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- Trump-endorsed Pennsylvania House candidate Jim Bognet, talking about the really important issues and definitely not trying to divert attention from his hollow campaign
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Why does it seem like Trump-related shit always hits the fan all at once on a Friday?
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The classified documents recovered by the FBI in the August 8 probe of Mar-a-Lago reportedly included highly sensitive intelligence regarding Iran and China. Whoopsie-daisy! In the hands of any one of the innumerable shady characters who regularly pass through Mar-a-Lago, the U.S. would face an intelligence catastrophe posing multiple risks. Individuals aiding American intelligence efforts could be endangered, collection methods could be compromised, and U.S. adversaries could retaliate for actions our country has taken in secret. Sounds like someone’s going to jail!
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Judge Raymond Dearie, the “special master” Trump asked for to gum up DOJ’s Mar-a-Lago investigation, isn’t having any of his bullshit, it turns out. He has admonished Trump and his lawyers for flouting an official deadline and trying to impose their own timeline on the process, Trump has repeatedly claimed at rallies that the FBI planted evidence against him at Mar-a-Lago, and Dearie keeps trying to force Trump to put that in writing, but he won’t, because it’s obviously a lie. To that end, Dearie ordered both parties to file a list of unresolved disputes between them over the subset of records seized by the FBI. The Justice Department did so by the deadline. Trump did not, and one of his many attorneys, Jim Trusty (are you kidding me) seemed to give his client a self-appointed four-day extension until Monday, which he has no authority to do. Dearie thus ordered them to file by close of business today.
- Speaking of people who are sick of Trump’s bullshit, the House January 6 Committee formally issued its subpoena to Trump today, demanding testimony from the former president whom they say “personally orchestrated” a multifaceted effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The panel issued a letter to Trump’s lawyers stating that he must testify either at the Capitol or by videoconference “beginning on or about” November 14, and continuing for multiple days if necessary. It also outlined a sweeping request for documents, including personal communications between the former president and members of Congress as well as right-wing extremist groups. Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson and his Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney wrote in the letter: “We recognize that a subpoena to a former president is a significant and historic action. We do not take this action lightly.”
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But the walls of legal consequences aren’t just closing in on Trump. His island of misfit enablers and collaborators are starting to feel the heat as well.
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Trump’s former senior advisor Steve Bannon has been sentenced to four months in jail and ordered to pay a $6,500 fine for defying a subpoena from the January 6 committee, though the judge stayed the sentence on the understanding that Bannon’s appeal will be timely. Both penalties were a bit more lenient than the sentence recommended by federal prosecutors. Bannon is now one of the highest-profile figures to receive a jail sentence related to the insurrection. Also today, Georgia prosecutors investigating Trump’s effort to overturn the election have secured grand jury testimony from two other prominent members of the Trump orbit: former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and former White House Counsel (and much-cited figure in the Jan. 6 hearings!) Pat Cipollone.
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Which brings us to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Yesterday, a federal appeals court ruled that Fulton County, GA, prosecutors can force Graham to testify before their special grand jury, rejecting his claim that he is constitutionally exempt from such questioning. The three-judge 11th Circuit panel ruled that prosecutors may question him about his “coordination” with the Trump campaign to arrange his calls with Georgia officials, as well as efforts to pressure those officials in the midst of their audit of Georgia’s presidential election results. Today, Sen. Graham went so far as to ASK THE SUPREME COURT to block his subpoena, filing an emergency request with Trump favorite Justice Clarence Thomas, who oversees the 11th Circuit. Seems like this guy really has a lot to hide!
It’s been over five years since Trump first arrived in the Oval Office, and for much of that time it seemed as though he and his network of crooks would never see a meaningful consequence. But the law can still catch up to everyone, especially when the person in question is not smart enough to do crimes more covertly.
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Biden administration officials are discussing whether the United States government should subject some of billionaire/deeply unfunny social media troll Elon Musk’s ventures to national-security reviews, including the deal for Twitter, and the SpaceX Starlink satellite network. Officials have grown uncomfortable with Musk’s recent threat to stop supplying Starlink satellite service to Ukraine, and what they see as his increasingly Russia-friendly stance following his “peace proposals” for Russia’s war on Ukraine, which appeared to be dictated by the Kremlin. Musk reportedly plans to gut Twitter, including by firing three-quarters of its workforce, which will expose users to myriad security risks. But the U.S. government is also concerned about Musk’s plan to buy the social-media giant with a group of foreign investors. To that end the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency panel overseen by the Treasury Department, would have jurisdiction over his acquisition. His overly-chummy banter with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev isn’t making anyone feel more convinced of his pure motives, either.
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The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted President Biden’s student debt relief plan today, granting a temporary stay to six attorneys general from Republican-led states.
The Federal Reserve is sprinting towards another interest rate hike of .75 percent at its upcoming meeting in the first days of November. Some say it’s too soon to start talking about stopping rate increases, despite the fact that the principal causes of inflation are not affected by interest rate increases, and they risk a sharp economic downturn. How do we get Fed Chair Jerome Powell to follow Liz Truss’s lead (resigning in disgrace) before he crashes the economy?
Relatedly, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters today that she does not believe that inflation is becoming a permanent part of the U.S. economy, addressing concerns that high prices are here to stay.
New documents obtained by Axios show that in December 2020, a senior White House lawyer expressed concerns to Trump’s advisers about the former president signing a sworn statement verifying evidence of voter fraud that all parties knew was false.
The fashion house Balenciaga has officially cut ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. That’ll happen when you start doing antisemitism!
Lara Logan, one time award-winning reporter for 60 Minutes and CBS News, who even Fox News booted for calling Dr. Fauci a Nazi, went on Newsmax and spewed full-on crazy pills QAnon conspiracies, calling for a “Reichstag fire” for the Biden administration, leading Newsmax to issue a condemnation of her “in the strongest terms,” and say they will not invite her back.
In case you hadn’t gotten enough chess drama, 19 year-old grandmaster Hans Niemann has sued chess world champion Magnus Carlsen and others for defamation after they accused him of cheating, and he’s seeking $100 million in damages. Knight to rook 4! (Sorry, don’t know how chess works.)
Arizona MAGA-head and Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake’s campaign manager Colton Duncan likened all Native Americans to bloodthirsty savages who engage in human sacrifice in a tweet mocking Indigenous People’s Day. Lake’s campaign released a statement saying it “denounces bigotry” but nothing more specific, and Duncan remains in his position. Yep! Sounds like a Trump acolyte to us!
Following embattled British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s hasty exit from Downing Street yesterday after just 44 days in office, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Truss’s predecessor, is jockeying to make a comeback, months after himself being ousted by ethics scandals. As the old saying goes: You can’t keep a bad man down!
Italy’s fascist GirlBoss Giorgia Meloni formed Italy’s new ruling coalition today, assembling the first far-right-led government since Mussolini, and becoming the first woman to become Italy’s Prime Minister. Breaking the glass ceiling of taking away marginalized people’s rights!
Streaming giant Netflix is changing its policy and will no longer allow users to share passwords for free. Thanks for nothing, capitalism!
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The Big Lie has created chaos around polling sites going into midterms, and poses real danger for election officials. In New Mexico, even Republican election officials face major difficulties convincing constituents that elections are secure. Torrance County, NM, voters still don’t trust voting machines or any election tallies, despite the fact that county officials approved hand counting of ballots and encouraged the public to observe security testing of ballot machines. The Big Lie has engendered a deep lack of faith in the accuracy of voting systems, especially in rural areas, and the conspiracy theory continues to be fueled by Trump and his allies, who are still peddling it knowing it’s false. That this conspiracy theory has come home to roost in the Republican Party is unsurprising; may it continue to haunt them in primaries and runoff elections between Republican candidates until the party eats itself alive.
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