, Reffitt would have no option but to do Reffitt’s duty for Reffitt’s country, and ‘do what he had to do,’ ” the affidavit said. Reffitt then allegedly threatened his daughter, Reffitt’s son said, warning her that if she recorded his comments or posted anything about it on social media, he would “put a bullet through” her phone. Reffitt’s wife, who was not home when her husband allegedly threatened their children, confronted her husband. She says he told her “he was trying to protect the family, and if someone was a traitor, then that’s what’s going to happen,” according to the FBI. Reffitt’s wife told the FBI that her husband is “super passionate” but didn’t believe he would act on his threats. She added he “did not indicate regret or take anything back,” according to the affidavit. In an interview with KXAS, Reffitt’s son, who is 18, said his father has become increasingly obsessed with politics over the past four years. His son blamed President Trump for manipulating his father. “I love him but I hate him,” he said of his father. “I don’t really know him anymore.” Upon his arrest on Saturday, Reffitt told agents he brought a disassembled pistol to D.C. and that he attended the Capitol on Jan. 6, but “did not go inside.” It is not clear who is representing Reffitt or when he is due in federal court."

1-22-21

Plot thickens. The Associated Press reports:

"Members of President Donald Trump’s failed presidential campaign played key roles in orchestrating the Washington rally that spawned a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to an Associated Press review of records, undercutting claims the event was the brainchild of the president’s grassroots supporters. A pro-Trump nonprofit group called Women for America First hosted the “Save America Rally” on Jan. 6 at the Ellipse, an oval-shaped, federally owned patch of land near the White House. But an attachment to the National Park Service public gathering permit granted to the group lists more than half a dozen people in staff positions for the event who just weeks earlier had been paid thousands of dollars by Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. Other staff scheduled to be “on site” during the demonstration have close ties to the White House. Since the siege, several of them have scrambled to distance themselves from the rally."

Bet they have. Criminal liability.

"The riot at the Capitol, incited by Trump’s comments before and during his speech at the Ellipse, has led to a reckoning unprecedented in American history. The president told the crowd to march to the Capitol and that “you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” A week after the rally, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives, becoming the first U.S. president ever to be impeached twice. But the political and legal fallout may stretch well beyond Trump, who will exit the White House on Wednesday before Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office. Trump had refused for nearly two months to accept his loss in the 2020 election to the former vice president. Women for America First, which applied for and received the Park Service permit, did not respond to messages seeking comment about how the event was financed and about the Trump campaign’s involvement. The rally drew tens of thousands of people. In a statement, the president’s reelection campaign said it “did not organize, operate or finance the event.” No campaign staff members were involved in the organization or operation of the rally, according to the statement. It said that if any former employees or independent contractors for the campaign took part, “they did not do so at the direction of the Trump campaign.”

Fascinating, isn't it?

"At least one was working for the Trump campaign this month. Megan Powers was listed as one of two operations managers for the Jan. 6 event, and her LinkedIn profile says she was the Trump campaign’s director of operations into January 2021. She did not respond to a message seeking comment. The AP’s review found at least three of the Trump campaign aides named on the permit rushed to obscure their connections to the demonstration. They deactivated or locked down their social media profiles and removed tweets that referenced the rally. Two blocked a reporter who asked questions."

Something to hide?

"Caroline Wren, a veteran GOP fundraiser, is named as a “VIP Advisor” on an attachment to the permit that Women for America First provided to the agency. Between mid-March and mid-November, Donald J. Trump for President Inc. paid Wren $20,000 a month, according to Federal Election Commission records. During the campaign, she was a national finance consultant for Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee between the president’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee. Wren was involved in at least one call before the pro-Trump rally with members of several groups listed as rally participants to organize credentials for VIP attendees, according to Kimberly Fletcher, the president of one of those groups, Moms for America. Wren retweeted messages about the event ahead of time, but a cache of her account on Google shows at least eight of those tweets disappeared from her timeline. She apparently removed some herself, and others were sent from accounts that Twitter suspended."

Interesting, isn't it?

"One of the messages Wren retweeted was from “Stop the Steal,” another group identified as a rally participant on a website promoting the event. The Jan. 2 message thanked Republican senators who said they would vote to overturn Biden’s election victory, including Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas. She also retweeted a Jan. 1 message from the president promoting the event, as well as promotional messages from one of the president’s son, Eric Trump, and Katrina Pierson, a Tea Party activist and a spokesperson for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Wren did not return messages seeking comment, and locked her Twitter account after the AP reached out to her last Monday to ask her about her involvement in the Trump rally and the tweets she had removed. Several days later, she blocked the AP reporter."

If nothing to hide, why not talk to the AP reporter?

"Maggie Mulvaney, a niece of former top Trump aide Mick Mulvaney, is listed on the permit attachment as the “VIP Lead.” She worked as director of finance operations for the Trump campaign, according to her LinkedIn profile. FEC records show Maggie Mulvaney was earning $5,000 every two weeks from Trump’s reelection campaign, with the most recent payment reported on November 13. Maggie Mulvaney had taken down her Twitter account as of last Monday, although it reappeared after the AP asked her about the account’s removal."

Why would she do that?

"Maggie Mulvaney retweeted several messages on Jan. 6, including one from the president that urged support for the Capitol Police. Trump’s Twitter account has been suspended, but the message could be seen in a cache of her Twitter account captured by Google. She also retweeted a message from her uncle, urging Trump to address the nation. Maggie Mulvaney did not respond to messages seeking comment."

Why not? Why not resolve all issues raised?

"The insurrection at the Capitol prompted Mick Mulvaney to quit his position as Trump’s special envoy to Northern Ireland. He told CNBC a day after the assault that remaining in the post would prompt people to say “‘Oh yeah, you work for the guy who tried to overtake the government.’” The leaders of Women for America First aren’t new to politics. Amy Kremer, listed as the group’s president on records filed with Virginia’s state corporation commission, is “one of the founding mothers of the modern day tea party movement,” according to her website. Her daughter, Kylie Jane Kremer, is the organization’s treasurer, according to the records. The IRS granted Women for America First tax-exempt status as a social welfare organization a year ago, with the exemption retroactive to February 2019. The AP requested that the group provide any tax records it may have filed since then, but received no response."

Why not? If nothing to hide, why not cooperate? Resolve all unanswered questions and issues raised by all the exceptionally strange behavior?

"In a statement issued the same day rioters attacked the Capitol, Amy Kremer denounced the assault and said it was instigated after the rally by a “handful of bad actors,” while seeming to blame Democrats and news organizations for the riot. “Unfortunately, for months the left and the mainstream media told the American people that violence was an acceptable political tool,” she said. “They were wrong. It is not.”

Quick to blame Democrats but take no personal responsibility? The national socialist, fascist Republican way, isn't it? Following the example of your fuhrer, the Trump nazi?

"The AP reviewed social media posts, voter registrations, court files and other public records for more than 120 people either facing criminal charges related to the Jan. 6 unrest or who, going maskless during the pandemic, were later identified through photographs and videos taken during the melee. The review found the crowd was overwhelmingly made up of longtime Trump supporters, including Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, off-duty police, members of the military and adherents of the QAnon myth that the government is secretly controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophile cannibals."

Interesting, isn't it? Think the FBI and other agencies investigating the assault on the Capitol are not investigating all this?

Report continues. Great investigative reporting.

1-22-21

Capitol assault fall-out. NPR reports:

"Civil liberties advocates are warning that the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol could lead to new police and surveillance powers. If history is a guide, they say, those tools could be used against Blacks and other people of color in the justice system, not the white rioters who stormed Congress."

... Hear the rumble? Too deaf to hear? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms.

"Albert Fox Cahn watched in horror last week as rioters beat and shoved their way into the U.S. Capitol. The civil rights lawyer said the images made him angry. "You know, in that moment, I myself felt that same anger, that I want to catch these guys after seeing what they did to our Capitol," Cahn said. "And that anger, that frustration, that desire for justice, can lead us to very dangerous places."

No question.

"Cahn is executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a group that fights what he calls invasive surveillance technologies. Those include tools like facial recognition and the use of cellphone location data. Cahn says he worries that all of those things are on the table as lawmakers confront how close they came to danger last week — and that such things are being embraced even by members of Congress who have been open to the idea of reducing police power."

Indeed, we should all be worried about these invasive surveillance technologies. For damned good reason. Carefully, consider the following:

"Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who previously supported such a move, has now proposed expanding the federal no-fly list to add Capitol rioters. "These insurrectionists, many of whom are at large, should not be able to hop on a flight," Schumer said at a news conference this week. The head of the FBI's Washington Field Office, Steven D'Antuono, would not rule that out at a separate news conference in Washington, D.C. "As for the no-fly list, we look at all tools and all techniques that we can possibly use, within the FBI, and that's something we are actively looking at," he said."

Here's the problem:

"Critics say the no-fly list is bloated and often ineffective since it has information that can be wrong or out of date. The list has provoked lawsuits from Muslims who allege they were put on the list because of racial profiling. The deadly assault on the Capitol is also reviving the idea of creating a new federal crime of domestic terrorism. That idea has won support from former national security prosecutors and a trade group for FBI agents. President-elect Joe Biden has expressed openness to a new domestic terror law too. But Gregory Nojeim, who directs the Freedom, Security, and Technology Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, says not so fast. "The reason there's not such a crime is that there's concern, and it's legitimate, that such a statute could be used to squelch free expression," Nojeim said. Nojeim pointed out that the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, is already considering the charge of sedition against some culprits. That carries the potential for a 20-year prison sentence. "It would be a shame if the response to poor policing was to give the police more authority that would infringe on civil liberties," Nojeim said. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., agreed. This week, Omar tweeted: "We cannot simply expand the tools that have oppressed Black and Brown people. The answer is not a broader security structure, or a deeper police state. We have to stay rooted in a love of justice and of human rights and of civil liberties as we seek accountability."

That's right. Also, must be pointed out all races have been subject to abuse by the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement.

"FBI officials wouldn't confirm whether they are using facial-recognition tools to help identify members of the mob that stormed the Capitol. But civil rights lawyers have a hunch they are. Faulty facial-recognition tools have led to wrongful arrests of Black men and an ongoing lawsuit in New Jersey. "Until those racial disparities are fixed," said Catherine Crump, director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Law, "this is not a technology that should be deployed on a widespread basis."

Readers are reminded we already live in a de facto fascist police-state. A democratic republic in name only. To further empower these criminal jackbooted bastards would be a serious mistake with catastrophic consequences.

The Washington Post reports:

"As rioters overran the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, an officer guarding the building shook hands with two people in the mob and admitted defeat, according to the account the men provided FBI agents. Robert L. Bauer and Edward Hemenway told an FBI agent that after they rushed into the building with the crowd, one Capitol Police officer shook their hands, gave one a partial hug, and told them both that “it’s your house now.” “Sorry,” Hemenway recalled telling the officer. “It’s your house now, man,” he said the officer replied. Bauer told the FBI he “believed that the policeman was acting out of fear,” according to an affidavit filed in federal court in the District. No specific officer is identified in charging papers by federal law enforcement officials, who are relying on the defendants’ own recounting of their experience inside the Capitol. A Capitol Police spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment regarding the account in the affidavit. Other court documents have described Capitol Police officers’ failed attempts to hold back the crowd. One said he was unable to detain a rioter because there were too many others threatening him. More than 50 D.C. police officers and an unknown number of Capitol Police officers suffered injuries."

1-22-21

Frightening development. The Associated Press reports:

"War-like imagery has begun spreading in Republican circles after the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters, with some elected officials and party leaders rejecting pleas to tone down rhetoric calling for a second civil war. In northwestern Wisconsin, the chairman of the St. Croix County Republican Party was forced to resign Friday after refusing for a week after the siege to remove an online post urging followers to “prepare for war.” The incoming chairwoman of the Michigan GOP and her husband, a state lawmaker, have joined a conservative social media site created after the Capitol riot where the possibility of civil war is a topic. Phil Reynolds, a member of the GOP central committee in California’s Santa Clara County, appeared to urge on insurrectionists on social media during the Jan. 6 attack, declaring on Facebook: “The war has begun. Citizens take arms! Drumroll please….. Civil War or No Civil War?” The heightened rhetoric mimics language far-right extremists and white supremacists have used for years, and it follows a year of civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer and its links to systemic racism. Some leftists have used similar language, which Republicans have likened to advocating a new civil war.

"Democrats say the uptick in war talk isn’t accidental. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said Trump began putting his supporters in the frame of mind to make the opening charge years ago and is “capable of starting a civil war.” “Since his first day in office, this president has spent four years abusing his power, lying, embracing authoritarianism (and) radicalizing his supporters against democracy,” she said in arguing for impeachment. “This corruption poisoned the minds of his supporters, inciting them to willingly join with white supremacists, neo-Nazis and paramilitary extremists in a siege of the United State Capitol building, the very seat of American democracy.” There are parallels between now and the run-up to the Civil War, including a fractious national election that ended with presidents — Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and Joe Biden in 2020 — who millions rejected as illegitimate victors, said Nina Silber, co-president of the Society of Civil War Historians. Lincoln won the Electoral College but came away with only a plurality of the popular vote in a four-way race. Biden won the popular vote by 7 million over Trump and defeated him decisively in the Electoral College, 306 to 232. Dozens of lawsuits by Trump and his allies seeking to overturn the results failed, some of them turned away by federal judges Trump himself nominated. Then-Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department could find no evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the election’s outcome. While the same geographic split doesn’t exist today as when the Civil War started in 1861 and there is no mass preparation for all-out conflict, Silber said white anger and resentment fueled both eras. “At the time of the Civil War, this took the form of Southern white men angry at the idea that the federal government would interfere with their right to own Black slaves. Today, I think this takes the form of white people who believe that Black and brown people are making gains, or getting special treatment, at their expense,” Silber, who teaches at Boston University, said in an email interview."

1-22-21

Getting the story straight among all the confusion. NPR reports:

"The top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia said Friday that investigators have not uncovered direct evidence at this point of any "kill/capture teams" targeting elected officials during the U.S. Capitol insurrection, contradicting allegations made earlier by federal prosecutors in Arizona. U.S. prosecutors in Arizona said Thursday in a court filing against Jacob Chansley, also known as the "QAnon Shaman," that they have "strong evidence" members of the pro-Trump mob wanted to "capture and assassinate" officials. Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, attributed what he called the "disconnect" in Arizona, and at least one other district, to the sprawling and complex nature of the investigation. There are preliminary hearings taking place in districts across the United States. "At some of those hearings, there were other prosecutors, there may be a disconnect, may be adding information that's not directly related to what we have," Sherwin said at a news conference."

1-22-21

McConnell sees the light? The Associated Press reports:

"Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday explicitly placed blame on President Donald Trump for the deadly riot at the Capitol, saying the mob was “fed lies” and that the president and others “provoked” those intent on overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s election."

Stunning turnaround, isn't it? LOL.

"McConnell’s remarks as he opened the Senate were his most severe and public rebuke of outgoing President Donald Trump. The Republican leader vowed a “safe and successful” inauguration of Biden on Wednesday at the Capitol, which is under extremely tight security. “The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”

Where you been last four years, Senator?

"McConnell said after Biden’s inauguration on the Capitol’s West Front — what he noted former President George H.W. Bush has called “democracy’s front porch” — “We’ll move forward.”

Think so? Delusionally believe the GOP will magically end all stonewalling?

The following is why that's highly unlikely any time soon:

"The start of the new session of Congress will force senators to come to terms with the post-Trump era, a transfer of power like almost none other in the nation’s history. Senators are returning to a Capitol shattered from the riot, but also a Senate ground to a halt by the lawmakers’ own extreme partisanship. Republican senators, in particular, face a daunting choice of whether to convict Trump of inciting the insurrection, the first impeachment trial of a president no longer in office, in a break with the defeated president who continues to hold great sway over the party but whose future is uncertain. Senators are also being asked to start confirming Biden’s Cabinet nominees and consider passage of a sweeping new $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill."

United Press International reports:

"The Senate returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to start the 117th Congress, facing a possible impeachment trial looming for outgoing President Donald Trump, a slew of confirmation hearings and legislative proposals from the new Biden administration. Tuesday is the Senate's first return to the U.S. Capitol since the Jan. 6 attack by radical Trump supporters, who attempted to disrupt Congress' certification of Biden's electoral victory. In remarks on the Senate floor, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell gave his most vocal condemnation to date of the violence at the Capitol two weeks ago. "The last time the Senate convened, we had just reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop Congress from doing our duty," he said. "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people."

Readers are reminded:

"McConnell had previously refused to return earlier to receive Trump's second impeachment from the House and begin the trial.

"McConnell's remarks on Tuesday indicate a growing faction of Republicans who are open to possibly convicting Trump for inciting the Capitol attack, which led to hundreds of arrests and five deaths. The supporters had attended a heated rally by Trump near the White House before they marched to the Capitol and began the assault. If the Senate convicts Trump on the charge, he would almost certainly be barred from ever holding federal office again."

1-22-21

Peaceful ultimate transfer of power. The Associated Press reports:

"Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that “democracy has prevailed” as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors."

The Associated Press reports:

"Vice President Kamala Harris broke the barrier Wednesday that has kept men at the top ranks of American power for more than two centuries when she took the oath to hold the nation’s second-highest office. Harris was sworn in as the first female U.S. vice president — and the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to hold the position — in front of the U.S. Capitol by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor."

Quite a bit of history this January: First Wednesday, violent insurrection at the Capitol incited by our former president, the Trump nazi. Second Wednesday, that very same nazi dictator impeached a second time by the House. Third Wednesday, peaceful ultimate transfer of presidential power.

Couldn't have ended better than that. Could have ended far, far worse.

Although sadly remaining a de facto fascist police-state in reality, clearly our nation demonstrated since January 6 it is far more than just a democratic republic in name only.

Next few months will certainly determine whether or not our formerly great country recovers. -- Not only from all the damage done since the MeCarthy era of the 1950s and all the decades since, but particularly the last four years of the Trump nazi.

Let's hope we've finally smartened up.

1-15-21

A sad, sad loss. Uncommon Valor. NPR reports:

"A U.S. Capitol Police officer who was injured during the siege on the Capitol by pro-Trump extremists has died, bringing the total number of fatalities from the chaos that gripped Washington on Wednesday to five. Brian Sicknick was a 42-year-old military veteran who had served in the Capitol Police for 12 years, Rep. Don Beyer said in a statement, adding that Sicknick was one of his constituents. He died around 9:30 p.m. ET Thursday "due to injuries sustained while on-duty," Capitol Police said in a statement. "Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters," the law enforcement agency said. "He returned to his division office and collapsed." Officials said he was later transported to a local hospital but did not survive. His death is being investigated by both Capitol Police and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch, according to a statement. The U.S. Justice Department is opening a federal murder investigation into Sicknick's death, a source familiar with the matter told NPR's Carrie Johnson. On Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff. "The sacrifice of Officer Sicknick reminds us of our obligation to those we serve: to protect our country from all threats foreign and domestic," Pelosi said. Beyer, a Democratic congressman from Virginia, said Sicknick "gave his life in the line of duty to keep us safe." "His murder multiplies the pain of this dark moment for our nation, and those who brought about this awful crime must be prosecuted and brought to justice," Beyer added. "He made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting those trapped in the Capitol amid a violent assault on our democracy itself." Beyer called for Sicknick to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, "like others before him who died in defense of the people's representatives." Sicknick was most recently assigned to the Capitol Police's First Responder's Unit. He is only the fifth member of the Capitol Police to die in the line of duty, according to Capitol Police. The most recent previous fatality was in 2014. The circumstances that led to Sicknick's death were not immediately clear as of Friday."

Uncommon Valor.

NPR reports:

"Howard Liebengood, a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police, died Saturday off duty, according to the force. His cause of death was suicide, an attorney for the family said on Monday. "I can confirm that Howard Liebengood died on Saturday by suicide after having been on duty at the Capitol on Wednesday," attorney Barry Pollack said in a statement. "His death is a tragedy that has deprived all of us a dedicated public servant. His family has suffered a devastating loss and asks that they be given space to grieve in private." The U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee issued a statement over the weekend on Liebengood's death. "We are reeling from the death of Officer Liebengood," union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou said. "Every Capitol Police Officer puts the security of others before their own safety and Officer Liebengood was an example of the selfless service that is the hallmark of USCP. This is a tragic day."

"If you or someone you know is in crisis and need immediate help, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255."

1-15-21

Uncommon Valor. Best in policing. CBS News reports:

"During the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday, a mob of Trump supporters breached security and entered the building as members of Congress were gathered inside. One officer was seen risking his life to divert an angry mob away from the Senate chamber, leading the group in the opposite direction at a crucial moment when the lawmakers were not yet safely locked down."

Courage above and beyond.

"Video taken by HuffPost politics reporter Igor Bobic shows a Black Capitol Police officer standing [in] the hallway a few steps ahead of the mob, trying to hold them back, and then heading up a staircase as the men chase after him. "Here's the scary moment when protesters initially got into the building from the first floor and made their way outside Senate chamber," Bobic tweeted when he shared the video in the midst of the chaos Wednesday afternoon.

"Here’s the scary moment when protesters initially got into the building from the first floor and made their way outside Senate chamber. pic.twitter.com/CfVIBsgywK
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 6, 2021

"The mob continues to follow the officer, who is alone, and shout at him as he makes his way to another area of the Capitol, where more law enforcement awaits. The harrowing video went viral, with nearly 10 million views on Bobic's post as of Monday. The Capitol Police officer has been identified as Eugene Goodman, who is being hailed as a hero for diverting the intimidating mob away from the Senate chamber.

"This moment in @igorbobic stunning footage. In front of the officer, coming up the stairs, is a mass of rioters. The USCP officer glances to his left. Between those two chairs is the entrance to the senate floor. He lured them to his right, away from their targets. pic.twitter.com/knjQQ4GZ0d
— Kristin Wilson (@kristin__wilson) January 10, 2021

"Goodman is an Army veteran who spent time in Iraq, CBS Washington, D.C. affiliate WUSA reports. While the Capitol Police leadership has been criticized for the security failures, and its chief has resigned, many are praising Goodman for his brave and quick-thinking reaction at a crucial moment in the crisis."

Cool, calm, collected at a moment of extreme danger.

"The leader of the mob who chased him, the man seen in the video wearing a QAnon t-shirt, has been identified as Doug Jensen of Iowa. Des Moines police assisted the FBI in arresting Jensen Friday night and he was booked into the Polk County Jail. The sheriff's office said the charges against Jensen provided by the FBI include: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disrupting the orderly conduct of government business; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building; and obstructing a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder. Jensen, 41, was also let go from his job as a laborer at a masonry company, the firm's CEO CBS Des Moines affiliate KCCI."

The Washington Post reports:

"As a mob of pro-Trump rioters attacked the Capitol on Wednesday, one man in a white hat and backpack grabbed a police officer by the helmet, dragging the officer down the stairs. Soon, other rioters kicked and punched the officer, and one man even bashed the prone figure repeatedly with a pole flying an American flag. The shocking violence against an outnumbered officer is shown in a video first aired by CNN on Sunday. It swiftly went viral, garnering more than 1.6 million views on Twitter by early Monday. The officer seen in the video, as well as in other photos and videos of the moment that later surfaced on social media, has not been officially identified. The extent of the injuries the officer suffered in the attack is not clear. D.C. Metropolitan Police and U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the video late Sunday. The video adds a new layer of evidence documenting the violence that pro-Trump rioters unleashed during the attempted insurrection at the Capitol, where overrun police tried to protect the federal building. One U.S. Capitol Police officer, Brian D. Sicknick, suffered injures in the incident and later died, and more than 50 other police officers were hurt. One rioter was fatally shot by police, and three other people died following medical emergencies. CNN reported that the video captured the scene outside the Capitol around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. That’s roughly 10 minutes after President Trump tweeted a video message addressing the crowd, telling the rioters: “We love you. You’re very special.” “We’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil,” Trump continued in the statement. “I know how you feel. But go home, and go home in peace.” The video shows that after the man grabbed the police officer, yanking him down the stairs, others kicked and beat the officer on the ground. As the crowd attacked, people chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and a man shouted, “Take him out.” At the same time, other people in the crowd threw flagpoles, metal crutches and other projectiles at police standing just inside an archway, trying to prevent the mob from entering the Capitol. The attempted insurrection, and Trump’s role in provoking it, were widely condemned by officials, including Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.), who this weekend called for Trump to resign. House Democrats readied to impeach Trump this week, unless Vice President Pence and the Cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him first. After most members of the mob left the Capitol for hotel rooms and flights back to their home states, the damage caused by the pro-Trump mob has been revealed through photographs, videos and firsthand accounts. Windows were shattered, furniture overturned or smashed and Senate offices raided. Police also said they found and disabled two “hazardous” pipe bombs near the Capitol. Officials have launched more than two dozen domestic terrorism investigations, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said in a statement on Sunday summarizing a conversation he had with Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Crow said he raised concerns about reports of active-duty military personnel participating in the violence last week, and he noted that the rioters brought weapons and bombs to the Capitol. “Long guns, molotov cocktails, explosive devices, and zip ties were recovered, which suggests a greater disaster was narrowly avoided,” Crow said."

1-15-21

Double standard. No equal justice. United Press International reports:

"Boeing on Thursday agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion in a settlement with the Justice Department related to charges that it conspired to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration. The charges stem from a pair of crashes involving Boeing 737 Max plane in Indonesia and Ethiopia that left a combined 346 people dead and caused the aircraft to be grounded worldwide from March 2019 until late last year, the Justice Department said. Under Thursday's settlement, Boeing will pay a $243.6 million criminal penalty, $1.77 billion in compensation to its 737 MAX customers and establish a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund to compensate those related to the victims of the crashes. In its statement Thursday, the Justice Department said Boeing admitted in court documents that two of its 737 Max Flight Technical pilots "deceived" the FAA about how the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System impacted the aircraft's flight control system."

Why no criminal prosecution of Boeing employees for murder right up to and including top management? How could they not have known?

"As a result a key document from the FAA as well as airplane manual and training materials for U.S. based airlines lacked vital information about the system. "The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world's leading commercial airplane manufacturers," said David Burns, the acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "Boeing's employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the FAA concerning the operation of its 737 Max airplane and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception."

1-15-21

Execution of the mentally ill. United Press International reports:

"Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, was executed by lethal injection early Wednesday for the 2004 killing of a pregnant woman. Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., making her the first person executed by the federal government in 2021 and the 11th since the Trump administration resumed federal executions following a 17-year-hiatus last year. "The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight," Kelley Henry, Montgomery's attorney, said in a statement. "Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame." Montgomery's death followed a flurry of litigation on Tuesday that culminated in the Supreme Court near midnight clearing the way for her execution by vacating one stay and denying the petition for another that Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan said they would have granted. Montgomery's legal team had argued for the stay, saying their client, who was a victim of sexual abuse, was mentally unfit, making her execution unconstitutional. "No one disagrees that Mrs. Montgomery was the victim of unspeakable torture and sex trafficking. No one can credibly dispute Mrs. Montgomery's longstanding debilitating mental disease -- diagnosed and treated for the first time by the Bureau of Prisons' own doctors," Henry said. "Our Constitution forbids the execution of a person who is unable to rationally understand her execution. The current administration knows this. And they killed her anyway."

Expect better of our fuhrer, the Trump nazi?

"Montgomery was sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2004 killing of Bobbie Joe Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant. Montgomery, having visited the Stinnett home purportedly to purchase a puppy, strangled her victim and cut the unborn baby from her body in order to pass if off as her own. The female infant was later returned to her father unharmed. In October, the Justice Department announced it had scheduled Montgomery's execution for Dec. 8, but the day was moved to Tuesday after two of her attorneys were diagnosed with COVID-19."

1-15-21

Follow-up to assault on U.S. Capitol. The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump was ensconced in the White House residence Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, raging about perceived betrayals, as an array of top aides weighed resigning and some senior administration officials began conversations about invoking the 25th Amendment — an extraordinary measure that would remove the president before Trump’s term expires on Jan. 20. A deep, simmering unease coursed through the administration over the president’s refusal to accept his election loss and his role in inciting a mob to storm the Capitol, disrupting the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden. One administration official described Trump’s behavior Wednesday as that of “a total monster,” while another said the situation was “insane” and “beyond the pale.” Fearful that Trump could take actions resulting in further violence and death if he remains in office even for a few days, senior administration officials were discussing Wednesday night whether the Cabinet might invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to force him out, said a person involved in the conversations. A former senior administration official briefed on the talks confirmed that preliminary discussions of the 25th Amendment were underway, although this person cautioned that they were informal and that there was no indication of an immediate plan of action. Both of these people, like some others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter."

Time for transparency.

"Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Thursday called on Vice President Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to ensure “we have a sane captain of the ship” because Trump has become “unmoored not just from his duty or even his oath, but from reality itself.” Meanwhile, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Thursday issued the strongest critique of Trump yet from within the Cabinet. Calling Wednesday’s events “tragic and sickening,” Wolf wrote in a statement, “I implore the President and all elected officials to strongly condemn the violence that took place yesterday.” He vowed to remain in his position to ensure an orderly transition to the Biden administration. William P. Barr, who resigned last month as attorney general, issued an even sharper condemnation of the president he served. He called Trump’s conduct “a betrayal of his office and supporters,” adding in a statement to the Associated Press that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable.” Mick Mulvaney, a former member of Trump’s Cabinet as White House chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced Thursday morning that he has resigned from his post as U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland. He said on CNBC that he informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “I can’t do it. I can’t stay.”

What took so long?

"Referring to Trump’s incitement of a mob of supporters to occupy the Capitol, Mulvaney said: “We didn’t sign up for what you saw last night. We signed up for making America great again. We signed up for lower taxes and less regulation. The president has a long list of successes that we can be proud of. But all of that went away yesterday.” A trio of senior White House aides — national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien, deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger and deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell — were contemplating resigning, according to three senior administration officials. Their possible departures, which were first reported by CNN, could trigger a cascade of other resignations from inside the already hollowed-out West Wing."

Meltdown:

"There was little communication among the White House staff, other than a message instructing officials to leave early and stay safe. Considerable internal anger was directed toward chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to four aides, both because of what many view as his incompetence in managing the White House and his willingness to prop Trump up while indulging his false election fraud claims. People who interacted with Trump on Wednesday said they found him in a fragile and volatile state. He spent the afternoon and evening cocooned at the White House and listening only to a small coterie of loyal aides — including Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, personnel director Johnny McEntee and policy adviser Stephen Miller. Many of his top confidants — Meadows, son-in-law Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump, among others — were publicly silent. “He’s got a bunker mentality now, he really does,” the close adviser said."

Report goes on and on.

In another article, The Washington Post reports:

"The storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Trump’s supporters on Wednesday was a disastrous failure of security: In a city on high alert, in a building with its own 2,000-officer police department, people forced their way into the sanctums of American democracy with nothing more than flagpoles, riot shields and shoves. Nobody stopped them — and some officers were captured on video appearing to stand back as rioters streamed inside. On Wednesday, while police were still struggling to eject the last intruders from the Capitol, current and former law enforcement officials said it appeared the U.S. Capitol Police and other agencies had failed to anticipate the size and intentions of the crowd that Trump urged to march up Pennsylvania Avenue to where lawmakers were gathered. On the streets of Washington, federal law enforcement agencies and the National Guard — which had been intimidatingly visible during protests this summer following the death of George Floyd — kept a much lower profile."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"And at the Capitol itself, police had set out low barriers and officers were largely in street uniforms, not riot gear. All were prepared to confine a protest, but not to deter an attack, law enforcement officials said. Law enforcement experts said they were mystified by the tactics that police used once the mob was already inside the Capitol. One woman was shot and killed by Capitol police as officers tried to stop a group from penetrating the building, according to two law enforcement officials, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe security operations. But other police seemed to stand by, observing the disorder instead of stopping it: One image posted on social media showed an officer taking a selfie with one of the intruders, and a video seemed to show officers opening the security fence to let Trump supporters closer. Police did not appear to try to detain the rioters, allowing them to leave unhindered. One even held a woman’s hand to steady her on the Capitol steps. The result was an invasion, in which a heavily guarded symbol of American strength and order fell to chaos with stunning speed. “It’s like watching a real-life horror movie. I mean, we train and plan and budget every day, basically, to have this not happen,” said Kim Dine, who was chief of the Capitol Police from 2012 to 2016. “How it happened, I can’t figure that out.” Dine said he was surprised to see that, on Wednesday, the Capitol Police had allowed rioters to gather so close to the building, on the Capitol steps — and that, once they forced their way inside, the rioters were not immediately arrested. “We protect the people, the place and the process that makes us the United States. That’s why we’re there,” Dine said. But, he said, on Wednesday, “The people, the place, the process — all were attacked.” Shortly after the shooting, the D.C. Police took over handling the removal of crowds from the Capitol grounds. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said the Capitol Police requested the assistance of D.C. police officers to help “restore order at the Capitol.” The Capitol Police, overwhelmed by the crowds, took responsibility for speeding lawmakers to safety and ejecting those who had gotten inside, according to two people familiar with the incident. Once rioters were outside, D.C. police handled removing them from the external stairs, porticos and balconies of the Capitol. Very few people were arrested for the breach, one person said, because officers didn’t have enough backup to take the time to arrest and detain them. “There just weren’t enough personnel to do everything,” one law enforcement official briefed on the episode said. Wednesday’s response by the Capitol Police was a striking contrast to how the force has handled apparent threats near the building in the past. In 2013, Capitol Police and Secret Service personnel opened fire on a car that allegedly had rammed a security barricade. The driver, Miriam Carey, was killed, while her baby daughter was in the back seat."

Many, many unanswered questions.

Report goes on and on in great detail.

The Associated Press reports:

"The head of the U.S. Capitol Police defended his department’s response to the storming of the Capitol, saying Thursday that officers “acted valiantly when faced with thousands of individuals involved in violent riotous actions.” Washington’s mayor called the police response “a failure.” Chief Steven Sund, in his first public comment on the mayhem from Wednesday, said in a statement that rioters “actively attacked” Capitol police and other law enforcement officers with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants and “took up other weapons against our officers.” The siege, as the House and Senate were affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory, was “unlike any I have ever experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here in Washington, D.C., said Sund, a former city police officer. ”Make no mistake: these mass riots were not First Amendment activities; they were criminal riotous behavior. The actions of the USCP officers were heroic given the situation they faced. Lawmakers from both parties have pledged to investigate law enforcement’s actions and questioned whether a lack of preparedness allowed a mob to occupy and vandalize the building. Mayor Muriel Bowser joined in the criticism of the police response. “Obviously it was a failure or you would not have had people enter the Capitol by breaking windows and terrorizing the members of Congress who were doing a very sacred requirement of their jobs."

NPR reports:

"When a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, surprisingly few police stood in the way. Protests had been expected for days, but police appeared unprepared for an actual insurrection and not even prepared to keep all the doors locked. Video showed police calmly talking with attackers after they moved into the building. This came after a year of protests and confrontations with police after police shootings and other kinds of killings across the country. Many of those protests were put down more harshly, including those in Washington, D.C. Officials often responded with tear gas, Tasers or stun grenades. "What we see here is that certain bodies are accorded a certain kind of treatment and other bodies are not," said Eddie Glaude, the chair of Princeton University's Department of African American studies, in an interview with NPR's Morning Edition. Glaude, who has written several books about race in the U.S., said that Wednesday's violence at the Capitol demonstrated how "America is more comfortable with protest from the right than it is from the left." Demonstrations from the left are often considered to represent "an existential threat to the country," he said, whereas right-wing protests are taken "as a kind of patriotic gesture."

The Associated Press reports:

"A growing number of Democrats called Thursday for the resignation of U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, a newly sworn-in Republican who quoted Adolf Hitler at a rally outside the U.S. Capitol this week. U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Marie Newman, both Illinois Democrats, along with a contingent of state legislators circulating a petition, demanded Miller step down immediately. “There are some things that cross a very definite line and that was one of them,” said Schakowsky, who is Jewish. “At a moment like this, when emotions have been so high on all sides, to invoke the name of Hitler was about as inappropriate and wrong as you can get.” Miller spoke Tuesday at a “Save the Republic Rally” hosted by conservative group, “Moms for America.” The rally took place a day before violent supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol. Miller was among those who voted to overturn election results for President-elect Joe Biden. At the rally, Miller was discussing the need to appeal to young people and said: “Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ’Whoever has the youth has the future.’” Miller’s spokeswoman didn’t respond to multiple requests seeking comment. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Miller responded in now-deleted tweets that she would “never glorify a genocidal dictator” and that her statement “was a denunciation of evil dictators’ efforts to re-educate young people and similar efforts by left-wing radicals in our country today.” The rally hosts defended Miller, saying Thursday that the comments were taken out of context, Miller was owed an apology and, “Truth is truth regardless of the source.” “Moms for America” President Kimberly Fletcher also referenced the Nazi leader in its defense of Miller. “Hitler also said, ‘Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it,’ If we mandate people not talk about the insidious actions of Hitler, we dismiss the horrific events he incited and open the door for them to be repeated,” Fletcher wrote. “The media should focus on the truth instead of relentlessly repeating big lies.”

When will Republicans do the same?

"Miller, 61, was sworn in Sunday after handily winning the November election to fill the seat left vacant by Republican John Shimkus’ retirement. It’s her first time in public office. Miller, of Oakland, runs a farm with her husband, Republican state Rep. Chris Miller. Her congressional district covers a wide swath of southeastern Illinois along the Indiana border. Her comments drew swift criticism, including from the World Jewish Congress, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Jewish state legislators. “A sitting member of Congress who uses Hitler’s obscene methods for indoctrinating children with racism and fascism as a guidepost, igniting hate and violence, has no place in Congress,” said a statement from the Illinois Legislative Jewish Caucus. “If Rep. Miller has any respect left for the role of a U.S. Congressperson or any shred of dignity in her, she will do what’s right and resign.” The group of more than a dozen lawmakers was circulating a petition demanding immediate resignation. It had more than 1,600 signatures by Thursday. Other Illinois Democrats in Congress issued a joint statement condemning the remark as “a black mark on this body and a black mark on our state.”

The Washington Post reports:

"The top Democrats in Congress — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) — on Thursday called for President Trump’s immediate removal from office, either by his Cabinet or possibly through impeachment. “By inciting sedition as he did yesterday, he must be removed from office. While there’s only 13 days left, any day could be a horror show for America,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is preparing to resign, becoming the first Cabinet secretary to leave after Trump incited a mob that attacked the Capitol on Wednesday. Earlier Thursday, Trump pledged an “orderly transition” in a statement issued shortly after Vice President Pence announced Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election at the end of a joint session of Congress that was disrupted for hours by violent Trump supporters.

"The chairs of five House committees sent a letter Thursday to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray requesting a briefing on the agency’s efforts to investigate the riot at the U.S. Capitol one day earlier. In the letter, the committee chairs demanded to know what steps the FBI is taking “to investigate and pursue for prosecution the instigation, planning, and execution of the deadly terrorist attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, by President Donald Trump, his supporters, and outside groups, as well as to disrupt any further activity designed to attack our government.” The letter cites several quotes from Trump, his family members and his personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, at Wednesday’s rally outside the White House. Giuliani, for instance, encouraged Trump’s supporters to engage in “trial by combat” to achieve their goal of preventing Biden from becoming president. It also notes that when Trump “finally released a videotaped statement several hours later, he repeated his false claim that the election was ‘stolen’ and praised the insurrectionists, telling them, ‘We love you.’” The lawmakers sending the letter included Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Intelligence Committee Chair Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.), as well as Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.). They requested an “urgent briefing” for the committee’s chairs and top Republicans on how the FBI is working to hold responsible and prosecute the perpetrators of Wednesday’s attack, as well as how the agency has been tracking the group, how federal law enforcement prepared for the events of Jan. 6 and how officials plan to disrupt any further violent plans."

NPR reports:

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer have called for President Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment. "I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment," Pelosi said at a news conference Thursday. "If the vice president and Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment." Pelosi said she does not expect they will wait long for Vice President Pence to respond. "It will be 'yes' or it will be 'no,'" she said. The speaker said she hopes Pence would get back to legislative leaders by Thursday and that she and incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer "have made our interest in this known" to the vice president. Her remarks followed similar comments earlier in the day by Schumer. "The quickest and most effective way — it can be done today — to remove this president from office would be for the vice president to immediately invoke the 25th amendment," Schumer said in a statement Thursday morning. "If the vice president and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president." Schumer also gave a press conference at which he shared that he and Pelosi attempted to call Pence Thursday morning to tell him to invoke the 25th. "They kept us on hold for 25 minutes and then said the vice president wouldn't come on the phone. So we are making this call public because he should do it and do it right away," he said.

"Invoking the 25th Amendment would require the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove Trump from office. It was intended to be used if a president were unable to discharge the office because the chief executive had been badly hurt or incapacitated somehow — but not dead outright, in which case the vice president would step in. The amendment has never been used in practice and is difficult to execute. It was intended as a legal mechanism for a crisis involving the president's physical condition and not as a political tool more like impeachment."

1-15-21

Double standard. The Associated Press reports:

"Black Lives Matter protests, 2020: Overwhelming force from law enforcement in dozens of cities. Chemical dispersants. Rubber bullets and hand-to-hand combat with largely peaceful crowds and some unruly vandals and looters. More than 14,000 arrests. The U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021: Barely more than a few dozen arrests. Several weapons seized, improvised explosive devices found. Members of a wilding mob escorted from the premises, some not even in handcuffs. The key difference? The first set of protesters were overwhelmingly Black Americans and their allies. The second group was overwhelmingly white Americans who support outgoing President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud. The violent breaching of the halls of power on Capitol Hill by the insurrectionist mob on Wednesday, which left one woman dead of a police gunshot wound, represents one of the plainest displays of a racial double standard in both modern and recent history. “When Black people protest for our lives, we are all too often met by National Guard troops or police equipped with assault rifles, shields, tear gas and battle helmets,” the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation said in a statement. “When white people attempt a coup, they are met by an underwhelming number of law enforcement personnel who act powerless to intervene, going so far as to pose for selfies with terrorists,” it said."

Great truth to that.

"Broad and bipartisan condemnation of the insurrectionist mob came swiftly as they had a nearly unhindered, hours-long run of the Capitol building complex, the Senate chamber and the House speaker’s office. The ordeal drew expressions of bewilderment and disbelief from some observers who believed such a display was impossible in a democracy as revered as America’s. However, the response to the mayhem is consistent with a long pattern of society’s coddling of racists and downplaying the violent white supremacist ideology that routinely places the grievances of white people above those of their Black, often disenfranchised and downtrodden countrymen and women. Since the founding of the democracy in the blood and secession of the American Revolution, white people’s destructive and obstructionist conduct has been couched in patriotism. It’s been a fundamental part of a national myth about whose dissent and pursuit of redress for grievance is justified, and whose is not. Newly sworn-in St. Louis Rep. Cori Bush, who was among the protesters to face down police and National Guardsmen in 2014 after police killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, told The Associated Press that the race of the Capitol rioters played a big part in their ability to breach the congressional fortress. Had the mob been Black, “we would have been laid out,” Bush said. “The thing is, these are the same people who called us terrorists,” Bush continued. “Confederate flags, ‘don’t tread on me,’ ‘blue lives matter’ flags, the Trump flags — all of it symbolizes the same thing. It symbolizes racism and white supremacy.” The show of force by law enforcement at the Capitol bore little resemblance to the lines of National Guardsmen and other police forces that assembled last year to protect luxury brand retailers against looting, government buildings against breaching and highways against marching by demonstrators across the country. Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, the nation’s largest digital racial justice advocacy group, told the AP that he sees it as “a clear example of how racism works in this country and the clear ways there are different sets of rules and different sets of outcomes based on what race you are.” Although Wednesday’s events represented one of the most alarming attacks on democratic institutions in recent memory, it wasn’t the only seen that day. Apparent Trump supporters forced disruptions at statehouses across the country, including in Georgia, New Mexico and Ohio."

Raw nazism.

"And that wasn’t the first time that such a disparate law enforcement response to such attacks drew national outrage and criticism of police. Last May, a large group of mostly white men carrying long rifles stormed the Michigan Statehouse building in Lansing over the governor’s coronavirus pandemic shutdown mandates. There were few arrests and little condemnation from the White House. In June, Trump administration officials had federal officers clear BLM protesters with flash bang grenades and tear gas, to facilitate a now infamous photo-op in front of a church near the White House. BLM protesters and their supporters in Portland, Oregon, quickly pointed out Wednesday the huge disparity between Trump’s response to racial justice protests in the Pacific Northwest city and his encouragement of the violence in D.C. On July 27, following his deployment of U.S. agents to quell weeks of demonstrations, Trump tweeted: “Anarchists, Agitators or Protestors who vandalize or damage our Federal Courthouse in Portland, or any Federal Buildings in any of our Cities or States, will be prosecuted under our recently re-enacted Statues and Monuments Act. MINIMUM TEN YEARS IN PRISON. Don’t do it!” The thousands of Capitol building rioters, many who were egged on by the president’s speech at a Wednesday afternoon rally over his election loss, heard a much more compassionate message from their leader, albeit a defiant one. “I know your pain, I know your hurt,” Trump said in a now-deleted video posted to his Twitter account. “You have to go home, now. … We love you. You’re very special.”

Jesus Christ. Raw nazism. ... When did the fascist lose himself?

"On Thursday, President-elect Joe Biden noted the double standard, saying he had received a text message from his granddaughter, Finnegan, of a photo showing “military people in full military gear — scores of them lining the steps of the Lincoln Memorial” during a BLM protest last year. “She said ‘Pop, this isn’t fair.’” the president-elect recounted. “No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday ... they would have been treated very, very differently than a mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,” Biden said. “We all know that’s true. And it is unacceptable,” he added. Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter also weighed in with expressions of consternation, some of them placing blame squarely on Trump. Adding to the cruelty of it all, some observers have noted, is the Capitol building’s history. It was built with help from enslaved Africans, whose blood and sweat later allowed the union to meet there and strategize its battle against pro-slavery Confederates. On Wednesday, images emerged showing custodial staffers of color in the Capitol sweeping up the shards of glass and trash left behind by the rioters. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the people who violated the Capitol on Wednesday should not be seen as patriotic. “This is not protesting or activism; this is an insurrection, an assault on our democracy, and a coup incited by President Trump,” Johnson said."

It's nazism.

1-15-21

Unanswered questions. The Associated Press reports:

"One day later, the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters forced painful new questions across government — about his fitness to remain in office for two more weeks, the ability of the police to secure the complex and the future of the Republican Party in a post-Trump era. In the immediate aftermath, the attack on the world’s iconic dome of democracy, shocking imagery flashed around the globe, reinforced lawmakers’ resolve to stay up all night to finish counting the Electoral College vote confirming Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election. But the rampage that left a country on edge prompted lawmakers to launch a congressional review of the U.S. Capitol Police’s failure to stop the breach and is forcing a broader reckoning over Trump’s tenure in office and what comes next for a tattered and torn nation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that any remaining day with the president in power could be “a horror show for America.” Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to force Trump from office before Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. At least one Republican lawmaker joined them. The procedure allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office. The vice president then becomes acting president. Pelosi said if the president’s Cabinet does not swiftly invoke the 25th Amendment, the House may proceed to impeach Trump. Meanwhile, other Republicans who echoed Trump’s false claims of a fraudulent election, including rising stars and some party leaders, faced angry, unsettled peers --- but also those cheering them on. With tensions high, the Capitol shuttered and lawmakers not scheduled to return until the inauguration, an uneasy feeling of stalemate settled over a main seat of national power as Trump remained holed up at the White House. The social media giant Facebook banned the president from its platform and Instagram for the duration of Trump’s final days in office, if not indefinitely, citing his intent to stoke unrest. Twitter had silenced him the day before. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said “the shocking events of the last 24 hours” make it clear Trump “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power.”

1-15-21

Accountability? ... Or, a bullshit excuse for failure. The Washington Post reports:

"The top federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. said Thursday that President Trump was not off limits in his investigation of the events surrounding Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying “all actors” would be examined to determine if they broke the law. Asked if federal agents and prosecutors will look at the incendiary statements made by speakers at Trump’s rally shortly before a mob of his supporters breached security at the Capitol and wreaked havoc inside, acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said: “Yes, we are looking at all actors here, not only the people that went into the building, but … were there others that maybe assisted or facilitated or played some ancillary role in this. We will look at every actor and all criminal charges.” Asked specifically if that included President Trump, who had urged the crowd to “fight like hell,” before the rioting began, Sherwin replied, “We are looking at all actors here, and anyone that had a role, if the evidence fits the element of a crime, they’re going to be charged.” That could also spell fresh legal jeopardy for the president’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who also spoke to the crowd, declaring at one point, “let’s have trial by combat,” and declaring he was willing to stake his reputation, and that of the president, on being able to someday find criminality in the 2020 vote count. Sherwin, the prosecutor, said that the first priority of investigators are the individuals who personally engaged in destructive or violent acts at the Capitol, or what he called “the closest alligators to the boat.” He also noted there were potential national security risks, with video showing papers strewn around lawmakers’ offices, and some accounts of people taking things from the building. “This is probably going to take several days to flesh out what was stolen what wasn’t,” he said. “Items were stolen from senators’ offices, documents were stolen and we have to identify what was done, and it could have potential national security equities.”

Pre-emptive excuse for failure to ultimately do shit? Get this:

"Sherwin spoke to reporters by phone Thursday to emphasize that the Justice Department and FBI are rapidly pursuing cases against those who engaged in violence or other lawbreaking, saying that dozens of people would be charged by the end of the day, and investigators are continuing to piece together evidence to bring additional cases. But he said those efforts were made harder by the fact that Capitol Police let so many of the people who broke into the building simply walk out. “It appears they were not apprehended or zip-tied by the police,” said Sherwin, a scenario that “has made our job difficult” because agents now have to search cell phone records and gather video footage to “identify people, charge them, and execute their arrest.”

1-15-21

Dereliction? The Associated Press reports:

"Three days before supporters of President Donald Trump rioted at the Capitol, the Pentagon asked the U.S Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. The police turned them down both times, according to senior defense officials and two people familiar with the matter. Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, the Capitol Police planned only for a free speech demonstration. Still stinging from the uproar over the violent response by law enforcement to protests last June near the White House, officials also were intent on avoiding any appearance that the federal government was deploying active duty or National Guard troops against Americans. The result is the U.S. Capitol was overrun Wednesday and officers in a law enforcement agency with a large operating budget and experience in high-security events protecting lawmakers were overwhelmed for the world to see. Four protesters died, including one shot inside the building. The rioting and loss of control has raised serious questions over security at the Capitol for future events. The actions of the day also raise troubling concerns about the treatment of mainly white Trump supporters, who were allowed to roam through the building for hours, while Black and brown protesters who demonstrated last year over police brutality faced more robust and aggressive policing.

"U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, under pressure from Schumer, Pelosi and other congressional leaders, was forced to resign. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked for and received the resignation of the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, Michael Stenger, effective immediately. Paul Irving, the longtime Sergeant at Arms of the House, also resigned. “There was a failure of leadership at the top,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

It is not clear how many officers were on-duty Wednesday, but the complex is policed by a total of 2,300 officers for 16 acres of ground who protect the 435 House representatives, 100 U.S. senators and their staff. By comparison, the city of Minneapolis has about 840 uniformed officers policing a population of 425,000 in a 6,000-acre area."

Here's the problem:

"There were signs for weeks that violence could strike on Jan. 6, when Congress convened for a joint session to finish counting the Electoral College votes that would confirm Democrat Joe Biden had won the presidential election. On far-right message boards and in pro-Trump circles, plans were being made. The leader of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys was arrested coming into the nation’s capital this week on a weapons charge for carrying empty high-capacity magazines emblazoned with their logo. He admitted to police that he had made statements about rioting in Washington, local officials said.

"Trump and his allies were perhaps the biggest megaphones, encouraging protesters to turn out in force and support his false claim that the election had been stolen from him. He egged them on during a rally shortly before they marched to the Capitol and rioted. His personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor known for his tough-on-crime stance, called for “trial by combat.” McCarthy said law enforcement’s intelligence estimates of the potential crowd size in the run-up to the protests “were all over the board,” from a low of 2,000 to as many as 80,000. So the Capitol Police had set up no hard perimeter around the Capitol. Officers were focused on one side where lawmakers were entering to vote to certify Biden’s win. Barricades were set up on the plaza in front of the building, but police retreated from the line and a mob of people broke through. Lawmakers, at first unaware of the security breach, continued their debate. Soon they were cowering under chairs. Eventually they were escorted from the House and Senate. Journalists were left alone in rooms for hours as the mob attempted to break into barricaded rooms. Sund, the Capitol Police chief, said he had expected a display of “First Amendment activities” that instead turned into a “violent attack.” But Gus Papathanasiou, head of the Capitol Police union, said planning failures left officers exposed without backup or equipment against surging crowds of rioters. “We were lucky that more of those who breached the Capitol did not have firearms or explosives and did not have a more malign intent,” Papathanasiou said in a statement. “Tragic as the deaths are that resulted from the attack, we are fortunate the casualty toll was not higher.”

Law enforcement miserably failed to do its job. Failed to adequately prepare. Ignored Nazi Right activity on the Internet indicating they were preparing, planning for what happened at the Capitol.

"The Justice Department, FBI and other agencies began to monitor hotels, flights and social media for weeks and were expecting large crowds. Mayor Muriel Bowser had warned of impending violence for weeks, and businesses had closed in anticipation. She requested National Guard help from the Pentagon on Dec. 31, but the Capitol Police turned down the Jan. 3 offer from the Defense Department, according to Kenneth Rapuano, assistant defense secretary for homeland security. “We asked more than once and the final return that we got on Sunday the 3rd was that they would not be asking DOD for assistance,” he said."

Worse? Get this:

"The Justice Department’s offer for FBI support as the protesters grew violent was rejected by the Capitol Police, according to the two people familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. By then, it was too late. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department descended. Agents from nearly every Justice Department agency, including the FBI, were called in. So was the Secret Service and the Federal Protective Service. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent two tactical teams. Police from as far away as New Jersey arrived to help. It took four hours to evict the protesters from the Capitol complex. By then, they had roamed the halls of Congress, posed for photos inside hallowed chambers, broken through doors, destroyed property and taken photos of themselves doing it. Only 13 were arrested at the time; scores were arrested later. In the aftermath, a 7-foot fence will go up around the Capitol grounds for at least 30 days. The Capitol Police will conduct a review of the carnage, as well as their planning and policies. Lawmakers plan to investigate how authorities handled the rioting. The acting U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, said the failure to arrest more people is making their jobs harder. “Look, we have to now go through cell site orders, collect video footage to try to identify people and then charge them, and then try to execute their arrest. So that has made things challenging, but I can’t answer why those people weren’t zip-tied as they were leaving the building by the Capitol Police.”

NPR reports:

"The mob violence that descended on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was the culmination of weeks of incendiary rhetoric and increasingly feverish planning – much of which took place openly on websites popular with far-right conspiracy theorists. Jared Holt spends a lot of time on those websites. He's a visiting research fellow with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, where he has been focused on extremist online activity. Since November's election, Holt has seen websites like Parler, Gab, TheDonald, and MeWe fill with torrents of "conspiracy theories, disinformation and outright lies about the results of the election," he says. "And those lies often came from the top arbiters of power in the Republican Party, notably President Donald Trump himself." The events of Jan. 6 brought unprecedented traffic to some niche sites. The CEO of Gab, Andrew Torba, said that the site's traffic was up 40% on Wednesday. More than 80% of the top posts on TheDonald on Wednesday about the Electoral College certification featured calls for violence in the top five responses, according to research from Advance Democracy, an independent, nonpartisan organization. And it wasn't just fringe websites. On Twitter, Advance Democracy found more than 1,480 posts from QAnon-related accounts about Jan. 6 that contained terms of violence since Jan. 1. On TikTok, videos promoting violence garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Trump's claims have fueled increasingly heated rhetoric since the election, Holt says – spiking in the last couple of weeks as Trump doubled down on conspiracy theories like the false and unfounded notion that a company that makes electronic voting systems had deleted votes for Trump. "Then it really, really went nuts," Holt says. After Trump promoted a Jan. 6 protest in D.C., "a lot of his extremist supporters interpreted this as a call to action for them." Holt and his colleagues saw fringe social media sites fill with messages organizing logistics for that date, as well as activation of anti-government extremists like militia groups, conspiracy theorists and white nationalist activists "on a scale and volume that we haven't seen at any other point during the electoral process this cycle." As it became clear over the last week that Vice President Pence was unlikely to try to overturn the results of the election, Holt says the discussion on the right-wing extremist sites turned to taking matters into their own hands. On forum boards like TheDonald and antigovernment and militia movement group chats, those conversations included plans to surround the Capitol on all sides, alongside maps of the U.S. Capitol complex marked with locations of tunnels and entry points. "And there was discussion specifically of overwhelming police with large crowds and doing that in order to violate laws against carrying weapons and against entering federal buildings," Holt says. There wasn't a specific time or a formal plan, "but the discussions to do exactly what we saw [Wednesday] ... this was an idea that was fomenting and spreading and shared approvingly between users in these extremist communities that we've been watching." There was also much discussion on such forums about ways to find and attack Black Lives Matter and antifascist protesters, Holt says. But on Wednesday, those groups largely stayed home. That may have shifted Trump supporters' focus to its eventual target, Holt suggests: "Perhaps the lack of a counterprotest to receive the violence that all these supporters were so ready to unleash meant that that energy instead was directed at the federal government." "Maybe it'll happen — probably not. And then it all happened."

Where was law enforcement? Weren't they monitoring these sites?

NPR reports:

"Several Capitol Police officers have been suspended in connection with last week's fatal riot at the U.S. Capitol by protesters loyal to President Trump, Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman announced Monday evening. Earlier, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, had said one of the suspended officers took a selfie with a rioter, and another donned a Make America Great Again hat and "started directing people around." Ryan chairs the House subcommittee that is investigating the police response to last Wednesday's riot. He also said that about 10 to 15 other Capitol Police officers are under investigation. The suspensions come as investigators dig through photos and videos posted online showing much of what went on during the attack on the Capitol while Congress worked on certifying the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joe Biden. Pittman said some of the images show "USCP officers and officials that appear to be in violation of Department regulations and policies." Rioters trashed congressional offices and in some cases attacked Capitol Police officers. "It is our intention to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," Pittman said. Two Capitol Police officers who were on duty during the melee died later, one from physical injuries, and the other by suicide. Pittman, the new acting chief, was appointed after Chief Steven Sund resigned amid complaints that he hadn't prepared for possible violence out of a planned demonstration by Trump supporters. Sund says he did ask for National Guard help but was denied."

1-15-21

Resignations. NPR reports:

"A day after an insurrection that overtook the U.S. Capitol, the Capitol's three top security officials resigned from their posts amid building pressure from lawmakers and others over failures that allowed the dramatic breach. The House and Senate's top protocol officers and the U.S. Capitol Police chief are now all expected to be replaced following a series of resignations in the wake of the security failures. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he accepted the resignation of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger late Thursday. Earlier Thursday, incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would fire Stenger if he didn't quit first. "Today I requested and received the resignation of Michael Stenger, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, effective immediately," McConnell said. McConnell said lawmakers are beginning to "examine the serious failures that transpired yesterday and continue and strengthen our preparations for a safe and successful inauguration on January 20th." Earlier Thursday, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned his position hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others called for his removal."

United Press International reports:

"Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao resigned on Thursday, a day after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building. The two members of Trump's Cabinet submitted their resignations on Thursday amid growing calls for Trump to be removed from office via the 25th amendment, CNN and The Wall Street Journal reported. "Today, there was a lot of soul-searching and discussion," a senior administration official told CNN regarding the resignations. "It was obviously the right thing to do." In a letter to Trump announcing her resignation, DeVos said Trump's words served to encourage the rioters. "There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation and it is the inflection point for me," she wrote.

"Chao discussed the matter with her staff and her husband, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, before deciding to resign, saying that Wednesday's riot was "entirely avoidable." In a statement, Chao said the storm of the Capitol building "has troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside."

"Later Thursday, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division also resigned. In a statement, he said serving in the department "has been the honor of a lifetime."

1-15-21

Trump, achingly gutless. The Associated Press reports:

"President Donald Trump said Friday he will skip President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, undercutting his message a day earlier that he would work to ensure a “smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.” Trump, who offered no clues for how he would spend his final hours in office, will be the first incumbent president since Andrew Johnson not to attend his successor’s swearing-in. Traditionally, the incoming and outgoing presidents ride to the U.S. Capitol together for the ceremony, as a symbol of the nation’s peaceful transition. Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, and George W. and Laura Bush have said they will attend. The decision to skip the symbolic transfer of power came two days after a violent mob of Trump’s supporters occupied the Capitol for several hours as lawmakers were tallying the electoral votes that certified Biden’s victory. Biden will become president at noon on Jan. 20 regardless of Trump’s plans."

1-15-21

Blow back. NPR reports:

"Simon & Schuster says it has decided not to publish a forthcoming book by Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, citing the lawmaker's role in fomenting this week's "disturbing [and] deadly insurrection" at the U.S. Capitol. Hawley quickly fired back at the publisher, calling the move "Orwellian" and an "assault on the First Amendment." In a statement issued via tweet Thursday evening, Simon & Schuster said it was canceling publication of the book, The Tyranny of Big Tech, following Wednesday's assault on the Capitol by supporters of President Trump who aimed to upend the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's Nov. 3 election victory. Hawley, a Republican and outspoken Trump ally, has been accused of helping incite the throng of rioters who stormed the House and Senate chambers, smashing windows, ransacking offices and forcing frightened lawmakers to take shelter in secure locations. Hawley was also one of six senators who raised objections to the certification of Electoral College votes confirming Joe Biden as the next president. "We did not come to this decision lightly," Simon & Schuster said. "As publisher, it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints," the announcement read. "[At] the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom." Hawley — who was photographed early Wednesday afternoon offering a raised fist in apparent solidarity with the crowd that would later attack the houses of Congress — responded on Twitter to the decision by "the woke mob @simonschuster." He threatened legal action and accused the publisher of quashing free speech."

What a crock of shit coming from a nazi.

"My statement on the woke mob at @simonschuster pic.twitter.com/pDxtZvz5J0
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 7, 2021

"This could not be more Orwellian," Hawley wrote. "I was representing my constituents, leading a debate on the Senate floor on voter integrity, which they have now decided to rebrand as sedition." "Only approved speech can now be published," he added. "This is the Left looking to cancel everyone they don't approve of. I will fight this cancel culture with everything I have. We'll see you in court."

May wind up in criminal court yourself, Senator.

"Simon & Schuster's decision comes as former Missouri Republican Sen. John Danforth, commenting in the wake of the assault on the Capitol, described his recruitment of Hawley to run for the U.S. Senate in 2018 as "the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life." "I thought he was special. And I did my best to encourage people to support him," Danforth said Thursday. The senator who represented Missouri for nearly two decades until 1995 said if it had not been for Hawley's key role in objecting to the Electoral College votes, Wednesday's chaos "wouldn't have happened." "But for him the approval of the Electoral College votes would have been simply a formality," Danforth said. "He made it into something that it was a specific way to express the view that the election was stolen. He was responsible." Hawley's office did not immediately respond to Danforth's charges, but in a more general statement, the senator said he would "never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections. That's my job, and I will keep doing it."

Jesus Christ. Give me a break. What a crock of shit from a deluded liar.

1-15-21

Trump gets boot from Twitter. The Associated Press reports:

"@realDonaldTrump, the Twitter feed that grew from the random musings of a reality TV star into the cudgel of an American president, has died. It was not quite 12 years old. The provocative handle was given birth by a New York real estate tycoon who used it to help him become the 45th U.S. president. It began with a May 4, 2009, tweet promoting Donald Trump’s upcoming appearance on David Letterman’s show. It died more than 57,000 tweets later, with Trump using some of his final postings on the powerful platform to commiserate with a pro-Trump mob that besieged the halls of Congress in a deadly assault as lawmakers were set to certify his defeat. The account met its demise when Twitter announced Friday it was pulling the plug permanently on @realDonaldTrump, citing concern that Trump would use it for “further incitement of violence.” Trump retorted that he’d be “building out our own platform in the near future. We will not be SILENCED!”

Jesus Christ. Give the world a break, Donny boy. LOL.

1-15-21

Legislators questioning law enforcement Capitol failure. The Associated Press reports:

"The police were badly outnumbered. Only a few dozen guarded the West front of the Capitol when they were rushed by thousands of rioters bent on breaking into the building. Armed with metal pipes, pepper spray and other weapons, the mob pushed past the thin police line. One rioter hurled a fire extinguisher at an officer, according to video widely circulated on YouTube. “They’re getting into the Capitol tonight! They’re getting in,” the man filming shouts in delight. They breached the line moments later, and rioters soon broke into the building, taking over the House and Senate chambers and running wild in Statuary Hall and other hallowed symbols of democracy. The mob ransacked the place, smashing windows and waving Trump, American and Confederate flags. The lawmakers who were voting to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory were forced into hiding for hours. Throughout the melee, police officers were injured, mocked, ridiculed and threatened. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died Thursday night from injuries suffered during the riot. Four other people also died because of the Capitol violence. The melee was instigated by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump who have professed their love of law enforcement and derided the mass police reform protests that shook the nation last year following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “We backed you guys in the summer,” one person screamed at three officers backed against a door by dozens of men screaming for them to get out of their way. “When the whole country hated you, we had your back!” The rampage shocked the world and left the country on edge, forcing the resignations of three top Capitol security officials over the failure to stop the breach. Lawmakers have demanded a review of operations and an FBI briefing over what they called a “terrorist attack.” Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, police planned only for a free speech demonstration — a decision that has come under increasing scrutiny since the riot. Rank-and-file officers “were put in a incredibly dangerous situation. And that’s really where my frustration comes in, said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who leads a subcommittee that oversees the Capitol Police budget. Police Chief Steven Sund, who along with other top security officials was ousted after the riot, is responsible for protecting lawmakers, “but also making sure that the rank-and-file members are put in situations where they’re as safe as possible and they have the support they need. And that clearly isn’t the case,” Ryan said. One disturbing video shows a bloodied police officer screaming for help as he’s crushed by rioters inside the Capitol building. The young officer is pinned between a riot shield and metal door. Bleeding from the mouth, he cries out in pain and screams, “Help!” Other images show police completely overwhelmed by rioters who shoved, kicked and punched their way into the building. In one stunning video, a lone police officer tries to hold off a mob of demonstrators from cracking into the lobby. He fails."

How could this happen? Especially, in view of the following:

"The riot focused renewed attention on Capitol Police, a force of more than 2,300 officers and civilian employees that protects the Capitol, lawmakers, staff and visitors. The agency has an annual budget of about $515 million. Three days before the riot, the Pentagon offered National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. Capitol Police turned down both offers, according to senior defense officials and two people familiar with the matter.

"By Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17 cases in federal district court and 40 others in the District of Columbia Superior Court for a variety of offenses, ranging from assaulting police officers to entering restricted areas of the U.S. Capitol, stealing federal property and threatening lawmakers. Prosecutors said dozens of other people were being sought by federal agents, and the U.S. attorney in Washington vowed that “all options were on the table” for charges, including possibly sedition. Among those charged was Richard Barnett, an Arkansas man who was shown in a widely seen photo sitting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with his boots on a desk. He also wrote a disparaging note to Pelosi. Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen called the photo of Barnett a “shocking image” and “repulsive. “Those who are proven to have committed criminal acts during the storming of the Capitol will face justice, Rosen said. Two rioters whose photos had become synonymous with the riot were also taken into federal custody and charged on Saturday: Adam Johnson, 36, of Florida, who was photographed walking out with Pelosi’s lectern — where she stood to announce Trump’s impeachment — on theft, violent entry and disorderly conduct charges; and Jacob Anthony Chansley, more commonly known as Jake Angeli, who had become a staple in his fur-clad Viking-like costume and painted face at pro-Trump protests across the country. Also charged was a West Virginia state lawmaker who posted videos online showing himself pushing his way inside the Capitol, fist bumping with a police officer and then milling around the Rotunda as he shouted “Our house!” The lawmaker, Derrick Evans, was arrested by the FBI at his home on Friday and charged with entering restricted federal property. Sen. Mark Warner, the incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the Capitol a “crime scene” with evidence that needs to be preserved. The Virginia Democrat wrote 11 telecommunication and social media companies on Saturday asking them to immediately preserve messaging data and subscriber information from those who may have participated in the attack, saying it was “critical evidence in helping to bring these rioters to justice.” Those companies include mobile carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon and from the social media world — Apple, Facebook, Gab, Google, Parler, Signal, Telegram and Twitter. Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the Capitol Police Officers’ Union, said he was “incredibly proud of the individual officers whose actions protected the lives of hundreds of members of Congress and their staff.” Once the breach of the Capitol building was inevitable, officers prioritized lives over property, leading people to safety, he said. “Not one member of Congress or their staff was injured. Our officers did their jobs. Our leadership did not. Our law enforcement partners that assisted us were remarkable.”

1-15-21

Double standard. NPR reports:

"From her couch in Minneapolis, Nuny Nichols watched a mob of largely white extremists stage an insurrection in Washington, D.C., set up a noose on a wooden beam outside the U.S. Capitol and walk a symbol of violence and slavery — the Confederate flag — through the building as they stormed and raided it. She was angry, but she was not surprised at the way people in the mob laughed as they took things from the building. There were white extremists who felt at ease giving their names to media outlets and taking selfies with a white police officer. It stood in stark contrast to the way law enforcement handled protests for Black lives this summer in Minneapolis, where Nichols demonstrated."

Did it ever.

"People who were just out there to protest — to make sure our voice is being heard — as soon as they were getting even close to a building, or even close to a police officer, they were instantly tear gassing and they were shooting rubber bullets," she recalls. Meanwhile, she watched this actual mob, incited by President Trump, storm the Capitol with what appeared to be little resistance. "Now the world gets to see the difference between these two situations, where one is us protesting to be seen, to be heard, to not be killed, right?" she said. "And then you have these other people who are just mad because they lost." The president took a different tone on Wednesday than this summer, when he called overwhelmingly peaceful protesters for racial justice "thugs," "agitators" and "looters." He tweeted "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." He threatened protesters outside the White House with "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons."

Expect better from a racist nazi?

"But when the Capitol was stormed Wednesday, Trump told the extremists threatening to execute Democrats and target journalists and BLM activists "we love you, you're very special ... but you have to go home." Prior to the mob storming the Capitol, he'd told the rally of his supporters to "fight like hell." By the end of the day, one person was killed by a police officer, three others died. One police officer later died from his injuries. Two pipe bombs were found at the Democratic and Republican headquarters. Political pundits and elected officials in Washington, D.C., expressed shock that this could happen in the United States. Cries of "this is not what America is" or "no one could have predicted this" were frequent. These claims made Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson livid. She and others had been sounding the alarm for years. "Those of us that are Black, brown, Indigenous, AAPI, Southern and rural and that had watched and studied history since the 1800s know that this is actually very, very possible in America," she said. "Just because folks don't believe those of us that come from targeted and marginalized communities, doesn't mean that we haven't been predicting this all the while. The South has been saying that white supremacists in elected positions is a dangerous and consequential matter that this country needs to pay attention to." She's a national activist for the Movement for Black Lives and co-executive director of the storied social justice center, the Highlander Research and Education Center, in eastern Tennessee. It sounded the alarm when elected officials were espousing or showing sympathy with white supremacist ideals over the past four years. Its administrative building was set on fire last year, a white power symbol spray-painted on the ground. "This isn't new," Henderson said. "There are just dots that aren't being connected. And so I felt frustrated that my friends and I survived Charlottesville and said that white supremacist violence was on the rise, that we survived and fought back." But it felt as if no one was listening to their warnings. All the while, she said, Black organizers and activists were being maligned. "People like me, Black people who have been doing work to actually put this country in a place where we're practicing our ideals around justice and liberty for everybody, are being designated Black identity extremists, being compared to the same people" that are attacking the Capitol, she said. "I felt frustrated, I felt empathy for every targeted and marginalized community in this country that was like, 'God, man, they really clearly treat us differently than they treat white people and all of the hard feelings that come with that.' "

Racist nazis.

"That hypocrisy was not surprising, she said. "It just exaggerated the contradictions to me around how the state and how police respond to Black and Indigenous and Latinx and Asian and Pacific Islander folks when we protest," she said. "Versus how they responded to gun-toting white supremacists that were coming into the Capitol." Racism and anti-Semitism were on full display Wednesday, although some in the crowd said they don't subscribe to these sentiments. A newly elected West Virginia lawmaker livestreamed himself storming the Capitol as Congress people hid for safety. He was later charged with illegal entry and dozens of others were also later arrested and charged, largely with illegal entry or violating curfew. For Ashley Howard, a historian and scholar of violent protests and social movements at the University of Iowa, her mind didn't jump to protests over the summer seeking to end oppression and injustice. It jumped further back to the nadir of American race relations, a period of American history from the end of Reconstruction to the early 20th century, when violent force was used to maintain the status quo. African Americans lived through a reign of terror: lynchings, segregation, Jim Crow laws and an increase of white supremacy. Wednesday's attack "was a show of force in service of maintaining a racial and social hierarchy," she said. "We see folks shamelessly, shamelessly live-streaming sieging the Capitol ... so this shows how power is working in our nation, that they are doing so without remorse, without fear of any retribution." The smiling photographs of white men armed with bats, shields and chemical spray in the Capitol building made her think of the grisly lynching photographs that were taken in the early part of the 20th century. "Where people were [posing] in front of the deceased person, smiling, preening for the camera, and then authorities would close the investigation of the lynching and say that it had occurred at the hands of persons unknown, unwilling to name and to hold accountable the people who actually did this," she said. "The fact that the FBI is, in essence, crowdsourcing this investigation really to me calls to mind these kind of earlier moments of terror in our history." Meanwhile, she said the FBI used an elite spy plane, a Cessna Citation jet to surveil Black Lives Matter protests in Baltimore in 2015 and police used cell phone tracking technology."

Consider the following:

"In Georgia, Ron Harris watched with terror and anger on Wednesday. The Democratic National Committee member had been organizing for the U.S. Senate wins that were overshadowed by the insurrection in Washington, D.C. The state elected its first Black and first Jewish senators in closely contested races in which Democrats flipped the state by turning out Black and brown voters. "To not even have a day to celebrate that, and then to turn on the TV and see a huge white mob that was incited by the president to then take over the Capitol building, it was frustrating because I've seen people tackled, arrested, pepper sprayed, tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, killed for a whole lot less," he said. Harris protested in his city of Minneapolis last summer. And what he saw in D.C., he says, proves what he and other organizers have been saying: That law enforcement makes choices about how they react to people. Black and brown people protesting for social justice are seen as criminals; a mostly white mob attacking the Capitol are seen as demonstrators. "I think that people, the large majority are saying, 'Look you know how to act when it's white folks, you know how to apprehend when it's someone white, you know how to be calm, you know how not to escalate. You know how not to kill,' " Harris said. "For whatever reason, it seems like that knowledge and that ability and those skills get lost when it's us, when it's Black and brown folks."

Racist nazism. In what is supposed to be a democratic republic. In reality, a de facto fascist police-state.

1-15-21

Impeachment. The Associated Press reports:

"Warnings flashing, Democrats in Congress laid plans for swift impeachment of President Donald Trump, demanding decisive, immediate action to ensure an “unhinged” commander in chief can’t add to the damage they say he’s inflicted or even ignite nuclear war in his final days in office. As the country comes to terms with the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters that left five dead, the crisis that appears to be among the final acts of his presidency is deepening like few others in the nation’s history. With less than two weeks until he’s gone, Democrats want him out — now — and he has few defenders speaking up for him in his own Republican Party. “We must take action,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Friday on a private conference call with Democrats. And one prominent Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, told the Anchorage Daily News that Trump simply “needs to get out.” The final days of Trump’s presidency are spinning toward a chaotic end as he holes up at the White House, abandoned by many aides, top Republicans and Cabinet members. After refusing to concede defeat in the November election, he has now promised a smooth transfer of power when Democratic President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. But even so, he says he will not attend the inauguration — the first such presidential snub since just after the Civil War. In Congress, where many have watched and reeled as the president spent four years breaking norms and testing the nation’s guardrails of democracy, Democrats are unwilling to take further chances. The mayhem that erupted Wednesday at the Capitol stunned the world and threatened the traditional peaceful transfer of power. Pelosi said she had spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley “to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes” for nuclear war. She said Milley assured her longstanding safeguards are in place. The president has sole authority to order the launch of a nuclear weapon, but a military commander could refuse the order if it were determined to be illegal. Trump has not publicly made such threats, but officials warn of grave danger if the president is left unchecked. “This unhinged president could not be more dangerous,” Pelosi said of the current situation."

No question. Been a problem last four years. What took so long?

"The Democrats are considering lightning-quick action. A draft of their Articles of Impeachment accuses Trump of abuse of power, saying he “willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol,” according to a person familiar with the details who was granted anonymity to discuss them. The articles are expected to be introduced on Monday, with a House vote as soon as Wednesday. If Trump were to be impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate, he might also be prevented from running again for the presidency in 2024 or ever holding public office again. He would be the only president twice impeached. A person on the call said Pelosi also discussed other ways Trump might be forced to resign."

In another article, The Associated Press reports:

"Democrats say the House will consider the impeachment of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, one week after an angry mob of his supporters invaded the Capitol. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Democrats on a call Monday that members should plan to return to Washington on Tuesday evening to consider a House resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority to remove Trump from office. That resolution is expected to pass, but Pence is unlikely to act. Hoyer says the House will then consider impeachment on Wednesday. House Democrats have moved quickly to draft an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection because he egged on thousands of his supporters ahead of the riots by falsely telling them that the election was stolen from him. One of the Democratic sponsors of the article, Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, says they have the votes to pass it."

1-15-21

Think insanity isn't rampant in the highest echelons of the Republican Party? Lawyers who should know better? NBC News reports:

"An arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, a national group representing the top law enforcement officers in their states, sent out robocalls encouraging people to march to the U.S. Capitol the day before the building was stormed by a pro-Trump mob. “At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” said the voice on the recording, which was obtained by NBC News. The calls, which did not advocate violence or suggest the building should be breached, was sent out by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a fundraising arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association. The groups share funding, staff and office space in Washington, D.C. In a statement to NBC News, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who runs the fund, said the calls were sent out without his knowledge. “I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week’s rally,” said Marshall, who assumed his role Nov. 10. “Despite currently transitioning into my role as the newly elected chairman of RLDF, it is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions. I have directed an internal review of this matter.” A website set up to promote the rally that preceded the Capitol incursion lists the Rule of Law Defense Fund as one of the participating organizations. The site has since been taken down. Adam Piper, the executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, and Peter Bisbee, the executive director of the fundraising arm, did not return requests for comment about the robocalls, which were first reported by the watchdog group Documented. A spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, the chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, said he “had no knowledge or involvement in this decision.” “Attorney General Carr has been working diligently to determine how this situation occurred and ensure that it does not happen again,” said spokesperson Katie Byrd. “The stance of the protestors was not consistent with Attorney General Carr’s position on election fraud. And, as he has been saying since moments after seeing news break, the violence and destruction we saw at the U.S. Capitol is unacceptable and un-American.”

Time to defund these idiots:

"The Republican Attorneys General Association raised more than $18 million in 2020 from several top corporations, including Pepsi, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase and Comcast, the parent company of NBC News. Its supporters also include interest groups such as the NRA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was its top donor in 2020 with a $750,000 contribution. Many companies that donated to the Republican Attorneys General Association also gave to the Democratic Party equivalent. Several told NBC News that spending money on this kind of recruitment for protest runs counter to the purpose of their donation. Reached for comment, the Chamber of Commerce provided a statement from Harold Kim, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. “We are appalled at Wednesday's incursion into the Capital, and did not support any efforts by the Rule of Law Defense Fund,” he said. “We do not support any similar activities now, and will not in the future.” A Microsoft spokesperson said: “We condemn the actions taken by the RLDF and are raising our concerns directly with RAGA. Earlier this week, we spoke out alongside others in the business community regarding the violence that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol.” A JPMorgan spokesperson said its political action committee donated $25,000 to the attorneys general group and none of it went to the Rule of Law Defense Fund. “Our PAC contributions to both the Republican and Democratic Attorneys General associations were used strictly for attorneys generals’ campaign purposes,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC, which donated $150,000 in 2020, said it has requested an immediate refund of its sponsorship to the Republican Attorneys General Association, and the organization obliged. “We had no knowledge of RAGA’s association with the Rule of Law fund or any connection in the January 6 insurrectionists’ storm on the U.S. Capitol,” spokesperson Brandon Scott said in a statement. “Cherokee Nation Businesses does not condone these actions and strongly condemns the insurrectionists and all those who instigated the disruption of the federal government through their words and actions.” Melaleuca, an online wellness shopping club, gave $290,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2020. “We are appalled at the events that culminated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol,” the company said in a statement. “We have never contributed to Rule of Law Defense Fund. We have been assured by RAGA that none of our contributions to RAGA were given to the Rule of Law Defense Fund.” Pepsi, the NRA and Comcast did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Republican Attorneys General Association did not address questions about the robocall but sought to distance the organization from the event. “The Republican Attorneys General Association and Rule of Law Defense Fund had no involvement in the planning, sponsoring, or the organization of Wednesday’s event,” the spokesperson said. “No Republican AG authorized the staff’s decision to amplify a colleague speaking at the event. Organizationally and individually, we strongly condemn and disavow the events which occurred.” One of its members, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, attended the rally and spoke to the crowd, saying, “We will not quit fighting.” Following the Capitol invasion, he tweeted, “I am sorely disappointed today in the certification of the election, but I don’t believe violence is the answer.” Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment."

What is most interesting about the above is the fact that nowhere does it question, state precisely what these top of the food chain donors expected in return for their 'generosity.'

1-15-21

Additional pressure. A second Georgia Trump phone call disclosed. The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump urged Georgia’s lead elections investigator to “find the fraud” in a lengthy December phone call, saying the official would be a “national hero,” according to an individual familiar with the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the conversation. Trump placed the call to the investigations chief for the Georgia secretary of state’s office shortly before Christmas — while the individual was leading an inquiry into allegations of ballot fraud in Cobb County, in the suburbs of Atlanta, according to people familiar with the episode. The president’s attempts to intervene in an ongoing investigation could amount to obstruction of justice or other criminal violations, legal experts said, though they cautioned a case could be difficult to prove. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had launched the inquiry following allegations that Cobb election officials had improperly accepted mail ballots with signatures that did not match those on file — claims that state officials ultimately concluded had no merit. In an interview with The Washington Post on Friday, Raffensperger confirmed that Trump had placed the Dec. 23 call. He said he was not familiar with the specifics of what the president said in the conversation with his chief investigator, but said it was inappropriate for Trump to have tried to intervene in the case. “That was an ongoing investigation,” Raffensperger said. “I don’t believe that an elected official should be involved in that process.” The Post is withholding the name of the investigator, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, because of the risk of threats and harassment directed at election officials. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Since Election Day, Trump has made at least three calls to government officials in Georgia in an attempt to subvert President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, beginning with a conversation with Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in early December to berate him for certifying the state’s election results. The president is furious with both Raffensperger and Kemp, who have refused to echo his claims that the election was rigged. He has complained that they betrayed him after he endorsed both of their 2018 elections. At a rally Wednesday in Washington, shortly before his supporters ransacked the Capitol, he attacked them personally onstage, calling the two men “corrupt.” Trump’s call to the chief investigator occurred more than a week before he spent an hour on the phone with Raffensperger, pushing him to overturn the vote. In that Jan. 2 conversation, the president alternately berated the secretary of state, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the fellow Republican refused to pursue his false claims, at one point warning that he was taking “a big risk.” Legal experts said Trump’s call to the secretary of state may have broken state or federal laws that bar the solicitation of election fraud or prohibit participating in a conspiracy against people exercising their civil rights. Trump’s earlier call to the chief investigator could also carry serious criminal implications, according to several former prosecutors, who said that the president may have violated laws against bribery or interfering with an ongoing probe."

The Associated Press reports:

"While election officials in Georgia were verifying signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in one metro-Atlanta county, President Donald Trump pressured the lead investigator to “find the fraud” and said it would make the investigator a national hero. The December call, described by a person familiar with it who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to describe the sensitive nature of the discussion, preceded Trump’s Jan. 2 call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where he asked election officials to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state’s presidential election. The call to the investigator occurred as election officials were conducting an audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in Cobb County. The audit, which reviewed more than 15,000 signatures, found no cases of fraud. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation helped conduct the signature audit.

"Trump held at least three phone calls with Georgia officials seeking to overturn the election results before Congress certified Biden’s Electoral College win early Thursday -- hours after a violent throng of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol. During a call in early December, Trump pressed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to order a special session of the state legislature to subvert Biden’s victory. Kemp refused. Trump repeatedly lashed out at Raffensperger and Kemp, both fellow Republicans, and others he saw as standing in his way of overturning his election loss."

1-15-21

Capitol Police warned. NBC News reports:

"The FBI and the New York City Police Department passed information to U.S. Capitol Police about the possibility of violence during the protests Wednesday against the counting of the Electoral College vote, and the FBI even visited more than a dozen extremists already under investigation to urge them not to travel to Washington, senior law enforcement officials said. The previously unreported details undercut the assertion by a top FBI official that officials had no indication that violence was a possibility, and they add to questions about what intelligence authorities had reviewed before the Capitol riot, which led to the death of an officer and four other people, including a rioter who was shot and killed by police. "Social media is just part of a full intelligence picture, and while there was First Amendment-protected activity on social media to include some people making threats, to this point, investigators have not found that there was an organized plot to access the Capitol," a senior FBI official said. It was immediately obvious after the Capitol was seized by a violent mob Wednesday that Capitol Police, whose job is to defend the facility and the lawmakers who work there, had completely misjudged the security threat. The chief of the force was quickly forced out of his job, as were other key legislative security officials. As evidence mounts that some extremists had told the world what they had in mind through social media, questions are emerging about whether the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies took the postings seriously enough — and why, if they did, they didn't step in until well after the building was under attack. Asked Friday whether the slow police response Wednesday was the result of an intelligence failure, the official who leads the FBI's Washington field office, Steven D'Antuono, said no. "There was no indication that there was anything [planned] other than First Amendment-protected activity," he said. D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said something similar Thursday, telling reporters, "There was no intelligence that suggested there would be a breach of the U.S. Capitol." Ken Rapuano, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, told reporters that the Justice Department and other law enforcement officials told the Defense Department repeatedly that they had no indications that there would be "significant violent protests." But there were ample indications of potential violence. NBC News has reported that a digital flyer made public on Instagram and Facebook last month referred to what would happen as "Operation Occupy the Capitol." On the fringe message board 8kun, which is popular with QAnon followers, users talked for weeks about a siege of the Capitol. "You can go to Washington on Jan 6 and help storm the Capitol," an 8kun user said Tuesday, a day before the siege. "As many Patriots as can be. We will storm the government buildings, kill cops, kill security guards, kill federal employees and agents, and demand a recount." Daniel J. Jones, president of Advance Democracy Inc., a global research organization that studies disinformation and extremism, told NBC News in a story published the day before the riot: "In regard to the protests planned for Jan. 6, the violent rhetoric we're seeing online is at a new level. There are endorsements of violence across all of the platforms."

Get this:

"How could the FBI and other agencies have missed all that? It turns out they didn't, officials said. "Prior to this event, the FBI obtained credible and actionable information about individuals who were planning on traveling to the protests who expressed a desire to engage in violence," the senior FBI official said. "The FBI was able to discourage those individuals from traveling to D.C." The official added that "the FBI and our federal, state and local partners collected and shared available intelligence in preparation for the various planned events." "The FBI was prepared to adapt as needed to fluid events on the ground, including having rapid response teams in reserve," the official said. "Throughout most of the day the crowd was peaceful and nonconfrontational. "However, when it became clear that some individuals were surging onto the Capitol grounds and entering the buildings, the U.S. Capitol Police requested assistance. Within 50 minutes of that request, three FBI tactical teams were on scene to gain control of the area and offer protection to congressional members and staff. Over the course of the evening, the FBI presence ultimately grew to over 150 agents and other personnel." The official wasn't in a position to explain why D'Antuono, the head of the Washington field office, said there had been no indications of violence. The FBI official said that by dissuading some extremists from traveling to Washington, the bureau may have prevented an even more violent situation. New York police, who have the most robust intelligence collection and analytical arm of any local police agency in the country, sent law enforcement agencies across the country — including Capitol Police — an intelligence packet describing threats and violent rhetoric on social media in the weeks and days leading up to the rally, multiple senior law enforcement officials said. The officials said Capitol Police were given a specific and separate intelligence report describing extremist rhetoric and threats of violence that appeared on social media in connection with the rally.

"It wasn't just police agencies that issued warnings. A private intelligence report issued in December, obtained by NBC News, said the "'million-MAGA march' in Washington DC on 6 January is the next major flashpoint ... the mass event (which will be held in the National Mall and outside the Capitol) is likely to spark street violence, some of which may be lethal, between Antifa and Trump supporters or far-right groups." Many questions remain about why the FBI, Homeland Security and other agencies didn't do more to make sure the Capitol was protected. Officials have said Capitol Police reassured everyone that they could handle the situation, and key lawmakers said they heard the same assurances from the force.

"The FBI is also under scrutiny. Its top investigative priority is terrorism, foreign and domestic. Had this been an al Qaeda plot to storm the Capitol, some experts said, it is likely that the FBI would have arrested the participants before they left their home airports on the way to Washington. One difference, however, is that there is no domestic terrorism statute, which gives the FBI fewer avenues to legally monitor suspects, including their postings on the dark web, said NBC News contributor Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director of the FBI. Outside a criminal investigation of a specific person or group, Figliuzzi said Saturday, "the FBI is not permitted to look and monitor the very same things that you and I can look at on Twitter and Parler." Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney for northern Alabama, said the FBI has tools to monitor potential violence by domestic extremists. She suggested that the issue was one of emphasis and will. "The challenge for FBI and DOJ is to assign a permanent priority to domestic white supremacist terror groups and treat them as seriously as they treat foreign terrorism," she said."

1-15-21

Schwarzenegger stands tall. NPR reports:

"Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a heartfelt video to Twitter on Sunday, recounting his childhood in Austria after World War II and denouncing the violent mob that overtook the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. The video, nearly eight minutes long and set to swelling music, starts by recalling Kristallnacht — or the Night of Broken Glass — an infamous night in 1938 when a mob of Nazi sympathizers stormed through Jewish neighborhoods in Germany, destroying thousands of businesses, rounding up Jewish men to be sent to concentration camps and killing dozens of people in the process. The night was named for the broken glass from Jewish homes and businesses that littered the streets, and it came to symbolize shattered Jewish lives. "Wednesday was the day of broken glass right here in the United States," Schwarzenegger says in the video, which by Sunday afternoon had been viewed nearly 12 million times. "The broken glass was in the windows of the United States Capitol. But the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol. They shattered the ideals we took for granted. They did not just break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded." Schwarzenegger, who immigrated to the United States in 1968, was born in Austria two years after World War II ended and the Nazi regime fell. In the video, he talks about the emotional pain he remembers all around him during his childhood. "Growing up, I was surrounded by broken men drinking away their guilt with their participation in the most evil regime in history," he says. "Not all of them were rabid anti-Semites or Nazis. Many just went along step by step down the road. They were the people next door." Schwarzenegger's father was a member of the Nazi party — something Schwarzenegger himself didn't know until decades later — and in the video, he talks openly about his father's anger and the abuse his father inflicted on the family after the war. He says he saw the same anger in his neighbors and grew up thinking it was normal. "My father and our neighbors were misled also with lies. And I know where such lies lead," he recalls in the video. "President Trump is a failed leader. He will go down in history as the worst president ever." The former governor is a member of the Republican Party but has often spoken out against Trump. In the video, he denounces members of his party who stand by the president, calling them "complicit" in the insurrection. But he also points out that within hours of the assault on the Capitol, Congress was back in session, certifying Joe Biden's victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election. "What a great display of democracy," he says."

Indeed.

"In a surprising twist near the end of the video, Schwarzenegger — known not only for his role in the Terminator franchise but also as Conan in Conan the Barbarian — holds up the Conan sword from the film. "Here's the thing about swords," he says, the blade gleaming in the light. "The more you temper a sword, the stronger it becomes. ... I'm not telling you all this because I want you to become an expert sword-maker, but our democracy is like the steel of this sword. The more it is tempered, the stronger it becomes." He ends his message in support of President-elect Biden and with a final message for the people involved in the attack on the Capitol building. "To those who think they can overturn the United States Constitution, know this: You will never win."

1-15-21

Pressure grows on Trump. United Press International reports:

"The House reconvened briefly on Tuesday morning to take up Democratic efforts to remove President Donald Trump from office, either by impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment. The chamber briefly held a pro forma session before adjourning again, ahead of a vote later Tuesday for a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to declare Trump unfit for office under the 25th Amendment. The chamber will reconvene to debate the measure and participate in a floor vote late Tuesday afternoon. If Pence does not comply with the resolution, the House will move forward wth a single article of impeachment that was introduced on Monday, which charges Trump with inciting the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol last week. House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said the impeachment vote would be expected Wednesday, after Pence is given 24 hours to respond. A vote on the "Raskin Resolution," which asks Pence to convene the Trump administration Cabinet and declare that he's "incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting president," is expected Tuesday. Pence has not indicated publicly that he will try to have Trump removed under the amendment. The article of impeachment against Trump already has enough support in the chamber to pass. Hoyer said that, once passed in the House, the article of impeachment should be transmitted immediately to the Senate for trial -- which would be Trump's second. He was impeached by the House and acquitted in the Senate a year ago on charges of abusing power and obstructing Congress related to conduct with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. No American president has ever been impeached twice. Some Democrats have raised the idea of delaying the trial in the Senate, which will soon be under Democratic control, for 100 days to allow the chamber to concentrate on passing President-elect Joe Biden's early legislative agenda and confirming his Cabinet choices. Biden said Monday it's possible the Senate could accomplish both immediately. "The question is whether or not, for example, if the House moves forward ... with the impeachment and sends it over to the Senate, whether or not we can bifurcate this," he told reporters in Delaware. Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York said a trial could be held without disrupting Biden's agenda. "We're going to have to do several things at once, but we've got to move the agenda as well," he told The Buffalo News. "Yes, we've got to do both."

The Associated Press reports:

"The U.S. House pressed swiftly forward Tuesday toward impeachment or other steps to forcibly remove President Donald Trump from office, even as Trump blamed Democratic foes and not himself for last week’s deadly attack on the Capitol. He targeted the lawmakers who are pushing for his ouster, saying that it’s “a really terrible thing that they’re doing.” “To continue on this path, I think it’s causing tremendous danger to our country, and it’s causing tremendous anger,” he said. He accepted no blame for the Capitol attack and said, “I want no violence.” The defeated president, in his first remarks to reporters since last week’s violence, showed no remorse for firing up the crowd ahead of the deadly invasion with comments that now are part of the impeachment charge of inciting insurrection. The president spoke as he left for Texas to survey the border wall with Mexico, taking no questions, after the most serious and deadly domestic incursion at the Capitol in the nation’s history. Impeachment ahead, the House on Tuesday will first try to convince the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly to remove Trump from office, warning he is a threat to democracy in the remaining days of his presidency. House lawmakers are reconvening at the Capitol for the first time since the deadly pro-Trump riot to approve a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to declare the president unable to serve. Pence is not expected to take any such action. The House would next move swiftly to impeach Trump. “We have to be very tough and very strong right now in defending the Constitution and democracy,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., an author of both pieces of legislation, in an interview. Trump faces a single charge — “incitement of insurrection” — in the impeachment resolution that the House will begin debating Wednesday, a week before Democrat Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated, Jan. 20. The unprecedented events, only the first U.S. president to be twice impeached, are unfolding in a nation bracing for more unrest. The FBI has warned ominously of potential armed protests in Washington and many states by Trump loyalists ahead of Biden’s inauguration. In a dark foreshadowing, the Washington Monument was closed to the public and the inauguration ceremony on the west steps of the Capitol will be off limits to the public. It all added up to stunning final moments for Trump’s presidency as Democrats and a growing number of Republicans declare he is unfit for office and could do more damage after inciting a mob that violently ransacked the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday.

"Democrats say they have the votes for impeachment. The impeachment bill from Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Ted Lieu of California, Raskin of Maryland and Jerrold Nadler of New York draws from Trump’s own false statements about his election defeat to Biden. Judges across the country, including some nominated by Trump, have repeatedly dismissed cases challenging the election results, and former Attorney General William Barr, a Trump ally, has said there was no sign of widespread fraud. The impeachment legislation also details Trump’s pressure on state officials in Georgia to “find” him more votes, as well as his White House rally ahead of the Capitol siege, in which he encouraged thousands of supporters last Wednesday to “fight like hell” and march to the building. The mob overpowered police, broke through security lines and windows and rampaged through the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were finalizing Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College. While some have questioned impeaching the president so close to the end of his term, Democrats and others argue he must be prevented from holding future public office. There is precedent for pursuing impeachment after an official leaves office. In 1876, during the Ulysses Grant administration, War Secretary William Belknap was impeached by the House the day he resigned, and the Senate convened a trial months later. He was acquitted."

In another article, The Associated Press reports:

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday took no responsibility for his part in fomenting a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week, despite his comments encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol and praise for them while they were still carrying out the assault. “People thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” Trump said. He made the comments during his first appearance in public since the Capitol siege, which came as lawmakers were tallying Electoral College votes affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Trump was heading to Texas on Tuesday to trumpet his campaign against illegal immigration in an attempt to burnish his legacy with eight days remaining in his term, as lawmakers in Congress appeared set to impeach him this week for the second time. The rampage through the halls of Congress sent lawmakers of both parties and Trump’s own vice president into hiding, as crowds called for Mike Pence’s lynching for his role overseeing the vote count. The scene also undermined the hallmark of the republic — the peaceful transition of power. At least five people died, including one Capitol Police officer. In the days leading up to the Jan. 6 certification vote, Trump encouraged his supporters to descend on Washington, D.C., promising a “wild” rally in support of his baseless claims of election fraud, despite his own administration’s findings to the contrary. Speaking for more than an hour to a crowd on the Ellipse, Trump encouraged supporters to “fight like hell” and suggested that Republican lawmakers would need “more courage not to step up” and overturn the will of voters to grant him another term in office. He also suggested he would join them in marching on the Capitol. As Trump wrapped up, thousands of his supporters were already heading to the Capitol, where lawmakers convened to count the electoral votes. As rioters were still in the building and lawmakers sheltered in secure locations, Trump, at the urging of aides who were shocked by the violence, released a video seemingly excusing the events, saying of the rioters: “We love you. You’re very special. Go home.” Speaking Tuesday, Trump said the “real problem” was not his rhetoric, but the rhetoric that Democrats used to describe Black Lives Matter protests and violence in Seattle and Portland this summer, “Everybody to the ‘t’ thought it was totally appropriate,” Trump said of his own comments."

NPR reports:

"Eight days from the end of his presidency, President Trump expressed no regret for his comments last week ahead of a riot and mob violence at the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the deaths of at least five people and multiple injuries. "People thought that what I said was totally appropriate," Trump said Tuesday when asked about his role in the siege, despite many at the highest levels of government — Republicans and Democrats — saying otherwise, three of his Cabinet members having resigned and a second impeachment effort now underway. Trump continued by deflecting reporters' questions and shifting focus. "And if you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level, about the riots during the summer, the horrible riots in Portland and Seattle and various other places, that was a real problem — what they said," Trump claimed, referring to protests over racial inequality and police brutality. He went on to say of his own speech that "everybody — to the T — thought it was totally appropriate." He later added, "You have to always avoid violence." Trump made the comments to reporters on his way to Texas for a visit to one of his signature campaign promises — the border wall. What Trump — and his son Donald Trump Jr. and his attorney Rudy Giuliani — said last Wednesday at a rally on the Ellipse outside the White House has been roundly criticized by various members of Congress from both political parties, who were in direct danger."

1-15-21

Impeachment update. The Associated Press reports:

"Republicans offered only modest reproach when President Donald Trump said there were “very fine people” on both sides of a white supremacist rally. They stayed in line when Trump was caught pressuring a foreign leader and later defended his handling of a deadly pandemic. But with a sudden force, the wall of Republican support that has enabled Trump to weather a seemingly endless series of crises is beginning to erode. Trump’s weakened standing among his own party will come into sharper focus on Wednesday when the House is expected to impeach the president for inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol last week. A handful of Republicans have already said they’ll join the effort, a number that could grow as the vote nears. The choice facing Republicans isn’t just about the immediate fate of Trump, who has just seven days left in his presidency. It’s about whether the party’s elected leaders are ready to move on from Trump, who remains popular with many GOP voters but is now toxic in much of Washington. How they proceed could determine whether the party remains viable in upcoming elections or splinters in a way that could limit their relevance. “We’re at the moment now where we’re seeing a fracturing, a breaking, because of the unprecedented situation — the sedition, the violence, the death,” said Steve Schmidt, a longtime Republican strategist who left the party because of Trump. The stunning nature of the deadly insurrection — and Trump’s role in fueling it — has shaken many lawmakers. Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, gave rank-and-file conservatives the green light to abandon Trump in a scathing statement Tuesday evening. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” she charged."

Get this:

"More ominously for Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes Trump committed impeachable offenses and considers Democrats’ impeachment drive an opportunity to reduce the divisive, chaotic president’s hold on the GOP, a Republican strategist told The Associated Press on Wednesday. McConnell also called major Republican donors this weekend to gauge their thinking about Trump and was adamantly told that Trump had clearly crossed a line. McConnell told them he was through with Trump, said the strategist, who demanded anonymity to describe McConnell’s conversations. The New York Times first reported McConnell’s views on impeachment on Tuesday. While stunning, the fast-moving developments do not ensure Trump will be forced from office before Democrat Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration. The timing of a Senate trial is unclear and could spill into Biden’s presidency. But for the first time, there are real signs that a significant faction of Republicans want to purge Trump from their party. Already, three Trump Cabinet members have resigned in protest. Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who left the White House less than a month ago, accused his former boss of a “betrayal of his office.” It took almost a week for Vice President Mike Pence, whose relationship with Trump has soured considerably since he and his family were forced into hiding during the Capitol siege, to publicly declare he would not invoke the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to remove Trump from office.

"It’s unclear whether the chaos in Washington represents an existential threat to the party, but it almost certainly threatens to undermine the GOP’s short-term political goals. Several major corporations, many of them reliably Republican donors, have promised to stop sending political donations to any of the 147 Republicans who perpetuated Trump’s false claims of election fraud by voting to reject Biden’s victory last week.

The fundraising challenge comes at a bad time for the GOP. History suggests that the Republican Party, as the minority party in Washington, should regain control of the House or Senate in 2022. At the same time, a collection of ambitious Republicans are trying to position themselves to run for the White House in 2024. They are also contending with Trump’s legacy. One of them, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, reminded reporters on Tuesday that he’s condemned the Trump presidency from the very beginning. “I’ve been in the same place I’ve been for the whole four years. A lot of people have just changed their position,” Hogan said, while vowing not to leave the GOP. “I don’t want to leave the party and let these people who did a hostile takeover four years ago take over.” Despite Hogan’s confidence, he is far less popular among Trump’s loyal base — a group likely to hold great sway in the selection of the party’s next presidential nominee — than the likes of Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, two other 2024 prospects who voted to reject Biden’s victory last week, even after the uprising. “Republican leaders do not know how to move forward,” Republican pollster Frank Luntz said. “Everybody’s afraid that Donald Trump will tell people to come after them, but they also realize they’re losing the center of America. They’re trapped.”

The Associated Press reports:

"President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial could begin on Inauguration Day, just as Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office in an ever-more-extraordinary end to the defeated president’s tenure in the White House. The timing is not set and depends heavily on when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decides to transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate. Democrats hoping to avoid interrupting Biden’s inauguration have suggested holding back until the new president has a chance to get his administration going. What is clear is that the trial ahead will be unlike any other in the nation’s history, the first for a president no longer in office. And, politically, it will force a reckoning among some Republicans who have stood by Trump throughout his presidency and largely allowed him to spread false attacks against the integrity of the 2020 election. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is open to considering impeachment, having told associates he is done with Trump, but he has not signaled how he would vote. The Republican leader holds great sway in his party even though convening the trial will be among his last acts as majority leader. Two new senators from Georgia, both Democrats, are to be sworn into office leaving the chamber divided 50-50. That tips the majority to the Democrats once Kamala Harris takes office, as the vice president is a tie-breaker. In a note to colleagues Wednesday, McConnell said he had “not made a final decision on how I will vote” in a Senate impeachment trial. Trump was impeached Wednesday by the House over the deadly Capitol siege, the only president in U.S. history twice impeached, after a pro-Trump mob stormed the building. The attack has left the nation’s capital, and other capital cites, under high security amid threats of more violence around the inauguration. Pelosi has not said when she will take the next step to transmit the impeachment article, a sole charge of incitement of insurrection. Under Senate procedure, the trial is set to start soon after the House delivers the article of impeachment. That could mean starting the trial at 1 p.m. on Inauguration Day. The ceremony at the Capitol starts at noon. After Trump’s first impeachment, in 2019, she withheld the articles for some time to set the stage for the Senate action. Biden has said the Senate should be able to split its time and do both — hold the trial and start working on his priorities. With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House voted 232-197 on Wednesday to impeach Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol, egged on by the president’s calls for them to “fight like hell” against the election results. Ten Republicans fled Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a “clear and present danger” if Congress should leave him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20. It was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in modern times, more so than against Bill Clinton in 1998."

1-15-21

Principle trumps Presidential Medal Of Freedom. NPR reports:

"New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who had been expected to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom later this week, has instead declined the honor, citing last week's violence at the Capitol. "Recently I was offered the opportunity to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which I was flattered by out of respect for what the honor represents and admiration for prior recipients," the six-time Super Bowl legend and early Trump supporter said in a statement reported by the National Football League late Monday. "Subsequently, the tragic events of last week occurred and the decision has been made not to move forward with the award." "Above all, I am an American citizen with great reverence for our nation's values, freedom and democracy. I know I also represent my family and the New England Patriots team," the statement read. The president announced he would give Belichick the nation's highest civilian honor this week, days after Trump supporters stormed into the Capitol building in Washington. Trump had been expected to bestow the honor at the White House on Thursday. Belichick and the president have known each other for years. Trump, at a rally before his 2016 election victory, even read a "letter of praise" from the New England head coach. Belichick's decision to decline the honor at the White House is yet another blow to an increasingly isolated Trump, who has seen a wave of top advisers leave in recent days, also citing the violence. The president's office did not immediately respond to the coach's announcement."

What could they say? Belichick stood tall:

"In his statement, Belichick said that one of the most rewarding experiences in his 46 years with the NFL, 21 with the Patriots, was when the team began openly discussing and addressing inequality and social justice issues this season. "Continuing those efforts while remaining true to the people, team and country I love outweigh the benefits of any individual award," he said.

"This president is not fit to be in office, so anything that he would bestow on anybody is meaningless.

"Thank you, Coach Belichick, for rejecting Trump's award. https://t.co/qyxWJT5VAd
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) January 12, 2021

"Speaking on CNN Monday, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern had called for Belichick to decline the award. "Bill Belichick should do the right thing and say, 'No thanks,' " McGovern said. He commended the Patriots coach on Twitter Monday night for rejecting the award."

Uncommon Valor. Hat's off, Mr. Belichick.

1-15-21

Violation First Amendment Establishment Clause. NPR reports:

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a Trump administration request to reinstate restrictions for patients seeking to obtain a drug used to terminate early pregnancies. The decision, issued over a dissent from the court's liberal judges, reinstates a requirement for patients to pick up the drug, mifepristone, in person. Three lower courts had blocked the Food and Drug Administration's in-person pick-up requirement for mifepristone during the coronavirus pandemic, citing the risks of contracting COVID-19 at a doctor's office or a hospital. It's the first abortion-related decision since last year's swearing in of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose presence on the high court bench ensured a new conservative majority. Abortion-rights advocates have been fearful of what a conservative majority could do to chip away at legal protections for abortion. Julia Kaye, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project, called the court's decision "chilling" and one that "needlessly" endangers "even more people during this dark pandemic winter." She added that people of color, like Black and Latinx patients, are at particular risk for health risks posed by COVID-19. Requiring them to go to a doctor's office in person to pick up the drug threatens the health and lives of those patients, she said. A spokeswoman for the anti-abortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List called the decision a "major" victory. The organization believes abortion rights advocates "sought to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to push abortion by mail, promoting DIY abortion at home, upping the risk of serious complications. The ACLU sued the federal government to challenge the FDA rule. Their case was limited and focused solely on ending that in-person requirement during the pandemic."

Disingenuous bullshit:

"Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority in the 5-4 decision, said the court was not faced with deciding whether "the requirements for dispensing mifepristone impose an undue burden on a woman's right to an abortion as a general matter." Rather, judges were tasked with weighing in on whether the lower courts properly ordered the FDA to lift requirements for in-person collection of mifepristone because of the risks posed by the pandemic, he said. "I do not see a sufficient basis here for the District Court to compel the FDA to alter the regimen for medical abortion," Roberts said."

Here's the problem:

"Medical abortions involves taking two prescription drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, which together induce the equivalent of an early miscarriage. Telemedicine is the only way many women who live in remote areas of the U.S. can access the abortion pills. A handful of states have only one clinic that provides abortions, forcing patients to drive hundreds of miles to obtain one. But the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, says 18 states prohibit doctors from prescribing abortion pills remotely, adding further obstacles for patients in obtaining them. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, wrote, "This country's laws have long singled out abortions for more onerous treatment than other medical procedures that carry similar or greater risks." The FDA's rules "imposes an unnecessary, irrational, and unjustifiable undue burden on women seeking to exercise their right to choose," she wrote. "One can only hope that the Government will reconsider and exhibit greater care and empathy for women seeking some measure of control over their health and reproductive lives in these unsettling times." Abortion-rights advocates are holding out hope the administration of President-elect Joe Biden could walk back the FDA's requirements to take the pill in person. Kaye with the ACLU said, "The Biden-Harris administration must right this wrong on day one and hold firm to its commitment to support both evidence-based regulations and reproductive freedom."

1-8-21

Think there won't be severe political payback? United Press International reports:

"Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell again said "no" on Thursday to a proposal in Congress to increase stimulus payments to Americans to $2,000, despite compromise efforts by Democrats. Senate Democrats had offered to consider GOP priorities that McConnell attached to the issue on Tuesday, in exchange for McConnell allowing a floor vote in the chamber for a standalone bill to raise the stimulus payments. With McConnell refusing the proposal, which passed the House this week and is supported by President Donald Trump, it means the Senate can't vote on the prospect of giving struggling Americans more aid money. A number of Republicans have also opposed the idea of increasing the amount, but McConnell is singlehandedly preventing the bill from even receiving an up-or-down vote. McConnell first blocked the proposal on Tuesday, but said he would consider the raise as long as the Senate also considers two unrelated matters -- a provision to reduce legal protections for social media platforms and one creating an election integrity commission, both of which have been battles pushed by Trump in recent weeks. Thursday, Schumer offered McConnell votes on both issues -- but the Republican leader still refused. Schumer said allowing the Senate to vote on the standalone CASH Act -- rather than sandbagging it with the "poison pill" measures opposed by Democrats -- is the only way to get Americans "the $2,000 checks they need and deserve." McConnell on Thursday dismissed the proposal to give Americans more money as "socialism for the rich." Schumer answered, "Just give us a vote on the House-passed bill, and we can vote on whatever right-wing conspiracy theory you like." Several other GOP senators have supported McConnell's position, but Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News Thursday that a standalone vote on the proposal "might pass" in the upper chamber. If it did, the raise would then only need Trump's signature to take effect. Graham said he hopes the Senate will get another chance to consider the increase next week after the 117th Congress is seated on Sunday. "I'd like a standalone vote in the new Congress on the $2,000 check," Graham said. "We have seven Republicans who've already said they would vote for it. We need five more. I think if we had the vote, we would get there."

1-8-21

Treason. The Washington Post reports:

"‘I just want to find 11,780 votes’ In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor. In a phone call on Jan. 2, President Trump insisted he won the state and threatened vague legal consequences. Here are excerpts from the call. (Obtained by The Washington Post) President Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in an extraordinary one-hour phone call Saturday that legal scholars described as a flagrant abuse of power and a potential criminal act. The Washington Post obtained a recording of the conversation in which Trump alternately berated Raffensperger, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the secretary of state refused to pursue his false claims, at one point warning that Raffensperger was taking “a big risk.” Throughout the call, Raffensperger and his office’s general counsel rejected Trump’s assertions, explaining that the president is relying on debunked conspiracy theories and that President-elect Joe Biden’s 11,779-vote victory in Georgia was fair and accurate."

Uncommon Valor. Displayed by both Raffensperger and counsel to stand up to our insane nazi fuhrer.

"Trump dismissed their arguments. “The people of Georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry,” he said. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you’ve recalculated.” Raffensperger responded: “Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong.” At another point, Trump said: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.” He later added: “So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”

Trump is unfit for office. Remains delusional. So do his allies:

"The rambling and at times incoherent conversation offered a remarkable glimpse of how consumed and desperate the president remains about his loss, unwilling or unable to let the matter go and still asserting he can reverse the results in enough battleground states to remain in office. “There’s no way I lost Georgia,” Trump said, a phrase he repeated again and again on the call. “There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes.” Several of his allies were on the line as he spoke, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and conservative lawyer Cleta Mitchell, a prominent GOP attorney whose involvement with Trump’s efforts had not been previously known. In a statement, Mitchell said Raffensperger’s office “has made many statements over the past two months that are simply not correct and everyone involved with the efforts on behalf of the President’s election challenge has said the same thing: show us your records on which you rely to make these statements that our numbers are wrong.” The White House, the Trump campaign and Meadows did not respond to a request for comment."

What could they say? They're lying. Grasping at straws.

"On Sunday, Trump tweeted that he had spoken to Raffensperger, saying the secretary of state was “unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘voters’, dead voters, and more. He has no clue!” Raffensperger responded with his own tweet: “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true.” The details of the call drew demands from top Democrats for criminal investigations. Campaigning in Georgia, Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris called Trump’s conversation a “baldfaced, bold abuse of power by the president of the United States.” Biden’s top campaign lawyer, Bob Bauer, said the recording “captures the whole, disgraceful story about Donald Trump’s assault on American democracy.”

Why haven't you and Biden forcefully challenged this congenital liar well before the election?

"Republicans, however, were largely silent. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), when asked about the call while campaigning in Georgia on Sunday for the two GOP senators who face a runoff Tuesday, dodged the question completely."

Gutless piece of shit.

"Trump’s pressure campaign on Raffensperger is the latest example of his attempt to subvert the outcome of the Nov. 3 election through personal outreach to state Republican officials. He previously invited Michigan Republican state leaders to the White House, pressured Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in a call to try to replace that state’s electors and asked the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to help reverse his loss in that state. His call to Raffensperger came as scores of Republicans have pledged to challenge the electoral college’s vote for Biden when Congress convenes for a joint session on Wednesday. Republicans do not have the votes to successfully thwart Biden’s victory, but Trump has urged supporters to travel to Washington to protest the outcome, and state and federal officials are already bracing for clashes outside the Capitol. During their conversation, Trump issued a vague threat to both Raffensperger and Ryan Germany, the secretary of state’s general counsel, suggesting that if they don’t find that thousands of ballots in Fulton County have been illegally destroyed to block investigators — an allegation for which there is no evidence — they would be subject to criminal liability. “That’s a criminal offense,” he said. “And you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer.” Trump also told Raffensperger that failure to act by Tuesday would jeopardize the political fortunes of David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Georgia’s two Republican senators whose fate in that day’s runoff elections will determine control of the U.S. Senate. Trump said he plans to talk about the alleged fraud Monday, when he is scheduled to lead an election eve rally in Dalton, Ga. — a message that could further muddle the efforts of Republicans to draw their voters out. “You have a big election coming up, and because of what you’ve done to the president — you know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam,” Trump said. “Because of what you’ve done to the president, a lot of people aren’t going out to vote, and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative because they hate what you did to the president. Okay? They hate it. And they’re going to vote. And you would be respected, really respected, if this can be straightened out before the election.”

Desperation of a congenital liar who cannot accept the fact he lost the election.

"Trump’s conversation with Raffensperger echoed his effort to persuade the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden on a call that led to his impeachment, and once again put him in legally questionable territory, legal scholars said. By exhorting the secretary of state to “find” votes and to deploy investigators who “want to find answers,” the president appeared to be encouraging him to doctor the election outcome in Georgia, which could violate both state and federal law. Additionally, Trump’s apparent threat of criminal consequences if Raffensperger failed to act could be seen as an attempt at extortion and a suggestion that he might deploy the Justice Department to launch an investigation, they said. “The president is either knowingly attempting to coerce state officials into corrupting the integrity of the election or is so deluded that he believes what he’s saying,” said Richard H. Pildes, a constitutional law professor at New York University, who noted that Trump’s actions may have violated several federal statutes. But Pildes said Trump’s clearer transgression is a moral one, and he emphasized that focusing on whether he committed a crime could deflect attention from the “simple, stark, horrific fact that we have a president trying to use the powers of his office to pressure state officials into committing election fraud to keep him in office.” Prosecutors would likely exercise discretion in considering a case against an outgoing president, experts said. Edward B. Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University, said the legal questions are murky, and it could be difficult to prove that Trump knew he was encouraging illegal behavior. But Foley also emphasized that the call was “inappropriate and contemptible” and should prompt outrage."

Once again, we'll certainly see if there is indeed equal justice for those at the top of the food chain. To date, certainly not. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms.

"Throughout the call, Trump detailed an exhaustive list of disinformation and conspiracy theories to support his position. He claimed without evidence that he had won Georgia by at least a half-million votes. He floated a barrage of assertions that have been investigated and disproved: that thousands of dead people voted; that an Atlanta election worker scanned 18,000 forged ballots three times each and “100 percent” were for Biden; that thousands more voters living out of state came back to Georgia illegally just to vote in the election. “So tell me, Brad, what are we going to do? We won the election, and it’s not fair to take it away from us like this,” Trump said. “And it’s going to be very costly in many ways. And I think you have to say that you’re going to reexamine it, and you can reexamine it, but reexamine it with people that want to find answers, not people who don’t want to find answers.” Trump did most of the talking. He was angry and impatient, calling Raffensperger a “child,” and said law enforcement officials were “either dishonest or incompetent” for not finding widespread ballot fraud in Atlanta. He twice called himself a “schmuck” for endorsing Kemp, whom Trump holds in particular contempt for not embracing his claims. “I can’t imagine he’s ever getting elected again, I’ll tell you that much right now,” he said of the governor. He also took aim at Kemp’s 2018 opponent, Democrat Stacey Abrams, trying to shame Raffensperger with the idea that his refusal to embrace fraud has helped her and Democrats generally. “Stacey Abrams is laughing about you,” he said. “She’s going around saying, ‘These guys are dumber than a rock.’ What she’s done to this party is unbelievable, I tell you.”

Raffensperger stood tall:

"The secretary of state repeatedly sought to correct Trump, saying at one point, “Mr. President, the problem you have with social media, they — people can say anything.” “Oh this isn’t social media,” Trump retorted. “This is Trump media. It’s not social media. It’s really not. It’s not social media. I don’t care about social media. I couldn’t care less.” At another point, Trump claimed that votes were scanned three times: “Brad, why did they put the votes in three times? You know, they put ’em in three times.” Raffensperger responded: “Mr. President, they did not. We did an audit of that, and we proved conclusively that they were not scanned three times.” Trump sounded at turns [times?] confused and meandering. At one point, he referred to Kemp as “George.” He tossed out several different figures for Biden’s margin of victory in Georgia and referred to the Senate runoff, which is Tuesday, as happening “tomorrow” and “Monday.” His desperation was perhaps most pronounced during an exchange with Germany, Raffensperger’s general counsel, in which he openly begged for validation.

"Trump: “Do you think it’s possible that they shredded ballots in Fulton County? Because that’s what the rumor is. And also that Dominion took out machines. That Dominion is really moving fast to get rid of their, uh, machinery. Do you know anything about that? Because that’s illegal, right?”

"Germany responded: “No, Dominion has not moved any machinery out of Fulton County.”

"Trump: “But have they moved the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts?”

"Germany: “No.”

"Trump: “Are you sure, Ryan?”

"Germany: “I’m sure. I’m sure, Mr. President.”

Get this:

"It was clear from the call that Trump has surrounded himself with aides who have fed his false perceptions that the election was stolen. When he claimed that more than 5,000 ballots were cast in Georgia in the name of dead people, Raffensperger responded forcefully: “The actual number was two. Two. Two people that were dead that voted.” But later, Meadows said, “I can promise you there are more than that.” Another Trump lawyer on the call, Kurt Hilbert, accused Raffensperger’s office of refusing to turn over data to assess evidence of fraud, and he claimed awareness of at least 24,000 illegally cast ballots that would flip the result to Trump. “It stands to reason that if the information is not forthcoming, there’s something to hide,” Hilbert said. “That’s the problem that we have.” Reached by phone Sunday, Hilbert declined to comment."

Surprised? Insanity has clearly run amuck. Spread throughout the White House and country alike.

"For her part, Mitchell contradicted Trump on several occasions on the call, saying, “Well, I don’t know about that,” when the president alleged that a Fulton County election worker had triple-counted 18,000 ballots for Biden. She claimed that the extent of the fraud is unclear because Raffensperger’s office has not shared all the data Trump’s lawyers have sought. “We never had the records that you have,” she said. Germany noted that the office is barred under law from sharing certain voter information. In the end, Trump asked Germany to sit down with one of his attorneys to go over the allegations. Germany agreed. Yet Trump also recognized that he was failing to persuade Raffensperger or Germany of anything, saying toward the end, “I know this phone call is going nowhere.” “Why don’t you want to find this, Ryan?” he asked of Germany. “What’s wrong with you? I heard your lawyer is very difficult, actually, but I’m sure you’re a good lawyer. You have a nice last name.”

Jesus Christ. Give me a break.

"But he continued to make his case in repetitive fashion, until finally, after roughly an hour, Raffensperger put an end to the conversation: “Thank you, President Trump, for your time.”

In another article, The Washington Post reports:

"After The Washington Post on Sunday published an extraordinary phone call between President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), many observers shared one question: Did Trump break the law? During that hour-long call on Saturday, Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat and threatened him with vague legal consequences, seemingly encouraging his fellow Republican to fix the election results. ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes’: In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor. As the sole Democrat on Georgia’s state election board on Sunday urged Raffensperger to investigate the president over the call, some lawyers and legal scholars said Trump’s actions indeed appeared to violate both state and federal criminal statutes. On social media, much of the conversation among legal observers and Trump critics revolved around a federal statute, 52 U.S. Code 20511, which makes it a crime to “knowingly and willfully” deprive or defraud a state’s residents of a free or fair election — or to attempt to do so. Eric H. Holder Jr., the former attorney general under President Barack Obama, shared the text of that statute on Twitter on Sunday. “As you listen to the tape consider this federal criminal statute,” Holder wrote. The question, according to Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, is whether Trump was “knowingly and willfully” pressuring Raffensperger to count nonexistent votes when he told the GOP official, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.” In other words: Does Trump actually believe that 11,780 ballots in his favor were cast but not counted? Considering that two recounts, an audit and several judges have upheld President-elect Joe Biden’s win in Georgia, Levitt said it is clear Trump was not pushing for an “honest tally” of the votes. “Either the president was engaged in the commission of a felony,” he said, “or he has lost his hold on reality such that he can no longer distinguish fact from the fictions he has been fed.” Michael R. Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector general, put it more bluntly on Twitter: “His best defense would be insanity.”

LOL. No question.

"Leigh Ann Webster, a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta, told The Post that in Georgia, Trump could run afoul of a state law that makes it illegal to cause someone else to take part in election fraud — by soliciting, requesting or commanding it. That’s the same statute cited Sunday by David J. Worley, the Georgia election board member who asked Raffensperger to investigate Trump. In his email to the GOP official, Worley said that “probable cause” may exist to find violations of that law. “It’s a crime to solicit election fraud, and asking the secretary to change the votes is a textbook definition of election fraud,” Worley said in an interview with The Post. The argument may be more straightforward compared to a potential federal case. Under the Georgia statute, Webster said the crime would be merely asking someone else to partake in one of several forms of election fraud, including interfering with the secretary of state’s handling of an election. But because such matters at the state level have rarely been interpreted in court, “none of this is bulletproof,” she said. And whether Trump broke federal state law, it’s a different question of whether any prosecutor would try to charge him."

No question. A double standard. One for the peasants. Another for the top of the food chain.

"Until Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20, legal scholars say there is virtually no chance of federal charges being filed. Besides the short time frame, Levitt said, the Justice Department maintains a long-standing principle that a federal prosecutor may not prosecute a sitting president. No such principle exists once a commander in chief is out of office. Yet under a Biden administration juggling many competing priorities, going after Trump in the courts could be a politically fraught choice. Trevor Potter, a Republican and former Federal Election Commission chairman who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, told the New York Times “there is a good argument” that Trump was pushing for a fraudulent vote count during the call. “But even if the Biden Justice Department thinks they have a good case, is that how they want to start off the Biden presidency?” he said. “That is a policy decision.”

Indeed, the problem. Political expediency trumps justice. Forget?

NBC News reports:

"A pair of House Democrats are asking FBI Director Christopher Wray to open a criminal probe into President Donald Trump after a leaked phone call showed him pleading with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn his state's election. "As members of Congress and former prosecutors, we believe Donald Trump engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes," Reps. Ted Lieu of California and Kathleen Rice of New York wrote in a letter to Wray on Monday. "We ask you to open an immediate criminal investigation into the president." During the call, a recording of which was obtained by NBC News, Trump asked Raffensperger "to find" enough votes for him to erase President-elect Joe Biden's margin of victory in the state. "So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump said. "Because we won the state." The phone call, which went on for about an hour, featured Trump repeatedly pushing Raffensperger to alter the vote total while launching a barrage of discredited conspiracy theories at him and his staff. The president went as far as suggesting that should Raffensperger, a Republican, not act in accordance with Trump's wishes, he could be criminally liable. "The people of Georgia are angry. The people in the country are angry," Trump said in the call. "And there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you've recalculated." Raffensperger and his office's general counsel, Ryan Germany, spent the call swatting down the president's claims — at times telling him his specific allegations of fraud were flat-out wrong. "Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong," Raffensperger said at one point. In their letter, Lieu and Rice allege, "The evidence of election fraud by Mr. Trump is now in broad daylight." "Given the more than ample factual predicate, we are making a criminal referral to you to open an investigation into Mr. Trump," the lawmakers wrote."

CBS News reports:

"Two House Democrats are calling on the FBI to open a criminal investigation into President Trump's explosive call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for possible violations of federal and state election laws. Congressman Ted Lieu of California and Congresswoman Kathleen Rice of New York made their request in a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray on Monday after audio of Mr. Trump's hour-long call with Raffensperger was obtained and published by several news outlets Sunday, including CBS News. In the call, the president pressured the secretary of state to "find 11,780 votes" to reverse his loss in Georgia's presidential election. "The evidence of election fraud by Mr. Trump is now in broad daylight," the two Democrats wrote. "The prima facie elements of the above crimes have been met." Lieu and Rice, both former prosecutors, believe the president "engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes." The pair cited two federal laws they believe Mr. Trump violated, as well as one Georgia state law regarding solicitation of election fraud.

"Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement she found the call "disturbing" and cited news reports that the lone Democrat on the state election board requested the elections division investigate the call, after which the board can refer the case to Willis' office and the state attorney general. "As I promised Fulton County voters last year, as district attorney, I will enforce the law without fear or favor. Anyone who commits a felony violation of Georgia law in my jurisdiction will be held accountable," she said. "Once the investigation is complete, this matter, like all matters, will be handled by our office based on the facts and the law." Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, said it's "very possible" the president violated federal law and probably broke Georgia state law. "It mostly turns on what the president honestly believe at this point, and the only choices aren't great," he told CBS News. "So either he understands reality and knows that there are not 11,800 ballots sitting somewhere that are Trump votes and weren't counted in recounts and audits, in which case he committed a crime. If he actually understands the true nature of the world, if he can discern fact from fiction, he probably committed a crime." But, "if he doesn't, then we've got a chief executive who is still in power for 16.5 days who cannot reliably distinguish between fact and fiction based on the information he receives," Levitt continued. "That's not a great consolation prize," he said, adding there is "plenty" in Mr. Trump's call with Raffensperger "that is alarmingly indicative that the president can't tell fact from fiction, that he has bought into his own conspiracy theories." Levitt suggested the president and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was on the call, may also have broken an 1871 law on criminal conspiracies to subvert civil rights if they agreed the goal of the call "was to see if we can convince him to make up a fake count." "If Meadows knows, if he can tell the difference between fact and fiction and he has the same objective as the president, then that's all conspiracy requires," he said. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who led the Justice Department under President Obama, tweeted Sunday that those listening to the audio of Mr. Trump's call should "consider this federal criminal statute," and he included an image of a law that states that any person in a federal election who "knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by … the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held" would be fined or imprisoned for up to five years."

NPR reports:

"Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff, told Raffensperger he was hopeful that in a "spirit of cooperation and compromise" there would be some way to find a path forward to overturn Georgia's certified election results, which were confirmed by both a full hand audit and a machine recount. "We don't agree that you have one," Raffensperger said. An attorney for the secretary of state's office told the president on the call that state investigators, law enforcement and the courts looked into claims of illegal votes and found no evidence of widespread fraud that would overturn Trump's narrow loss. But the president was undeterred. "All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state," Trump stated at one point. "Flipping the state is a great testament to our country. It's a testament that they can admit to a mistake. A lot of people think it wasn't a mistake, it was much more criminal than that. But it's a big problem in Georgia, and it's not a problem that's going away."

"On Sunday evening, a member of the state election board called for an investigation into whether any part of the call constituted criminal behavior. David Worley, a senior Democrat on the board, wrote a letter to Raffensperger asking him to launch an investigation of the call "to determine whether violations of the provisions of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated which prohibit solicitation to commit election fraud have occurred." Worley said the election board could then determine whether there's a possible crime to refer to Georgia prosecutors. The call, which was first reported by The Washington Post, reveals the extent to which the president knows minute details of claims of irregularities. Trump was fixated on the latest rumors that counties shredded ballots from the November general election, spurred on by dubious claims made in Georgia state legislative hearings. "It doesn't pass the smell test, because we hear they're shredding thousands and thousands of ballots," Trump complained. A state official replied that an investigation showed no ballots were shredded, only old office supplies and other paper.

"At the end of the call, there was a renewed push to get Raffensperger to undo Georgia's results before Tuesday's Senate runoffs, with the president and Meadows asking the state to meet and turn over information that they purport could prove evidence of fraud. The secretary of state's attorney declined and pointed to numerous public explanations that debunk those claims. Still, Trump was confident the outcome would change in his favor, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. "Everyone's going to look very good if the truth comes out," Trump said. "And the real truth is I won by 400,000 votes at least. That's the real truth."

No. It's not. It's a lie from a congenital liar. Simply, not true.

1-8-21

Ex-Secretaries of Defense stand up and stand tall. NPR reports:

"The U.S. presidential election, and the time for questioning its results, are over, all 10 living former secretaries of defense wrote in a forceful op-ed published on Sunday. "Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted," the 10 men from both Republican and Democratic administrations wrote. "The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived," they said. The bipartisan group of leaders published the letter in The Washington Post as President Trump continues to deny his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden. On Saturday, during a one-hour phone call, Trump even pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" votes to overturn his defeat. Former Secretaries of Defense Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld signed the opinion piece. Two Pentagon heads who served under Trump — Jim Mattis and Mark Esper — also signed it. Trump removed Esper in November as part of a major shakeup at the Department of Defense. The op-ed comes as some Republican lawmakers in Congress plan this week to formally object to the certification of the Nov. 3 presidential election results. Since the vote, Trump and his attorneys have repeatedly asserted false claims of voter fraud and said, without evidence, that his loss to Biden was due to widespread irregularities. But his insistence that the election was stolen has led to some speculation he could somehow use the military to remain in office past Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration. The 10 signatories made it clear that any effort to involve U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take the country "into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory." They wrote, "Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic."

Treason.

Would likely spark, that is, trigger an unmitigated catastrophe. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms.

"Former Defense Secretary Perry, who served under President Bill Clinton, wrote on Twitter that the idea for the statement originated with Cheney, a Republican who served under President George W. Bush as vice president and President George H.W. Bush as secretary of defense.

"The idea for this statement actually originated from Vice President Cheney.

"Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution; that oath does not change according to party designation.https://t.co/NSsdLkZX9g
— William J. Perry (@SecDef19) January 4, 2021

"Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We did not swear it to an individual or a party," Perry tweeted, reiterating the op-ed's lines."

Goddamned right. No question. ... Truth, the insane Trump nazi, his henchmen, and achingly delusional supporters seem to have conveniently forgotten.

"In an interview on NPR's Morning Edition, Cohen, who also served as secretary of defense under Clinton, told co-host Noel King he is comfortable characterizing Trump's efforts to reverse the election as a coup. "I am not troubled by the word 'coup,' " Cohen said. "I think it means an extra-judicial, extra-legal action that opposes rule not by the people but by a select few." Cohen, who represented Maine as a Republican U.S. senator for almost 20 years, said he is concerned Trump is attempting to promote civil unrest as justification to deploy military forces in the streets. "There are things taking place which pose, I think, a threat to our domestic tranquility and security, and that is the president encouraging some of the more right-wing extremists to march on Washington and to protest," Cohen said. "And the indication is he's urging them to - it's going to be wild."

Treasonous incitement of violence.

"At the op-ed's conclusion, the former secretaries also appeared to address Biden's claims that his transition team has faced roadblocks put up by the Trump White House in meeting Pentagon leaders ahead of his inauguration. "Acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and his subordinates — political appointees, officers and civil servants — are each bound by oath, law and precedent to facilitate the entry into office of the incoming administration, and to do so wholeheartedly," they wrote. "They must also refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team."

ABC News reports:

"A successful campaign to have all 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense sign a letter warning President Donald Trump not to involve the military in his grievances over the election results took place between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, said former ambassador and defense official Eric Edelman. "Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory," the former secretaries wrote in the letter, which was published as an op-ed by the Washington Post. Edelman drafted and orchestrated the letter in consultation with former Vice President Dick Cheney, himself a former secretary of defense, along with help from former State Department adviser Eliot Cohen. Cheney told Edelman he would sign the letter if he could get other former secretaries to join in, Edelman told ABC News on Monday. Edelman reached out to the Post and got all 10 secretaries to add their names by Friday, he said. The motivation and timing for the letter was multifarious, Edelman told ABC News. "There's the firing of Esper right after the election, there's the installation of this cadre of political appointees around (acting Secretary of Defense Chris) Miller there, there's the rush for the exit in Afghanistan," Edelman said, also citing a reported attempt by the Trump administration to split U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency last month as well as Trump's controversial call with Georgia's secretary of state on Saturday. Edelman also said comments made by former national security adviser Michael Flynn about the possibility of Trump invoking martial law to rerun the election in battleground states raised concerns. In a Newsmax interview in mid-December, Flynn detailed what he considered Trump's military options. While Flynn claimed he was not advocating for these options to be exercised, and that constitutional processes must be followed, just weeks earlier he tweeted an organization's press release calling for "limited martial law" to hold a new election."

Treason. By a man who swore an oath to protect and defend The United States Constitution.

"A former U.S. official who helped coordinate the letter said the two signatories who served during the Trump administration, Mark Esper and retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, had some reservations before adding their names to the op-ed. "I think Secretary Mattis for good reasons was a little reticent," the former official said. "He understandably feels that he as a retiree is still covered by the (Uniform Code of Military Justice), and you know, retired officers should not be criticizing the commander in chief, and they're not supposed to do that." The former official told ABC News he came around after being persuaded by others involved in the project "that he needed to think about this not as 'former Marine four-star general officer Jim Mattis,' but as 'former Secretary of Defense Mattis.'" Esper, who was ousted by Trump after the presidential election, was concerned about his participation looking like personal retribution, but quickly decided to join the other former Pentagon chiefs, the official said. Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator who served as secretary of defense under President Barack Obama, told ABC News Monday that he deliberated before adding his name to the op-ed to be sure it wouldn't be "making more out of something than maybe there really is." Hagel said he decided Trump's actions and rhetoric aimed at overturning the results of the election posed a significant enough risk. "I'm not overly concerned, but the fact is we have a president who has acted erratically, irresponsibly, and I think put our country in danger in many situations over the last four years," he told ABC News. Former Defense Secretary William Perry said in a tweet Sunday that "Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution; that oath does not change according to party designation." Robert Gates, secretary of defense under both Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, signed on without reservation when approached by Edelman, who served as under secretary of defense for policy during Gates' time at the Pentagon, according to a spokesman for the former secretary."

All ten men did the right thing. Did so heroically.

NBC News reports:

"A number of senior military officers, including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said publicly in recent weeks that the military has no role in determining the outcome of U.S. elections and that their loyalty is to the Constitution, not to an individual leader or a political party."

1-8-21

Think the rabid Nazi Right isn't egregiously out of control? Including Republican Senators and Representatives? ABC News (AP) reports:

"Protesters who gathered outside the Virginia home of Republican Sen. Josh Hawley Monday evening were peaceful and they left when police explained they were violating local picketing laws, police said Tuesday. The Missouri senator claimed on Twitter that the group had been engaged in “leftwing violence.”

Absolute horse shit. Simply, not true. Like his fuhrer, the Trump nazi, this man is a congenital liar.

Here's the truth:

"Officers were called to Hawley's home in Vienna, a Washington suburb, home around 7:45 p.m. after someone reported that there were “people protesting in front of the house.” Officers who responded to the scene found that the “people were peaceful,” said Master Police Officer Juan Vazquez, a spokesman for the Town of Vienna Police Department. The demonstrators said they went to Hawley's home because he said he would object when Congress convenes Wednesday to affirm Joe Biden’s election victory. Vazquez said the protesters had been violating several laws, including a Virginia code about picketing in front of a house, a town ordinance about making noise in front of a home and a littering code. But he said the officers explained the violations and “everyone just left.” “There were no issues, no arrests,” he said. “We didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

Who do you believe on this particular matter? Police or the Senator? -- Even the worst liars can sometimes tell the truth. LOL. ... Right, Mr.'President?' :)

Get this:

"Hawley accused the group of vandalism and threats against his family. “Tonight while I was in Missouri, Antifa scumbags came to our place in DC and threatened my wife and newborn daughter, who can’t travel,” Hawley wrote on Twitter. “They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door. Let me be clear: My family & I will not be intimidated.” But the group, ShutdownDC, posted a nearly hour-long video that showed about a dozen protesters arriving at Hawley’s home, chanting and shouting through a megaphone, walking up to his doorstep, waving signs and writing on the sidewalk with chalk. The video shows the group meeting in a nearby parking lot, discussing how they plan to protest and chant in front of his home and then shows them walking about two blocks to his home. Outside the home, they lit candles, chanted through megaphones and held signs that read, “Respect the votes. Trump lost!” and “You don’t have the votes!” The activists also said they were leaving a copy of the U.S. Constitution on Hawley’s doorstep before a group of three people walk up to the stoop. At one point in the video, police arrive at the home and one officer can be heard asking, “Can we maybe quiet down until we have a supervisor out here?” At least three officers can be seen standing on the sidewalk in front of Hawley’s home."

1-8-21

Aryan arrogance of a Trump henchwoman. The Washington Post reports:

"Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has written a farewell letter to Congress that implicitly concedes that Joe Biden will become president Jan. 20 but that urges legislators to ignore his education agenda — which includes rolling back many of her initiatives. DeVos’s letter urges Congress to keep supporting school choice — which was her top priority as education secretary — and to resist any efforts by the incoming Biden administration to make college free for some students and cancel some student debt."

How about that? ... While she enjoys living at the top of the food chain off wealth looted from the bottom and middle class. Nothing quite like hypocrisy, is there? LOL.

Gets worse, far worse. Get this:

"She also urged them not to support Biden’s promise of reversing her new regulation on Title IX that gives those accused of sexual assault on campus more rights than they had before.

"DeVos, a Michigan billionaire, before becoming education secretary spent decades promoting alternatives to traditional public schools. She urged Congress repeatedly in recent years to support a $5 billion tax credit program that would use taxpayer money to fund private and religious school education — though there was not a Republican majority willing to go along. Her letter again urges lawmakers to do so."

Outrageously unconstitutional. First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, freedom from religion.

"Her final thoughts to Congress were in line with remarks she made last month to Education Department employees, in which she urged them to “be the resistance” against the Biden administration. “Resist,” she said, according to Politico."

... A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Seig Heil!, Madam Secretary?

1-8-21

Assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters. Insurrection. CBS News reports:

"Supporters of President Trump stormed barricades and confronted police outside the Capitol on Wednesday, shortly after Mr. Trump gave a speech once again falsely claiming to have won a second term. Thousands of the president's supporters descended on Washington, D.C., for the speech, and to protest certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the November 2020 election. After Mr. Trump's speech, many made their way to the Capitol where they planned to protest throughout the day as members of Congress count electoral votes, a formality that finalizes Biden's victory. Videos of the skirmishes outside the Capitol show protesters tearing down rows of metal barricades around the building before aggressively confronting uniformed officers. Police have not said if any arrests have been made. The District of Columbia National Guard has activated 340 members to support the D.C. Metropolitan Police during the pro-Trump demonstrations in response to a request from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser."

NBC News reports:

"The U.S. Capitol descended into chaos Wednesday as hundreds of pro-Trump protesters swarmed the building, forcing police to evacuate parts of the complex as some demonstrators appeared to break through barricades on the building's steps. The frenzied scene forced Congress to delay a ceremonial event affirming that President-elect Joe Biden won the November election and evacuate parts of the building. Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the joint session, could be seen rushing out of the Senate chamber amid the sounds of protesters who surrounded the Capitol. Pence and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the president pro-tem, have been taken to a secure location, a senator told NBC News. The doors of the Senate have been closed and locked, and senators have been told to stay away from the doors. The dramatic situation came after Trump, who has refused to accept the results of the election, spoke to a large crowd in front of the White House. He angrily vowed that he would never concede to Biden and baselessly asserted that the election results were fraudulent. "We will never give up, we will never concede. You don't concede when there's theft involved," Trump said to a crowd of supporters, some of whom chanted "USA!" or waved anti-Biden banners.. He later falsely claimed Biden would be an "illegitimate" president."

An insane nazi dictator unfit for office. A traitor to his country and the oath of office he falsely swore.

"The U.S. Capitol Police said it was evacuated areas near the building as pro-Trump protesters stormed barricades set up outside the perimeter, and law enforcement officers were seen trying to push them back. The Library of Congress, located directly across the street from the main Capitol building, was evacuated and people were told to remain calm and move in a safe manner to the exits. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., tweeted that she had to evacuate her congressional office because a pipe bomb was reported outside the Capitol. "Supporters of the President are trying to force their way into the Capitol and I can hear what sounds like multiple gunshots," Luria tweeted. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, just steps from Capitol Hill, was evacuated earlier Wednesday due to a suspicious package, and investigation is underway."

The following is the truth Trump, his henchmen, and supporters continue to ignore:

"Trump's groundless claims of voter fraud have been widely debunked, and his legal team's efforts to challenge the election results in court have been rejected by a succession of judges. Trump has claimed Wednesday's joint session of Congress represents a chance to overturn the election, even though state electors have already certified the results and the event inside the Capitol is ceremonial. Trump has put pressure on Vice President Pence claiming he can intervene in the count. In his lengthy and digressive remarks, Trump called on Pence to "do the right thing," even though Pence's ceremonial role does not provide him with the power to intervene in the counting of votes. Pence sent a letter to Congress ahead of the ceremony stating he would not be doing what Trump has hoped.

"Before the president's speech, it appeared some senators were being approached by Trump supporters near the Capitol, including an apparently exasperated Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who said he would not vote against affirming Biden's victory because he was bound to follow the law. "I took an oath under God, under God!" Young said. "Do we still take that seriously in this country?"

Apparently, not.

The Associated Press reports:

"Defying President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he does not have the power to discard electoral votes that will make Democrat Joe Biden the next president on Jan. 20. Pence said in a statement issued minutes before he was to begin presiding over a joint session of Congress to count those votes that it was “my considered judgement that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.” In the days before the joint session, Trump has pressured his vice president to toss electors from battleground states that voted for Biden to overturn the will of voters in a desperate and futile bid to undo President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November election. “If Mike Pence does the right thing we win the election,” Trump told thousands of supporters who rallied Wednesday on the Ellipse, just south of the White House, an hour before the count in Congress was to begin. “All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify and we become president and you are the happiest people,” Trump said, repeating a falsehood he has been promoting leading up to the congressional session. Trump repeatedly pressured Pence to act during his more than 75-minute speech to supporters. “Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us,” Trump said, “and if he doesn’t, it’s a sad day for our country.”

The Associated Press reports:

"The Senate has recessed its debate over an objection to the results of the Electoral College after protesters forced police to lock down the building. Reporters were told to stay in the Senate’s press gallery as the doors were locked. Protesters tore down metal barricades at the bottom of the Capitol’s steps and were met by officers in riot gear. Some tried to push past the officers who held shields and officers could be seen firing pepper spray into the crowd to keep them back. The skirmishes came just shortly after President Donald Trump addressed thousands of his supporters, riling up the crowd with his baseless claims of election fraud."

The Associated Press reports:

"Violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House. The National Guard and state and federal police were called in for control, and the mayor of Washington imposed a rare evening curfew. One person was reported to have been shot. The protesters were egged on by Trump and his false attacks on the integrity of the November presidential election. While rallying his supporters outside the White House Wednesday morning, he urged them to march to the Capitol. But later — hours after they fought police and breached the building — he told them that although they were “very special people” and he backed their cause, they should “go home in peace.” President-elect Biden, two weeks away from being inaugurated, had declared in Wilmington, Delaware: “I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege.” Biden said that democracy was ’“under unprecedented assault,” a sentiment echoed by many in Congress, including some Republicans. The chaotic protests halted Congress’ constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College results, in which Biden defeated Trump, 306-232.

"Wednesday’s ordinarily mundane procedure of Congress certifying a new president was always going to be extraordinary, with Republican supporters of Trump vowing to protest election results that have been certified by the states. But even the unusual deliberations, which included Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader McConnell defying Trump’s demands, were quickly overtaken by the chaos. In a raucous, out-of-control scene, protesters fought past police and breached the building, shouting and waving Trump and American flags as they marched through the halls. One person was reported shot at the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the situation. That person’s condition was unknown. At least one explosive device was found that was detonated. The protesters abruptly interrupted the congressional proceedings in an eerie scene that featured official warnings directing people to duck under their seats for cover and put on gas masks after tear gas was used in the Capitol Rotunda. Senators were being evacuated. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices. The Pentagon said about 1,100 District of Columbia National Guard members were being mobilized to help support law enforcement at the Capitol."

This brazen storming of the Capitol by the Nazi Right, incited by Trump, has created quite a firestorm in Washington and throughout the country. Far more to come in the next edition.

1-8-21

More of the same. United Press International reports:

"Republicans in the Pennsylvania state Senate have refused to swear in a Democratic colleague who won re-election in November and took control of the proceedings from the state's lieutenant governor who objected to the move. Pennsylvania state Sen. Ryan Aument on Tuesday tabled a motion to prevent Sen. Jim Brewster from being seated as his narrow election win in November is being contested by his Republican challenger, Nicole Ziccarelli, in the courts. Republicans then voted to remove Lt. Gov. John Fetterman after he rejected to see the motion and was replaced by Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman. Democratic state Sen. Anthony Williams vociferously objected to the move, stating they were not only violating the Constitution and the commonwealth's laws but their oath to office. "There is nothing about this day that is appropriate -- nothing," he yelled. "We will not lay down and roll over because you got four more folks on that side of the aisle. This is about Pennsylvania, not Democrats or Republicans. This not about simply winning, it's about protecting our democracy." Gov. Tom Wolf condemned the move and accused the Republican Party of spreading disinformation it used to "subvert the democratic process," not only in the state but nationwide. "This is a shameful power grab that disgraces the institution," the Democratic governor said in a statement. "It is simply unethical and undemocratic to leave the district without a voice simply because the Republicans don't like the outcome of the election." Brewster beat Ziccarelli by 69 votes and his victory was confirmed by the Pennsylvania Department of State, but the Republicans refused to swear him in due Ziccarelli's lawsuit that questions several hundred mail-in ballots."

1-8-21

Georgia runoff. The Washington Post reports:

"Democrats closed in on control of the U.S. Senate with a victory in one of Georgia’s two runoff elections and the lead in the second contest. The Rev. Raphael Warnock won his race against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler. The other Democrat, Jon Ossoff, held a narrower lead over David Perdue (R), whose Senate term lapsed Sunday."

United Press International reports:

"Democrats took control of the U.S. Senate -- and both chambers of Congress -- Wednesday after Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were projected to win their runoff races in Georgia. CNN, NBC, ABC and The New York Times said both Democratic challengers will win the Tuesday election. With 100% of precincts reporting Wednesday afternoon, Ossoff had 50.28% of the vote to incumbent Sen. David Perdue's 49.72, according to the Georgia secretary of state's website. Warnock had 50.7% of the vote in the special Senate race to Sen. Kelly Loeffler's 49.3%. Both Ossoff and Warnock had enough of a lead to avoid an automatic recount. With the victory, Warnock will become the first Black senator from Georgia. Ossoff declared victory, saying "I will look forward to serving you in the United States with integrity, with humility, with honor."

1-1-21

More atrocities committed by ICE. NPR reports:

"One former detainee says she was already in a hospital gown this past July, waiting to be wheeled into surgery, when she began to suspect something was very wrong. Jaromy Floriano Navarro thought she was getting an operation to remove a cyst on her ovary — until the driver who brought her to the hospital said otherwise. "She was just like, 'You know you're having a hysterectomy, right?' " Floriano tells NPR in an interview. "And I was in shock, because I knew what that meant." Floriano is one of more than 30 undocumented immigrants who've come forward with allegations of medical abuse, according to court papers filed late Monday — all of them current or former detainees at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Ga. Many of the women say that they were pressured to have unwanted or unnecessary gynecological procedures while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or that they were retaliated against for speaking out."

Expect better in a de facto fascist police-state?

"In Floriano's case, she says the surgery didn't happen — because she tested positive for the coronavirus and was quickly sent back to the Irwin County Detention Center in rural Georgia. But the confusion continued. Floriano says a nurse at the detention center told her she wasn't going to have her uterus removed but was having another procedure known as a dilation and curettage, or D&C. Floriano says she had never discussed or approved that with the doctor, either."

Imagine that.

"I felt like I had no control of my immigration case, of my body, of my health, of my life, for that matter. And that's why I spoke up," she says, "because they were trying to mess with my body." Lawyers are seeking class action status for those women. They allege that immigration authorities knew about complaints against a local gynecologist, Mahendra Amin. "ICE knew about the abuses as far back as 2018, and they continued to ignore the complaints," says Azadeh Shahshahani, a lawyer with Project South, a nonprofit in Atlanta, who serves as co-counsel on the litigation."

Could it be this quack was doing the bidding of ICE?

"A spokesman for ICE says that the agency cannot comment on pending litigation and that ICE is cooperating with an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security. A lawyer for Amin has said that he denied earlier allegations. The Irwin County Detention Center is run by a private contractor, LaSalle Corrections, which also denies any wrongdoing. This case is unusual because complaints about the medical care in ICE facilities usually focus on a lack of treatment. There is a special branch of ICE, known as the Health Services Corps, that oversees medical care at private facilities like this one. "Every single procedure has to be approved by our medical teams," says Ken Cuccinelli, a top immigration official at DHS. He talked about the allegations in a recent interview with WDUN, a talk radio station in Georgia. "We review each one of these, which is why the allegation was so unusual, because it would be essentially impossible first for something like what was alleged to go on without ICE knowing about it," Cuccinelli says."

Could it be this ICE official is a liar?

"Lawyers for the women allege that ICE did know — but that instead of taking action against the doctor or the detention facility, they say, ICE retaliated against the women who complained. "It raises real concerns about the lengths to which the federal government and the contractors at this facility will go to silence the women who want to speak the truth," says Elora Mukherjee, a clinical professor at Columbia Law School who is part of the case. Mukherjee says ICE has tried to deport at least eight women who have come forward so far. Lawyers have been able to stop some of these deportations — but not all of them. "They punished me — they punished me for speaking up," Floriano says. "They tried to shut me up by deporting me." Floriano was deported in September — two days after the publication of a whistleblower report that brought national attention to the story."

Goddamned nazis in a de facto fascist police-state.

"Floriano, 28, is now in Mexico, a country she left when she was 8 years old, and is working at a call center in Aguascalientes. She has two children, ages 8 and 2, who are living with her mother in South Carolina. "I talk to my baby — she sends me videos telling me she loves me. Yeah, I talked to my 8-year-old. I help her with her homework. We talk all day," Floriano says. Floriano hopes this lawsuit will help her see them again. "I would like justice," Floriano says. "I hope that they bring us back to the United States and that they protect us, that they give us a checkup at the doctor, because we have been abused."

Congenital liars like their fuhrer in the Oval Office:

"ICE denies retaliating against anyone. Last month, a government lawyer agreed that the agency would not deport anyone else involved in the case until a hearing in January. But this month, the government asked to withdraw from that agreement. ICE now says it won't deport any of the original plaintiffs in the case. It won't make any promises about anyone else."

Goddamned jackbooted nazis. We've lost ourselves. Founders? Spinning in their graves.

1-1-21

No justice in a de facto fascist police-state. In follow-up to a case covered repeatedly in this publication and elsewhere, The Associated Press reports:

"The Justice Department says it will not bring federal criminal charges against two Cleveland police officers in the 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, saying video of the shooting was of too poor a quality for prosecutors to conclusively establish what had happened. In closing the case Tuesday, the department brought to an end a long-running investigation into a high-profile shooting that helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement and became part of the national dialogue about police use of force against minorities, including children. The decision, revealed in a lengthy statement, does not condone the officers’ actions but rather says the cumulative evidence was not enough to support a federal criminal civil rights prosecution."

Nazi justice in a de facto fascist police-state.

1-1-21

Nazi justice in the Trump regime. Uncommon Valor by a physician who got the boot for speaking the truth. NPR reports:

"Dr. James Phillips, the Walter Reed physician who criticized President Trump's decision to greet supporters outside the facility where he was being treated for COVID-19, has worked his last shift at the hospital. "I stand by my words, and I regret nothing," Phillips wrote on Twitter."

Uncommon Valor. Hat's off, Doctor.

"The doctor's pending removal from the work schedule at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was reported in early December – two months after Phillips slammed the president's refusal to isolate himself. His announcement that he has now stopped working at the medical compound brought a new round of praise for Phillips, both for his work as a doctor and for speaking out.

"Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER. I will miss the patients and my military and civilian coworkers - they have been overwhelmingly supportive. I’m honored to have worked there and I look forward to new opportunities. I stand by my words, and I regret nothing.
— James P. Phillips, MD (@DrPhillipsMD) December 28, 2020

"Phillips, who is also the chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University, said in October that Trump's insistence on riding in a motorcade past supporters gathered across the street from Walter Reed exposed his security detail and others to a high risk of infection by the deadly coronavirus. "The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play," the physician wrote, in a tweet that was later deleted. He also dismissed Trump's outing — which came one month before the national election — as "political theater" that forced other people into quarantine and put them at unnecessary risk."

No question. Actions by a 'president' unfit for office.

"When NPR contacted Walter Reed about Dr. Phillips' status on Monday, a representative stated that Phillips worked there as a contract employee. The medical center "provides requirements for contract employees to the contract agency," the representative said. "The contract agency then works together with contract employees to determine individual schedules. There was no decision made by anyone at [Walter Reed National Military Medical Center] to remove Dr. Phillips from the schedule."

Think that's the truth?

"Representatives from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences were unavailable for comment Monday. The school said earlier this month that while it could confirm Phillips remains an employee, it was not able to comment on assignments such as his contract work at Walter Reed. Late Sunday, Phillips said he had no regrets about his public stance. "Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER," Phillips tweeted. "I will miss the patients and my military and civilian coworkers - they have been overwhelmingly supportive. I'm honored to have worked there and I look forward to new opportunities." Phillips also thanked a George Washington University colleague who defended him, after Dr. Jonathan Reiner stated, "Dr. Phillips spoke the truth, and the truth was uncomfortable for some people. He did nothing wrong. People who claim to be patriots should defend the 1st Amendment as vigorously as they defend the 2nd."

Goddamned right. No question.

"Phillips was one of many voices critical of Trump's outing. The president said his foray was meant to thank his supporters. After the event, White House spokesman Judd Deere said a medical team had cleared Trump's plan for a brief motorcade tour, and that those involved took safety precautions. During the ride, Trump was seen wearing a mask – as were Secret Service personnel who were in the vehicle with him."

1-1-21

Legacy of the racist Trump nazi. NPR reports:

"Justice Department whistleblowers are calling on federal watchdogs and members of Congress to investigate what they call illegal and abusive government directives that waste money and chill "diversity-related speech across the entire federal workforce." NPR has obtained a letter by a lawyer for the whistleblowers, who report that diversity and inclusion programs they had planned for the Justice Department earlier this year were branded "divisive propaganda" and had to be canceled. One such program was supposed to feature the former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jessie Liu; and the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Regina Lombardo, to discuss the "gender leadership gap" at the Justice Department. Another would have examined the issue of implicit bias in law enforcement. "The Diversity Directives signal to all that minorities are not welcome, their positions are not secure, and that discussing systemic injustice is inappropriate in the workplace or otherwise," wrote David Seide, a lawyer at the Government Accountability Project who is representing the current DOJ employees. "The directives were implemented to silence conversations surrounding issues of race, nationality, and gender during a time when such conversations have been most needed."

Expect better of our insane, racist, nazi fuhrer?

"The controversy followed a September 2020 executive order in which President Trump ordered federal agencies to submit diversity training programs to the Office of Personnel Management for prior approval. The order said Trump was acting "to promote economy and efficiency in Federal contracting, to promote unity in the Federal workforce, and to combat offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating."

In reality? Apparently, to impose his racist ideology.

"The whistleblowers' letter said Trump was reportedly inspired to take action after watching a critic of diversity and inclusion programs on Tucker Carlson's program on Fox News."

Surprised?

"The OPM rules have proved confusing and unworkable, leading many federal agencies and contractors to cancel all their programming. Three civil rights groups have already sued over the Trump crackdown, arguing it violates the First and 14th Amendments. "It seemed very politically driven, politically motivated around election time," one current Justice Department employee told NPR, on condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation."

Sad, isn't it? A democratic republic in name only. In reality, a de facto fascist police-state.

"The employee added that the episodes reflected "governance at its worst."

Raw, racist nazism.

"A second Justice Department employee, also speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, pointed out that the OPM, which must preapprove diversity programming, is supposed to be taking the lead in protecting the federal workforce in the coronavirus pandemic — a full-time responsibility these days. The whistleblowers are asking for the administration of President-elect Joe Biden to immediately withdraw the Trump executive order and for congressional agencies with oversight over the Justice Department to investigate the issue. The executive order and its aftermath are causing real harm, both Justice Department employees said, and hurting morale among federal workers of color. The Trump administration said contractors who fail to follow the directives could be barred from future contracts and federal employees could face "adverse" employment action."

Expect better of a racist nazi dictator?

Get this:

"The Justice Department previously declined to comment on how it is implementing the executive order, but most diversity programs there appear to have been put on hold since autumn. The Biden campaign told NPR before the election that Biden "stands firmly against discrimination of all kinds and his administration will tackle systemic racism and other forms of discrimination across all of our laws, policies, and institutions."

Will take more than empty rhetoric.

1-1-21

Where there's smoke, almost always, there's fire. United Press International reports:

"Private bankers at Deutsche Bank responsible for lending to President Donald Trump and Jared Kushner have resigned, the bank said Tuesday. Rosemary Vrablic and Dominic Scalzi "tendered their resignations to Deutsche Bank effective as of year-end, which was accepted by the bank" Deutsche Bank spokesman Daniel Hunter said, according to CNN. In a statement Tuesday, Vrablic, 60, said she was "looking forward" to her retirement. Vrablic and Scalzi joined Deutsche Bank from Bank of America in 2006 and Vrablic took on Trump as a client in 2011. Deutsche Bank has lent Trump about $330 million and the loans are set to come due in 2023 and 2024. Trump provided a personal guarantee to obtain the loans, allowing the bank to pursue his personal assets if they are not paid back. The Trump Organization is under investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's office and New York Attorney General, both of which have subpoenaed Deutsche Bank for information regarding its lending to the company. Two Deutsche Bank employees not working on the Trump account, were questioned by investigators with the criminal investigation seeking general information about lending practices in recent weeks. A lawyer for Vrablic declined to comment on the investigations, saying "Ms. Vrablic is committed to cooperating with authorities if asked."

1-1-21

Legacy pardons of the Trump nazi. United Press International reports:

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a flurry of 20 pardons and commutations as his term in the White House comes to an end. The pardons issued Tuesday include two men who pleaded guilty in former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, two former Republican congressmen and four former Blackwater Worldwide military contractors responsible for the shooting deaths of 14 Iraqis in 2007. George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, was pardoned after pleading guilty to making false statements to federal officials as part of Mueller's investigation. Trump also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who pleaded guilty to the same charge in 2018. Former California Rep. Duncan Hunter received a pardon after he and his wife, Margaret Hunter, pleaded guilty last year to misusing more than $250,000 of his campaign re-election funds for personal expenses such as video games, private school tuition, oral surgery and utilities between 2009 and 2016. Additionally, former New York Rep. Chris Collins was pardoned after pleading guilty in October 2019 to insider trading for telling his son Cameron Collins and Stephen Zarsky -- Cameron Collins' prospective father-in-law -- to sell their shares in Australian biotech firm Innate Immunotherapeutics as the company failed a clinical trial. Trump also pardoned Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slaten, four former employees of the military contracting firm Blackwater Worldwide who were sentenced for their roles in a massacre in Iraq in 2007 that resulted in the deaths of 14 unarmed Iraqis. Earlier this year, Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime ally and former campaign adviser Roger Stone and last month, following his election loss, he pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn."

NPR reports:

"Perpetrators of a massacre, perjurers, corrupt politicians, money launderers, nonviolent convicted drug dealers and a 1950s moonshine-maker are among those whom President Trump granted clemency on Tuesday, ahead of the Christmas holiday. In all, Trump granted full pardons to 15 individuals and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional 5. Among the high-profile pardons are three former Republican members of Congress, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, who pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds; Trump also singled out George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser who was charged in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation; four Blackwater mercenaries who were convicted for killing civilians in Iraq; and two Border Patrol agents who attempted to cover up their shooting of a Mexican national fleeing arrest."

Determined abrogation of justice by national socialists, fascists, nazis on the Right:

"The move comes as activists have lobbied Trump to use his executive powers to help prisoners who are serving what they view as unduly long sentences. Before this latest batch, Trump had issued 28 pardons and 16 commutations during his time in office. Presidents traditionally have granted a large number of pardons and commutations before leaving office, especially when dealing with controversial cases. Trump is expected to follow that path, but he has not shied away from granting clemency in high-profile cases, even early on in his presidency."

The Associated Press reports:

"President Donald Trump pardoned more than two dozen people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest wave of clemency to benefit longtime associates and supporters. The actions, in Trump’s waning time at the White House, bring to nearly 50 the number of people whom the president has granted clemency in the last week. The list from the last two days includes not only multiple people convicted in the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia but also allies from Congress and other felons whose causes were championed by friends. Pardons are common in the final stretch of a president’s tenure, the recipients largely dependent on the individual whims of the nation’s chief executive. Trump throughout his administration has shucked aside the conventions of the Obama administration, when pardons were largely reserved for drug offenders not known to the general public, and instead bestowed clemency on high-profile contacts and associates who were key figures in an investigation that directly concerned him. Even members of the president’s own party raised eyebrows, with Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska issuing a brief statement that said: “This is rotten to the core.” The pardons Wednesday of Manafort and Roger Stone, who months earlier had his sentence commuted by Trump, were particularly notable, underscoring the president’s desire to chip away at the results and legacy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. He has now pardoned five people convicted in that investigation, four of them associates like former national security adviser Michael Flynn and campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, both of whom pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI."

Unvarnished truth:

“The pardons from this President are what you would expect to get if you gave the pardon power to a mob boss,” tweeted Andrew Weissmann, a Mueller team member who helped prosecute Manafort. Manafort, who led Trump’s campaign during a pivotal period in 2016 before being ousted over his ties to Ukraine, was among the first people charged as part of Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. He was later sentenced to more than seven years in prison for financial crimes related to his political consulting work in Ukraine, but was released to home confinement last spring because of coronavirus concerns in the federal prison system. Though the charges against Manafort did not concern the central thrust of Mueller’s mandate — whether the Trump campaign and Russia colluded to tip the election — he was nonetheless a pivotal figure in the investigation. His close relationship to a man U.S. officials have linked to Russian intelligence, and with whom he shared internal campaign polling data, attracted particular scrutiny during the investigation, though Mueller never charged Manafort or any other Trump associate with conspiring with Russia. Manafort, in a series of tweets, thanked Trump and lavished praise on the outgoing president, declaring that history would show he had accomplished more than any of his predecessors."

Jesus Christ. What a crock of shit.

"Trump did not pardon Manafort’s deputy, Rick Gates, who was sentenced last year to 45 days in prison after extensively cooperating with prosecutors, or former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes related to his efforts to buy the silence of women who said they had sexual relationships with Trump. Both were also convicted in the Mueller probe."

Surprised?

"New York City prosecutors, meanwhile, have been seeking to have the state’s highest court revive state mortgage fraud charges against Manafort after a lower court dismissed them on double jeopardy grounds. A spokesman for District Attorney Cy Vance said the pardon “underscores the urgent need to hold Mr. Manafort accountable for his crimes against the People of New York.” Manafort and Stone are hardly conventional pardon recipients, in part because both were scolded by judges for effectively thumbing their nose at the criminal justice system as their cases were pending. Manafort was accused of witness tampering even after he was indicted and was accused by prosecutors of lying while trying to earn credit for cooperation. Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress about his efforts to gain inside information about the release by WikiLeaks of Russia-hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign, was similarly censured by a judge because of his social media posts."

Outrageous, galling bullshit:

"In a statement Wednesday, Stone thanked Trump and alleged that he had been subjected to a “Soviet-style show trial on politically-motivated charges.”

No justice:

"Kushner is the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and a wealthy real estate executive who pleaded guilty years ago to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations. Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009. Prosecutors allege that after Kushner discovered that his brother-in-law was cooperating with authorities, he hatched a revenge and intimidation scheme. They say he hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have a secret recording of the encounter in a New Jersey motel room sent to his own sister, the man’s wife. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has called it “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he ever prosecuted as U.S. attorney."

Outrageous, self-serving abuse of clemency power:

"Trump’s legally troubled allies were not the only recipients of clemency. The list of 29 recipients included people whose pleas for forgiveness have been promoted by people supporting the president throughout his term in office, among them former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. One recipient was Topeka Sam, whose case was promoted by Alice Johnson, a criminal justice advocate whom Trump pardoned and who appeared in a Super Bowl ad for him and at the Republican National Convention. “Ms. Sam’s life is a story of redemption,” the White House said in its release, praising her for helping other women in need. Others granted clemency included a former county commissioner in Florida who was convicted of taking gifts from people doing business with the county and a community leader in Kentucky who was convicted of federal drug offenses."

The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump’s critics have long argued that he was corruptly trying to thwart the Russia investigation by dangling his broad pardon power. One of Trump’s many controversial pardons this week, in particular, raises that question anew. Throughout the nearly two-year investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, there was perhaps one person (aside from the president himself) whom investigators really wanted to talk to, and who ended up not cooperating and getting a lengthier jail sentence instead: former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Now, Manafort is freed by the president from serving the rest of his 7½-year prison sentence. We don’t know whether there was an explicit deal between Trump and Manafort to reward the latter for his silence. But reports that Trump, through emissaries, floated the idea of a pardon to Manafort as he was talking to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III sound even more plausible now that it’s actually happened. Manafort was one of the marquee names in a large batch of controversial pardons and commutations of sentences that the president announced this week. Trump wasn’t necessarily quiet about his desire for Manafort to stay quiet. During the Mueller investigation, Trump publicly praised Manafort for refusing “to break.” Manafort originally fought criminal charges, and then, facing 10 years in prison, pleaded guilty in hopes of a lesser sentence for cooperating with Mueller. But the plea deal almost immediately collapsed as Mueller accused Manafort of lying to him and his team — about his contacts with a potential Russian agent, no less. Trump has also pardoned or commuted the sentences of four other people caught up in the Russia investigation, not even hiding the fact in statements that he wants to try to undo the work of an investigation that dominated much of his presidency. But Manafort’s pardon rises above the rest for its ability to hide any Russia ties with the Trump campaign from investigators. Some of the others Trump helped with legal troubles — former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn and former campaign aide George Papadopoulos — ended up cooperating in some form with investigators. The nature of the highly secretive special counsel investigation is that we won’t know exactly what they shared with investigators. But they clearly shared something of value, given that Mueller didn’t throw the book at them like he did with Manafort. They were convicted or went to jail on lesser sentences for their cooperation. (Flynn got his conviction overturned with the help of former Trump attorney general William P. Barr.) (Trump ally and operative Roger Stone, like Manafort, notably did not cooperate with Mueller. Trump pardoned him this week too, after commuting his sentence for, in part, lying to Congress about conversations he had with Trump campaign officials.) We don’t know and may never know exactly what Manafort knew. But we know that Mueller really wanted to talk to him. Manafort had perhaps the most connections to Russia of anyone. He had worked for pro-Russian political forces in Ukraine before joining the Trump campaign. His brief tenure as head of Trump’s campaign overlapped with concerns about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. He was in the Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr., taking notes on his phone. He has high-level connections to Russia in his own right. Someone Manafort worked closely with, Konstantin Kilimnik, was described by Mueller as having “ties to Russian intelligence.” A Senate Republican report went further and called Kilimnik a “Russian intelligence officer,” and said he was the “single most direct tie” between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence, so much so that Kilimnik was “at the center of the Committee’s investigation.”

No justice.

United Press International reports:

"The move by U.S. President Donald Trump to pardon and free four private security guards who killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in 2007 has been met with outrage from the victims' families and many others. In a new round of pardons Wednesday night, Trump excused Blackwater Worldwide guards Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough. They were found guilty in 2014 of launching the attack, unprovoked, at Baghdad's Nisour Square 13 years ago -- which killed 14 civilians, including two children, and injured 17 others. All four were sentenced to at least 12 years in prison. Slatten, who started the shooting, was given a life sentence. In offering justification for the pardons, Trump questioned the merits of the Justice Department's prosecution of the privately contracted security guards and claimed the pardons are "broadly supported by the public."

The hell they are.

"Many view the new round of pardons, which also excused crimes committed by political operatives Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, as the most galling of Trump's presidency so far. Relatives of the victims and surviving victims reacted with disgust. "They are terrorists," Jasim Mohammed Al-Nasrawi, an Iraqi police officer who was injured in the attack, said of the four Blackwater guards. "I am still not 100% recovered from my head wound, which [was] sustained in the gunfire by Blackwater guards in 2007, and have not been completely compensated for the attack. I will not waive my right to this case, I am not giving up." Iraq's foreign ministry said Trump's pardons don't "take into account the seriousness of the crime[s] committed." The father of a 9-year boy who was one of the two children killed in the attack said Trump "broke my life again." "He broke the law. He broke everything. He broke the court. He broke the judge," he told the BBC. "Before [this] I felt that no-one [was] above the law." United Nations Human Rights Office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado said Trump's move "contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future."

Indeed, Trump's pathetic legacy.

"The U.N. Human Rights Office calls on the U.S. to renew its commitment to fighting impunity for gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, as well as to uphold its obligations to ensure accountability for such crimes." "President Trump has pardoned a child murderer," said Paul Dickinson, an attorney who represented some of the victims. "When the White House statement says the situation turned violent, the situation turned violent because of what those men did -- not because of anything that happened around them. While they may have served honorably, they committed heinous crimes that day." Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska reacted with a stern one-sentence statement. "This is rotten to the core," he said."

No shit.

CBS News reports:

"President Trump's unprecedented slew of pardons in recent days are tied to the "absolute loyalty" some of his key advisers showed him, even throughout former special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett said on "CBS This Morning" Thursday. "Everything [Trump] does the White House asserts is redemptive," Garrett said, discussing the president's viewpoint. "It is essentially balancing the scales of injustice, because as the president has said on Twitter and in comments for years now, the Mueller investigation was based on fraudulent assumptions, the tactics used were abusive." Paul Manafort, once a pivotal player in President Trump's 2016 campaign, was one of the 26 new pardons issued by the president Wednesday. Political operative Roger Stone and Jared Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, also received pardons. The president's controversial new pardons have been met with pushback from some Republicans, including Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse who called the pardons "rotten to the core." Both Stone and Manafort were prosecuted and convicted on charges that arose from Mueller's investigation. "They went through the judicial process, they were convicted and in Paul Manafort's case plead guilty. Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors, Roger Stone lied to Congress. What are the common themes there? Doing everything they can to not say what they knew about Donald Trump," Garrett said. The pardon announcements come as tensions rise between the president and congressional Republicans, after Mr. Trump denounced the $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package that promised some aid for millions of Americans. Garrett said the rift between Republicans and President Trump could have bigger implications when it comes to the future of the Republican Party."

The Washington Post reports:

"Among the dozens of people who received pardons from President Trump this week were several who lied to investigators and obstructed a federal probe into the president's links to Russia. Some had personal connections to Trump or his most loyal backers. A handful were Republican lawmakers rewarded for fealty to the president after betraying the public trust. Others abused their authority in more violent ways, killing or injuring unarmed civilians. Taken together, the rogues’ gallery of criminals receiving clemency this week showcased Trump’s willingness to exert raw political power for his own personal gain, handing out favors to friends at a time when he is seeking GOP support for his flailing bid to reverse his election loss. In a process White House aides describe as ad hoc, many of the pardon seekers ended up on the president’s radar after conservative activists, television commentators or other friends of Trump made personal appeals on their behalf. The brazenness of the announcements — which included pardons for his daughter’s father-in-law, a former campaign manager and convicted killers from a private security firm founded by a longtime political ally — rocked Washington and sparked calls for an overhaul of the constitutional power. Trump’s wave of pardons, coming less than a month before he is set to leave office, is his latest exploitation of his executive powers in ways that offend the spirit of the Constitution, if not its letter, said Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. “The pardon is an unfettered power, so I don’t think that there was ever a chance that he wasn’t going to look after the people he’s been quietly authorizing and protecting all along,” he said. “Nobody with a straight face can argue that this use of the pardon power is consistent with what the Framers envisioned when they conveyed it in Article II.” The vast majority of the 94 people who have received clemency from Trump have a personal or political connection to him, according to a compilation by Harvard Law School professor Jack Goldsmith and Matthew Gluck on the Lawfare blog. Democrats in Congress, good-governance groups and several former prosecutors slammed the pardons as antithetical to the rule of law and yet another example of hypocrisy from a president who campaigned on a pledge to restore “law and order” and end political cronyism. Some called for an overhaul of the pardon power, saying Trump has so corrupted it that it should be amended or even stripped from the Constitution."

Here's the problem:

“Once one party allows the pardon power to become a tool of criminal enterprise, its danger to democracy outweighs its utility as an instrument of justice,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote Thursday on Twitter after Trump pardoned several people who were charged in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe into whether Trump conspired with Russia or obstructed justice. “It’s time to remove the pardon power from the Constitution.” For their part, Republican lawmakers have largely been silent — abandoning the kind of outrage they expressed when Democratic presidents issued pardons to political allies on a far smaller scale."

Gutless, hypocritical sons of bitches. ... With rare exception:

"One Republican who did speak out, Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.) called the moves “rotten to the core.”

They are.

"Trump has used his constitutional power to undermine Mueller’s investigation, which neither charged nor exonerated him of obstructing justice. Mueller, who indicted several of Trump’s close allies and aides, cited long-standing Justice Department guidelines against indicting a sitting president. Trump has told allies he wants to erode the Mueller probe through the presidential power to pardon. His pardons Wednesday of former campaign manager Paul Manafort and political confidant Roger Stone — both convicted of trying to impede investigations into Russia’s interference into the 2016 presidential race — were part of the effort to discredit Mueller and reward those who stood by him even as they faced prosecutorial pressure, aides said."

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

1-1-21

Stonewalling legacy of the Trump nazi. NPR reports:

"With millions of Americans waiting for desperately needed economic aid, a massive relief package remains in limbo as President Trump weighs whether to sign it into law. On Thursday morning, House Republicans blocked a last-minute move by Democrats to increase direct payments, an effort to capitalize on Trump's comments that the relief payments in the newly passed legislation should be increased from $600 to $2,000. In turn, House Democrats blocked a dueling unanimous consent request brought by Republicans that would revisit the foreign aid section of the omnibus bill. This Christmas showdown was teed up by Trump's comments in a video he released Tuesday evening on Twitter, where he heavily criticized the relief package Congress passed on Monday. He slammed the legislation on a variety of fronts, including his complaint that too much money was being allocated to foreign aid and that the direct payments of $600 for qualifying Americans was too low. Instead, he argued the figure should be boosted to $2,000 per person or $4,000 per couple — even though Republican negotiators had argued for months against higher direct payments. In a letter to House Republicans Wednesday night, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., accused Democrats of having "selective hearing" for only heeding Trump's call for increasing stimulus payments for Americans but not for reducing expenditures on international aid. That aid is part of a larger spending package for fiscal year 2021 that is attached to the COVID-19 relief bill. "They have conveniently ignored the concerns expressed by the President, and shared by our constituents, that we ought to reexamine how our tax dollars are spent overseas while so many of our neighbors at home are struggling to make ends meet," the letter said."

Jesus Christ. Give me a break. Clearly, neither party is worth a shit.

"In a statement Thursday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., vowed House members will return on Monday to hold a recorded vote on a stand-alone bill to increase economic impact payments to $2,000. "Today, on Christmas Eve morning, House Republicans cruelly deprived the American people of the $2,000 that the President agreed to support," Pelosi wrote. "If the President is serious about the $2,000 direct payments, he must call on House Republicans to end their obstruction." In the meantime, the combined coronavirus aid and spending bill hangs in the balance. In a press conference following the House session, Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who presided over the morning's session, was adamant that Trump should sign the legislation before him immediately and not veto it as he implied he might do. "It is Christmas Eve. But it is not a silent night. All is not calm. For too many, nothing is bright. And for too many, they are not sleeping peacefully," she said. "I've been talking to people who are scared they're going to be kicked out from their homes during the Christmas holidays and still might be if we don't sign this bill. A father who called me two weeks ago and he said to me he had told his child that Santa Claus couldn't come this year but he wanted to be able to feed her for Christmas." Dingell added: "Was this bill perfect? No, but it was a down payment on getting COVID relief to the people of this country." Congress' bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill passed Monday after months of heated negotiations and included more than $900 billion in aid for individuals and small businesses. Should Trump veto the legislation, Congress has the ability to override his veto with an additional vote. If Trump does not sign the package by Monday, a current stopgap funding measure will run out, and the government would go into a shutdown."

Sadly, we've lost ourselves.

The Associated Press reports:

"The House voted overwhelmingly Monday to increase COVID-19 relief checks to $2,000, meeting President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger payments and sending the bill to the GOP-controlled Senate, where the outcome is highly uncertain. Democrats led passage, 275-134, their majority favoring additional assistance, but dozens of Republicans suddenly joined in approval. While Democrats favored bigger checks, Congress had settled on smaller $600 payments in a compromise over the big year-end relief bill Trump reluctantly signed into law. The president’s GOP allies opposed more spending and Trump’s push puts them in a difficult spot."

1-1-21

Succumbing to enormous pressure from both Republicans and Democrats, Trump finally signed the government funding bill. The Associated Press reports:

"Shelving his objections, President Donald Trump has signed a $2 trillion-plus COVID-19 and annual federal spending package providing relief for millions of Americans, even as Congress returns to confront the White House on remaining priorities in a rare end-of-session showdown. Trump appears to have accomplished little, if anything, from the days of drama over his refusal to accept the sweeping bipartisan deal. While the president’s demands for larger $2,000 pandemic relief checks seem destined to fail, his push served up a political opportunity for Democrats, who support the larger stipends and are forcing Trump’s Republican allies into a tough spot. On Monday, the Democratic-led House is set to vote to boost the $600 payments to $2,000, sending a new bill to the Senate. There, Republicans have the majority but oppose more spending and are likely to defeat the effort. The showdown offers more symbol than substance, and it’s not expected to alter the massive package that Trump reluctantly signed into law late Sunday in Florida, where he is spending the holidays. The $900 billion in COVID aid and $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies will deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown that otherwise would have started Tuesday, in the midst of the public health crisis.

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., seized on the divide between the president and his party, urging Trump to put pressure on his Senate GOP allies to pass the bill. “The President must immediately call on Congressional Republicans to end their obstruction and to join him and Democrats in support of our stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $2,000,” Pelosi said in a tweet."

While likely not to pass, it does put Republicans on the record in opposition.

"Trump’s sudden decision to sign the bill came as he faced escalating criticism from lawmakers on all sides over his eleventh-hour demands. The bipartisan bill negotiated by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had already passed the House and Senate by wide margins. Lawmakers had thought they had Trump’s blessing after months of negotiations with his administration. The president’s defiant refusal to act, publicized with a heated video he tweeted just before the Christmas holiday, sparked chaos, a lapse in unemployment benefits for millions and the threat of a government shutdown in the pandemic. It was another crisis of his own making, resolved when he ultimately signed the bill into law. In his statement about the signing, Trump repeated his frustrations with the COVID-19 relief bill for providing only $600 checks to most Americans and complained about what he considered unnecessary spending, particularly on foreign aid — much of it proposed by his own budget. While the president insisted he would send Congress “a redlined version” with spending items he wants removed, those are merely suggestions to Congress. The bill, as signed, would not necessarily be changed."

1-1-21

Sadly, our formerly great country is falling apart. The Associated Press reports:

"Elections are meant to resolve arguments. This one inflamed them. Weeks after the votes have been counted and the winners declared, many Americans remain angry, defiant and despairing. Millions now harbor new grievances borne of President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud. Many Democrats are saddened by results that revealed the opposition to be far more powerful than they imagined. And in both groups there are those grappling with larger, more disquieting realizations: The foundations of the American experiment have been shaken — by partisan rancor, disinformation, a president’s assault on democracy and a deadly coronavirus pandemic."

1-1-21

Trump is not a happy camper. The Associated Press reports:

"President Donald Trump is lashing out at congressional Republicans after the House easily voted to override his veto of a defense policy bill. A total of 109 Republicans, including Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of GOP leadership, joined with Democrats to approve the override, which would be the first of Trump’s presidency. The Senate is expected to consider the measure later this week. Trump slammed GOP lawmakers on Twitter, charging Tuesday that “Weak and tired Republican ‘leadership’ will allow the bad Defense Bill to pass. Trump called the override vote a “disgraceful act of cowardice and total submission by weak people to Big Tech. Negotiate a better Bill, or get better leaders, NOW! Senate should not approve NDAA until fixed!!!? House members voted 322-87 on Monday to override the veto, well above the two-thirds needed to override. The vote sends the override effort to the Senate, although the exact timing is uncertain. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said he will delay a vote on the defense bill until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allows a vote on a Trump-backed plan to increase COVID-19 relief payments to $2,000. “Let me be clear: If Senator McConnell doesn’t agree to an up or down vote to provide the working people of our country a $2,000 direct payment, Congress will not be going home for New Year’s Eve, Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said after the House vote. “Let’s do our job.” McConnell has not said publicly how he will address the relief-check issue or the defense bill."

12-25-20

Think the U.S. Supreme Court has credibility? NPR reports:

"The U.S. Supreme Court dodged a ruling on Friday on whether President Trump can exclude undocumented immigrants from a key census count. In the unsigned opinion, the court said it would be premature to rule on the case right now because it is "riddled with contingencies and speculation" and even the Trump administration doesn't know how many undocumented immigrants there are or where they live. "At the end of the day, the standing and ripeness inquiries both lead to the conclusion that judicial resolution of this" case is "premature," the justices wrote."

Jesus Christ. What a crock of shit.

"In their dissent, the three liberal justices said that there is enough of a record in this case to say that the administration's plan is clearly illegal under federal law. That's because Census numbers used to determine each state's share of seats in the House of Representatives and votes in the Electoral College have always included both citizens and noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status. The decision leaves open the possibility for Trump to try to remove some undocumented immigrants from a key census count, but immigrant rights advocates warned Friday that they would sue. "If the Administration actually tries to implement this policy, we'll sue. Again. And we'll win," Dale Ho, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's voting rights project, said on Twitter. The Constitution requires that there be a count of the "whole number of persons" in the country every 10 years and that congressional seats be allocated based on that population count in each state. The Electoral College votes are identically apportioned."

Exactly, right.

"In July, Trump issued a memorandum ordering the Census Bureau to send him two sets of numbers. One set was to be the whole number of persons in each state. The second set would allow the number of undocumented immigrants in each state to be subtracted from those numbers for purposes for determining how many seats each state gets in the House of Representatives. Twenty-three states challenged Trump's directive in court, along with immigrant rights advocates and other groups. Lower courts blocked Trump's plan from going into effect, saying it violated the constitution, federal census statutes or both. The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the president has "virtually unfettered discretion" as to what data is used in the decennial census. But the lower courts rejected that claim, with both Republican- and Democratic-appointed judges ruling against him. Among the arguments made by the administration was the assertion that undocumented immigrants are not inhabitants as the Framers would have understood the term when writing the Constitution and deciding how to divide up federal power among the states. Countering that argument, states and immigrant groups noted that about two-thirds of unauthorized immigrants have lived in this country for at least 10 years, with the median being 15 years. The litigation added difficulty for an already-burdened Census Bureau, which geared up for the nationwide rollout of the census count just as the COVID-19 pandemic began hitting with full force in April. And the Census Bureau indicated this fall that it might not be able to meet the Dec. 31 deadline for reporting its figures."

12-25-20

Trump remains unfit for office. The Associated Press reports:

"Contradicting his secretary of state and other top officials, President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested without evidence that China — not Russia — may be behind the cyberattack against the United States and tried to minimize its impact. In his first comments on the breach, Trump scoffed at the focus on the Kremlin and downplayed the intrusions, which the nation’s cybersecurity agency has warned posed a “grave” risk to government and private networks. “The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control,” Trump tweeted. He also claimed the media are “petrified” of “discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!).”

'Presidential' crock of shit with no credibility.

"There is no evidence to suggest that is the case. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late Friday that Russia was “pretty clearly” behind the cyberattack against the United States. “This was a very significant effort and I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity,” he said in the interview with radio talk show host Mark Levin. Officials at the White House had been prepared to put out a statement Friday afternoon that accused Russia of being “the main actor” in the hack, but were told at the last minute to stand down, according to one U.S. official familiar with the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. It is not clear whether Pompeo got that message before his interview, but officials are now scrambling to figure out how to square the disparate accounts. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the statement or the basis of Trump’s claims."

What could it say? How do you credibly respond to insanity?

"Throughout his presidency, Trump has refused to blame Russia for well-documented hostilities, including its interference in the 2016 election to help him get elected. He blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for Russia’s annexation of Crimea, has endorsed allowing Russia to return to the G-7 group of nations and has never taken the country to task for allegedly putting bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan."

Latter, alone, is treasonous. Unbecoming a U.S. president.

"Pompeo in the interview said the government was still “unpacking” the cyberattack and some of it would likely remain classified. “But suffice it to say there was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of U.S. government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and companies and governments across the world as well,” he said. Though Pompeo was the first Trump administration official to publicly blame Russia for the attacks, cybersecurity experts and other U.S. officials have been clear over the past week that the operation appears to be the work of Russia. There has been no credible suggestion that any other country — including China — is responsible. Democrats in Congress who have received classified briefings have also affirmed publicly that Russia, which in 2014 hacked the State Department and interfered through hacking in the 2016 presidential election, was behind it. It’s not clear exactly what the hackers were seeking, but experts say it could include nuclear secrets, blueprints for advanced weaponry, COVID-19 vaccine-related research and information for dossiers on government and industry leaders."

Frightening, isn't it?

"Russia has said it had “nothing to do” with the hacking. While Trump downplayed the impact of the hacks, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has said it compromised federal agencies as well as “critical infrastructure.” Homeland Security, the agency’s parent department, defines such infrastructure as any “vital” assets to the U.S. or its economy, a broad category that could include power plants and financial institutions. One U.S. official, speaking Thursday on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that is under investigation, described the hack as severe and extremely damaging. “This is looking like it’s the worst hacking case in the history of America,” the official said. “They got into everything.”

How could that happen? People asleep on the job?

"Trump had been silent on the attacks before Saturday. Deputy White House press secretary Brian Morgenstern on Friday declined to discuss the matter, but told reporters that national security adviser Robert O’Brien had sometimes been leading multiple daily meetings with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the intelligence agencies, looking for ways to mitigate the hack. “Rest assured we have the best and brightest working hard on it each and every single day,” he said."

Think so?

"The Democratic leaders of four House committees given classified briefings by the administration on the hack have complained that they “were left with more questions than answers.” “Administration officials were unwilling to share the full scope of the breach and identities of the victims,” they said. Pompeo, in the interview with Levin, said Russia was on the list of “folks that want to undermine our way of life, our republic, our basic democratic principles. ... You see the news of the day with respect to their efforts in the cyberspace. We’ve seen this for an awfully long time, using asymmetric capabilities to try and put themselves in a place where they can impose costs on the United States.” What makes this hacking campaign so extraordinary is its scale: 18,000 organizations were infected from March to June by malicious code that piggybacked on popular network-management software from an Austin, Texas, company called SolarWinds. It’s going to take months to kick elite hackers out of the U.S. government networks they have been quietly rifling through since as far back as March. Experts say there simply are not enough skilled threat-hunting teams to duly identify all the government and private-sector systems that may have been hacked. FireEye, the cybersecurity company that discovered the intrusion into U.S. agencies and was among the victims, has already tallied dozens of casualties. It’s racing to identify more. Many federal workers — and others in the private sector — must presume that unclassified networks are teeming with spies. Agencies will be more inclined to conduct sensitive government business on Signal, WhatsApp and other encrypted smartphone apps. If the hackers are indeed from Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency, as experts believe, their resistance may be tenacious. The only way to be sure a network is clean is “to burn it down to the ground and rebuild it,” said Bruce Schneier, a prominent security expert and Harvard fellow. Florida became the first state to acknowledge falling victim to a SolarWinds hack. Officials told The Associated Press that hackers apparently infiltrated the state’s health care administration agency and others. SolarWinds’ customers include most Fortune 500 companies, and its U.S. government clients are rich with generals and spymasters."

12-25-20

Barr stands up against his fuhrer, the Trump nazi. The Associated Press reports:

"Attorney General William Barr used his final public appearance to undercut President Donald Trump on multiple fronts Monday, saying he saw no reason to appoint a special counsel to look into the president’s claims about the 2020 election or to name one for the tax investigation of President-elect Joe Biden’s son. In the course of breaking with Trump on matters that have been consuming the president, Barr also reinforced the belief of federal officials that Russia was behind a massive hack of U.S. government agencies, not China as Trump had suggested. Barr made the comments at a press conference to announce additional criminal charges in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 190 Americans, an issue he had worked on in his previous stint as attorney general in the early 1990s. He chose the announcement, in a case very personal and important to him, for his last public appearance, then took questions. Barr said the Justice Department’s existing investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings was “being handled responsibly and professionally.” “I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave,” he said. Nor for election fraud, he said."

Fascinating turn of events, isn't it?

"Barr had been in lockstep with the president during much of his tenure as Trump’s attorney general. But Trump, as he has done with many others in his inner circle, started criticizing Barr publicly. He was particularly angry that Barr didn’t announce the existence of a two-year-old investigation of Hunter Biden. And shortly before he announced his resignation, Barr told The Associated Press that he had seen no evidence of widespread voting fraud, despite Trump’s claims to the contrary. Trump has continued to push baseless claims even after the Electoral College made Biden’s victory formal Dec. 14. A special counsel would make it more difficult for the incoming attorney general and president to close investigations begun under Trump. Doing so could lend a false legitimacy to baseless claims, particularly to the throngs of Trump supporters who believe the election was stolen because he keeps wrongly claiming it was. Barr’s statements Monday may make it easier for the acting attorney general who takes over, Jeffrey Rosen, to resist pressure from the White House to make such appointments. In his 2019 confirmation hearing for deputy attorney general, Rosen said he was willing to rebuff political pressure from the White House if necessary. He told legislators that criminal investigations should “proceed on the facts and the law” and prosecutions should be “free of improper political influences.” “If the appropriate answer is to say no to somebody, then I will say no,” he said at the time."

Hopefully, that will remain so.

"Trump and his allies have filed roughly 50 lawsuits challenging election results and nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. He’s also lost twice at the U.S. Supreme Court. With no further tenable legal recourse, Trump has been fuming and peppering allies for options as he refuses to accept his loss."

This is one insane puppy just like his fuhrer:

"Among those allies is Rudy Giuliani, who during a meeting Friday pushed Trump to seize voting machines in his hunt for evidence of fraud. The Homeland Security Department made clear, however, that it had no authority to do so. It is also unclear what that would accomplish."

Shit squat.

"For his part, Barr said he saw no reason to seize them. Earlier this month, Barr also told the AP that the Justice Department and Homeland Security had looked into the claims “that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results” and ultimately concluded that “so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that.” Trump has consulted on special counsels with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and outside allies, according to several Trump administration officials and Republicans close to the White House who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized discuss the matter publicly. Trump was interested both in a counsel to investigate the younger Biden’s tax dealings and a second to look into election fraud. He even floated the idea of naming attorney Sidney Powell as the counsel — though Powell was booted from Trump’s legal team after she made a series of increasingly wild conspiratorial claims about the election. Federal law requires that an attorney general appoint any special counsels. Barr also said Monday the hack of U.S. government agencies “certainly appears to be the Russians.” In implicating the Russians, Barr was siding with the widely held belief within the U.S. government and the cybersecurity community that Russian hackers were responsible for breaches at multiple government agencies, including the Treasury and Commerce departments. Hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a radio interview that Russia was “pretty clearly” behind the hacks, Trump sought to undercut that message and play down the severity of the attack. He tweeted that the “Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality.” He also said China could be responsible even though no credible evidence has emerged to suggest anyone other than Russia might be to blame."

12-25-20

Think we haven't lost ourselves? The Washington Post reports:

"In the largest cheating scandal to rock the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in nearly 45 years, 73 cadets were accused of breaking the school’s honor code by cheating during a calculus final in May that was conducted remotely amid the pandemic, officials revealed Monday. “The Honors process is working as expected and there have been no exceptions to policy for any of these cases,” Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt, an academy spokesman, told The Washington Post in a statement. “Cadets are being held accountable for breaking the code.” The allegations that dozens of students cheated on an exam, which were first reported by USA Today, raised concerns Monday over integrity and national security at the Army’s premier training ground for officers. The school asked students not to return from spring break and turned to remote learning in late March as the coronavirus spread across the United States. Online classes continued until the end of the 2019-2020 academic year, but cadets returned to campus in the fall for a mix of in-person, hybrid and remote classes. Professors uncovered the alleged cheating scheme while grading the final exams, finding irregularities in the mathematical work submitted by the accused students, officials said. Among the 73 students accused of cheating, four cadets resigned from the academy before the investigation concluded, and 55 admitted to cheating and were found in violation of the school’s honor code, officials confirmed to The Post. Two cases were dropped for lack of evidence and the remaining 12 students will have hearings by the Cadet Advisory Board or the Honor Investigative Hearing, officials said. All but one of the accused cadets were first-year students at the academy in May, officials said. Despite the allegations, Ophardt said the pandemic is not jeopardizing the integrity of the school’s academic program and an honor code that says cadets “will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.” “West Point honor code and character development program remains strong despite remote learning and the challenges brought by the pandemic,” Ophardt said."

The cheating scandal screams otherwise.

"With more than six dozen alleged incidents, the cheating scandal is the largest since 1976, when more than 150 students were accused of conspiring to cheat on a take-home electrical engineering exam. The new allegations troubled some faculty members and lawmakers, who noted the importance of integrity among the students at West Point, who commission as officers in the U.S. Army after graduation. “To see that 73 West Point cadets conspired to cheat, apparently taking advantage of the fact that exams are being conducted remotely, is deeply troubling,” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Armed Services subcommittee on military personnel, told The Post in a statement. “Our West Point cadets are the cream of the crop and are expected to demonstrate unimpeachable character and integrity.” The military academy should “ensure that these cadets are worthy of the prestige and honor bestowed upon those chosen to serve in the academy and destined to lead our military and country,” Speier added."

That's right. No question.

"A law professor at West Point also spoke out Monday about the implications of allowing students who are willing to cheat to become leaders in the military, where lapses in integrity can have life-or-death consequences. “When the military tries to downplay effects of cheating at the academy, we’re really downplaying the effects on the military as a whole,” professor Tim Bakken told USA Today. “We rely on the military to tell us honestly when we should fight wars, and when we can win them.”

That's right. Again, no question. Precisely, why honesty is critical.

Here's the problem:

"The students who admitted to cheating last year will be enrolled in a rehabilitation program focused on the honor code and will be assigned faculty members to coach them through the training, officials said. “While disappointing, the Honor System is working, and these 67 remaining cases will be held accountable for their actions,” Ophardt said."

Will they? In the past, those involved in cheating were expelled.

12-18-20

More trouble in FBI 'paradise.' The Associated Press reports:

"An assistant FBI director retired after he was accused of drunkenly groping a female subordinate in a stairwell. Another senior FBI official left after he was found to have sexually harassed eight employees. Yet another high-ranking FBI agent retired after he was accused of blackmailing a young employee into sexual encounters."

Why no prosecution?

"An Associated Press investigation has identified at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials over the past five years, including two new claims brought this week by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents. Each of the accused FBI officials appears to have avoided discipline, the AP found, and several were quietly transferred or retired, keeping their full pensions and benefits even when probes substantiated the sexual misconduct claims against them."

Gets worse. Get this:

"Beyond that, federal law enforcement officials are afforded anonymity even after the disciplinary process runs its course, allowing them to land on their feet in the private sector or even remain in law enforcement. “They’re sweeping it under the rug,” said a former FBI analyst who alleges in a new federal lawsuit that a supervisory special agent licked her face and groped her at a colleague’s farewell party in 2017. She ended up leaving the FBI and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. “As the premier law enforcement organization that the FBI holds itself out to be, it’s very disheartening when they allow people they know are criminals to retire and pursue careers in law enforcement-related fields,” said the woman, who asked to be identified in this story only by her first name, Becky. The AP’s count does not include the growing number of high-level FBI supervisors who have failed to report romantic relationships with subordinates in recent years — a pattern that has alarmed investigators with the Office of Inspector General and raised questions about bureau policy. The recurring sexual misconduct has drawn the attention of Congress and advocacy groups, which have called for whistleblower protections for rank-and-file FBI employees and for an outside entity to review the bureau’s disciplinary cases. “They need a #MeToo moment,” said U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who has been critical of the treatment of women in the male-dominated FBI. “It’s repugnant, and it underscores the fact that the FBI and many of our institutions are still good ol’-boy networks,” Speier said. “It doesn’t surprise me that, in terms of sexual assault and sexual harassment, they are still in the Dark Ages.”

Precisely, why prosecutions of this shit need to occur.

"In a statement, the FBI said it “maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual harassment” and that claims against supervisors have resulted in them being removed from their positions while cases are investigated and adjudicated. It added that severe cases can result in criminal charges and that the FBI’s internal disciplinary process assesses, among other factors, “the credibility of the allegations, the severity of the conduct, and the rank and position of the individuals involved.”

Sounds like bullshit, doesn't it?

"The AP review of court records, Office of Inspector General reports and interviews with federal law enforcement officials identified at least six allegations against senior officials, including an assistant director and special agents in charge of entire field offices, that ranged from unwanted touching and sexual advances to coercion. None appears to have been disciplined, but another sexual misconduct allegation identified in the AP review of a rank-and-file agent resulted in him losing his security clearance."

Here's the problem:

"The FBI, with more than 35,000 employees, keeps a notoriously tight lid on such allegations. The last time the Office of Inspector General did an extensive probe of sexual misconduct within the FBI, it tallied 343 “offenses” from fiscal years 2009 to 2012, including three instances of “videotaping undressed women without consent.”

Jesus Christ. They certainly have quite a problem.

"The latest claims come months after a 17th woman joined a federal lawsuit alleging systemic sexual harassment at the FBI’s training academy in Quantico, Virginia. That class-action case claims male FBI instructors made “sexually charged” comments about women needing to “take their birth control to control their moods,” inviting women trainees over to their homes and openly disparaging them. In one of the new lawsuits filed Wednesday, a former FBI employee identified only as “Jane Doe” alleged a special agent in charge in 2016 retired without discipline and opened a law firm even after he “imprisoned, tortured, harassed, blackmailed, stalked and manipulated” her into having several “non-consensual sexual encounters,” including one in which he forced himself on her in a car. The AP is withholding the name and location of the accused special agent to protect the woman’s identity. “It is the policy and practice of the FBI and its OIG to allow senior executives accused of sexual assault to quietly retire with full benefits without prosecution,” the woman’s attorney, David J. Shaffer, alleges in the lawsuit."

Outrageous. Why nothing changes. Shit happens.

"One such case involved Roger C. Stanton, who before his abrupt retirement served as assistant director of the Insider Threat Office, a division at Washington headquarters tasked with rooting out leakers and safeguarding national security information. According to an Inspector General’s report concluded this year and obtained by AP through a public records request, Stanton was accused of drunkenly driving a female subordinate home following an after-work happy hour. The woman told investigators that once inside a stairwell of her apartment building, Stanton wrapped his arm around her waist and “moved his hand down onto her bottom” before she was able to get away and hustle up the stairs."

Called sexual assault.

"After Stanton left, he called the woman 15 times on her FBI phone and sent her what investigators described as “garbled text” complaining that he could not find his vehicle. The heavily redacted report does not say when the incident happened. Stanton disputed the woman’s account and told investigators he “did not intend to do anything” and only placed his arm around her because of the “narrowness” of the stairs. But Stanton acknowledged he was “very embarrassed by this event” and “assistant directors should not be putting themselves in these situations.” Stanton retired in late 2018 after the investigation determined he sexually harassed the woman and sought an improper relationship. He did not respond to requests for comment from AP."

Why wasn't the son of a bitch prosecuted?

"Earlier this year, the Inspector General found that the special agent in charge of the Albany, New York, office, James N. Hendricks, sexually harassed eight subordinates at the FBI. Hendricks also was not named in the OIG report despite its findings. He was first identified in September by the Albany Times Union. One current and one former colleague of Hendricks confirmed his role in the case to AP. Hendricks now writes a law enforcement blog in which he touts his FBI accolades but makes no mention of the misconduct allegations. He did not respond to requests for comment."

How could this piece of shit justify the unjustifiable?

"Becky, the former analyst, told AP she once believed FBI’s “organizational values and mission aligned with how I was raised.” But she was disabused of that notion after reporting to management that Charles Dick, a supervisory special agent at the FBI Training Academy at the time, sexually assaulted her at a farewell party. Becky told AP her assailant had threatened her at least two times before. “Once while we were waiting for the director he said, ‘I’m going to touch your ass. You know it’s going to happen.’” “His boorish behavior was well known,” she added. “He was getting away with everything.” In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Becky accused the former agent of wrapping his arm around her chest while posing for a photograph and “reaching under her and simulating” penetration of her “with his fingers through her jeans.”

... And he wasn't prosecuted for sexual assault?

"Dick denied the charges and was acquitted in state court in Virginia by a judge who ruled it “wholly incredible” that Becky would “stand there and take it and not say anything,” according to a transcript of the proceeding. Dick retired from the FBI months before the Inspector General followed up on Becky’s internal complaint, Becky alleged in her lawsuit, adding she faced retaliation for coming forward. “It’s much easier to suffer in isolation than it is to go public,” she told AP. “But if I don’t report it, I’m complicit in the cultural and institutionalized cover-up of this sort of behavior.”

12-18-20

Unmitigated fraud. NPR reports:

"An ex-captain in the Houston Police Department was arrested Tuesday for allegedly running a man off the road and assaulting him in an attempt to prove a bizarre voter-fraud conspiracy pushed by a right-wing organization. The suspect, Mark Anthony Aguirre, told police he was part of a group of private citizens investigating claims of the massive fraud allegedly funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and involving election ballots forged by Hispanic children. He said the plot was underway in Harris County, Texas, prior to the Nov. 3 election. Aguirre said he was working for the group Liberty Center for God and Country when, on Oct. 19, he pulled a gun on a man who he believed was the mastermind of the scheme. His victim, identified as "DL" in the police affidavit, is an air-conditioner repairman. Authorities found no evidence that he was involved in any fraud scheme claimed by Aguirre."

Fascinating, isn't it"

"Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Aguirre "crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime and we are lucky no one was killed." "His alleged investigation was backward from the start — first alleging a crime had occurred and then trying to prove it happened," Ogg said. Claims of voter fraud during this year's election — by President Trump, Aguirre and others — have been debunked. Evidence that President-elect Joe Biden won the election hasn't stopped Trump and others from challenging the results in court — an effort that has also repeatedly failed. This week, the Electoral College made Biden's victory official. Aguirre's scheme was reportedly part of a paid investigation by the Liberty Center group, whose CEO is Republican activist Steven Hotze. It was later discovered that Aguirre was paid $266,400 by the organization for this involvement. The Houston Chronicle says Aguirre was fired from the police department in 2003 after a controversial raid at a Houston Kmart parking lot."

Unadulterated bullshit:

"Liberty Center for God and Country's Facebook page says the organization's goal "is to provide the bold and courageous leadership necessary to restore our nation to its Godly heritage by following the strategy that our pilgrim forefathers gave us." In a meandering Nov. 18 Facebook post on the organization's page, Hotze said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott should be "tarred and feathered" for coronavirus lockdown measures in the state. He went on to say that he had raised more than $600,000 over a three-week period leading up to Nov. 1 "to hire private investigators and attorneys to discover, expose and disrupt the Democrats' massive election fraud scheme in Harris County." That fundraising push, Hotze said, "prevented the Democrats from carrying out their massive election fraud scheme in Harris County, and prevented them from carrying Texas for Biden. Our efforts saved Texas."

Jesus Christ. A crock of shit by the determinedly insane:

"The Texas Tribune says Hotze was also among a group of Republicans who unsuccessfully sued to have nearly 127,000 Harris County ballots tossed out this year and to stop the governor from extending early voting during the pandemic. Aguirre and two other unidentified companions with the Liberty Center watched the victim for four days prior to the Oct. 19 attack, according to police records. They were convinced that there were 750,000 fraudulent ballots in the man's vehicle and home. Aguirre said the victim was using Hispanic children to sign the ballots because children's fingerprints wouldn't appear on any database, according to the affidavit. He also claimed Facebook's founder gave $9.37 billion for "ballot harvesting." Three days before the attack, Aguirre contacted law enforcement with his allegations of the alleged fraud. He called Lt. Wayne Rubio in the Texas Office of the Attorney General for a traffic stop to help in his investigation — a request Rubio denied. Concerned with Aguirre's claims that he would "handle" the situation himself, Rubio contacted police. Aguirre was also rebuffed when he contacted the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Prosecutors say Aguirre decided to take matters into his own hands. Aguirre and at least two other companions set up a "command post" at a Marriott hotel in Pearland, where they planned their attack, Aguirre told police. He has refused to identify his co-conspirators, claiming he doesn't know who they are, according to the affidavit. The victim was driving his box truck during the early morning hours of Oct. 19, when he noticed a black SUV pull into his lane, almost hitting him. A few seconds later, the driver of the SUV later identified as Aguirre, allegedly slammed into the back of the man's vehicle. When the victim pulled over and got out to check on Aguirre, the former police officer allegedly pointed a gun at the victim and demanded he get on the ground. While Aguirre had his knee into the man's back, according to the affidavit, he ordered two other people arrived on the scene to search the victim's truck. One of them then drove the truck as Aguirre kept the man pinned to the ground. The truck was found abandoned a few blocks away about 30 minutes after the incident. When police searched the victim's truck, only air-conditioner parts and tools were found. No ballots were discovered in the truck or in the man's home. Aguirre was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison."

Think the insanity will end any time soon?

12-18-20

Once in awhile, even a majority Republican nazi U.S. Supreme Court gets it right. The Associated Press reports:

"A unanimous Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Muslim men who were placed on the government’s no-fly list because they refused to serve as FBI informants can seek to hold federal agents financially liable."

What took so long? A no-brainer.

"The justices continued a string of decisions friendly to religious interests in holding that the men could sue the agents under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act for what it calls “appropriate relief.”

While most of the recent decisions severely conflict with the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, church-state separation, this one clearly doesn't.

“The question here is whether ‘appropriate relief’ includes claims for money damages against Government officials in their individual capacities. We hold that it does,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court. The three foreign-born men claim in the lawsuit that their religious convictions led them to rebuff agents who wanted them to inform on people in their Muslim communities. “This is a clear prohibition in the Islamic faith,” Ramzi Kassem, the men’s lawyer, told the justices during arguments in October. The men claim the agents then placed or kept them on the list of people prevented from flying because they are considered a threat. The men have since been removed from the no-fly list."

Never should have been on it in the first place. For what? Refusing to give FBI goons information on people in their religious community? Informing on them?

"A trial court dismissed the suit once their names had been dropped from the list, but they argued that the retaliation they claimed “cost them substantial sums of money: airline tickets wasted and income from job opportunities lost,” Thomas wrote. The federal appeals court in New York agreed with the Muslim men, and the high court affirmed that decision. There’s no guarantee the men will win their case or collect anything from the agents. Thomas noted that the agents can argue that they should be shielded from any judgment by the doctrine of qualified immunity, which the Supreme Court has said protects officials as long as their actions don’t violate clearly established law or constitutional rights they should have known about."

Called talking out both sides your clueless ass.

"Lori Windham, senior counsel at the public interest law firm the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said governments too often change policies to avoid court judgments. “We’re glad the Supreme Court unanimously emphasized that the government can’t expect to be let off the hook by simply changing its tune at the last second. This is a good decision that makes it easier to hold the government accountable when it violates Americans’ religious liberties,” Windham said. In recent years, the court has ruled in favor of people and companies asserting claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or the Constitution’s guarantee of religious liberty."

Usually, at expense of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, church-state separation. Not this time, however.

12-18-20

Republican disciplined. ABC News reports:

"A Republican lawmaker was disciplined Monday for not denouncing potential violence at the Michigan Capitol before Democratic presidential electors were to meet to vote for Joe Biden, who defeated President Donald Trump in the swing state. State Rep. Gary Eisen, of St. Clair Township, told WPHM-AM that he planned to help with an unspecified “Hail Mary” GOP plan to challenge the election, conceding that the “uncharted” action likely would not change the result. Asked if he could guarantee people's safety, he said “no.” House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Speaker-elect Jason Wentworth, both Republicans, removed Eisen from committees in the closing days of the two-year session. In a statement, they said threats or suggestions of violence in politics are never acceptable, including “when the public officials open the door to violent behavior and refuse to condemn it. We must do better.” The 16 electors and top Democratic state officials such as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were scheduled to gather in the state Senate chamber Monday afternoon. The Capitol was closed to the public due to coronavirus restrictions because neither the House nor Senate were in session, though some Republicans, including Eisen, were critical of the closure on the day of the Electoral College meeting. Legislative offices in the Statehouse and nearby buildings also were closed due to “credible threats of violence,” a Senate spokeswoman said. Eisen was among 15 Republican legislators and four GOP congressmen in Michigan who signed onto a Texas lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to set aside votes in four states due to baseless claims of widespread fraud, including in Michigan. The court dismissed the case. Michigan's Republican legislative leaders have said the Legislature followed state law in not overturning Biden's 154,000-vote victory in the state — a margin of 2.8 percentage points. Eisen, a first-term legislator, issued a statement saying he regretted “confusion” over his remarks and no longer planned to go to the Capitol with a group that supports an alternative slate of GOP electors. “I wanted to attend today’s event to help prevent violence, not promote it,” he said. “My comments were meant to reflect that while our group intends to be peaceful, I did not feel I could speak for other groups. Apparently some people are making credible threats of violence today, and I am glad local law enforcement is on the scene preventing any such action and keeping everyone safe.” Legal experts said there is no legal way to back alternative electors under state and federal law because Michigan certified the results two weeks ago."

12-18-20

More of the same old shit. Desperate need for a criminal investigation. The Associated Press reports:

"A senior manager with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told congressional investigators she was ordered to delete an email suggesting attempted political interference by the Trump administration in coronavirus reports to the public, according to a transcript released Thursday. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who released the partial transcript, said the testimony of Dr. Charlotte Kent raises “serious concern about what may be deliberate efforts by the Trump administration to conceal and destroy evidence that senior political appointees interfered with career officials’ response to the coronavirus crisis.” Kent testified that she believed CDC Director Robert Redfield ordered the deletion of the email. In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Clyburn accused the administration of trying to obstruct his investigation and threatened to issue subpoenas to compel the release of documents. Clyburn chairs a special House panel empowered to broadly examine the coronavirus crisis and the government’s response. HHS said in a statement that Clyburn’s committee is “not operating in good faith” and called its portrayal of the CDC official’s testimony “irresponsible.” HHS also released a brief statement from Redfield in which he said he had instructed agency staffers to ignore the email but did not mention ordering its deletion. The ranking Republican on the investigative panel, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, said Democrats have found “zero evidence of actual interference in CDC scientific reports.” As required by law, federal officials are supposed to be scrupulous about retaining records. At issue is what happened last summer to an email sent to the CDC from a now-departed HHS adviser, Dr. Paul Alexander. Working with then-HHS top spokesperson Michael Caputo, Alexander was brought into the department at a time of high tension between White House officials and Azar. Caputo and Alexander represented the White House at HHS, a bureaucracy that President Donald Trump was deeply suspicious of. Kent occupies a high perch in that bureaucracy as CDC’s chief of scientific publications and editor-in-chief of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR, a publication that tracks disease trends of interest to the medical community. MMWR has become a flashpoint for controversy under Trump. According to documents released by Clyburn’s committee, Alexander fired off an Aug. 8 email demanding that CDC go back into a scientific report it had already published about coronavirus risks to children and splice in new language, or “pull it down and stop all reports immediately.” The email went on to say that “CDC tried to report as if once kids get together, there will be spread and this will impact school reopening. “Very misleading by CDC and shame on them. Their aim is clear. … This is designed to hurt this President for their reasons which I am not interested in.” Alexander apparently misspelled the word “president.” Kent told congressional investigators that the email was addressed to her, Redfield and possibly others. She said she was ordered to delete it the following day, a Sunday. But when she went to look for it, it was already gone. Kent testified that she believed the order to delete the email came from Redfield. It was transmitted to her through another official. Redfield said Thursday in a statement that “regarding the email in question, I instructed CDC staff to ignore Dr. Alexander’s comments. As I testified before Congress, I am fully committed to maintaining the independence of the MMWR, and I stand by that statement.” The CDC director, a political appointee, has also been the target of blistering criticism from Trump, who once called Redfield “confused” for accurately saying a coronavirus vaccine might not be widely available until next year. Kent told congressional investigators she was fully aware that Alexander’s email was the type of communication that would normally be kept by the agency, not deleted. “I considered this to be very unusual,” she said, according to the partial transcript released by Clyburn. Certain “persons in the agency, like center directors and the director, their email, you know, cannot be deleted,” she said. The committee’s investigation continues."

ABC News reports:

"Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allegedly requested that a subordinate delete an email sent by a Trump administration political appointee seeking changes to a coronavirus report written by career scientists, according to congressional investigators. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., chair of the House committee investigating reports of political interference at the CDC, revealed the allegations in a letter Thursday to Trump administration officials. In the letter, Clyburn described the committee’s interview with Dr. Charlotte Kent, who leads the CDC Scientific Publications Branch. Kent told those congressional investigators she was asked to delete the Aug. 8 email from former CDC political appointee Paul Alexander. The agency has not turned the alleged email over to the committee, and Kent, who was on vacation at the time, told investigators that when she returned it was gone. But, according to Politico, which first reported on the email, Alexander accused the career scientists behind the "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" -- used to update doctors and researchers on the pandemic -- of "writing hit pieces on the administration" and overstating the risk of coronavirus to children. "CDC to me appears to be writing hit pieces on the administration," he wrote. "CDC tried to report as if once kids get together, there will be spread and this will impact school re-opening . . . Very misleading by CDC and shame on them. Their aim is clear." Kent, the editor-in-chief of the report, said she was told the request to delete the email, relayed through a colleague, originated from Redfield. Representatives for the CDC and Redfield did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Alexander, a Canadian researcher, was hired as a policy adviser to Michael Caputo, a Trump loyalist installed by the president at HHS. Alexander left the agency with Caputo, who went on medical leave in September after accusing government scientists of "sedition" and calling on Trump supporters to arm themselves before the election in a Facebook Live video. He later apologized for the comments. Kent also told the panel that at Redfield’s request, the CDC delayed the release of a report on a coronavirus outbreak at a Georgia summer camp until after he was scheduled to testify before the committee on the reopening of schools during the pandemic. "With coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States reaching new records, it is critical that the American people can trust the federal government to provide accurate public health information based on the best science -- not based on politics," Clyburn wrote in his letter to Redfield and Azar."

Clearly, not possible with an insane nazi dictator remaining in the Oval Office.

"In the letter, Clyburn also requested documents that have been withheld from the committee and threatened to subpoena the CDC over the production. He also requested a transcribed interview with Redfield and other CDC officials, whom he said HHS blocked from appearing before the panel after Kent's session. “The Subcommittee’s characterization of the conversation with Dr. Kent is irresponsible," an HHS spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. "We urge the Subcommittee to release the transcript in full which will show that during her testimony Dr. Kent repeatedly said there was no political interference in the MMWR process. Moreover, during the interview referenced in the letter, a staff member on the Subcommittee chose to violate basic common practices of attorney-client privilege that protect the interests of the Department but more importantly the witness. Despite HHS working diligently to accommodate the Select Subcommittee’s many requests, the Subcommittee is not operating in good faith.”

12-18-20

Inoculations begin in U.S. The Associated Press reports:

"The biggest vaccination campaign in U.S. history kicked off Monday as health workers rolled up their sleeves for shots to protect them from COVID-19 and start beating back the pandemic — a day of optimism even as the nation’s death toll closed in on 300,000. “I feel hopeful today. Relieved,” critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay said after getting a shot in the arm at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. “I feel like healing is coming.” With a countdown of “3-2-1,” workers at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center gave the first injections to applause. And in suburban New Orleans, Steven Lee, an intensive care unit pharmacist at Ochsner Medical Center, summed up the moment as he got his own vaccination: “We can finally prevent the disease as opposed to treating it.” Other hospitals around the country, from Rhode Island to Texas, unloaded precious frozen vials of vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech, with staggered deliveries set throughout the day and Tuesday. A few other countries have authorized the vaccine, including Britain, which started vaccinating people last week, and Canada, which began doing so on Monday. For health care workers, who along with nursing home residents will be first in line for vaccination, hope is tempered by grief and the sheer exhaustion of months spent battling a coronavirus that still is surging in the U.S. and around the world."

12-18-20

Rioting by Trump's Nazi Right. CBS News reports:

"Several people were injured in a night of violence in Washington D.C., including eight police officers who were injured and four people were stabbed near Black Lives Matter Plaza. D.C. Metropolitan Police said Sunday that there were 33 unrelated arrests. The violence followed pro-Trump rallies held on Saturday to dispute the election results. The stabbings occurred in Northwest Washington D.C., about four blocks from the White House and near Black Lives Matter Plaza, around 9 p.m.. All victims were hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries, police said. According to Metropolitan Police, the stabbings erupted after an argument. Phillip Johnson, 29, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. At least nine people were transported to area hospitals, including two officers, according to Washington D.C. EMS. According to CBS Washington D.C. affiliate WUSA-TV, both Trump supporters and counter-protesters were in the area of Freedom Plaza and Black Lives Matter Plaza. It's unclear which groups were clashing. Nearby, the Asbury United Methodist Church said its Black Lives Matter sign was burned in the street. The church, which is on the District of Columbia Register of Historic Places and is the oldest Black church to remain on its original site, has been closed for in-person worship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Black Lives Matter said Sunday that a sign was also torn down from the Metropolitan AME Church, another historically African American church, WUSA-TV noted. Metropolitan Police said Sunday that it was investigating the incidents that had been captured on video and posted online. Several thousand people gathered in Washington D.C. earlier Saturday for a "Million MAGA March" in support of President Trump. Mr. Trump on Saturday tweeted his apparent surprise at the protest: "Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal. Didn't know about this, but I'll be seeing them! #MAGA" Mr. Trump has not yet conceded the 2020 election, despite all 50 states having certified their results, and after his last-ditch legal attempts were quashed in the courts. Electors will meet Monday to formally cast their votes for president and vice president, and those results will be counted by Congress on January 6. President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20. A CBS News poll released on Sunday found that 82% of Mr. Trump's backers do not believe Mr. Biden is the "legitimate winner."

12-18-20

Biden finally finds his voice? Think so? CBS News reports:

"President-elect Joe Biden accused President Trump of an "unprecedented assault on democracy" in a speech Monday night hours after the Electoral College formalized his victory."

What took so long, Joe? Should have come out figuratively swinging immediately after the election. Gutless silence empowered our nazi fuhrer. To say nothing of his equally insane base. This outrageously fascist piece of crap still won't concede. Delusionally believes he won the election.

"Mr. Trump has refused to concede the election and has tried repeatedly to use the courts to challenge the results without success. Mr. Biden, speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, ran through some of Mr. Trump's legal challenges, and said "they were found to be without merit" every time. "Every single avenue was made available for President Trump to contest the results," Mr. Biden said. "He took full advantage of each and every one of those avenues. President Trump was denied no course of action he wanted to take." He also highlighted Mr. Trump's insistence that he won in a "landslide" in 2016 with 306 electoral votes, the same number Mr. Biden won in 2020. "At the time, President Trump called the Electoral College tally a landslide," Mr. Biden said. "By his own standards, these numbers represented a clear victory then. And I respectfully suggest they do so now." Mr. Trump won 232 electoral votes."

In the present political climate, the following is impossible, worse, meaningless:

"At times, Mr. Biden tried to take a more unifying tone, repeating his campaign promise to be a president for "all Americans" and saying he will work just as hard for those who didn't vote for me as those of you who did." "We're a great nation, we're good people, we may come from different places and have different beliefs but we share a common love for this country and a belief in the limitless in the United States of America," Mr. Biden said. Mr. Biden also praised local election workers, saying they "we owe these public servants a debt of gratitude" for working through the coronavirus pandemic and through threats of violence. The 538 members of the Electoral College convened Monday at state capitals from coast to coast, where they cast paper ballots individually for president and vice president. While the vote typically takes place without much fanfare, this year's meeting was thrust into the spotlight as Mr. Trump tried to pressure state Republican lawmakers to subvert the will of voters and name their own electors. This gambit, too, failed. A long-shot lawsuit from Texas filed with the Supreme Court against four key states attempted to extend Monday's deadline for the Electoral College to meet and block electors from those states from voting. But the high court rejected the bid, backed by Mr. Trump, on Friday. As of Monday afternoon, electors in six battleground states where the president challenged the election results and alleged fraud — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada — all cast their ballots for Mr. Biden. Federal law dictates that presidential electors "shall meet and give their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December," which this year was December 14. Each state's votes took place at varying times throughout the day, beginning at 10 a.m. ET and ending with Hawaii at 7 p.m. ET. Congress will count the votes of the electors on January 6."

12-18-20

McConnell sees the light. NPR reports:

"A day after the Electoral College made the results official, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris for their victory. McConnell joins a wave of new Republicans acknowledging the win on Monday. "The Electoral College has spoken. So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden," McConnell said from the Senate floor Tuesday. "The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He's devoted himself to public service for many years." Biden said he spoke to McConnell after the floor remarks and had "a good conversation." "I called him to thank him for the congratulations, told him that while we disagree on a lot of things there's things we can work together on," Biden told reporters traveling with him to Georgia. He said he and McConnell agreed to get together soon. "I'm looking forward to working with him," Biden said. McConnell's comments come more than a month after election results showed the Democratic win. Several moderate members of the GOP had already congratulated the president-elect in those first days and weeks, with more members joining them in recent days. McConnell also took the opportunity on the floor to recognize Harris' historic win as the next vice president. "I also want to congratulate the vice president-elect, our colleague from California, Sen. Harris," McConnell said. "Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time."

Finally, faces reality regarding outcome of the election. Remains, however, hopelessly delusional regarding the profound damage done by his fuhrer, the Trump nazi last four years to a democratic republic that remains so in name only. In reality, a de facto fascist police-state. Courtesy of the nazi traitor in the Oval Office, his henchmen, fellow Republicans, and his equally insane base:

"McConnell made the remarks at the tail end of a speech on the Senate floor, acknowledging all of President Trump's accomplishments over the last four years — from new judges to progress building a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border to gains for the military. "The list of American accomplishments since 2016 is nearly endless," McConnell said. "It would take far more than one speech to catalog all the major wins the Trump administration has helped deliver for the American people."

Jesus Christ. He's goddamned insane. Last four years have seen the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler. Trump's Fourth Reich. -- Beaten back by the overwhelming vote of the American electorate that Trump and his henchmen did all they could to abrogate. ... Not that Biden is worth a crap. Just the lesser of two evils. Sad our elections have come down to this. Unsustainable.

Sadly, ole Mitch 'The Bitch" McConnell remains as delusional as his fuhrer, the Trump nazi:

"McConnell also closed out his remarks that it was time to end the Trump administration on a positive, bipartisan note. "I look forward to finishing out the next 36 days strong with President Trump," he said."

12-11-20

Not all ex-presidents are assholes. Three are willing to engage in Uncommon Valor. NPR reports:

"Who better to promote a product than a former president? How about three? Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are willing to lend their star power for a good cause, saying this week that they would publicly take a coronavirus vaccine, once it's available in the U.S., to encourage skeptical Americans to do the same. Obama said that if Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, thought the vaccine was safe and effective, then he would get his shot. "I promise you that when it's been made for people who are less at risk, I will be taking it. I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science," Obama said in an interview on SiriusXM's The Joe Madison Show that's set to air Thursday, audio from which was posted to YouTube on Wednesday. Following Obama's comments, representatives for Bush and Clinton said they, too, would be on board for a public vaccination."

Compared to the Trump nazi, these three ex-presidents are class acts. Willing to place welfare of their fellow countrymen ahead of their own. Uncommon Valor.

"CNN reported that Freddy Ford, Bush's chief of staff, said the president reached out to Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, to see if he could help promote vaccination. "First, the vaccines need to be deemed safe and administered to the priority populations," Ford told CNN. "Then, President Bush will get in line for his, and will gladly do so on camera." Clinton's press secretary, Angel Urena, also told the news network that the 42nd president would be willing to take a vaccine in public on TV if that would urge Americans to do the same. The former presidents' comments come as pharmaceutical companies are working to get a viable coronavirus vaccine approved by U.S. regulators before the end of the year. The quick development of vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna has drawn skepticism from members of the public who are concerned about the risks of the shots as well as their effectiveness. Both companies say their vaccines are about 95% effective. That skepticism and hesitancy is even more so within the Black community, Obama said during his SiriusXM interview. Recent surveys suggest that African Americans are more hesitant to get a vaccine than other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. "I understand you know historically — everything dating back all the way to the Tuskegee experiments and so forth — why the African American community would have some skepticism," Obama said. "But the fact of the matter is, is that vaccines are why we don't have polio anymore, the reason why we don't have a whole bunch of kids dying from measles and smallpox and diseases that used to decimate entire populations and communities."

Sadly, that seems to have been forgotten.

"The U.K. announced a major step in its race to develop coronavirus immunizations on Wednesday. The nation formally approved Pfizer and the German company BioNTech's vaccine for emergency use with plans to begin immunizations as early as next week. Pfizer and BioNTech said this week they believe approval in the U.S. is coming later this month."

The Associated Press reports:

" A retired British shop clerk received the first shot in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program Tuesday, the start of an unprecedented global immunization effort intended to offer a route out of a pandemic that has killed 1.5 million. Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, got the shot at 6:31 a.m. on what public health officials have dubbed “V-Day.” She was first in line at University Hospital Coventry, one of several hospitals around the country that are handling the initial phase of the United Kingdom’s program. As luck would have it, the second injection went to a man named William Shakespeare, an 81-year-old who hails from Warwickshire, the county where the bard was born. “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19,” said Keenan, who wore a surgical mask and a blue Merry Christmas T-shirt decorated with a cartoon penguin wearing a Santa hat. “It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year.” The U.K. is the first Western country to start a mass vaccination program after British regulators last week authorized the use of a COVID-19 shot developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. U.S. and European Union regulators may approve the vaccine in the coming days or weeks, fueling a global immunization effort. Britain’s program is likely to provide lessons for other countries as they prepare for the unprecedented task of vaccinating billions of people. U.K. health officials have been working for months to adapt a system geared toward vaccinating groups of people like school children and pregnant women into one that can rapidly reach much of the nation’s population. Amid the fanfare that greeted Britain’s first shot, authorities warned that the vaccination campaign would take many months, meaning painful restrictions that have disrupted daily life and punished the economy are likely to continue until spring. “We still have a long road ahead of us, but this marks the route out,” British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC. Other vaccines are also being reviewed by regulators around the world, including a collaboration between Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca and one developed by U.S. biotechnology company Moderna. Britain has received 800,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, enough to vaccinate 400,000 people. The first shots will go to people over 80 who are either hospitalized or already have outpatient appointments scheduled, along with nursing home workers and vaccination staff. Others will have to wait their turn. Health officials have asked the public to be patient because only those who are most at risk from the virus will be vaccinated in the early stages. Medical staff will contact people to arrange appointments, and most will have to wait until next year before there is enough vaccine to expand the program. Buckingham Palace refused to comment on reports that Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and her 99-year-old husband, Prince Philip, would be vaccinated — and make that fact known — as a public example of the shot’s safety. Britain is the first country to deliver a broadly tested and independently reviewed vaccine to the general public. On Saturday, Russia began vaccinating thousands of doctors, teachers and others at dozens of centers in Moscow with its Sputnik V vaccine. China has also begun giving its own domestically made shots to its citizens and selling them abroad. But those products are being viewed differently because neither countries’ vaccines have finished the late-stage trials scientists consider essential for proving that a vaccine is safe and effective."

NBC News reports:

"A former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and a member of Pfizer’s board of directors said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration declined to secure millions of additional doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine when it had the chance. Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC that the White House declined “multiple” offers from Pfizer to strike a deal on more vaccines for the second quarter of 2021. Gottlieb’s statements came after The New York Times and The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration months ago did not lock in the chance to purchase millions of additional doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, which has shown to be highly effective against Covid-19. That decision could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until Pfizer fulfills other international contracts. “Pfizer has gone ahead and entered into agreement with other countries to sell them some of that vaccine in the second quarter of 2021,” Gottlieb told CNBC. The revelation comes as Trump’s plans to host a White House summit aimed at celebrating the expected approval of the first vaccine later this week. His administration is seeking to tamp down public skepticism over the vaccine and secure a key component of the Republican president’s legacy. The focus was to be on the administration’s plans to distribute and administer the vaccine, but officials from President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, which will oversee the bulk of the largest vaccination program in the nation’s history once he takes office Jan. 20, were not invited. Pfizer’s vaccine is expected to be endorsed by a panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers as soon as this week, with delivery of 100 million doses — enough for 50 million Americans — expected in coming months. Under its contract with Pfizer, the Trump administration committed to buy an initial 100 million doses, with an option to purchase as many as five times more. But this summer, the White House opted not to lock in an additional 100 million doses for delivery in the second quarter of 2021, according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly."

Why not? Where's the transparency?

"In a statement, Pfizer confirmed the White House's initial order but declined to comment on “any confidential discussions that may be taking place with the U.S. government.” The company did state, however, that additional doses beyond the 100 million already earmarked for the U.S. will be subject to separate agreements. “Recognizing the urgency of the need, our manufacturing teams have been working around the clock so we can bring the vaccine to the world as quickly, efficiently and equitably as possible,” Pfizer said in the statement. Dr. Moncef Slaoui, who is leading the government’s vaccine effort, noted the Trump administration was looking at a number of different vaccines during the summer. He told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday that “no one reasonably would buy more from any one of those vaccines because we didn’t know which one would work and which one would be better than the other.” Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health administration, told “CBS This Morning” that the U.S. expects to be able to vaccinate about 20 million people this month, 20 million to 25 million in January and another 20 million to 25 million in February with the Pfizer vaccine and another vaccine from drugmaker Moderna, assuming both receive FDA emergency authorization. The Trump administration insists that between those two vaccines and others in the pipeline, the U.S. will be able to accommodate any American who wants to be vaccinated by the end of the second quarter of 2021."

Certainly, hope so.

"The decision not to lock in additional Pfizer purchases last summer was first reported by The New York Times. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told NBC the administration is “continuing to work across manufacturers to expand the availability of releasable, of FDA-approved vaccine as quickly as possible. … We do still have that option for an additional 500 million doses.” The “Operation Warp Speed” summit will feature Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a host of government experts, state leaders and business executives, as the White House looks to explain that the vaccine is safe and lay out the administration’s plans to bring it to the American people. Officials from the pharmaceutical companies developing the vaccines were not expected to attend, despite receiving invitations, according to people familiar with the matter. Some expressed concerns about the event contributing to the politicization of the vaccine development process and potentially further inhibiting public confidence in the drugs. Trump is set to kick off the event with remarks aiming to “celebrate” vaccine development, according to an official who previewed the event. Trump also will sign an executive order to prioritize Americans for coronavirus vaccines procured by the federal government. A second official said the order would restrict the U.S. government from donating doses to other nations until there is excess supply to meet domestic demand. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the summit. The Food and Drug Administration’s panel of outside vaccine experts is to meet Thursday to conduct a final review of the Pfizer drug, and it will meet later this month on a vaccine developed by Moderna. The FDA is not required to follow the panel’s advice, though it usually does. Agency decisions on the two drugs are expected within days of each meeting. Both have been determined to be 95 percent effective against the virus that causes COVID-19. Plans call for distributing and then administering about 40 million doses of the two companies’ vaccines by the end of the year — with the first doses shipping within hours of FDA clearance. Biden said Friday that “there’s no detailed plan that we’ve seen” for how to get the vaccines out of containers, into syringes and then into people’s arms. Trump administration officials insist that such plans have been developed, with the bulk of the work falling to states and municipal governments to ensure their most vulnerable populations are vaccinated first. In all, about 50,000 vaccination sites are enrolled in the government’s distribution system, the officials said. Each of the forthcoming vaccines has unique logistical challenges related to distribution and administration. The Pfizer vaccine must be transported at super-cooled temperatures, and comes in batches of 975 doses. Each vial contains five doses, requiring careful planning. The administration has prepared detailed videos for providers on how to safely prepare and administer doses, to be posted after the FDA issues its emergency use authorization. One such plan is to be announced Tuesday: Pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens have stood up a “mobile vaccination service” ready to vaccinate people in every nursing home and long-term care facility in the country. The roughly 3 million residents of those facilities are among the most vulnerable for Covid-19 and have been placed at the front of the line to access the vaccine, along with more than 20 million health care workers. So far 80-85 percent of the facilities have signed on to the service, the officials said."

United Press International reports:

"Government officials warned Wednesday that people with severe allergies should avoid taking the coronavirus vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech that's now available in Britain. The advisory came after two National Health Services workers experienced negative reactions to the vaccine. Both have a history of severe allergies. "As is common with new vaccines, the [Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency] has advised, on a precautionary basis, that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely,'' Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said. Britain began inoculating residents with the vaccine on Tuesday after it won authorization for use last week. Pfizer and BioNTech are making 40 million doses available in Britain in stages that will last through 2021. The MHRA specifically says those who have had allergic reactions to other vaccines, medicine or food -- such as a prior history of anaphylactoid reaction or those who have been advised to carry an adrenaline autoinjector -- should avoid the vaccine. The agency said the vaccine should only be given in facilities where resuscitation measures are available. NHS chief Simon Stevens said Tuesday the immunizations are a "decisive turning point" for Britain in the pandemic. Some 50 hospital hubs participated in this week's vaccine rollout."

The Associated Press reports:

"Vaccines can sometimes cause allergic reactions, but they are usually rare and short-lived. British regulators are looking into reports of allergic reactions in two people who received the new Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, the first day of a vaccination program. In the meantime, they’re telling people to skip the vaccine if they’ve had a history of serious allergic reactions. A look at allergic reactions to vaccines: HOW OFTEN DO THEY HAPPEN? Allergic reactions can occur with numerous vaccines and experts say they are not unexpected. In the Pfizer-BioNTech study of 42,000 people, the rate was about the same in those who got the coronavirus vaccine versus those who got a dummy shot. U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewers who examined the study’s safety data found that 137 — or 0.63% — of vaccine recipients reported symptoms suggestive of an allergic reaction, compared to 111 — or 0.51% — in the placebo group. A 2015 study in the U.S. examining the rate of anaphylaxis — a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction — found that it occurred about once per every million vaccine doses. The study evaluated children and adults who got vaccines against numerous diseases, including polio, measles and meningitis. “For the general population this does not mean that they would need to be anxious about receiving the vaccination,” said Stephen Evans, a vaccines expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He noted that even common foods can provoke severe allergic reactions. WHY DO THESE REACTIONS HAPPEN? Scientists say people can be sensitive to components in the shot, like gelatin or egg protein, or to the vaccine itself. People with egg allergies are sometimes advised not to get the flu shot, since that vaccine is mostly grown in chicken eggs. Common symptoms of an allergic reaction include a rash, skin irritation, coughing or trouble breathing. The exact ingredients used in Pfizer’s new COVID-19 vaccine are proprietary and are not publicly disclosed. The vaccine uses a new technology, and is coated in lipid nanoparticles, which have been used in drugs. WHAT ARE OTHER SIDE EFFECTS? Typical side effects for many vaccines include things like a sore arm from the shot, fever and muscle aches. In the Pfizer study, participants also reported fatigue, headache and chills. More serious side effects are reported to regulators or health officials for further investigation. But it can often take time to determine if the vaccine caused the side effect or if the person just coincidentally received the shot before becoming ill."

12-11-20

AG Barr and the Justice Department are apparently beginning to get the message. The Associated Press reports:

"The official serving as President Donald Trump’s eyes and ears at the Justice Department has been banned from the building after trying to pressure staffers to give up sensitive information about election fraud and other matters she could relay to the White House, three people familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press. Heidi Stirrup, an ally of top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, was quietly installed at the Justice Department as a White House liaison a few months ago. She was told within the last two weeks to vacate the building after top Justice officials learned of her efforts to collect insider information about ongoing cases and the department’s work on election fraud, the people said."

Certainly, a step in the right direction.

"Stirrup is accused of approaching staffers in the department demanding they give her information about investigations, including election fraud matters, the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. The effort came as Trump continues to level baseless claims that he won the election and alleges without evidence that massive voting fraud was responsible for his defeat to President-elect Joe Biden. Stirrup had also extended job offers to political allies for positions at some of the highest levels of the Justice Department without consulting any senior department officials or the White House counsel’s office and also attempted to interfere in the hiring process for career staffers, a violation of the government’s human resources policies, one of the people said. The Justice Department declined to comment. Attempts to reach Stirrup for comment were not immediately successful. Earlier this week, Attorney General William Barr told the AP that U.S. attorneys and the FBI had looked into allegations of election irregularities and found no evidence of widespread voting fraud that would change the outcome of the election. “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,” he said on Tuesday."

Certainly, pissed off the Trump nazi:

"Trump shot back at Barr on Thursday, saying the Justice Department “hasn’t looked very hard” and calling it a disappointment. But he stopping short of implying Barr’s future as attorney general could be cut short. “Ask me that in a number of weeks from now,” Trump said when asked if he still has confidence in Barr. “They should be looking at all of this fraud,” Trump said. He was also critical of Barr’s statement that much of what has been presented so far by the Trump campaign and its allies amounts to allegations that belong in lawsuits, not federal crimes. “This is not civil. This is criminal stuff. This is very bad, criminal stuff,” Trump said."

Trump is a liar. Has no credibility.

"Stirrup, who previously was a central figure in the Trump administration’s push for hard-line immigration policies, technically still remains in her position after being placed at the Justice Department by the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. The Trump administration has been working to have liaisons report directly to the White House instead of the agencies where they work. Across the administration, there have been concerns that the liaisons were undercutting the work not just of career professionals but also of Trump’s own political appointees. Shortly after the election, the presidential personnel office had also instructed the liaisons to fire any political appointees who were looking for jobs while Trump refused to accept the election results. Trump’s term ends at noon on Jan. 20. Several thousand political appointees across the government will see their jobs end by that date. The White House personnel office has been headed by former Trump personal assistant John McEntee, who has renewed Trump’s push to rid the administration of those deemed “disloyal” to the president."

No greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than an insane nazi dictator.

"In September, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson inadvertently made public his anger with McEntee when cameras captured writing on the back of a page he was consulting during a speech. In a reference to the White House Presidential Personnel Office, Carson’s notes said: “I am not happy with the way PPO is handling my agency.” It’s a sentiment that has been shared across the government. Stirrup, a close ally of Miller, previously served as the acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and was also a deputy White House liaison at the Department of Health and Human Services."

12-11-20

What took so long? Why all the foot dragging? United Press International reports:

"Tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants could be eligible for protections offered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program after a federal judge ordered Friday the program must revert to its 2017 status. U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis ordered that the Department of Homeland Security must post a public notice stating the department will again process applications for the program for potential first-time enrollees. The 2012 program was open to undocumented immigrants who came to the country before they were 16 and who were 30 or younger as of June 2012. As of March, about 106,000 DACA recipients lived in Texas, and another 86,000 were potentially eligible to apply, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Friday's order follows last month's ruling that acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf wasn't appointed to the position according to DHS guidelines, rendering a July memo issued on the DACA program invalid. In that memo, DACA protections, which also include a renewable two-year work permit, were slashed to one year. He also excluded new applicants from applying. That came despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that the administration didn't properly halt the program when it announced it was phasing it out more than three years ago. But in his November ruling Garaufis said Wolf's succession didn't follow proper procedure after former secretary Kevin McAleenan left the post in October. "DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated," Garaufis wrote. "Therefore, the actions taken by purported Acting Secretaries, who were not properly in their roles according to the lawful order of succession, were taken without legal authority." The issue of Wolf's actions at the helm of the DHS was the subject of an August report by the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, that concluded Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, a senior official performing deputy secretary duties, were appointed as a result of "reference to an invalid order of succession." The order Friday was greeted with cheers from the immigrant rights community. "Thousands of young people who should have been eligible for deportation protection and work authorization have been waiting for over three years to access this life-changing program and live with peace of mind in the country they call home," Todd Schulte, the president of FWD.us said in a statement. "It is well past time for DHS to finally follow the repeated judicial orders and begin to accept these applications." The case before Garaufis, which is in New York state, isn't the only DACA litigation still active. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is still pursuing a case in the Southern District of Texas in his effort to halt the program. A timeline on when that could be resolved is unclear."

12-11-20

Krebs sues. What took so long? NPR reports:

"Christopher Krebs, who was fired by President Trump last month after asserting the recent presidential election was "the most secure in American history," filed suit Tuesday against the Trump campaign, attorney Joseph diGenova and the cable channel Newsmax. Krebs charges he was defamed by diGenova, who said on Newsmax that Krebs "should be drawn and quartered" or "shot at dawn" following Krebs' statement. Krebs says such punishments are the "fate of a convicted traitor" and are the basis for his defamation accusation. The lawsuit, filed in Montgomery County, Md., circuit court, seeks an injunction ordering Newsmax to remove the diGenova interview from its website, as well as monetary damages. Krebs charges he has been the victim of death threats following DiGenova's remarks, which diGenova has said were "hyperbole." Krebs was the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, which was in charge of election security. It, along with a council of private industry groups and state election officials, released a statement last month that said not only was the election the most secure in U.S. history, but also that "there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised." That assessment runs counter to Trump's made-up claims that the election was rigged and that voting equipment provided by Dominion Voting Systems had "deleted 2.7 million Trump votes nationwide" and switched hundreds of thousands of other Trump votes to Joe Biden. The council made its statement on Nov. 12, and Trump announced via Twitter that Krebs "had been terminated" five days later. Speaking on NPR's Morning Edition earlier this month, Krebs said he had no regrets about making that statement. "It was the right thing to do in the name of democracy," he told Steve Inskeep."

12-11-20

Same old shit. The Associated Press reports:

"The appointment on Wednesday of a new director of Voice of America has raised new concerns about the direction of the government’s flagship international broadcaster as President Donald Trump’s term winds down. The announcement that Trump’s handpicked head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media has replaced the VOA chief with Robert Reilly, a conservative critic of its programming, has caused alarm among staffers and in Congress. Although USAGM chief Michael Pack had the right to replace VOA’S temporary leader with his own choice, agency personnel and congressional staffers said the timing, less than two months before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, was suspicious. They fear that Pack is trying to box Biden in by appointing loyalists he will have difficulty removing. Biden and his team have pledged a full review of Pack’s actions and could replace him shortly after inauguration. Democrats and some Republicans have accused Pack of trying to turn VOA and its sister networks into pro-Trump propaganda outlets and he is under a court order not to terminate employees that he has suspended since taking over the operation in June. Pack announced Wednesday he had chosen Reilly, a former U.S. diplomat, to replace Elez Biberaj, a 40-year veteran of the service who had been serving as its acting director since the previous leadership resigned in protest when Pack took office. Biberaj has not been fired and will return to his previous role as VOA’s director for Eurasia. Reilly “has dedicated his career to – and, indeed, succeeded in – promoting the national interest and advancing U.S. foreign policy,” Pack said in a statement. “His respect for and profound knowledge of the legacy and traditions of VOA combined with a clear understanding of the network’s charter will ensure that America’s exceptional experience is shared effectively with the world.”

Think so? Wake up:

"However, Reilly’s views on the nature of U.S. government-funded international broadcasting, as well as previous comments about the gay and lesbian community, have drawn criticism from public diplomacy experts. In his writings, Reilly has suggested that VOA focus more on promoting U.S. policies and less on providing independent news to global audiences as required by the agency’s charter. “Michael Pack should be packing up his office, not packing the leadership of U.S. broadcasting entities with right-wing ideologues and bigots,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The idea that he’s been given the reins of an institution with the history and legacy of VOA is a disgrace and an embarrassment,” said Engel, who lost his bid for reelection and will be leaving Congress in January. “VOA journalists shouldn’t have to endure the reputational harm of having to work for someone with views so backward and out of step with American values.”

Expect better of the Trump nazi? Why?

"Pack, a conservative filmmaker, Trump ally and onetime associate of former Trump political adviser Steve Bannon, has made no secret of his intent to shake up the agency since he became CEO of USAGM after a long confirmation battle in the Senate that finally ended after Trump and his allies launched a series of attacks on VOA and demanded new leadership. Pack has removed numerous senior officials from their posts, including a handful of senior executives, but was barred last month by a federal judge from firing them. Last week, congressional aides expressed concerns that Pack was trying to terminate those officials in violation of the court order, although no action appears to have been taken. USAGM declined to comment on those possible moves, which, according to staffers and congressional aides, have been discussed internally before new regulations limiting Pack’s powers as chief executive officer take effect with the expected passage of a defense spending bill that includes provisions related to VOA and its affiliates. The court order stems from a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in October by five USAGM executives who had been fired or suspended. They accused Pack and his senior advisers of violating the “statutory firewall” intended to protect the news organizations from political interference. After the suit was filed, Pack announced that he had rescinded the “firewall rule” issued by USAGM’s predecessor, the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA was founded during World War II and its congressional charter requires it to present independent news and information to international audiences."

12-4-20

Return to normalcy. NBC News reports:

"The professionals are back. That’s the message President-elect Joe Biden sent the world as he unveiled key Cabinet and national security picks earlier this week. “We’re at the head of the table once again,” Biden said in an exclusive interview with NBC News' Lester Holt. “America is going to reassert its role in the world and be a coalition builder.” This will be welcome news in most of the capitals of the United States’ traditional allies, many of whom have struggled with President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach that eschewed long-standing agreements and partnerships. The appointments and nominations will likely bolster the surge in optimism and relief that coursed through these nations when Biden became the president-elect earlier this month. The picks, such as former Secretary of State John Kerry as the special presidential envoy for climate and Antony Blinken as secretary of state, are establishment figures with years of experience, who are expected to try and return the U.S. to a more measured and multilateral path. Biden has also tapped Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran diplomat who spent years in African capitals and helped shape U.S. policy on sub-Saharan Africa, to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Alejandro Mayorkas as the secretary of homeland security. Foreign governments will know Biden’s team from their time in office under President Barack Obama and other previous administrations. And European allies are particularly enthusiastic about the pick of Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who are seen as competent and experienced, European officials and former U.S. diplomats said. “We’re very excited about the possibilities. We are on the same page on climate, on Iran, on NATO,” one European official said about the picks. Trump has broken with Europe on all three of these issues, announcing in 2017 that he was pulling America out of the Paris Agreement on climate and in 2018 that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the landmark Obama-era Iran deal. Early in his presidency, he hinted that he would withdraw from the NATO military alliance, saying some members weren’t paying their way. By contrast, Blinken, Kerry and Sullivan all played important roles in negotiating the 2015 Iran deal, while Kerry helped bring about the Paris climate accord. Blinken said the Trump administration’s decision in July to withdraw almost 12,000 troops from Germany, a long-standing ally, was a “strategic loser” that weakens NATO and helps Russian President Vladimir Putin. Blinken comes from a family of diplomats. Fluent in French, he attended high school in Paris before graduating from Harvard University and the Columbia Law School, and is a longtime Biden adviser who held important foreign policy and national security posts under Obama. In France, the Le Figaro daily newspaper described him as a “francophile” who would lead Biden’s diplomacy and said his appointment after four years of a Trump presidency “looks like a small revolution.” It is European countries like France that will likely welcome America’s return to a multilateral approach to foreign policy and diplomacy. French President Emmanuel Macron has had a strained relationship with Trump and has rebuked his “America First” approach to international affairs. Rivals such as Russia and China have reason to be wary of Biden but even they may welcome the new team. Trump's personal relationship with Putin has been warm and, at least on the Russian side, there was an expectation that this would lead to better relations, according to Neil Melvin, director of international security studies at London’s Royal United Services Institute. However, in reality, relations with Russia have deteriorated further over the past four years as the U.S. imposed more sanctions on Moscow, conducted mass expulsions of Russian diplomats and put pressure on European nations to weaken their ties to Russia, for example on Germany regarding a gas pipeline project with Russia, he said. Even in Israel — where the Biden administration is expected to be more critical of the government actions in the Palestinian territories — Blinken’s appointment was welcomed by foreign policy veterans, according to the left-of-center Haaretz newspaper. Relations between Israel and the U.S. were strained under Obama, who helped broker the Iran nuclear deal despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to it and called early on in his presidency for an end to settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories. Shortly before the Obama administration left office, the U.S., in a largely symbolic measure, allowed a U.N. Security Council resolution to pass declaring the settlements illegal under international law. In Asia, although allies will be glad to see an end to Trump’s impulsive, erratic decision-making, Japan’s government and other partners worry Biden’s team could revert to Obama’s approach to China, which they believe was too conciliatory, former U.S. officials said. During the campaign, Biden — and Sullivan and Blinken — signaled that their views had evolved on China and that they have no illusions about Beijing. But unlike Trump, Biden and his advisers have vowed to rally allies around a common front to push back against China on trade and other issues. Melvin, of the Royal United Services Institute, said he thought that even countries that have tense relationships with the U.S. would welcome the Cabinet picks. “I think one of the issues over the past four years has been concerns about unpredictability and irrationality in their relationship,” he said. “Some of those countries, I think, are looking forward to at least there being a chance now to have a more structured and predictable relationship.” Even if it’s difficult, it may allow for progress on some tough issues, he added. Climate activists, scientists and policymakers around the world have welcomed Biden’s decision to choose Kerry as the first official dedicated to climate change to be included in the National Security Council, according to Nicholas Stern, the chair of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics, who said Kerry was a good friend. As secretary of state under Obama, Kerry made climate change one of his top priorities and helped to bring about the Paris climate accord, which Biden has pledged to rejoin once he takes office in January. Kerry has a “deep” understanding of climate science and policy, and his appointment would be a boost not only for international action on climate change but also for multilateralism and respect for the United States internationally, Stern said. The fact that it is the first time the National Security Council will include an official dedicated to climate change also sent an important message to the world that climate is a big security issue, he said. Biden’s new team was not met with universal praise, however. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the next administration’s approach to foreign policy in an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Tuesday, saying some members of the new team “lived in a bit of a fantasy world.”

The same can said of you, Mr. Pompeo.

"Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida dismissed Biden’s new team members over their track record with China during Obama’s presidency. “Biden’s Cabinet picks went to Ivy League schools, have strong resumes, attend all the right conferences and will be polite and orderly caretakers of America’s decline,” Rubio tweeted. “I support American greatness. And I have no interest in returning to the “normal” that left us dependent on China.”

Jesus Christ. Full of himself. Full of shit. Sad, isn't it?

12-4-20

Time to rein in the Israeli aggressor. NBC News reports:

"A day after the dramatic assassination of the country's leading nuclear scientist in a roadside attack, Iran's supreme leader on Saturday vowed to retaliate and pledged to continue Iran's nuclear work. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised "definitive punishment" in a statement on his official website. Later on Twitter, he promised to pursue the "brutal mercenaries" behind the ambush and killing of scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh near Tehran on Friday. Calling him a "martyr," Khamenei praised Fakhrizadeh's work and said he was one of the country's "eminent scientists in the nuclear and defense fields." He added that Iran would continue with the "scientific and technological efforts" in which he was engaged. Fakhrizadeh was killed Friday in an attack on his car in the Absard area of the province of Damavand, about 40 miles east of Tehran, the capital, Iran's Defense Ministry said. NBC News has not independently confirmed any details surrounding Fakhrizadeh's death. He was widely regarded by the West as the architect of a covert military nuclear program by Tehran that was halted in 2003. Iran has consistently denied seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran's clerical and military rulers, including President Hassan Rouhani, have pointed the finger of blame for Fakhrizadeh's death at Israel, which could renew tensions in the Middle East and beyond. "Our people are wiser than to fall in the trap of the Zionist regime (Israel). ... Iran will surely respond to the martyrdom of our scientist at the proper time," Rouhani said in a televised Cabinet meeting on Saturday. A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, considered Iran's archenemy, told NBC News on Saturday that the country was "not commenting on security-related matters." The death of Fakhrizadeh could provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of Donald Trump's presidency. Trump withdrew the U.S. from a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers in 2018. It could also complicate any efforts by President-elect Joe Biden to revive America's relationship with Iran, once he takes office in January. The U.S. State Department, White House and CIA have not responded to NBC News' requests for comment, while a spokesperson for the Pentagon declined to comment on Friday. However, Trump retweeted a post on Friday from an Israeli journalist, Yossi Melman, about Fakhrizadeh's killing. In the West, Fakhrizadeh was commonly referred to as Iran's Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist who helped develop the atomic bomb in 1945, and was considered among the most important nuclear scientists in Iran. At least five Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed since 2007, mostly in dramatic fashion, with motorcycle-borne assailants and car bombs, U.S. officials have previously told NBC News. Tehran has viewed the program of assassinations as an attempt to sabotage its nuclear energy program and has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons. In January, frayed tensions between Washington and Tehran reached a boiling point after Trump ordered the assassination of one of Iran's top military generals, Qassem Soleimani. He was killed when a U.S. drone targeted his motorcade in Baghdad on Jan. 3. Iran retaliated less than a week later by firing missiles at American troops in Iraq. Although most Iranians had not heard of Fakhrizadeh before Friday, his death will likely give rise to feelings of fear over a possible confrontation, Iranian Canadian academic Arash Azizi told NBC News, while the country also battles with one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the Middle East and a flagging economy. Azizi, who has also authored a biography of Soleimani, said many people would be questioning what Trump may do in his remaining weeks in office and how Biden could overcome this latest foreign policy hurdle. "I think Iran will be prudent in its response and wait for the new American administration," he said. "The Iranian regime finds itself in a very hard place and it knows a serious confrontation can be lethal to it — it will try to avoid it." Elsewhere in the region, many in Israel consider Iran an existential threat. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a tough stance on Iran a top priority. In 2018, Netanyahu gave a presentation in which he unveiled what he described as material stolen by Israel from an Iranian nuclear archive and described Fakhrizadeh as a name to remember. Former CIA Director John Brennan called the assassination "highly reckless" on Twitter. Warning that "it risks lethal retaliation and a new round of regional conflict," as he urged Iran to "resist the urge to respond against perceived culprits." On Saturday, Iran's envoy to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, wrote a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of the U.N. Security Council Inga Rhonda King, stating that Iran reserved the right to defend itself. He also claimed there were "serious indications of Israeli responsibility" for Fakhrizadeh's death, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The office of the spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general did not confirm to NBC News whether the letter had been received or responded to. "We have noted the reports that an Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated near Tehran yesterday. We urge restraint and the need to avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of tensions in the region," Farhan Aziz Haq, deputy spokesman of the U.N. secretary-general, said by email on Saturday. In Europe, a spokesperson for the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles called the killing a "criminal act" in a statement on Saturday and urged "all parties to remain calm and exercise maximum restraint."

11-27-20

Trump's henchman, Rudy Giuliani, continues to make a jackass of himself. NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, took the president’s voter fraud claims even further on Thursday, baselessly alleging during a frenzied press conference that the fraud was nationally coordinated. His statements included already debunked claims of voter fraud, baseless allegations of corrupted and hackable voting machines, election interference by foreign communists, and even references to Antifa. The former New York City mayor also offered alternative election results for swing states and argued the president had a viable path to a second term."

Like his fuhrer, Rudy seems to have lost his mind:

"It's not a singular voter fraud in one state,” Giuliani said. “This pattern repeats itself in a number of states, almost exactly the same pattern, which any experienced investigator prosecutor, which suggests that there was a plan — from a centralized place to execute these various acts of voter fraud, specifically focused on big cities, and specifically focused on, as you would imagine, big cities controlled by Democrats, and particularly if they focused on big cities that have a long history of corruption."

Here's the truth:

"There’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud, coordinated or isolated, and the Trump campaign has repeatedly seen their claims tossed out of court for a lack of evidence. On Thursday, the president's legal team instead flooded the zone with false claims. "I know crimes, I can smell them. You don’t have to smell this one, I can prove it to you, 18 different ways. I can prove to you that he won, Pennsylvania, by 300,000 votes. I can prove to you that he won Michigan, I[by?] probably 50,000 votes," Giuliani continued. The president and Giuliani have repeatedly alleged that the fraud was coming from big Democratic cities with large Black populations, including Detroit, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. while acknowledging the results in mostly white areas. In Thursday’s press conference, Giuliani doubled down on this. "And I've often said, I guess sarcastically but it's true. The only surprise I would have found in this is that Philadelphia hadn't cheated in this election. Because for the last 60 years, they've cheated in just about every single election. You could say the same thing about Detroit," he said."

Other than delusional bullshit and lies, where's the evidence?

"Giuliani promised major suits in Georgia and Arizona and said they’re looking at New Mexico as well; he simultaneously promised "hundreds" of affidavits but that he couldn’t show them to reporters."

A liar. Goddamned bullshitter.

"The president's legal team repeatedly scolded reporters for noting in their work that there is no evidence of the claims they've made. Trump legal adviser Jenna Ellis said the reporters had not been patient enough, because court cases take time. "This is not a "Law & Order" episode, where everything is wrapped up in 60 minutes," she said."

Another liar. Forget? To date, nearly every suit filed has been thrown out.

NPR reports:

"Though all evidence points to the contrary, President Trump's campaign is insisting that Trump has a path to reelection victory and that it will pursue legal challenges to results in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. To date, the campaign has lost more than two dozen challenges filed since the Nov. 3 election in which Joe Biden has been declared the decisive winner. But the president has repeatedly and falsely said the election was riddled with fraud, and in a lengthy, conspiracy-filled news conference in Washington, D.C., his attorneys, led by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, claimed they had hundreds of affidavits from voters and election workers that would prove Trump won the election."

Where are they? Produce them.

"Giuliani alleged that cheating in Democratic-controlled cities, such as Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee, was part of a "nationwide" voter fraud conspiracy. He said they "made significant mistakes, like all crooks do, and we caught them" — although he backed up the allegations with vague assertions and theories that have yet to be argued in a court of law."

Like his fuhrer, the Trump nazi, the bastard's lying.

Here's the truth:

"The campaign's continued push to question the results comes as states are in the process of certifying votes and as almost every top election official in the country — both Republican and Democratic — insists the election ran smoothly with no signs of widespread fraud." The recently fired federal cybersecurity official Chris Krebs called the Giuliani press conference "the most dangerous 1hr 45 minutes of television in American history" on his personal Twitter account. Krebs led efforts against disinformation around voter fraud, including baseless information promoted by Trump.

"That press conference was the most dangerous 1hr 45 minutes of television in American history. And possibly the craziest. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re lucky.
— Chris Krebs (@C_C_Krebs) November 19, 2020"

When will the bullshit end?

Get this:

"Michigan counties completed a canvas of their results — in which Biden is some 154,000 votes ahead — after two Republican canvassers in Wayne County, home of Detroit, agreed Tuesday night to reverse an earlier position and certify the count. They had refused to do so earlier in the day, citing some discrepancies in the vote tallies. Then on Wednesday evening, the two canvassers reversed themselves again, signing affidavits saying they wanted to rescind their votes, with at least one canvasser saying she had received a call from Trump. The state said it was too late to change the vote, but the Trump campaign insisted it meant the Wayne County tally was no longer certified. The campaign has made no secret it hopes to delay and challenge the results enough in Michigan and other states in the hope of getting GOP-controlled state legislatures to override the popular vote totals and appoint the electors instead. It's a far-fetched scenario, and Republican legislative leaders have signaled for the most part they want no part of such an effort. However, several news outlets reported that Trump has asked the Republican leaders of the Michigan Legislature to fly to Washington to meet with him on Friday. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Biden said Trump's refusal to concede shows "incredible irresponsibility."

Pressure increases. NPR reports:

"Top House Democrats have sent a letter demanding that General Services Administration Chief Emily W. Murphy brief lawmakers on why she has yet to ascertain Joe Biden's election win — a necessary first step before the president-elect can receive resources for a transition of government. The move comes as President Trump and his campaign have refused to concede the election, instead contesting results from the Nov. 3 vote in a series of failed lawsuits. Murphy, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, has so far withheld her official decision. "We have been extremely patient, but we can wait no longer," Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-N.Y., wrote. The formal presidential transition doesn't begin until the GSA administrator ascertains the "apparent successful candidate," in accordance with the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. There are no specifics on how that determination should be made, however. The senior lawmakers gave Murphy until Monday to provide the briefing. They warned in a letter sent to her Thursday that depending on the information provided in the briefing, she — along with her deputy, chief of staff and general counsel — might have to take part in a public hearing to explain themselves."

What took so long? Why the delay?

"Congress appropriated millions of dollars in transition funding on Oct. 1. However, without Murphy's official "ascertainment" of Biden's win, his transition team can't begin to access resources and important briefings to prepare him for the White House. "Your actions in blocking transition activities required under the law are having grave effects, including undermining the orderly transfer of power, impairing the incoming Administration's ability to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, hampering its ability to address our nation's dire economic crisis, and endangering our national security," the letter said. The Oversight and Reform Committee's Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-Va., and the Appropriations Committee's Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., also signed the letter. Murphy's delay continues to be a real concern for the Biden team as it tries to prepare a coronavirus response plan that can be implemented on Day 1 and to establish a system for distributing vaccines when they become available. "Unfortunately — because of the lack of ascertainment by the GSA — my transition team hasn't been able to get access to the information we need to be able to deal with everything from testing and guidance to the all-important issue of vaccine distribution and vaccination plan," Biden said Thursday. "We haven't been able to get into Operation Warp Speed," he said, referring to the Trump administration's plan for accelerating vaccine development. The pandemic aside, some experts say any additional delay in transitioning to Biden's administration may also impact national security. The lawmakers also want to question Murphy and others on her team about the "last-minute actions" by the White House that altered the GSA's leadership team leading up to the election."

Consider the following:

"In September, Trump issued an executive order that added the general counsel of the GSA as fourth in line to lead the agency. Trump then installed former White House lawyer Trent J. Benishek as the GSA's new general counsel just a week before the election. To House Democrats, these changes are suspicious. "We do not know why these actions were taken, but they raise questions about whether the White House may be placing undue pressure" on Murphy to delay granting Biden access to post-election resources, the lawmakers said in their letter. "Our concerns are even more heightened in light of the President's erratic decisions to fire other department and agency heads."

Again, what took so long?

11-27-20

The Justice Department is not buying the bullshit. The Washington Post reports:

"The Justice Department has met President Trump’s fantastical claims of widespread voter fraud with two weeks of skeptical silence, not taking any overt moves to investigate what Trump’s lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, claims is a globe-spanning conspiracy to steal the election. Such deafening silence from one of the government’s main enforcers of election law indicates just how little evidence there is to support the wild, wide-ranging claims made by Trump and his supporters, most notably Giuliani in a Thursday news conference held inside the Republican National Committee headquarters. Privately, Justice Department officials have said they are willing to investigate legitimate claims of vote fraud; Attorney General William P. Barr even loosened some restrictions that might otherwise have discouraged prosecutors from doing so before results are certified. But current and former officials said they thought Giuliani’s accusations sounded “crazy,” and they have not seen or heard of any evidence suggesting large-scale fraud, let alone the kind of intercontinental conspiracy described by the president’s lawyer. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive matter."

Time for them, publicly, to courageously stand up en masse against this exigent threat to a democratic republic that remains so in name only, not in reality. Sadly, an exceptionally pernicious de facto fascist police-state.

"Federal law enforcement officials have also said they want to avoid getting dragged into investigations that lack any reasonable basis of suspicion. In many of the affidavits cited by Giuliani and other Republicans, the assertions amount to ill-defined suspicions and conjecture about what might have happened, not witness accounts of actual misconduct. In a handful of instances, the Justice Department has quietly signaled it is reviewing allegations that have been brought to the department, but even in those instances, federal officials have found little evidence of wrongdoing, people familiar with the matter say. One Justice Department official said that just the act of announcing a probe might cast an unwarranted “pall” on the election’s credibility. Richard L. Hasen, a law professor at the University of California at Irvine and the author of “Election Meltdown,” said that given the attorney general’s public disparagement of mail-in voting leading up to the election, “if there had been anything he could have hung his hat on after the election, he would have done so. The fact that no one has come forward with anything as far as we know, that’s a pretty good indication this has been a pretty clean election.” It would be nice, Hasen added, “if Barr would issue a public statement saying there had been no evidence uncovered of any fraud in the election,” but he might be fired if he did so. Hasen cited Trump’s ouster of Christopher Krebs as an example."

If top management stood tall, there is no way Trump could fire all of them. Resultant firestorm would be ferocious.

"Some current and former officials have worried that Barr, one of Trump’s most loyal and outspoken Cabinet secretaries, might marshal Justice Department resources to bolster the president’s unfounded claims. Officials inside the department were particularly distressed when Barr issued a memo allowing investigators to publicly pursue allegations of “vote tabulation irregularities” in certain cases before results are certified, a reversal of past Justice Department policy. A group of 16 assistant U.S. attorneys specially assigned to monitor election malfeasance urged Barr last week to rescind the memo, saying they had seen no evidence of substantial anomalies, and the head of the Justice Department’s election crimes branch stepped down to a lower position in protest. But since then, the department has not made any public moves in investigations that might bolster Trump’s claims. And some officials note that Barr’s directive was carefully worded, allowing exceptions only for investigations into anomalies that might change the results of a race. The memo noted explicitly, “Nothing here should be taken as any indication that the Department has concluded that voting irregularities have impacted the outcome of any election.”

Time for all to find some modicum of courage. Stand up. Stand tall. Honor your oaths of office to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution.

11-27-20

Growing mendacity of Trump and his henchmen. The Associated Press reports:

"President Donald Trump’s flailing attempt to cling to office after voters decisively chose to oust him has taken the country into a dark and fictional place. According to falsehoods being told on his behalf and embraced by him, the U.S. election was manipulated by scheming from a dead Venezuelan strongman, by a computer system capable of flipping Trump votes to Joe Biden ones across the country, and by something weird happening in Germany. If that’s not enough, the communists are coming. None of this happened. None of it is true. But Trump and his legal team are making poisonous allegations in hopes that state Republican legislators will shatter the foundational procedures and traditions of U.S. democracy and nullify the voters’ will. While this plays out, President-elect Biden continues to be denied the briefings and facilities given during presidential transitions. An increasing number of Republican lawmakers say he should be getting that cooperation but they haven’t done anything to make that happen."

Pressure increases. The Washington Post reports:

"A group of leading GOP national security experts — including former homeland security secretary Tom Ridge — urged congressional Republicans on Monday to demand President Trump concede the election and immediately begin the transition to the incoming Biden administration. “President Trump’s refusal to permit the presidential transition poses significant risks to our national security, at a time when the U.S. confronts a global pandemic and faces serious threats from global adversaries, terrorist groups, and other forces,” said a statement signed by more than 100 GOP luminaries. The signers included Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor who served as homeland security secretary under President George W. Bush, former CIA director Michael Hayden and John D. Negroponte, who served as director of national intelligence. The message called on “Republican leaders — especially those in Congress — to publicly demand that President Trump cease his anti-democratic assault on the integrity of the presidential election.”

The Washington Post reports:

"More than 160 of the nation’s top business executives, including several who have been major donors to the Republican Party, urged the Trump administration to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election and begin the transition process. A letter published Monday by the Partnership for New York City said ongoing delays in the transition process are putting the country at risk. President Trump has adamantly refused to concede the Nov. 3 race to Democrat Joe Biden, citing baseless claims of voter fraud in several key states, and his administration has yet to take the first steps needed to begin the official changeover. Its 164 signatories included Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga, Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David M. Solomon and Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch. Notably, while Blackstone president and COO Jon Gray signed the letter, the private equity firm’s chief executive Stephen Schwarzman did not. But Schwarzman, a high-profile Trump ally, has made political waves of his own recently, after he acknowledged President-elect Biden’s victory Monday. “The outcome is very certain today, and the country should move on,” Schwarzman said in a statement to Axios. “I supported President Trump and the strong economic path he built. Like many in the business community, I am ready to help President-elect Biden and his team as they confront the significant challenges of rebuilding our post-COVID economy.” Schwarzman’s comments reflect a growing chorus of Republican officials and corporate leaders that have previously aligned themselves with Trump distancing themselves from -- or outright calling out -- the administration for its refusal to concede. On Monday, more than 100 leading Republican national security experts urged congressional Republicans in a letter to take action and demand the Trump administration immediately launch the transition."

Time for the Trump nazi to finally wake up and smell the coffee.

"And General Motors announced Monday afternoon it would withdraw its support for President Trump’s legal battle against California’s clean-air regulations, encouraging other automakers to do the same and aligning itself with the electrification goals of the incoming Biden administration. “We believe the ambitious electrification goals of the President-elect, California, and General Motors are aligned to address climate change by drastically reducing automobile emissions,” chief executive Mary Barra said in a letter to environmental leaders. “We are confident that the Biden Administration, California, and the U.S. auto industry, which supports 10.3 million jobs, can collaboratively find the pathway that will deliver an all-electric future.” “Every day that an orderly presidential transition process is delayed, our democracy grows weaker in the eyes of our own citizens and the nation’s stature on the global stage is diminished,” the letter reads. “Our national interest and respect for the integrity of our democratic process requires that the administrator of the federal General Services Administration immediately ascertain that Joseph R. Biden and Kamala D. Harris are the president-elect and vice president-elect so that a proper transition can begin. Withholding resources and vital information from an incoming administration puts the public and economic health and security of America at risk.”

No question.

"Kathryn Wylde, the partnership’s president and CEO, said in an email to The Post that New York Attorney General Letitia James had asked her to join a Friday call with the New York business leaders to weigh in on the presidential transition. The group decided that “it is essential that the transition proceed and that the business community has a responsibility to make that case.” The signatories represent a range of industries, Wylde said, including many who count themselves as Republican or independent. During Friday’s conference call, some of the executives discussed withholding campaign donations from Georgia’s two Republican Senate candidates, incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, to motivate the GOP to push for the transition. The nation’s eyes are on the two runoff elections set for early January as key to determining which party will hold majority in the United States Senate."

... Clock is ticking.

“This isn’t about partisan politics, but about protecting our democracy,” James said in an emailed statement. “Without the rule of law and an orderly transfer of power, everything from commerce to health care delivery to national security is in peril, and our business leaders can see that as clearly as the rest of us.” The head of the General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, is legally responsible for deciding when the transition can begin but has refused to acknowledge Biden as president-elect. Almost three weeks after Election Day, the Trump appointee has told agencies that this first step could still be weeks away. Her inaction means Biden cannot access millions of dollars needed to facilitate the transfer of power. “America is being ravaged by a deadly pandemic with enormous social and economic consequences,” the letter reads. “The attention and energy of public and private sector leaders should be entirely focused on uniting our country to fight the coronavirus, provide aid to those in need, prevent further business disruption and loss of jobs, and invest in our economic recovery and revitalization.” The Partnership for New York City is a nonprofit made up of business leaders and employers from 311 companies that seek to bridge gaps between global industries and government."

11-27-20

Michigan lawmakers summoned to Washington by Trump stand tall. NPR reports:

"Republican lawmakers from Michigan issued a statement Friday night in defense of their state's election process after a closely watched meeting with President Trump. The meeting at the White House, just days away from Michigan's election certification deadline, was criticized as being an inappropriate attempt by the president to interfere while his campaign lawyers seek to overturn election results in the state. The White House insisted the get-together was "not an advocacy meeting" and cast it as routine."

Jesus Christ. What goddamned liars. Just like Trump. Shills of the Trump nazi.

Trump, however, didn't get what he wanted from the Michigan lawmakers:

"In their joint statement after Friday's meeting, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield said they used the meeting to seek additional coronavirus relief for the state. They added that they had "not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan." "We will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors," the statement said. "Michigan's certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation," the statement continued. "Allegations of fraudulent behavior should be taken seriously, thoroughly investigated, and if proven, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And the candidates who win the most votes win elections and Michigan's electoral votes. These are simple truths that should provide confidence in our elections."

"The shadow looming over the meeting was the state's anticipated certification of the presidential election results on Monday, which are expected to show President-elect Joe Biden as the clear victor in the state. Attorneys for Trump's campaign have sought to undermine the state's election results, falsely alleging voter impropriety, particularly in the Democratic-leaning Wayne County. Trump's last-minute White House invitation to the state lawmakers was the latest in what has become an unprecedented attack on U.S. election results by a sitting president. Trump and his allies have baselessly sought to contest the race's results despite Biden leading overwhelmingly in both the popular and electoral vote. The Associated Press and other outlets have called the race for Biden, with the Democrat having received 306 of the requisite 270 electoral votes necessary to secure the presidency. Trump, the Republican, has received 232 electoral votes, according to the AP count."

11-27-20

The following may be why Trump and his henchmen are fighting so hard to reverse the election results. NPR reports:

"Of all the perks of being president, Donald Trump may soon miss most the legal protection that it affords. For four years, Trump has benefited from the de facto immunity from prosecution that all presidents enjoy while in office. But that cloak will pass to Joe Biden when he's sworn in on Jan. 20, leaving Trump out in the legal cold. "Clearly, the president enjoyed immunity when he was in office," said Danya Perry, a former state and federal prosecutor in New York. "And it's possible, as a matter of law, that he could be indicted on Jan. 21." There's no indication that an indictment is imminent, and it's possible that Trump could emerge entirely unscathed. But there's also no doubt that once he's out of office, he'll be facing a higher level of legal jeopardy than he has in years. "His legal risks increase immeasurably come Jan. 21, both on the civil and the criminal side," Perry said. The most developed case that could ensnare Trump might be out of the Southern District of New York. It stems from the federal prosecution against Michael Cohen, Trump's onetime personal attorney and fixer."

Readers will recall:

"Cohen pleaded guilty to a range of crimes, including arranging illegal hush money payments to keep women silent during the 2016 campaign about extramarital affairs they say they had with Trump before he was president. Trump has denied the allegations. Cohen has said he acted at the direction of and in coordination with Trump. Prosecutors, meanwhile, referred to the president in court papers as "Individual 1." It is Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted. So although it's possible for a president to break the law before or during his time in office, prosecutors' inability to seek an indictment effectively means he can't be accused, tried or punished while still in office. Cohen's wrongdoing, which prosecutors tied to Trump without naming him, raises the question as to whether Trump might face charges of his own. "Ordinarily, had the target not been a sitting president with immunity, I think 'Individual 1,' as he's referred to, very likely would have been prosecuted along with his aider and abettor, Michael Cohen," Perry said. There could be significant complications to pursuing such a case, however. For one, prosecuting a former president would be politically fraught, particularly in a country as divided as this one. The decision on whether to do so at the federal level will fall to the new administration. "It comes down to a political calculation," said Kim Wehle, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches at the University of Baltimore School of Law."

That, itself is a problem. A big problem. Why should anyone, including a former president, be above the law? No matter the reason. Here is the problem with an old-school politician like Joe Biden:

"And the understanding is President-elect Biden has already signaled he doesn't have an appetite for that, which makes sense given he has a lot of political capital that needs to be used on critical issues like the pandemic, like climate change, like the economy."

What ever happened to primacy of the rule of law? Why isn't this principle applied to all from those on the bottom right up to and including the very top of the food chain?

"Biden has indeed signaled his reluctance to pursue a case against his predecessor. In August, Biden said he'd leave the decision to the Justice Department and the attorney general, but he suggested pursuing charges might do more damage than good."

What a crock of shit coming from a politician who will shortly take an oath of office to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. Mr. Biden is caustically reminded political expediency is one of the reasons our formerly great country is undergoing such turmoil. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms, Mr. President-Elect. Too deaf to hear?

"I think it is a very, very unusual thing and probably not very — how can I say it? — good for democracy to be talking about prosecuting former presidents," Biden said."

Jesus Christ. That's self-serving bullshit, Mr. Biden. The direct opposite is the truth. How can there be any faith and trust when anyone is above the law? Consider the damage done to our country when Ford pardoned Nixon. ... After Nixon had earlier replaced the disgraced Spiro Agnew with Ford as Vice President. Time to wake up and smell the coffee, Mr. Biden. Our formerly great country has been in decline since the McCarthy era of the early Fifties. The embrace of national socialism, fascism by the Extreme Right is a cancer that will ultimately destroy this country if left unchecked.

"There's also the possibility that Trump could attempt to pardon himself before leaving office. The president has asserted he has that power but said in the past he didn't feel he needed to use it because he argues he hasn't broken any law. An attempt at a self-pardon would be an unprecedented move and could very well face legal challenges. What is clear about Trump's pardon power, however, is that it does not extend to crimes at the state level. And that could prove problematic for Trump in his former hometown. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has an active criminal investigation into Trump and his businesses. The exact contours of the probe are not clear, but court papers suggest he's investigating possible insurance or financial fraud. "That looks like it's the most likely place where he could have some criminal liability around taxes, for example," Wehle said. The case has been tied up for months as Trump fights a grand jury subpoena that Vance issued to the president's personal accounting firm. Vance's office is seeking eight years of Trump's tax returns and financial records. The president fought the subpoena all the way to the Supreme Court last summer and lost, although the high court left the door open for him to raise other legal challenges. Trump did so, arguing that the subpoena was overly broad and politically motivated. Vance rejected those claims, and lower courts agreed with the district attorney's office. Trump's attorneys are now asking the Supreme Court to block the subpoena. Wehle said the patience Vance's team has shown in litigating its subpoena case suggests the probe isn't simply political — a Democratic city official in New York playing to the crowd there. "It's hard to imagine that Cyrus Vance would have put this kind of effort into investigating Donald Trump while he was president if he was just going to drop that investigation and anything that could come out of that when he is a private citizen like anyone else," Wehle said."

Hopefully, that remains the case.

"The Vance case is not the only legal trouble brewing in New York. The state attorney general, Letitia James, is conducting a civil investigation into the Trump businesses. James is looking into whether the Trump Organization improperly inflated the value of its assets for loan or insurance purposes, and then deflated the value for tax purposes. The president's son, Eric Trump, reportedly was deposed under oath last month as part of the probe. While James' investigation is a civil one, it could cross over to the criminal side depending on what investigators uncover. According to Perry, the former New York prosecutor, both of the probes could be relatively straightforward because they are likely based heavily on documents. "If you're looking at several assets, for example, and different values are attributed to them, one in a tax return and another in a bank loan document, that might be relatively simple," she said. "They do seem to be very paper based." Cohen alleged in congressional testimony that Trump's businesses engaged in such practices. But there are significant challenges in criminal tax cases, Perry said, because returns for a sprawling business can be complicated, and prosecutors have to prove that people involved willfully broke the law."

A double standard. Get caught speeding, running a stop sign, driving drunk, stealing, etc., prosecutors don't have to prove the accused 'willfully broke the law.' One set of rules for the bottom and middle class, another for the top of the food chain. -- One reason of many why there is no faith or trust in government.

"To prove that the taxpayer here, Mr. Trump himself, has committed intentional, willful tax fraud can be difficult, and it doesn't necessarily fly off the pages of the tax returns," Perry said. "A cooperating witness is always very helpful for that." It isn't clear whether Cohen or other sometime aides of Trump might be in a position to appear in a criminal case and testify as to the boss's actions or intentions. And Trump's legal jeopardy does not end there. He also faces defamation lawsuits filed by two women who say he sexually assaulted them — allegations he denies. While Trump doesn't face criminal liability in those suits, he does face potential damage to his reputation and financial repercussions. In all, it adds up to a legally perilous — and potentially expensive — post-presidency. "It's a potential avalanche," Wehle said. "But this is, again, a man that is very used to using the legal system to his advantage."

The charade can't last forever. The clock is running out. Complicating all this? He's got huge personal debt about to become due.

11-27-20

Think the following presidential? ABC News reports:

"As the country mourns a quarter-million Americans lost to the coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Thursday did nothing to acknowledge the grim milestone and has largely ignored the raging pandemic since he lost reelection two weeks ago."

Clearly, the bastard couldn't care less:

"The president has remained silent about the death toll since his defeat, not appearing in public in days while frequently treating baseless claims about the election. The White House did not respond to repeated inquiries from ABC News on whether Trump had any plans to recognize the more than 250,000 reported deaths related to COVID-19, although midday Thursday, it amended Vice President Mike Pence's public schedule to note he and members of the White House coronavirus task force, which he leads, would brief members of the press at 4 p.m. Trump himself has shown little interest in governing since his loss earlier this month, taking no apparent steps to address the pandemic that is killing Americans at a rate approaching the heights of its deadliest days this spring. An average of 1,209 Americans have been reported dead every day the past week, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Nearly 17,000 Americans have been reported dead since the final day of the election -- five times the number that died in the September 11, 2001, attacks. Amid dozens of false claims about voting fraud the president has made on Twitter -- as he seeks to sow discord in the wake of his loss -- Trump has hardly touched on the coronavirus crisis aside from boasts about vaccines and therapeutics."

Expect better of an insane nazi dictator?

"On Thursday, he yelled virtually in an all-caps tweet, "VACCINES ARE COMING FAST!!!" But while pharmaceutical companies have announced promising progress with vaccine candidates in recent weeks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to authorize them, and when one or two become available -- as public health experts expect to be the case in the coming weeks -- only high-risk groups will receive the first inoculations. The vaccines will provide no salvation for the tens of thousands of Americans expected to die before they can get access to them. When the nation marked 100,000 lives lost, Trump ordered the flags to half-staff after Democratic leaders wrote a letter requesting he do so. He has not repeated the gesture since. In another all-caps tweet Thursday morning, Trump wrote that "THE COVID DRUGS NOW AVAILABLE TO MAKE PROPLE BETTER ARE AMAZING" -- he misspelled "people" -- "BUT SELDOM TALKED ABOUT BY THE MEDIA!" While it is true that therapeutics have helped reduce the rate of patients who die from COVID-19, the daily number of Americans dying is shooting back up to the high levels the country faced earlier this year. And press coverage of the coronavirus does frequently highlight advances with therapeutics, although, like with Trump, news of potentially promising vaccines has dominated of late. Since the election, Trump has held just two public events at which he has spoken, one of which -- on Friday -- focused on his administration’s effort to support the development of a vaccine."

Clearly, doesn't care. ... Think Adolf and Benito aren't wildly cheering on their fiery perches?

11-27-20

Once again, Pompeo has disgraced himself and the United States. United Press International reports:

"U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday became the first top American official to visit settlements in the Israeli-controlled West Bank -- and vowed that the United States will cut funding over a boycott linked to what he said is an anti-Semitic movement."

Quite an act of hypocrisy coming from our national socialist, fascist Trump sick sycophant. This piece of crap remains oblivious to the murderous Israeli aggressor treating Palestinians like human trash since 1948.

"Pompeo made the funding threat during a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the promise "simply wonderful."

Think Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini aren't wildly cheering on their fiery perches? As long-suffering Palestinians take the ungreased shaft hard up the ass since 1948. Delusionally believe this isn't onset of a national socialist, fascist, nazi repeat of history, this time with Palestinians the target? The Israeli aggressor has indeed used some of the tactics employed by Hitler's storm troopers during the Second World War, -- against the Palestinians since 1948.

"The Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions movement was started in 2005 and aims to use economic pressure to compel Israel to end its control in the West Bank and other disputed territories. In his remarks Thursday, Pompeo labeled the BDS movement "hateful" and said groups or businesses associated with it will see an economic backlash."

It's in response to the Israeli aggressor's murderous treatment of Palestinians, you goddamned jackass.

"We want to stand with all other nations that recognize the BDS movement for the cancer that it is, and we're committed to combating it," Pompeo said. "Our record speaks for itself."

Jesus Christ. Are you a congenital liar like your fuhrer, the Trump nazi, Mr. Pompeo? Time to wake up, you fascist jackass. The world community does not support what the Israeli aggressor is doing to the Palestinians. Quite the contrary.

"During the Trump administration, America stands with Israel like never before. Indeed, the commitment we've made, the ironclad commitment we've made to the Jewish state, will continue."

You're out to lunch, Mr. Secretary. You and your fuhrer, the Trump nazi are highly reminiscent of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. A most remarkable reincarnation of great evil. This time, the target, long-suffering Palestinians who are being murdered by the Israeli aggressor.

Raw nazism:

"Today the United States Department of State stands strongly to the recognition that settlements can be done in a way that are lawful and appropriate and proper," he said."

Like your fuhrer, the Trump nazi, you're insane, Mr. Pompeo. Seem to have traitorously, treasonously betrayed your falsely sworn oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution.

Here's the truth:

"Israel's building settlements in Palestinian areas of the West Bank has been condemned by most of the international community. A year ago, Pompeo said the settlements don't violate international laws -- a reversal of a long-held U.S. position."

Here's the delusional re-write of reality by Pompeo, Trump, and the Israeli aggressor:

"Thursday, Netanyahu thanked Pompeo and the Trump administration for various decisions over the last four years that benefited Israel -- including moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, helping to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates and supporting Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights. "Thanks to President Trump, the United States proposed the first truly realistic plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians," Netanyahu said. "And thanks to President Trump, Israel was able to forge peace with three Arab countries: the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan."

The above insanity guaranties violence in the region will continue indefinitely. Likely will result in ultimate destruction of the State of Israel when the United States finally wises up. Without the U.S., the Israeli aggressor will not be able stand up to all its enemies in the Middle East. Saddest of all? Had it not behaved like its Nazi oppressor over the decades since 1948, peaceful coexistence could have been possible.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
libertyinperil.com
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