Recap of Trump's liability in document theft

Read the article here.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Black female judges matter

Not paying the bills?

Pretty much describes anything to do with Donald Trump.

A company that organized a lucrative series of post-White House paid speeches for former president Donald Trump is now struggling to pay vendors, investors and employees, angering Trump allies who supported the effort.

The American Freedom Tour, which struck a multimillion-dollar deal with Trump after he left office, has lost two top executives and canceled events in a number of locations as it has failed to pay its bills, according to people familiar with the activities and documents obtained by The Washington Post. Its founder and owner, who has a history of bankruptcy filings, recently sought bankruptcy protection again [for the fifth time].

[...]

The American Freedom Tour started last October, staging glitzy events around the country that resemble Trump rallies but sell tickets ranging from $55 to more than $4,000.

[...]

In July the company missed payroll, according to a note to staff from Forte. “We are experiencing some growing pains and all will be OK,” he said in the internal message reviewed by The Post. The spokesman said the company is currently paying its employees.

[...]

Some unpaid investors are preparing possible legal action, demanding full payment plus interest, according to a demand letter obtained by The Post. If the company doesn’t pay, the group wants Forte to step aside and give them control of the company, according to the letter. Otherwise, they said they will sue.

[...]

The group has promised events in a number of locales but canceled them before they began and appears to be banking on a large event at Mar-a-Lago in December to turn its financial position around.

[...]

[O]ne of the people involved who did get paid was Trump.

  WaPo

Oooh. Another surprise!

It’s not clear what [it] means for the tour’s advertised upcoming [December 1] black-tie gala at Mar-a-Lago, with tickets starting at $10,000 a couple to spend time with Trump. The event includes a poolside reception and a formal ballroom dinner. Dinner and a photo with Trump costs $40,000, and a private library meeting with Trump is so pricey that it’s only listed as: “INQUIRE BELOW.” The company declined to say how much Trump is being paid for the event.

All of it?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

My ears have been pricked

In conversation with Dahlia Lithwick when talking about the "Me Too" movement, Molly Jong Fast, on her new podcast 'Fast Politics', dropped this line: "I can't talk about it, but I think there's more coming in the world of Brett Kavanaugh that I think will bear out some interesting stuff."

Hmmmmm.

We ALL hope so

Another Democrat self-sabotage

In a remarkable reversal that will affect the fortunes of many student loan borrowers, the U.S. Department of Education has quietly changed its guidance around who qualifies for President Biden's sweeping student debt relief plan.

  

Oh, that's a good look a month before big elections.

Today, according to federal data, more than 4 million borrowers still have commercially-held FFEL loans. Until Thursday, the department's own website advised these borrowers that they could consolidate these loans into federal Direct Loans and thereby qualify for relief under Biden's debt cancellation program.

[...]

On Thursday, though, the department quietly changed that language. The guidance now says, "As of Sept. 29, 2022, borrowers with federal student loans not held by ED cannot obtain one-time debt relief by consolidating those loans into Direct Loans."

[...]

An administration official tells NPR this change will not affect all 4 million borrowers with commercially-held FFEL loans. The official said many FFEL borrowers also have Direct Loans and so can still qualify to consolidate those FFEL loans, though that detail was not included in the department's updated guidance.

Ultimately, this administration official says, roughly 800,000 borrowers would be directly affected.

There's a million-plus votes lost.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

She's relocated her courage

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

UPDATE:

Cannon on Thursday rejected part of the special master’s plan that would have forced the former President’s legal team to back up his out-of-court claims that the FBI planted evidence.

[...]

“There shall be no separate requirement on Plaintiff at this stage, prior to the review of any of the Seized Materials, to lodge ex ante final objections to the accuracy of Defendant’s Inventory, its descriptions, or its contents,” Cannon wrote, noting that her order appointing a special master contemplated only the government filing a declaration verifying the accuracy of the inventory.

“Should any additional matters surface during the Special Master’s review process that require reconsideration of the Inventory or the need to object to its contents, the parties shall make those matters known to the Special Master for appropriate resolution and recommendation to this Court,” Cannon said.

[...]

The federal judge removed the special master’s proposed requirement that Trump, when asserting a document is covered by executive privilege, specify whether he believed that barred disclosure within the executive branch versus disclosure outside of it.

[...]

The judge additionally made clear that any motions from Trump to seek the return of property he contends was unlawfully seized would be considered on her docket. Dearie, had opened the door to that litigation happening before Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who approved the search warrant – a move that Trump opposed.

[...]

Cannon also pushed back the timeline for the review by at least a half-month, while making clear that additional litigation that Trump will have the chance to bring, after the special master process is finished, challenging the search will remain on her docket.

[...]

With the intervention of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month, the department was allowed to resume the criminal probe’s use of the documents marked as classified.

[...]

In explaining the “modest enlargement” of the timeline, Cannon pointed to the issues the parties had faced in securing a vendor to digitize the seized materials for the review.

Earlier this week, the department said in a court filing that Trump’s team had indicated the data hosting companies didn’t want to work with the former President. Trump’s team now says the issue is the size of the evidence collection.

  CNN

Sure.

Pretty sure Judge Cannon knows fuck-all about what she's supposed to be doing.  I wonder how many little MAGA law clerks are scurrying behind the scenes to provide her with all her bullshit rulings.

100%

Child abuse

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Neeeeext

Serious click bait

I clicked.

Greene’s (R-Ga.) husband filed for divorce Wednesday on the grounds that the marriage is “irretrievably broken,” according to court documents.

[...]

In a statement obtained by the Hill, Perry Greene called Marjorie Taylor Greene his “best friend” and said the pair are heading in different directions.

[...]

Perry Greene is also asking the Floyd County Superior Court to seal the divorce proceedings, “because the parties’ significant privacy interest in sealing the records outweighs the public’s miniscule interest in access to said records.”

  The Hill

Spoilsport.

The filing notes that he and his wife have already separated.

“Marriage is a wonderful thing and I’m a firm believer in it. Our society is formed by a husband and wife creating a family to nurture and protect,” Marjorie Taylor Greene said in a statement shared with The Hill.

“Together, Perry and I formed our family and raised three great kids. [...] I’ll always be grateful for how great of a dad he is to our children,” she said, adding that the matter is “private and personal.”

UPDATE:

I don't know.  SOMEbody's got to be the agent of comeuppance.  It doesn't just happen on its own.  She earned it.

UPDATE:

Putin's plan to get out of the ill-fated Ukrainian invasion

Russia confirmed on Thursday it will formally annex parts of Ukraine where occupied areas held Kremlin-orchestrated "referendums" on living under Moscow's rule that the Ukrainian government and the West denounced as illegal and rigged. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a ceremony on Friday in the Kremlin when four regions of Ukraine will be officially folded into Russia, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

[...]

Armed troops had gone door-to-door with election officials to collect ballots in five days of voting. The suspiciously high margins in favor were characterized as a land grab by an increasingly cornered Russian leadership after embarrassing military losses in Ukraine.

[...]

The United States and its Western allies have sharply condemned the votes as "sham referenda" and vowed never to recognize their results.

[...]

The official annexation was widely expected following the votes that wrapped up on Tuesday in the areas under Russian occupation in Ukraine and after Moscow claimed residents overwhelmingly supported for their areas to formally become part of Russia.

  CBS

But this doesn't mean the war is over.

Ukraine too has dismissed the referendums as illegitimate, saying it has every right to retake the territories, a position that has won support from Washington.

[...]

After a counteroffensive by Ukraine this month dealt Moscow's forces heavy battlefield setbacks, Russia said it would call up 300,000 reservists to join the fight. It also warned it could resort to nuclear weapons if its territory is attacked — and many have viewed the looming annexations as a way for Putin to create the pretext of exactly such a direct attack on Russia.

I wouldn't be quick to assume he'd actually do it.

British military intelligence report claimed the number of Russian military-age men fleeing the country likely exceeds the number of forces Moscow used to initially invade Ukraine in February.

"The better off and well educated are over-represented amongst those attempting to leave Russia," the British said. "When combined with those reservists who are being mobilized, the domestic economic impact of reduced availability of labor and the acceleration of 'brain drain' is likely to become increasingly significant."

That partial mobilization is deeply unpopular in some areas, however, triggering protests, scattered violence, and Russians fleeing the country by the tens of thousands. Miles-long lines formed at some borders and Moscow also reportedly set up draft offices at borders to intercept some of those trying to leave.

UPDATE:

When you're corrupt, you're corrupt

Or are we to believe she had it hidden from him?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Update

Previous post:

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 9/28:  I just heard (Rick Wilson on Fast Politics podcast) that the reason Trump's pac only got $40 in august is because they've created a new one to funnel money into because the old one is likely going to be in legal trouble.

Bless the kids

They are our hope for the future. 

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Delays are all he has left

A highly regarded lawyer for Donald Trump has been sidelined less than a month after he was hired to defend against the investigation into government documents kept at Mar-a-Lago, according to CNN.

In mid-September, media reports found that former Florida Solicitor General Chris Kise was paid a whopping $3 million advance to represent the former president after the FBI seized 11,000 sensitive files from his Florida home in August.

[...]

Kise’s salary was covered by the former president’s key fundraising arm, the Save America political action committee.

[...]

CNN reported that the lawyer is expected to stay on Trump’s legal team but will not be leading the defense.

Although Trump representatives haven’t explained the reason for the shift, observers are suggesting that Kise may focus on other investigations facing the former president, such as a recent lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general over allegations of a long-running tax-dodging scheme.

  Yahoo

If Trump did in fact pay in advance, he'll be asking for a refund. 

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  Apparently, that really was the reason...

Oh my

Trump lawyers having a little trouble in the stolen documents case

They asked for a Special Master.  They got one of their choice.  They are now having trouble complying with his decisions.

Or she's seriously compromised.  Or both.

Keep trying.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

.

Another heavy Jan 6 sentence

During the mayhem of January 6, Young pushed through the pro-mob to grab the wrist of a Washington, DC, police officer, Michael Fanone, as other rioters assaulted him. At one point, he passed a taser to another rioter, who used the device on Fanone's neck.

[...]

Jackson noted that, in the video of the assault on Fanone, a "Blue Lives Matter" flag swirled overhead.

"It was obscene," she said.

[...]

"The judiciary [...] has to make it clear: It is not patriotism, it is not standing up for America to stand up for one man who knows full well that he lost instead of the Constitution he was trying to subvert."

  Yahoo News quoting Judge Amy Berman Jackson

Young also will serve three years under supervision once released. A hearing will be held later to determine his restitution. He also was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.

“You are one of the most serious Jan. 6 offenders in my caseload and you were personally involved in and instrumental to one of the most horrific attacks on officers [e]ncased in this building," the judge told Young. “I have seldom in my years on the bench been presented with anything like this.”

[...]

[Young] went to the Capitol with his 16-year-old son and video played by federal prosecutors indicated Young took part during fighting on the Capitol’s lower west terrace, including at one point throwing a heavy speaker that hit another rioter, drawing blood. He used a strobe light to blind fighting officers and at one point gave it to his son, allowing him to directly participate in the fighting, a point the judge used to illustrate her disgust at his actions that day.

  Madison.com

UPDATE:

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said former President Donald Trump had turned his lies about the election into a litmus test for Republican candidates and that “high-ranking members of Congress and state officials” are “so afraid of losing their power” that they won’t contradict him. That fealty, she said, comes even as law enforcement and judges involved in cases related to the former president are facing unprecedented threats of violence.

It’s up to the judiciary, she added, to help draw the line against those dangers.

[...]

“Some prominent figures in the Republican Party … are cagily predicting or even outright calling for violence in the streets if one of the multiple investigations doesn’t go his way,” Jackson said.

[...]

“The judiciary … has to make it clear: It is not patriotism, it is not standing up for America to stand up for one man — who knows full well that he lost — instead of the Constitution he was trying to subvert,” said Jackson.

[...]

“You were not prosecuted for being a Trump supporter. You were not arrested or charged and you will not be sentenced for exercising your first amendment rights,” she said to Young. “You are not a political prisoner … You were trying to stop the singular thing that makes America America, the peaceful transfer of power. That’s what ‘Stop the Steal’ meant.”

  Politico

Postponed

If Trump can get away with it...

James Patten, 63, of Winston-Salem, N.C.; Peter Coker Sr., 80, of Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Peter Coker Jr., 53, of Hong Kong are each charged in a 12-count indictment with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to manipulate securities prices. Patten is also charged with four counts of manipulation of securities, four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

[...]

The Securities and Exchange Commission, in a news release, alleges that the three men artificially inflated the share price of Hometown International — the entity operating the deli, which generated less than $40,000 in yearly revenue — from roughly $1 per share in October 2019 to almost $14 per share by April 2021, resulting in a wildly inflated market capitalization of $100 million.

[...]

In 2021, NPR's Planet Money reported on the deli when it was discovered after billionaire investor David Einhorn highlighted Hometown International in a letter to clients. Einhorn noted that in the previous two years, the company had generated less than $40,000 total in sales, yet it had a market cap of $113 million.

"The pastrami must be amazing," Einhorn joked then.

The letter was used to describe what was happening in the financial world at the time, stating, "It's as if there are no financial fraud prosecutors."

  NPR

Check in with Tish James and Alvin Bragg.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

This is why they become Trump lawyers

To get onto TV as commentators.

They're crap attorneys, and they weren't getting anywhere.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Go for it, Liz

Not that I want another Cheney in the White House, but she might pull some votes off Trump.  On the other hand, what if she pulled votes off the Democratic nominee?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

What deal will Mark Meadows make?

You know he's either going to be spending years behind bars, or he's making deals with the DOJ to trade his time for a Trump indictment.

Phil Waldron, an early proponent of various election-related conspiracy theories, texted (then Chief of Staff Mark) Meadows on December 23 that an Arizona judge had dismissed a lawsuit filed by friendly GOP lawmakers there. The suit demanded state election officials hand over voting machines and other election equipment, as part of the hunt for evidence to support Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud.

In relaying the news to Meadows, Waldron said the decision would allow opponents to engage in “delay tactics” preventing Waldron and his associates from immediately accessing machines. Waldron also characterized Arizona as “our lead domino we were counting on to start the cascade,” referring to similar efforts in other states like Georgia.

The messages [show] the extent to which Meadows was kept abreast of plans for accessing voting machines, a topic sources tell CNN, and court documents suggest, is of particular interest to state and federal prosecutors probing efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

[...]

Despite attempts to distance himself from the more dubious attempts to keep Trump in office, the messages underscore how Meadows was an active participant.

[...]

Waldron, a retired Army colonel with ties to Trump’s one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn, has emerged as a key figure in the broader scheme to overturn the election and was the architect of several extreme proposals for doing so. That includes sending Meadows a PowerPoint presentation outlining a plan for overturning the election, which was later used to brief Republican lawmakers, titled, in part: “Options for 6 Jan.”

Waldron also helped draft language for an executive order directing the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security to seize voting machines on behalf of the White House.

[...]

Criminal prosecutors in Georgia are demanding Waldron and Meadows testify as part of ongoing grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results there. Waldron is also engaged in a months-long legal fight with the January 6 Committee, which has subpoenaed his cellphone data. Meadows recently complied with a Justice Department subpoena to hand over information pertaining to the 2020 election including these text messages.

  CNN

I imagine he's doing as much complying as he can possibly do, on advice from his lawyers and in his desire to not rot in prison.

There's a lot in this article about Waldron's efforts, so you can continue reading here.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ed gives up on America

How else is he going to get a passport?  The US won't give his back.

Also, he has two sons born in Russia.  Complicates things for him.

A felony!

In other words, there wll be no discussion at the University of Idaho by any employees (which includes teachers in classrooms), because who the hell knows what one person might think is NOT "completely neutral".  Whatever happened to freedom of speech in this country?  The University of Idaho is not a private facility.  I'm going to guess there will be a court challenge.

Jesus Tapdancing Christ.

J6 juries and judges are not playing around

Welcome to the new Dark Ages

National Republican Senatorial Committee poll

Jesus wept.

So far up his own ass

He can't even correct a verbal slip in real time.  Apparently that would make him look imperfect.  (This is nothing new with him.  He's always done it.  Often by adding the word "and" to what he'd just misspoken.)

The man is ridiculous.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

January 6 revelations still coming

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), who staffed the Jan. 6 Committee until April, said on Friday that the White House switchboard connected with the phone of a rioter at the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection.

“You get a real ‘a-ha’ moment when you see that the White House switchboard had connected to a rioter’s phone while it’s happening,” said Riggleman, former senior technical adviser for the committee, according to a clip from CBS’s upcoming episode of “60 Minutes.”

When asked by host Bill Whitaker to confirm that someone in the White House was calling an insurrectionist during the riot, Riggleman said: “On January sixth, absolutely.”

[...]

“I only know one end of that call. I don’t know the White House end, which I believe is more important,” he said.

“But the thing is, the American people need to know that there are link connections that need to be explored more.”

  The Hill

And, Riggleman needs to sell a book. But, thanks for letting us know it now. Can't wait for the next Jan 6 hearings.

A group of employees who work for the internal watchdog at the Department of Homeland Security are calling on President Biden to remove their boss, saying they’ve lost hope the “ship will right itself.”

The request comes after numerous congressional panels have asked DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to step aside from various investigations after he failed to alert lawmakers in a timely manner that Secret Service text messages for Jan. 6 had been “erased.”

An anonymous letter shared by the Project on Government Oversight was signed by “concerned DHS OIG employees representing every program office at every grade level” who added that “for fear of retaliation, we cannot identify ourselves.”

  The Hill

UPDATE:

Next up for heavy exploitation...

...Chilean lithium miners.

Seen in Madison, WI, at Monona Bay

Luckily he has rubes who will pick up the tab

Georgia allows individuals to challenge other individuals while voting

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Sad!

Mike Lindell, the My Pillow Inc chief executive and ally to former President Donald Trump, is under U.S. federal investigation for identity theft and for conspiring to damage a protected computer connected to a suspected voting equipment security breach in Colorado.

[...]

[The warrant was issued] based on probable cause that Lindell and other possible co-conspirators may have violated federal laws prohibiting identity fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and causing intentional damage [to] a protected computer.

  NBC

Typical Karl Rove playbook for the modern GOP: accuse the opposition of doing what YOU're actually doing. When all is said and done, we're going to find that most, if not all, election fraud has been committed by the GOP.

....but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

There goes another one

The GOP has been canceling advertising budgets in other cases, as well.  They might have had the money if they weren't willing to take a back seat to Trump, who is getting all the GOP donation dollars and will keep spending it on his legal expenses.  They deserve it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Well, fuck this

I imagine they don't think a win would be a sure thing, so I get it.  It's just that I don't want this unmitigated asshole to get away with being an unmitigated asshole.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Oh my!

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

It's official

I would have preferred a prime-time hearing, but maybe this means they have at least one more to air.

Mark your calendar.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Raskin tried

Since Congress won back the House in 2018, [Congressman Jamie] Raskin had pushed to take action on the issue of Trump allegedly violating the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution, which prohibits federal office holders from receiving gifts or compensation from foreign leaders.

Pelosi did not want to move on the issue at the time, and vulnerable Democrats in pro-Trump districts also did not want to launch another investigation into the then-president.

According to Politico’s Playbook, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) asked Raskin during a discussion in 2019: “What’s the point? We know the end of this story.”

“Sometimes, we have to do these things,” Raskin responded.

  The Hill

Yes, yes, yes.

A few weeks later, in October 2019, Raskin again raised these concerns to Pelosi during an impeachment strategy session related to Trump’s threat to withhold aid to Ukraine unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dig up dirt on then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Trump at the time was planning to host the annual Group of Seven (G-7) conference of foreign leaders at Trump Doral, his private resort in Miami, which meant foreign officials would be spending money at Trump’s businesses and the president himself would spend taxpayer dollars there.

[...]

Pelosi told Raskin at the October meeting to prepare a resolution, calling Mulvaney a “liar and a creep” and Trump a “sick man and a freeloader,” according to Politico.

But when Trump ultimately reversed his decision to host the G-7 conference at Trump Doral, Pelosi eased up.

Still, Raskin refused to give up, repeatedly pushing for the emoluments probe.

Pelosi warned him to back down, threatening to withhold an impeachment manager position he wanted in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial over the Trump-Zelensky conversation.

It's past time for Pelosi to leave Congress. And I, for one, would like to see Adam Schiff or Jamie Raskin - or actually any number of qualified Democratic Congresspersons - to take her place as Speaker. The Schiff personality might be better able to herd the Democratic crew than Raskin, but they both have the integrity and courage to lead.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

MAGA spurned in Michigan governor race

Nice rebuttal to MAGA attacks on Whitmer in the 2020 election.

 

Not just Republican, but MAGA.