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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Selling Pardons

Selling Pardons

by @heymistermix.com|  February 19, 20201:11 pm| 94 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Unsurprising news alert:

Donald Trump offered Julian Assange a pardon if he would say Russia was not involved in leaking Democratic party emails, a court in London has been told.

The extraordinary claim was made at Westminster magistrates court before the opening next week of Assange’s legal battle to block attempts to extradite him to the US.

Dana Rohrabacher supposedly passed the message to Assange, so who knows what really happened.

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Reader Interactions

94Comments

  1. 1.

    waspuppet

    February 19, 2020 at 1:15 pm

    I guarantee yesterday’s pardons were all bought. Maybe they weren’t paid for in advance; that might be a little much even for the Senate GOP. But mysteriously funded Super PACs will soon be formed.

  2. 2.

    JPL

    February 19, 2020 at 1:22 pm

    @waspuppet: Some were paid for in advance, including the fundraiser last weekend.

  3. 3.

    hueyplong

    February 19, 2020 at 1:22 pm

    @waspuppet: Makes sense.  Pardoned people so far have either been rich or have been the types upon whom fundraising could be based.

    As for any Barr “dispute” with Trump, I’ll believe it when I learn that FoxNews has denounced Barr and called for his firing.  Anything short of that and the “disagreement” is fake.

  4. 4.

    MattF

    February 19, 2020 at 1:23 pm

    Getting Trump, Assange, and Rohrabacher into a single corrupt bargain is quite a feat. But… where’s Vladimir?

  5. 5.

    JPL

    February 19, 2020 at 1:24 pm

    Dana Rohrabacher has some explaining to do.

  6. 6.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 19, 2020 at 1:25 pm

    Huh. Seems as if Trump is sensitive about claims that he won because of the Russians.

  7. 7.

    Mr. Longform

    February 19, 2020 at 1:27 pm

    Remember when the reaction to such a rumor would be “that’s crazy, bonkers, impossible, unbelievable” and not – complete acceptance of the absolute probability, except that it’s likely even worse in reality.

  8. 8.

    Jeffro

    February 19, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: it’s almost like there’s a ‘there’ there, isn’t it?

  9. 9.

    Baud

    February 19, 2020 at 1:29 pm

    Why wouldn’t Assange take that deal?

  10. 10.

    Betty Cracker

    February 19, 2020 at 1:30 pm

    Which set of liars to believe? ?

  11. 11.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 19, 2020 at 1:30 pm

    @Baud: Because his life has been single-mindedly devoted to the pursuit of transparency and truth?

  12. 12.

    Baud

    February 19, 2020 at 1:31 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Only possible explanation.

  13. 13.

    Argiope

    February 19, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: hahahahaha I almost just fell off the PT ball I use as an office chair.

  14. 14.

    waspuppet

    February 19, 2020 at 1:33 pm

    @Mr. Longform: Just for the sake of objective reality, I do like to mention once in a while that the first reaction of the Trumpites to accusations in 2017 was that there was no contact between the Trump campaign and any Russians. At all. Whatsoever.

  15. 15.

    Duane

    February 19, 2020 at 1:36 pm

    The pardons are such an inside job Trumpov will get away the blatant crimes, as long as people don’t talk. At this point who’s gonna do that. Shitpile mobster conmen, (thanks Mr. Moshpotato), the whole lot of them.

  16. 16.

    scav

    February 19, 2020 at 1:37 pm

    If American™® Troops are now available (only) to the highest bidder, why not American ™® Justice?! All Hail the MAGAnificence of the Commander-in-Chief and Law-Enforcement-Officer-in-Chief (position also only available to the highest qualified† bidder!

    † no bonus points awarded for obvious necessary qualifications.

  17. 17.

    JPL

    February 19, 2020 at 1:40 pm

    The lead of the story should be, not one trump supporter cared.

  18. 18.

    Jeffro

    February 19, 2020 at 1:40 pm

    @scav:

    that’s not a bad campaign bat to whack trumpov with: “are we selling EVERYTHING now because of you?  Our military, our justice system…?”

  19. 19.

    Bruce K

    February 19, 2020 at 1:43 pm

    @Baud:  Would you trust Trump to honor any bargain he could skate out of?

  20. 20.

    bemused

    February 19, 2020 at 1:46 pm

    The mob party of trump and hanger ons do nothing all day, every day but double deal and commit crimes and must dream up more plots in their sleep. It’s mindblowing how much effort and time they put into being duplicitous and corrupt.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    February 19, 2020 at 1:47 pm

    @Bruce K:

    I would want the pardon in hand, but I guess Trump knows he can’t trust Assange either.

  22. 22.

    patrick II

    February 19, 2020 at 1:48 pm

    Up to this point, Assange has assiduously denied Russian involvement in Wikileaks.  Why the change?  Because whatever causes chaos in the U.S. is the goal.

  23. 23.

    MattF

    February 19, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    @patrick II: The trick is that Trump will issue a pardon while Putin drinks a glass of water. Very impressive!

  24. 24.

    germy

    February 19, 2020 at 1:55 pm

    George Zimmerman has filed a lawsuit against Democratic presidential nominees Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg for tweeting their condolences and remorse on the birthday of #TrayvonMartin: https://t.co/HpEVnlVIBI pic.twitter.com/BjVDPBByO8

    — The Root (@TheRoot) February 19, 2020

    (Larry Klayman for the defense)

  25. 25.

    germy

    February 19, 2020 at 1:57 pm

    Oh man, Larry Klayman and Roger Stone deserve each other (NSFW). Deposition videos here: https://t.co/7wFOm0QZUf pic.twitter.com/s4suul2DuZ

    — Tony Webster (@webster) February 19, 2020

  26. 26.

    The Moar You Know

    February 19, 2020 at 1:58 pm

    Asswipe Assange wouldn’t ever take that deal because it would:

    1.  Be a tacit admission he did something wrong, which he sincerely does not believe,
    2.  Put him in permanent debt to Trump.  There would be a lot of subsequent “asks”.  And he’s smart enough, barely, to understand that puts him in a place nobody sane would ever want to be in.
  27. 27.

    hells littlest angel

    February 19, 2020 at 2:01 pm

    Trump just does whatever it takes — theft, bribery, extortion, fraud — to fight corruption.

  28. 28.

    patrick II

    February 19, 2020 at 2:01 pm

    If Assange’s lawyer can be believed, it indicates that Trump knows of Russian involvement.  If we are to make sense of Trump’s actions towards Stone, it is to keep him quiet about Russian involvement.  Those, and about a thousand indicators, including taking payoffs, …er, investment money, from Russia, deference to Putin, shows Trump knows about and acts on his knowledge of Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

    At the same time, he actually believes there is a server secretly flown to Ukraine and hidden by the Ukrainians that show they are the ones who interfered in the 2016 elections.

    Both things cannot be true, yet Trump “knows” both things and acts upon that knowledge, offering pardons or a reduced sentence in one reality while threatening the Ukrainian president to give up the server in the other reality. The man is not sane.

  29. 29.

    JPL

    February 19, 2020 at 2:02 pm

    trump doesn’t know Dana and it’s another DNC lie.

  30. 30.

    germy

    February 19, 2020 at 2:03 pm

    It seems like news today, but then-Rep. Rohrabacher went on camera and told our LA station in September 2017 that he was engaged in a "confidential interaction" with the WH on a pardon for Assange.https://t.co/2563YgQ9Rg

    — Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) February 19, 2020

  31. 31.

    germy

    February 19, 2020 at 2:04 pm

    .@PressSec:  “The President barely knows Dana Rohrabacher other than he’s an ex-congressman. He’s never spoken to him on this subject or almost any subject. It is is a complete fabrication and a total lie. This is probably another never ending hoax and total lie from the DNC.”

    — Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) February 19, 2020

    Rohrabacher has gone from being R-Moscow to being R-Undercarriage… https://t.co/OBrsn6j4GA— Nicholas Weaver (@ncweaver) February 19, 2020

  32. 32.

    kindness

    February 19, 2020 at 2:06 pm

    I am shocked!  Shocked I tell you to see gambling going on in Trump’s casino.

    And just like all Trump’s casinos we will all be bankrupt (both morally and fiscally) by the time Trump is finished with us.

  33. 33.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 2:06 pm

    @bemused:

    guess you havn’t followed along with the Concentration Camps, the EPA, hundreds of Judges appointed for life,  thousands of other laws and regulations removed and Administrations weakened or broken and staffed with Winger ReThugs.

    in 3 1/2 years the Trumpists of the Third Reich have dismantled much of “the system” it took rational Americans 80 years to build, in fits and starts.

  34. 34.

    JPL

    February 19, 2020 at 2:06 pm

    @germy: hmmm   When the WH said that he barely knew Dana, I assumed that it meant it was true.

  35. 35.

    Roger Moore

    February 19, 2020 at 2:07 pm

    @germy:

    George Zimmerman has filed a lawsuit against Democratic presidential nominees Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg for tweeting their condolences and remorse on the birthday of #TrayvonMartin

    Someone is desperate for some media attention.

  36. 36.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 19, 2020 at 2:08 pm

    @germy: Now who says Trump doesn’t get any exercise? He must have arms like Dwayne Johnson from tossing all these guys under the bus.

  37. 37.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 2:09 pm

    @scav:

    Dump and the Turd Reich signaled with the pardons, that it’s a Fire Sale, everything must go before January 2nd, 2021. Make your offer now.

  38. 38.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 19, 2020 at 2:09 pm

    Assange is an Australian citizen. I didn’t know the POTUS could pardon foreign nationals.

  39. 39.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 19, 2020 at 2:09 pm

    @Roger Moore: I’m not even going to Google it, but in what universe does Zimmerman have standing for this action?

  40. 40.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    who bankrolls Klayman?

  41. 41.

    Brachiator

    February 19, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    Donald Trump offered Julian Assange a pardon if he would say Russia was not involved in leaking Democratic party emails, a court in London has been told.

    A talk radio host, discussing the recent shower of pardons and Trump’s interference in DOJ prosecutions made the claim, “well, he’s the president and ultimately in charge of the justice department, so he can do anything he wants.”

    So, conservative-friendly media may be pushing the idea that there is no such thing as abuse of power, as long as the president is a Republican white guy.

    Doesn’t even matter if judges and career prosecutors protest or resign. What do they know? They probably went to elitist colleges anyway, so their opinions don’t matter.

  42. 42.

    Kent

    February 19, 2020 at 2:13 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:Assange is an Australian citizen. I didn’t know the POTUS could pardon foreign nationals.

    Citizenship has nothing to do with pardons.  Non-citizens can be convicted of Federal crimes in the US and Trump has pardon power over all US Federal crimes, but not state/local crimes or obviously, crimes in other countries.  Assange has been indicted on a 17-part count Federal indictment of violations of the Espionage Act, but has not yet been tried or convicted.

    I’m not sure if Trump can prospectively pardon Assange for a crime for which he has not yet been convicted.  I suppose it is possible, others would have to weigh in.

  43. 43.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 19, 2020 at 2:15 pm

    @Brachiator:

    They probably went to elitist colleges anyway

    As opposed to William Barr, who went to [checks notes] The Horace Mann School and Columbia University, both beacons of the American heartland.

  44. 44.

    Roger Moore

    February 19, 2020 at 2:15 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I didn’t know the POTUS could pardon foreign nationals.

    He’s allowed to pardon anyone for a crime against the United States.  It’s potentially valuable for him to be able to pardon foreign nationals as part of his foreign policy job; you never know when a strategic pardon or two might be just the thing to get somebody to the negotiating table.

  45. 45.

    frosty

    February 19, 2020 at 2:17 pm

    I’m so old that I remember from the distant past that the founders considered abuse of the pardon power an impeachable offense. Who was it back then? Arpaio?

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    February 19, 2020 at 2:19 pm

    @Kent:

    I’m not sure if Trump can prospectively pardon Assange for a crime for which he has not yet been convicted.

    Presidents certainly can pardon people for crimes for which they have not yet been convicted or even charged.  Two obvious examples are Ford pardoning Nixon and Carter pardoning the Vietnam War draft dodgers.  In the latter case, the President not only pardoned people who hadn’t been charged prospectively, he did it as a blanket action without specifying who exactly the pardon applied to.

  47. 47.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 2:21 pm

    The Trump campaign solicited help from Russia in 2016, received it, and faced no real consequence. So they've asked for help again. Of course it makes sense they'd also be bringing people from Cambridge Analytica back on board too. https://t.co/PXAh77CZTM— Tom Bonier (@tbonier) February 19, 2020

  48. 48.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 19, 2020 at 2:22 pm

    • June 09, 2016: Natalia Veselnitskaya meets with Trump campaign team

     

    • June 14, 2016: Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) secures front row seat for Veselnitskaya at House Foreign Relations hearing on Russia (photo)

     

    • June 15, 2016: In closed door meeting, then Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) states, “there’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump – swear to god!”.

     

    • March 09, 2017: Nigel Farage visits Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

     

    • March 19, 2017: Farage flies 5,400 miles to California to meet Dana Rohrabacher (photo)
  49. 49.

    germy

    February 19, 2020 at 2:24 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Someone is desperate for some media attention.

    I read somewhere last month he was suing Trayvon’s mother.  I can’t remember why. It must not have gone very far.  I believe Klayman was involved in that one, too.

  50. 50.

    catclub

    February 19, 2020 at 2:24 pm

    @Kent: I’m not sure if Trump can prospectively pardon Assange for a crime for which he has not yet been convicted.

     

    Ford pardoned Nixon for just that.

  51. 51.

    glory b

    February 19, 2020 at 2:25 pm

    Open thread so:

    Briahna Grey, Sanders campaign spokesperson said he will not release any more medical records, why is no one talking about Mike Bloomberg’s heart attacks (he has had a stent, but no heart attacks) and equates questions about Bernie’s health to BIRTHERISM!

  52. 52.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 2:25 pm

    Of course Trump will have all Russia related cases thrown out, evidence implicating his regime destroyed, and evidence of others involved in helping Russia attack us will be used as an insurance policy to make sure he receives their full loyalty. Putin 2.0https://t.co/To1AtnRxWZ— Olga Lautman (@olgaNYC1211) February 19, 2020

  53. 53.

    zhena gogolia

    February 19, 2020 at 2:28 pm

    @glory b:

    I saw that.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    February 19, 2020 at 2:30 pm

    @glory b:

    equates questions about Bernie’s health to BIRTHERISM!

    Does he have a black heart?

  55. 55.

    glory b

    February 19, 2020 at 2:31 pm

    @Baud: Lol, I guess he does.

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    February 19, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    @glory b:

    Briahna Grey, Sanders campaign spokesperson said he will not release any more medical records, why is no one talking about Mike Bloomberg’s heart attacks (he has had a stent, but no heart attacks) and equates questions about Bernie’s health to BIRTHERISM!

    This is an obvious consequence of staffing his campaign with a bunch of the biggest pro-Bernie trolls from the internet.

    ETA: And yeah, I’m not seeing how asking for more details about a heart attack the campaign tried unsuccessfully to cover up is at all like claiming somebody was born in another country after they voluntarily released their birth certificate.

  57. 57.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2020 at 2:37 pm

    @hueyplong:

    As for any Barr “dispute” with Trump, I’ll believe it when I learn that FoxNews has denounced Barr and called for his firing.  Anything short of that and the “disagreement” is fake.

    As a reality check this seems like a good one. Tucker and Shaun go after Barr, then and only then he’s outta there.

    All else is kabuki.

  58. 58.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 19, 2020 at 2:38 pm

    @Roger Moore: Every once in a while I ask myself “is being blatantly disingenuous and completely ridiculous just how you win elections now?”

    Because that’s basically what the entire Bernie campaign is about, so far as I can tell. Freak out about M4A and people who say it can’t be done for a literal year before quietly admitting that of course it can’t be done!

    This isn’t to say many of his supporters are acting in good faith, but the campaign itself is kind of a crapfest of bad people.

  59. 59.

    glory b

    February 19, 2020 at 2:43 pm

    @Roger Moore: One can only assume that’s whatever is in his medical records is worse than keeping up this charade.

  60. 60.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 2:43 pm

    @germy:

    he, is sueing the family, the prosecution and others. It was filed Dec.4th, so it hasn’t even come before a Judge yet for review or challange. The goal is not to win millions, but instead, use paper terrorism to disrupt the lives and add burdensome costs to the lives of those sued.

    @Gin & Tonic:

    you don’t need “standing” to file a nusiance suit, just money and either time or a lawyer. “Standing” is what is determined, by a Judge, if the Defence challenges.

    who is bankrolling Larry Klayman?

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2020 at 2:45 pm

    @Jay:

    Do states with strong SLAPP laws offer any protection

    BTW, Devin Nunes’ lawyer, Stephen Biss, is a real piece of work WRT nuisance suits.

  62. 62.

    germy

    February 19, 2020 at 2:47 pm

    @Jay:

    who is bankrolling Larry Klayman?

    I honestly don’t know.  Do you have any ideas?

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    February 19, 2020 at 2:48 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    RE: They probably went to elitist colleges anyway

    As opposed to William Barr, who went to [checks notes] The Horace Mann School and Columbia University, both beacons of the American heartland.

    I never said that the dopes making these claims were logical or consistent. ;)

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2020 at 2:50 pm

    @Brachiator:

    If only he had gone to the Michael Mann School, Barr would be tooling around Biscayne Bay in a cigarette boat filled with babes and wearing a pink suit, “pal.”

  65. 65.

    JPL

    February 19, 2020 at 2:52 pm

    @Roger Moore: Makes one thing that releasing the medical record will hurt him.

    Tonight he’ll say he will and then he won’t.

  66. 66.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    @trollhattan:

    only once it reaches a preliminary hearing, what anti SLAP laws provide mostly, is a “harassment” defence early on in the hearings process and punitive costs for bringing a SLAP lawsuit.

    You still need lawyers, depositions and hearings in many cases, but in the most obvious cases, you will sit infront of a Judge, twice, once at the preliminary hearing where the SLAP is dismissed, the second, where costs are heard, awarded and fines levied.

    And as ususal, the qualities of the involved lawyers on both sides, the strength or weakness of the laws, and the qualities of the Judge, are all huge factors.

    Oops, three or more times, you will also need various levels of Court Orders to collect your costs.

  67. 67.

    Roger Moore

    February 19, 2020 at 2:53 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    This isn’t to say many of his supporters are acting in good faith, but the campaign itself is kind of a crapfest of bad people.

    Which honestly is the thing that scares me the most about Bernie as a candidate.  Yeah, he’s not actually a Democrat, he has no history of substantial legislative accomplishment, and he spends all his time making unrealistic promises.  Those are all the kinds of things any politician might do.  But the way he staffs his campaign is a preview of the way he’d staff his administration, and it would be an absolute fucking nightmare.

  68. 68.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2020 at 2:54 pm

    @JPL:

    “I would release my medical records, except I’m being audited so cannot while that process is ongoing.”

  69. 69.

    Baud

    February 19, 2020 at 2:54 pm

    If only Bernie’s medical records had given a Wall Street Speech….

  70. 70.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2020 at 3:00 pm

    @Roger Moore:  Yes his promises and his people are giving me a pause.

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2020 at 3:07 pm

    @Jay:

    Thanks.

    So the dual boat anchors of expense and time are yours to grab for at least the first phases. Just great.

  72. 72.

    Nelle

    February 19, 2020 at 3:24 pm

    Okay.  Putin runs Trump and the Republicans.  He may be running Sanders, even if Sanders is naive and unaware.  Is he really running the whole show, left to right?  Last spring, I was so heartened with the slate running for the Democratic nomination – with the exception of Tulsi and Bernie.  There were some I was excited about, some less so.  And now this?

    At this house, we aren’t taking the foot off the pedal for Warren (and we keep opening the wallet.  But sheesh.

  73. 73.

    glory b

    February 19, 2020 at 3:35 pm

    @Roger Moore: Remember, a number of Bernie’s top staffers still proudly exclaim about voting for Jill Stein in the 2016 general.

    If this isn’t him rubbing our noses in it, I don’t know what is.

  74. 74.

    sdhays

    February 19, 2020 at 3:42 pm

    @waspuppet:

    that might be a little much even for the Senate GOP

    Haha, you kill me!

  75. 75.

    The Moar You Know

    February 19, 2020 at 3:45 pm

    I’m not even going to Google it, but in what universe does Zimmerman have standing for this action?

    @Gin & Tonic: It’s a widely held belief that you need either “standing” or “valid cause” to file a lawsuit.  You need neither.  You can sue anyone for anything

     

    ETA:  someone above called it “paper terrorism”.  Pretty much it.

  76. 76.

    Mnemosyne

    February 19, 2020 at 3:47 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    Put him in permanent debt to Trump.  There would be a lot of subsequent “asks”.  And he’s smart enough, barely, to understand that puts him in a place nobody sane would ever want to be in.

    I think it’s much more this. The only deal a mobster makes is one where you’re in just as deep as he is so you can’t turn on him later.

  77. 77.

    Ruckus

    February 19, 2020 at 3:47 pm

    @hells littlest angel:

    That belongs on trump’s gravestone.

  78. 78.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 19, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    @Kent:

    I’m not sure if Trump can prospectively pardon Assange for a crime for which he has not yet been convicted.

    Ford pardoned Nixon for crimes he’d not even been charged with.

  79. 79.

    trnc

    February 19, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    @download my app in the app store mistermix

    Can’t believe you didn’t go with “Selling Pardons By The Pound” for the title.

  80. 80.

    Immanentize

    February 19, 2020 at 4:03 pm

    @The Moar You Know: That depends a little on the State — many states now have anti-SLAPP (strategic litigation against public participation) which can cost the filer a bunch of Benjamin’s.  Some places call these strike suits — to cause the opponent hassles, money or embarrassment. Yes, they can still file, but it is really not cost free.  Of course Nunez started filing suits in Virginia (no anti-SLAPP laws) from California (strong anti-SLAPP State.)

  81. 81.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 4:05 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    say my nym, say my nym, say my nym,….????

  82. 82.

    Roger Moore

    February 19, 2020 at 4:10 pm

    @Immanentize:

    It’s very telling that Nunez sued his hometown paper in another state.  It’s obvious he knows he has no case and would be shot down in short order if he tried this in California.  Of course he also expects to be able to use his nuisance lawsuits as a fundraising opportunity, not just a means of harassing his enemies, so being able to drag them out as long as possible is desirable for more than one reason.

  83. 83.

    J R in WV

    February 19, 2020 at 4:17 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Assange is an Australian citizen. I didn’t know the POTUS could pardon foreign nationals.

    He can, for crimes committed against America, like stealing computerized data from an American server. It is Donald’s justice dept seeking Assange’s extradition from GB to the US, after all.

  84. 84.

    artem1s

    February 19, 2020 at 4:20 pm

    this is good news…

    https://nyti.ms/2SBySdkf

    By the end of the day, Attorney General William Barr was said to be considering resignation, though the Justice Department denied such suggestions. The attorney general said last week that Mr. Trump was making his work “impossible,” and the president agreed with him on Tuesday, saying: “I do make his job harder. I do agree with that. I think that’s true.”

    in the past ‘considering resignation’ usually means a not-firing/resignation is imminent.  Is Donnie stupid enough to not-fire the primary thing standing between him and certain jail time?  Yes, I think he is!

  85. 85.

    Roger Moore

    February 19, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    @artem1s:

    I will believe Bill Barr is considering resigning when he has submitted his resignation.  I’ll believe it’s a matter of principle when he stands up and forthrightly proclaims exactly what principle of his forced him to resign.  Until then, this is just another lame attempt for one of Trump’s lackeys to distance himself from his own actions as a lackey.

  86. 86.

    CliosFanBoy

    February 19, 2020 at 4:32 pm

    voted Warren today, absentee in the Virginia primary.  Go Professor Warren!!!!

  87. 87.

    Jay

    February 19, 2020 at 4:33 pm

    @artem1s:

    don’t count on it, it’s just another diversion.

  88. 88.

    CliosFanBoy

    February 19, 2020 at 4:37 pm

    @Jay: lots of suckers on email lists.

  89. 89.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 19, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    @glory b: I’m Shocked! I’m Shocked!

    It’s not like Bernie to be so incompetent to panic on national tee vee and create a scandal by hiding records (like his tax returns) and equating a heart attack to naked racism.

    Next he’ll say something stoopid, like a woman can win and then call the person a liar…

    …oh wait.

  90. 90.

    jc

    February 19, 2020 at 4:50 pm

    How do the Dems run against Trump? When they go low, we try to stay positive. Then they go lower, and we shake our heads in disbelief. Then they go lower, and we stare in disbelief. Then they go lower, and we wonder WTF is it with this guy?

    I think the Republicans will be bringing an assault weapon to this gun fight 2020. Dems can’t come armed with sternly-worded letters of disapproval.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    February 19, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    @jc: Impressive collection of cliches in one comment.

  92. 92.

    Immanentize

    February 19, 2020 at 5:04 pm

    Oh crappadoodle.  The header drop down ads are baaaaackkk

  93. 93.

    Brachiator

    February 19, 2020 at 5:28 pm

    @Roger Moore: 

    Until then, this is just another lame attempt for one of Trump’s lackeys to distance himself from his own actions as a lackey.

    Is a lazy minion lackeydaisical?

  94. 94.

    The Moar You Know

    February 19, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    By the end of the day, Attorney General William Barr was said to be considering resignation,

    @artem1s: Absolute bullshit.  This is a fucking shit-poor kabuki one act play for the most gullible of rubes.  Barr is not going anywhere and is perfectly happy with the current state of affairs, as is his employer.

    When Hannity starts complaining about Barr, that’s when you’ll know something legit is up.

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