Sad

The University of Rhode Island will revoke honorary degrees given to Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn, key allies of Donald Trump in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

The URI board of trustees on Friday voted unanimously to revoke the degrees, which were given to Giuliani in 2003 and Flynn in 2014.

Giuliani’s doctorate of laws was given for his leadership as mayor of New York City after the 9/11 attacks, the Providence Journal reported.

Flynn, a retired general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency who graduated from URI in 1981, was given a doctorate of humane letters.

  Guardian

They just wanted to get some fame by association with Giuliani and Flynn, didn't they? I mean, come on. Rhode Island? What connection did they have with either of those crooks?

The trustees voted on the recommendation of the URI president, Marc Parlange, who said the two men “no longer represent the highest level of our values and standards that were evident when we first bestowed the degree”.

[...]

Recommending the revocation of the honorary degrees, Parlange said: “As a civic institution, URI has the privilege and responsibility to sustain and preserve American democracy by insuring and modeling good citizenship. Revoking these honorary degrees reinforces our values and allows us to lead with truth and integrity.”

Next time, choose more wisely.

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

And speaking of Flynn...

FBI agents and the House panel investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol have both learned of an alleged plan by allies of retired army Lt Gen Michael Flynn to gather “intelligence” on top Republicans to “move” them to back election audits in key states Trump lost, said ex-whistleblower Everett Stern who talked to the panel and the FBI.

Stern, who runs the intelligence firm Tactical Rabbit and is a Republican vying for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania, in multiple interviews with the Guardian said two Flynn associates with the rightwing Patriot Caucus group enlisted his help in April in a scheme to seek potentially damaging information on two Republican members of Congress [Pennsylvania’s Senator Pat Toomey and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick] to prod them to back an audit of the 2020 vote that Joe Biden won.

[...]

Stern said he alerted the FBI in June when he learned more details of the bizarre drive by Flynn allies to specifically target the two Republicans, both of whom backed impeaching Trump after the January 6 insurrection.

  Guard

I bet they're not the only two who've been blackmailed in some manner by the insurrectionists.

The efforts by Flynn’s Patriot Caucus allies were launched after Trump failed to block Biden from taking office, and are part of a wider drive by Trump loyalists and Flynn to help boost Trump’s political fortunes via more state audits nationwide into false charges that Biden’s win was rigged, and elect like-minded candidates in key states to top electoral offices.

[...]

Stern said Flynn’s Patriot Caucus associates first approached him in Pennsylvania for possible help after an April Republican party event, and soon after told Stern in phone calls they worked with Flynn and the Patriot Caucus, and planned to recruit “former domestic and foreign intelligence officials” to facilitate their scheme.The plan by Flynn’s allies alarmed Stern, but as a former whistleblower involved in exposing a large bank money laundering scandal by HSBC in 2012, he told the Guardian he decided to play along for a few months to glean information to expose the Trump allies’ scheme.

Actually, that's a brilliant defense. None of those Oath Keepers were smart enough to use it.

In an April exchange of Hartman text messages seen by the Guardian, Hartman asked a Flynn scheduler to help “connect” Flynn with Stern whose Senate campaign and credentials he touted highly, calling Stern a “strong believer”, in their cause.

[...]

Stern said Hartman wanted to use Tactical Rabbit’s intelligence gathering tools and his campaign to dig up potentially embarrassing campaign finance information and other dirt about the Pennsylvania members, plus Republican political figures in Michigan who were also resisting audits.

[...]

While Fitzpatrick and Toomey were the main “targets” Stern said other Pennsylvania officials including judges were also being targeted by the Flynn allies as they sought to ramp up pressure for an audit in the state.

[...]

To coordinate national efforts, Raiklin and Hartman on 3 July spearheaded one of a series of “Election Integrity” calls with Trump loyalists, lawyers and donors to discuss the status of audits efforts in several states and other plans to cast doubt on Biden’s win, according to an Arizona senate document shared by the watchdog group American Oversight.

[...]

Hartman in emails with Stern obtained by the Guardian invited him in June to attend a religious far-right meeting known as Ziklag in Dallas where he could meet separately with Flynn. Stern said Hartman told him a “private meeting was going to be arranged with Flynn” who Stern was told wanted to meet him.

After indicating to Hartman he would attend, Stern opted to cancel at the last minute after his lawyer indicated there could be legal repercussions from a meeting with Flynn.

[...]

“Stern’s allegations suggest serious crimes,” said ex-prosecutor Paul Rosenzweig, who worked on Ken Starr’s team during the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

The fascists are far from done.

Another bill to languish on McConnell's desk

That one Republican vote came from Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

I'm interested to see if Mr. Fitzpatrick is one of the "handful" of Republicans who might possibly vote to impeach Trump, since he is an ex-FBI agent who investigated corruption in Ukraine in 2015, and was elected to Congress in 2016.

That's Viktor Shokin. He was the prosecutor general in Ukraine, which is like the attorney general here in the U.S. Fitzpatrick's assessment of Shokin differs from that of fellow Republican President Trump. Trump called Shokin a fair prosecutor and said he was treated very badly when former Vice President Joe Biden insisted Shokin be removed from office. Fitzpatrick also has a different view on the whistleblower whose complaint prompted Democrats to launch the impeachment inquiry. The congressman says that person should be considered credible. He says the allegation deserves investigation. But he says law enforcement should do that, not Democrats. It's a middle-of-the-road approach that may seem like a good fit for his moderate, suburban district outside Philadelphia.

  NPR

UPDATE:

GOP wall is cracking

The Democratic-led House approved a bill Wednesday to reopen the Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service and Small Business Administration, among other federal agencies.

The chamber voted 240-188 to advance the measure, with eight Republicans bucking party lines to back the bill, which is the first of four bills expected to be brought to the floor by Democrats.

The Republicans who voted to advance the measure Wednesday included Reps. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Will Hurd (Texas), Fred Upton (Mich.), John Katko (N.Y.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Greg Walden (Ore.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and Herrera Beutler (Wash.).

  The Hill

The eight Republicans who would like to keep their seats next time they come up for re-election.

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