Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

People are weird.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Bundy Bunch Trial Update Day 2!

Bundy Bunch Trial Update Day 2!

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The first witness called by the prosecution as they began to make their case today was Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward.  Sheriff Ward testified that:

“I was told my responsibility was to prevent them from going to prison, and if I didn’t do those things, they would bring hundreds of people to town to do my job for me,” Ward testified.

The ultimatum “in my mind, sounded bad,” the sheriff said.

Bundy also referenced the 2014 standoff with federal officers outside his father Cliven Bundy’s ranch in Nevada, calling Bunkerville “a great victory” because the federal government was forced to retreat.

Ward said he encouraged Bundy and Payne to work through lawful channels rather than contemplating civil unrest, and stressed that the community would not tolerate the type of actions that occurred at Bunkerville.

Ward said he made it clear to the two men that, “We could not have violence or bloodshed in our community.”

He also testified that:

In a followup call, after it became apparent Ammon Bundy was taking a leadership role, the sheriff cautioned him. If anything goes wrong in the community, Ward said, “you’re going to be held responsible for it.”

Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office was being flooded with with emails and phone calls seeking his intervention in the Hammonds’ situation. The agency was seeing 10 times the usual volume, he said, and it was impossible to keep up.

Among those were two November 2015 emails from co-defendant Neil Wampler. On Nov. 17, Wampler wrote that the sheriff had two options for handling the Hammond case: Protect your constituents or “see your county invaded by some of the most determined and organized and armed citizens alive in this country today.

“The Bundys have sent out a nationwide alert.”

Three days later, Wampler sent another email to Ward. Part of it read, “I assure you that our determination to protect the Hammonds is no Bluff…Hundreds of armed citizens, including yours truly, are prepared and waiting for the call WE AIN’T PLAYIN’. As Sheriff Poindexter said, let the chips fall where they may.”

Ammon Bundy also issued him an ultimatum:

“You have one week, sheriff,” Ward said Bundy told him, before adding something to the effect of, “One week to do the right thing.”

Click on over to read all of Maxine Bernstein’s excellent coverage of the trial. Here’s the rest of today’s highlights and a lay out of where things go from here.

We’ll be back tomorrow night, good citizens, to check in on how the Bundys Turn. Same Bundy time, same Bundy station.

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    I am clearly not up on this.

    “I was told my responsibility was to prevent them from going to prison, and if I didn’t do those things, they would bring hundreds of people to town to do my job for me,” Ward testified.

    So who was telling him that? Bundy? Buddy was giving orders to a sheriff, who felt he had to or should be taking orders from Bundy?

  12. 12.

    Roger Moore

    @WaterGirl:

    Buddy was giving orders to a sheriff, who felt he had to or should be taking orders from Bundy?

    Bundy was trying unsuccessfully to bully the sheriff, which is why the sheriff is now a witness for the prosecution.

  13. 13.

    Adam L Silverman

    @WaterGirl: Sheriff Ward refused to cooperate with the Bundy’s. He did his job, the correct way. He made it clear to them that they weren’t going to get what they wanted, they had no legal legs to stand on, and he did what he could/was necessary to protect his constituents in Harney County.

  14. 14.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @WaterGirl: I’d suggest Sheriff Ward was upholding the law as it exists in reality, as opposed to that imaginary view held by the sovereign citizens like the Bundy clan and their collaborators. Which puts him on the side of the government. The sheriff in a neighboring county, however, not so much.

  15. 15.

    LAO

    Lt Needham testified, that Payne told him it was his duty to remove sheriff Ward from office by any means necessary, including death.

    Payne’s decision to plead guilty makes more sense.

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    @Roger Moore: @Adam L Silverman: Thank you! I knew at the time that some law enforcement officers seemed to be on Bundy’s side and I appear not to have retrained who were the good guys and who weren’t. Good for Sheriff Ward. Score one for the good guys.

    OT, if people get to use “literally” to mean the exact opposite of literally, I think we should be able to spell Sheriff with two Rs and one F, which is how my fingers type it every single time. Autocorrect always haunts me when it’s trying to change Omnes to “omens”; but it’s nowhere to be found when I misspell sheriff.
    /done whining now

  18. 18.

    Mnemosyne

    I’ve only been a jury member on one full trial so far, but the testimony of LEOs can be interesting. In the case I saw, I really got a vibe from the cop that he thought the whole arrest was a waste of his time. That probably helped influence the quick acquittal.

    (Short version: a law student doing graduate research at a local courthouse had a knife in her bag that she had forgotten about, and they arrested and prosecuted her. When your theory of the crime as a prosecutor is that women always know exactly what’s in their purse at all times, you probably should have quietly dismissed the charges before you embarrassed yourself in front of 14 citizens on the jury.)

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    @Mnemosyne: When I was on jury duty 3 years ago, I found myself not believing the cop’s testimony. It sounded like total bullshit trying to justify their illegal search.

    P.S. What kind of knife? Like a pocket knife, a steak knife, a switchblade?

  21. 21.

    Roger Moore

    @WaterGirl:
    I’m not sure if you remember, but the trigger for the whole thing was that two local ranchers who had been convicted of arson had their sentences lengthened, forcing them to go back to prison. The sovereign citizen groups saw that as so outrageous, they tried to fight it, but they didn’t get much local support, and the ranchers (the Hammonds) did go back to prison. The Malheur occupation was originally supposed to be a protest against the Hammonds’ unfair treatment, but it got very little support.

    That lack of local support was, IMO, under-reported in the news about the occupation. The protesters weren’t very popular with the locals, largely because Malheur has been around since before any of them were born. The wildlife refuge is just part of the way things are there, and plenty of people in the area have jobs working there or selling stuff to the birders who visit. There may be a few ranchers who would benefit if they could steal the land, but they’d be the only ones.

  22. 22.

    Mnemosyne

    @WaterGirl:

    It was a hunting knife, so it was pretty big, but it was in a pretty gigantic tote bag. The defense had witnesses who testified that her ex-boyfriend had given it to her for self-defense because some of the women in her apartment complex had been sexually assaulted by a stranger, and the prosecution had no explanation of why she would have purposefully brought the knife in. Since the law (as explained by the judge) says that the weapon has to be brought in on purpose, she was acquitted.

    And it probably went to trial because, as a law student, she couldn’t have even a misdemeanor plea bargain on her record and still get a law license in California, so her whole future was on the line.

    Like I said, I knew the prosecution had lost when he came out with the well, she must have brought it on purpose because she must have known it was in her bag claim and every member of the jury (including me) looked at him like, “WTF? Have you ever even met a woman?”

    ETA: Do I even have to specify that she was Black? Equal prosecution, my white ass.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @Roger Moore:

    That lack of local support was, IMO, under-reported in the news about the occupation.

    I would say so. I remembered pretty much everything you wrote except for that part, though I do appreciate the reminder about all of that because it’s been awhile.

    I recall being appalled at how much local support – tacit or otherwise – they seemed to be getting from some law enforcement.

  27. 27.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman: Next county over. Sheriff Palmer. He’s under significant external pressure. He’s being investigated by the Oregon state law enforcement licensing board, he’s being investigated by the Oregon state level law enforcement, he’s up for reelection, and there’s several lawsuits. It was this guy they were on their way to see when Finicum got himself shot. And it was this guy Finicum refers to in the recordings when you here him tell the cops at the first stop that he’s going to see The Sheriff.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @Mnemosyne: Wow, a hunting knife. I doubt that would even fit in my purse, which pretty much usually fits in a coat pocket if I fold it up. I am, however, the exception that proves the rule.

    I also must have missed the day when they taught us what women are supposed to do in the bathroom all that time. I get in, get out, wash my hands. I just cannot fathom what women do in there all that time. :-)

  29. 29.

    opiejeanne

    @Roger Moore: The ranchers who were originally on the land where the Malheur Refuge is now, failed as ranchers. It was a long, slow failure, with the smaller ranches gradually being forced to sell to a couple of the bigger spreads, and the last one standing was grateful to be able to sell the land to the Feds in 1935.

    Teddy Roosevelt declared it a refuge in 1908.

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    @eclare: Aha! I would guess that SPW is a term of endearment for Elizabeth Warren. Sadly, sarah palin has ruined that combination of letters for me. I see SP and then think sarah palin and my brain just loses the ability to even consider any other options. Sad!

  33. 33.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @efgoldman: That would be Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer, who was so curious that the FBI cut him out of the communication loop as the BundyBros were headed to Grant County for a meeting. Curious is an uunderstatemnt; BundyBro supporter is more accurate.

    He’s got lots of issues of irregularities in how his office operated that are unrelated to that as well. The Oregon Department of Justice has an extensive investigation.

  36. 36.

    opiejeanne

    @WaterGirl: At airports when I fly I’m always a bit startled by the women applying makeup, doing stuff with their hair, adjusting their clothing. It reminds me look at my hair in the mirror before I step back out, but that’s it. I dress in jeans, t-shirt, sweatshirt, and sneakers when I fly and my motivation is to get out of the airport ASAP.

  38. 38.

    JMG

    Apropos of nothing: I just wandered through Chris Cilizza’s Twitter feed for the first time. Wow, what a scatterbrain. Shorter attention span than Trump’s.

  41. 41.

    mainmata

    It’s important the the Bundy Gang get nailed because they represent a lot of bullies and Fed haters. Should they get acquitted or even off lightly we’ll have war out West.

  42. 42.

    eclare

    @WaterGirl: Makes sense, I’m just so used to her nicknames, Snowbilly Snooki, Caribou Barbie, and there are many more, I don’t even think of her as SP anymore.

  47. 47.

    LAO

    @cintibud: I don’t believe, if convicted, that the sentences will be all that lengthy. The defendants in Nevada face much more serious charges, including weapons possession. Here, if my memory serves, the Court dismissed the most serious (weapons) charge. My bet is 24 to 36 months.

  48. 48.

    scav

    I rather like the logic that led to someone suggesting locking up the Hammonds in a Sheriff’s jail to keep them out of a Federal one. I’m rather wondering if that’s a potential theoretical quantum physicist that took a really odd detour.

  50. 50.

    Suffragete City elftx

    Lisa Bundy, Ammon’s wife does not understand why Sheriff Ward still has his job since he gave all his power to the feds.
    In Sovereign Citizenville only the Sheriff rules!

    Ryan has filed another motion today to recuse Judge Brown. He believes she has denied too many of his motions. Looking forward to the response on this one!

  51. 51.

    hovercraft

    Obambi, gets the last word for now in his dispute with Bibi. Until Her Trump rips up the agreement and gives him a blank check.
    Ehud Barrack

    Ehud Barak: Netanyahu’s reckless conduct endangers Israel
    During the past two years, a sense of gloom has taken over my country, as pride in Israel’s accomplishments and self-confidence grounded in reality have given way to fear-mongering, victimhood and internal quarrels.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enabled a militant, nationalist minority to carry out a hostile takeover of his party, Likud; to form a majority in his cabinet; and thus to hijack our national agenda in the service of a messianic drive toward, as it’s often put, “a single Jewish state, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.” This overarching ambition is bound to culminate in either a single, binational state, which, within a generation, may have a Jewish minority and likely a Bosnia-like civil war, or else an apartheid reality if Palestinian residents are deprived of the right to vote. Both spell doom for the Zionist dream.

    Netanyahu’s reckless conduct has also undermined Israel’s security. Israel has reached a new military-aid agreement for the next decade with the United States. The damage produced by Netanyahu’s irresponsible management of the relations with the White House is now fully manifest. Israel will receive $3.8 billion a year — an important contribution to our security but far less than what could have been obtained before the prime minister chose to blatantly interfere with U.S. politics. Moreover, given the more than 20 percent cumulative rise in the cost of arms since the last 10-year agreement entered into force (in 2007), the newly agreed-upon amount represents no greater purchasing power — and even these funds will be conditioned on Israel refraining from requesting additional funding from Congress. Accentuating the degree of mistrust, according to new details reported Wednesday, the administration secured an Israeli written commitment to return any additional money that Congress might provide. In the past, Congress has added — with White House consent — $600 million to $700 million every year for Iron Dome and other defense systems.
    Additionally, Israel will have to accept a gradual reduction of more than $750 million a year in funds for our defense industries. Consequently, either vital security projects will be canceled or the same amount will be reduced from important domestic programs.

    Expressing our opposition to the Iran nuclear deal was certainly legitimate. But instead of holding a candid dialogue behind closed doors with President Obama, Netanyahu went behind his back to deliver a speech to Congress, shaking the foundations of bipartisan support for Israel and dividing Jewish opinion.

    Likewise at home, Netanyahu has consistently nourished fear of existential threats and unleashed ghosts of enemies from within, when domestic realities called for unity and confidence and regional developments required a sober assessment and steady hand.

    The Middle East is a tough neighborhood. Hezbollah, Hamas, the Islamic State and a more potent Iran are not imaginary adversaries. Yet as a former prime minister, defense minister and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, I state unequivocally: While never to be taken lightly, none of these forces constitutes an existential threat.

    Despite seven wars, two intifadas and a host of military operations, Israel has emerged as the most successful nation-building project of the 20th century: powerful scientifically, economically and militarily, with a vibrant culture. What made this possible is sorely lacking today: a vision that unifies; an action plan that is realistic; and bold, far-sighted leadership that navigates both while holding a compass, not a weather vane. Israel needs a policy that restores credibility to our relations with Washington; prioritizes the unity of the people over the unity of the land; enhances security via cooperation with like-minded nations; and promotes democratic values rather than messianic visions.

    Our people need a policy that does not seek shelter in arguing over the availability of a Palestinian partner but rather takes the initiative by implementing the Security First plan recently presented by more than 200 of Israel’s most respected former top commanders. The plan would bolster our security while preserving the two-state option and prospects for regional cooperation.

  52. 52.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @cintibud: As LAO explained, Nevada is much more serious because weapons were brandished. The Oregon stuff I doubt will end in more than 48 months maximum.

    OT, does your nym indicate a location? If it does, do you want to help with the Dem County Pros. campaign?

  56. 56.

    mainmata

    @eclare: It’s an affectionate name originated by Charlie Pierce the liberal Esquire blogger, based, in part, because she actually was a Harvard Professor, is seriously smart and witty and effortlessly puts in place the idiot RWingers she deals with in the Senate and elsewhere.

  59. 59.

    divF

    @opiejeanne:
    @WaterGirl:

    As a lifelong fashion dropout, I have still read enough fashion mags while waiting at the dentist’s to know that the object of fashion is to make A Statement — all I’ve achieved, statement-wise, is ‘Woman Who Wears Clothes So She Won’t Be Naked.’
    – Molly Ivins

    I’m with Molly, myself.
    ETA: except replace “Woman” with “Man” (for those of you keeping score at home).

  62. 62.

    hovercraft

    @WaterGirl:
    I had a huge smile on my face as I read it this afternoon. Bibi and Boehner both thought they could fuck with Obama, and they ended up screwing themselves. Boehner is off drinking and smoking himself into an early grave, and Bibi is in bed with a nest of scorpions. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer pair of assholes.

  63. 63.

    divF

    @WaterGirl: A loss to us all.

    We have her books around the house, and pull them out regularly. Except for the names changing, her wit and acute observations are as relevant as ever.

  75. 75.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Omnes Omnibus: Isn’t it though? She also denied his motion for a continuance noting that the trial was already in progress. She’s inhumanly patient with them.

    ETA: LAO puts me to shame on this stuff. And thanks Adam for the preventive edit.

  77. 77.

    Miss Bianca

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Been thinking about you, especially since I started riding a big bay Thoroughbred for cubbing, one of the Master’s horses, that I had been reluctant to try because I always thought he was going to be too much for me. But I really, really like him!

    I knew you could relate to my “Squeee!!” moment better than most of my acquaintance… ; )

  80. 80.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Omnes Omnibus: No, but I’ve been a contributor to such sessions – after trial concluded, of course – while doing criminal work in muni court.

    @Miss Bianca: I can totally relate! I’m very happy for you, even from my position of envy. I’ll never lose my affection for the TBs, no matter how captured my heart has been by the WBs with lots of “blood,” as the old time WB breeders say.

  81. 81.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: The original. Jesus Christ, *is* there any other? Seriously? Come on.

    ETA: Could you really think that badly of me that I’d advance the Nicholas Cage version? I mean, I like NC and all, but as far as “Wicker Man” is concerned, there Can Be Only One.

  82. 82.

    opiejeanne

    @divF: Yes, I’m with Molly.
    I used to have to sometimes dress like I knew what I was doing fashion wise, when I ran a costuming company, designing and making clothing and costumes for dancers, skaters, theaters, cabaret shows, etc. but that was mostly for new clients. Once they were my clients or had seen my work I didn’t worry about my clothing too much.
    A few times I had to dress to make a statement as well as an entrance, but I really don’t do that much these days. And I’m short but no longer skinny, so it’s hard to find clothing that makes me look good.

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Miss Bianca: I’ve always had more fun with skis, cars, motorcycles. etc., that are a bit too much for me. If it is fully within my capabilities, there is no challenge, no room to grow, and no small ball of fear in the pit of my stomach that makes things fun.

  91. 91.

    Mnemosyne

    @Miss Bianca:

    That’s a possibility. I’m also thinking of putting a Hammer movie on the list, either “Horror of Dracula” or “Curse of Frankenstein.”

    @opiejeanne:

    I confess, I never liked “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Cary Grant is a little too frantic to me. Plus it really needed Boris Karloff in the Boris Karloff role, not Raymond Massey.

  93. 93.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: For me, it’s the balance of the “ball of fear” tipping into “yeah, I’ve got this”. I’m kind of…cautiously reckless, I guess. But you haz a point…you don’t stretch, you don’t grow.

  95. 95.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Miss Bianca: When I lived near real mountains and was skiing regularly, I felt that a day where I didn’t fall at least twice meant I was not pushing myself – four or more meant pushing too hard.

  98. 98.

    Splitting Image

    @WaterGirl:

    Molly was gone before I ever knew who she was. My loss.

    Me too. I make sure to read her essay on Camille Paglia every so often. It’s as beautiful as Love’s Forever Changes album.

  100. 100.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: Well, to me, two tumbles off the same horse the same day would be my limit. ; )

    I did finally learn to ski downhill in my 40s, but decided that the thrill was not worth the expense and the time and possible injuries involved in actually getting good at it. So, I’m pretty much the only person I know in the central mountains who doesn’t ski regularly. (altho’ I do love snow-shoeing and I do plan to take up cross-country skiiing again).

  103. 103.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Miss Bianca: I had 3 off a friend’s horse. : ) Two were stops at the same fence in the (local) show ring. I nodded to the judge (whom I knew) and said “I’ll stop now,” to which she replied “you can keep going if you want; I’d not have come back after the first one!” Of course we both knew 2 stops were an auto DQ, but I doubt anyone would have whined if I’d gone back as time wasn’t an issue. The third was when he quit in the schooling ring. That SOB had a nasty stop that could catch you; I saw him dump her trainer later that year in a rated ring indoors. In his defense, he needed his hocks done. And when he wasn’t hurting, he was a really easy guy to lay down a great trip with.

  108. 108.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Miss Bianca: Just foolishly masochistic. To be clear, the third was in the schooling ring. I felt awful when we figured out he needed his hocks done (after the trainer a couple of weeks later). I was chasing state equitation points, so I borrowed him for a show my barn wasn’t going to.
    @Omnes Omnibus: I used to hunt also, but as a guest as opposed to a member. Mainly I showed hunters (show jumping for pretty rather than speed) back in the day as well. My life doesn’t accommodate that these days, though I still judge local shows on occasion.

    As Steve Earle said about TVZ, I began to die the day I let Cupid Q (my version of Amigo) go. Do you know that story he told before he plays Rex’s Blues into Ft Worth Blues? I hadn’t heard the echoes of Rex’s in Ft Worth until I saw that…

  109. 109.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @schrodinger’s cat: I’m very tired, as I’ve worked 15 of the last 16 days, was trying to get the house clean before the appraiser shows up to look at the house (for a refinance, not a sale) and dealing with grief over Monster. The good news is that I have tonight and tomorrow night off, and the appraiser comes tomorrow morning, so hopefully this whole refinance process will be over soon.

  111. 111.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Miss Bianca: @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Great. Thank you both. I have just enough horsey knowledge to parse some of what you say now that I know what you both do.

    Do you know that story he told before he plays Rex’s Blues into Ft Worth Blues? I hadn’t heard the echoes of Rex’s in Ft Worth until I saw that…

    I did not, but I am about to.

    ETA: Steve has not aged well.

  116. 116.

    Steve in the ATL

    Man, spend a few days in bargaining and miss all the Bundy fun. Damn Union thugs ruining my life!

  119. 119.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman: I DVRed Logan’s Run on El Rey over the weekend and watched it tonight. Not sure I’d ever made it all the way through it before as the story is a bit convoluted to say the least.

  120. 120.

    Suffragete City elftx

    @Robert B. Winn:

    Payne is an FBI informant. He was the one who fed this idea to the Bundy boys.

    I’ve seen some in the sovereign community say as much. He pleaded guilty earlier and today Lt. Needham testified Payne told to get rid of Sheriff Ward even if it meant killing him.

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