...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
The swamp exists
Per month???!!![Boris] Epshteyn, who has managed to stay joined at the hip with Donald Trump—much to the annoyance of other lawyers in Trump’s circle—seems to have gotten his hand caught in the cookie jar in recent weeks. He reportedly solicited large monthly retainers from people under consideration for administration positions in return for putting in a good word with Trump.
Among the victims of Epshteyn's scheme is Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, from whom Epshteyn allegedly requested $30,000 to $40,000 per month.
Harry Litman
Nobody makes grift besides him unless he gives the nod.The Wall Street Journal reported a colorful scene in which Epshteyn went running after Bessent in the lobby of Mar-a-Lago before Bessent told him to back off.
Bessent declined Epshteyn’s offer and got the nod anyway.
Similarly, former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens reported feeling pressured by Epshteyn for substantial monthly payments in return for Epshteyn’s support.
Trump was reportedly furious.
The bodies are already stacking up.Trump ordered an investigation into Epshteyn’s activities by top transition lawyer David Warrington. The resulting report is apparently damning, and it recommends sharply limiting Boris’s access to the president-elect.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.[T]here also have been reports of significant conflict between Epshteyn and Elon Musk, who reportedly accused Epshteyn of leaking information about cabinet picks.
[...]
The weeks since the election suggest that we’ll be seeing blatant norm-breaking and indifference to the law that makes the first Trump term seem like kid stuff.
[...]
[Epshteyn's] presence on [Trump's] legal team provoked the resignation of defense attorney Timothy Parlatore. Parlatore’s departing criticism of Epshteyn was scathing: “There are certain individuals that made defending the president much harder than it needed to be.” In Parlatore’s portrait, Epshteyn combined ruthless jockeying for proximity to Trump with conduct that actually harmed the case and sowed wide distrust among Trump’s lawyers.
Again, this is a feature, not a bug, of Trump’s governing style.
[...]
Epshteyn illustrates a broader pattern that goes with the territory of working for Trump: a tendency to mimic their boss in using their position for self-enrichment. Epshteyn is the latest in a line of Trump advisors who have sought to exploit their proximity to Trump for personal financial gain, often through criminal activity. From Paul Manafort, who hoped to leverage his role as campaign chair to dig out of debt to Russian oligarchs, to Michael Flynn, who failed to disclose financial ties to foreign governments, to Steve Bannon, who skimmed over $1 million from contributions to his “We Build the Wall” scheme (Trump pardoned him shortly before leaving office), the pattern is unmistakable.
Epshteyn himself has been indicted in Arizona on charges of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery for his involvement in the fraudulent elector scheme.
[...]
To top it off, Epshteyn was arrested in 2021 on accusations of repeatedly groping two women at a nightclub. He received probation after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct, adding to the list of members of Trump’s circle—including Trump himself, of course—who have been accused of sexual misconduct.
That was quick: South Korea
Here's a thought experiment: What event (organic or manufactured) will Trump use to declare martial law, and how will the American public react?
UPDATE 06:04 pm:
Being Trumpist means not having to hide your evil deeds
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.Dinesh D’Souza also criticized the [Hunter Biden] pardon. Dinesh had his felony fraud conviction pardoned by Trump. He also admitted the day before this that the premise of his movie ‘2000 Mules’, was based on a complete lie. The movie was heavily promoted by Trump and was probably D’Souza’s single most profitable production of his life. It misled millions about the 2020 election and he made millions off it. Most people would sit this one out, but that’s not the MAGA way, where shamelessness is the brand.
Meidas Touch
King Elon
He can't be president since he was born elsewhere, but he can be king.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Put that judge on Kash Patel's target list.A DE judge has blocked Elon Musk’s $56 billion compensation package from Tesla today as excessive after shareholders voted to reinstate it after intense lobbying from him. The judge also ordered Musk to pay $345 million in attorney’s fees to the shareholders who brought the lawsuit. The court ruled that Musk completely controlled the Board of Directors which obeyed him and ignored their fiduciary duty to shareholders.
Musk’s response to the ruling: “Shareholders should decide these things, not judges.”
Meidas Touch
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
The Grift administration
Sure, but technically, Central America is not "overseas".
[Patel has a] long history of grifts where he sold clothing, boots, children’s books, Christmas ornaments - the list is almost as endless as Trump’s. He made being in Trump’s orbit a business, and attended one MAGA conference after another to sell his trinkets. He even appeared on crazy MAGA “prophet” Julie Green’s podcast, knowing she had a huge audience of ultra-gullibles who would fall for anything.
Perhaps the most egregious grift from Patel was in 2022 when he sold magic pills that were supposed to “reverse the vaxx” and “cleanse” people’s bodies of MRNA who received a covid vaccine. Patel was constantly in search of scams to fleece the rubes out of their cash. He learned from the Grifter Supreme.
Meidas Touch
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Pre-pardons
They wanted pardons for their part in the coup attempt. They didn't get them, but neither did they get tried for their crimes by the Biden administration, so they didn't need them.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Monday, December 2, 2024
Sunday, December 1, 2024
Uh-huh
Cue the MAGA screaming.
Of course he will. Above the law is de rigueur now.
I expect it will simply spur the GOP wolves to go after them in another way.
Is he going to pardon him for any and all past, present, and future crimes?
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
UPDATE 12/02/2024:
N.B. It will not be the start of a clemency spree.
UPDATE 12/03/2024:
What’s right is right and wrong is wrong. Pardoning Hunter Biden may have been constitutional, it may have been “what any father would do,” it may have been thrilling for people looking to stick it to Trump in some minor way. But it was wrong to do, it’s wrong to defend, and everyone involved in the decision should feel great shame for trying to pass it off as some sort of enlightened attempt to undo an injustice rather than a tired old man’s desire to do what he wants for someone he loves.
Bulwark
Jesus wept
And we are still supporting Israel.The Israeli military has killed three workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) and at least two other people in an air strike on a vehicle in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, in what was the third deadly attack on the aid group this year.
The US-based charity, which runs community kitchens in Gaza, said it had paused its operations in Gaza after the attack on Saturday.
[...]
The Israeli military claimed that it was targeting a “terrorist” who had participated in the October 7 attacks on Israel and was employed by the WCK.
[...]
“All three men worked for WCK and they were hit while driving in a WCK four-wheel drive vehicle in Khan Younis,” Basal said, adding that the vehicle had been “marked with its logo clearly visible”.
[...]
The Israeli military has repeatedly targeted aid workers since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
A series of Israeli air attacks hit a convoy of the WCK in April, killing seven of its aid workers. Another staff member was killed in an Israeli attack in July.
The Israeli military claimed that those attacks were “mistakes” and that it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their role.
But an investigation by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification agency using open-source information, witness testimonies and images from the site found the attacks were intentional.
Israel has also killed a record number of United Nations personnel in its war on Gaza.
alJazeera
Also...
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Latest Third World style administration nominations
Ivanka's father-in-law and convicted criminal (including tax evasion and witness tampering), Charles Kushner, for ambassador to France.
Trump may simply be counting on appointing all "acting" directors to positions where his choice is not confirmed. And all acting directors report and answer directly to Trump.
Tiffany's father-in-law, billionaire Massad Boulos, for senior adviser on Arab & Middle Eastern affairs (Jared didn't want the job?).
Kash Patel, MAGA radical conspiracy theorist who wants to shut down the FBI, and who kisses Trump's ass maybe hardest of anyone, for - wait for it - FBI director.
I think Trump plans to fire most of them.
Trump may simply be counting on appointing all "acting" directors to positions where his choice is not confirmed. And all acting directors report and answer directly to Trump.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
UPDATE 12/02/2024:
UPDATE 12/02/2024:
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