It’s a scathing opinion, right from the opening graf: Judge Mehta rules against Trump in financial record case. Mehta starts his 41-page opinion with a quote from President Buchanan. pic.twitter.com/ZDmOYw6Rra — Charlie Gile (@CharlieGileNBC) May 20, 2019 “It is simply not fathomable that a Constitution that grants Congress the power to remove a President for reasons including criminal behavior would … Read More
Trump’s Lawyers Adopt Untenable Position
On all fronts, Trump, through his lawyers, is fighting congressional subpoenas issued to him, his businesses, his sons, etc. in the courts. Trump and his allies are working to block more than 20 separate investigations into his actions as president, his personal finances and his administration’s policies, according to a Washington Post analysis. The most important case of all is, ironically, one … Read More
The Alabama Abortion Bill: Too Much Too Soon
Alabama’s state Senate passed a bill on Tuesday to outlaw nearly all abortions, creating exceptions only to protect the mother’s health, as part of a multistate effort to have the US Supreme Court reconsider a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. The country’s strictest abortion bill was previously approved by the Alabama House of Representatives and will now go to … Read More
400+ Former Federal Prosecutors Can’t Be Wrong
More than 400 former federal prosecutors have signed onto a statement asserting that if the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) did not prohibit a sitting president from being indicted, President Trump would be charged with obstruction of justice. Special counsel Robert Mueller laid out extensive evidence of possible obstruction by Trump in volume 2 of his report, though he ultimately … Read More
Is It Constitutional Showdown Time?
Will we finally get the Constitutional showdown we’ve been waiting for? It’s obvious that Trump believes neither he not any of his underlings should deign to appear before another branch of the US government. Constitutional Republic? Pshaw. It’s Unitary Executive Time, Baby! The President gets to decide all by his-damned-self what counts as a “legitimate” investigation and what is a … Read More
Barr’s Most Absurd Defenses Of Trump’s Obstructive Conduct
By now, it’s pretty clear that Attorney General Bill Barr thinks there was nothing unusual — let alone potentially criminal — about President Trump’s intervention in the federal Russia investigation. Not the repeated pushes to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, not the public fuming about being the innocent victim of a federal “witch hunt,” not the tweeted threats to the … Read More
The NRA Finds Itself Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun
A wide-ranging investigation into the NRA announced this weekend by New York State Attorney General Letitia James threatens the very existence of the organization. James has the power to ask a judge to dissolve the gun-rights group if she finds evidence that the board engaged in serial violations of New York state charity law, as her office did with the Donald … Read More
Trump’s Politics Of Hatred Has A Death Toll
Hatred, resentment, white supremacy and victimhood are deadly political tools. President Trump wields them with no thought to the consequences — and people die. The latest is Lori Gilbert Kaye, 60, shot and killed Saturday at the Chabad of Poway synagogue near San Diego. The shooter, a 19-year-old gunman armed with a military-style assault rifle, wounded three others. The assailant, who reportedly … Read More
Trump Stonewalling Is A Constitutional Crisis In Itself
Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and Trump’s children with wife No. 1 have combined to sue Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an effort to force them to ignore a congressional subpoena. Among other things, the suit alleges that the subpoenas constitute “harassment” and makes the odd claim that the House Intelligence Committee failed to “negotiate” with Trump over the scope of the order. … Read More
Trump Doubles Down On Charlottesville “Both Sides” Comment
Trump tries to defend his Charlottesville response by praising Robert E. Lee. He claims the 'very fine people' remark was about people who "felt very strongly about the monument to Robert E. Lee. A great general, whether you like it or not."Via Politico pic.twitter.com/01W4IwGx8y — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 26, 2019 Joe Biden’s presidential launch has again cast a spotlight … Read More
Breaking: Russian Gun Rights Activist Maria Butina Sentenced To 18 Months After Conspiring To Infiltrate The NRA
Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina was sentenced to an 18-month prison term Friday in Washington after failing to register as a foreign agent for conspiring to infiltrate conservative U.S. political circles for the Kremlin. Butina, 30, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring with a senior Russian official to access the National Rifle Association among other groups from 2015 until she was … Read More
Assange Arrested And Charged
This is your reminder that the President of the United States “loves Wikileaks”. So, what happens next? The folks who reserve their harshest condemnations of the U.S. government for Democratic administrations — a crowd that when combined with Assange groupies forms a perfect circle in a Venn diagram — may get an object lesson in the difference between Democratic and … Read More
Aaron Walker: Still The Virginia Bar’s Biggest Embarrassment
From a court opinion handed down denying several right wingnuts their motion to dismiss (in a lawsuit brought by a Charlottesville victim) – scroll to the bottom of the page: [Red markup are mine] Here’s what the judge was referring to (among other examples): Seriously . . . what attorney wastes a judge’s time with pop culture references to Guardians … Read More
DHS Disbands Its Domestic Terrorism Unit
This is very bad: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has disbanded an Intelligence and Analysis unit whose members had focused on domestic terrorism, including white supremacist violence. Betsy Woodruff at the Daily Beast reports: Numerous current and former DHS officials say they find the development concerning, as the threat of homegrown terrorism — including white supremacist terrorism — is growing. … Read More