Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Let there be snark.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

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

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

People are complicated. Love is not.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

He really is that stupid.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / The Black PSYOP Comes Home To Roost: The National Security Implications of Today’s DOJ Raids on Giuliani and Toensing

The Black PSYOP Comes Home To Roost: The National Security Implications of Today’s DOJ Raids on Giuliani and Toensing

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So About That Third Party Spoilers Thing... The Libertarian Presidential Candidate And A Possibly Rabid Bat Edition

Now that the news has broken that the DOJ executed search warrants at Rudy Giuliani’s home and office, as well as for Victoria Toensing’s electronic devices from her office in DC, here’s what I think is going under the water line. This is connecting the known, through open source reporting national-security dots. It is not a legal analysis of what the warrants and their execution means in terms of potential criminal prosecutions. For that, I recommend Ken White, who tweets as Popehat. His excellent legal analysis is in this thread. And Ryan Goodman’s excellent analysis in this thread, which has a much more national-security approach to the news.

Back in October 2019, I laid out what Rudy Giuliani, Victoria Toensing, and her husband Joe DiGenova were doing in Ukraine, especially in terms of where the national security and political implications overlapped. And this context is important to review and keep in mind in regard to today’s news. Pay specific attention to the second and third parts of the operation:

That larger operation, which is a domestically focused Black PSYOP, has three lines of effort, each with multiple parts, and they all are now interconnected.

1) The Ukrainian deliverable.
A) The real deliverable wasn’t manufactured dirt on the Bidens. Rather, it was getting Zelensky to go on CNN to announce the opening of an investigation into the Bidens, because CNN is a mainstream news outlet and is in opposition to the President in its reporting. As soon as that happened, the President’s team would have campaign ads running 24/7 with this. They’d be pushing the reporters they often use, or who are primed for this type of cheap high like Ken Vogel, at mainstream outlets to get all over Zelensky’s announcement, thereby further laundering it and disseminating it through mainstream and legitimate outlets.
B) The fallback, when Zelensky wouldn’t play ball, was to have Hannity interview Shokin – the disgraced, corrupt prosecutor who was forced out under pressure from the US, EU, the IMF, and others. From the reporting over the past two or three days, Parnas and Fruman and Giuliani were all going to Vienna to arrange for this to happen the next night, which would be the night after Parnas and Fruman were arrested. It was also the night after Barr both returned to the US from his “fact finding trip”, met with the SDNY, and then had dinner with Rupert Murdoch.
C) The Romania and China gambits are also fallbacks. The President’s senior advisor for trade issues, Peter Navarro refused to answer CNN’s Jim Sciutto’s questions yesterday about whether the PRC had been told that in order to get a trade deal they had to manufacture dirt on Hunter Biden. I think it is reasonable to conclude that his refusal to answer should be taken as a yes. NBC/MSNBC had new reporting on Hunter Biden and Romania earlier this evening.
D) Barr’s criminal investigation is another fallback here. In this case it turns the DOJ into the propaganda laundry.

2) The Firtash initiative. Firtash wants off house arrest in Vienna and out from under the extradition order to send him to the US to face the Federal crimes he’s been indicted for. The reason Firtash wants this done is because he’s Putin’s man in Ukraine’s natural gas industry. If Firtash can get back to Kyiv he can then once again try to take over Ukraine’s natural gas sector, suck it dry of profits, and fuck up its operations, which will force the Ukrainians to buy natural gas from Russia while removing Ukrainian natural gas as an alternative to Russian natural gas for the rest of the EU market. This all benefits Putin, who is Firtash’s krysha (roof/ceiling) in the Russian mob. Just as he is for every other one of these oligarchs aligned with him.
A) Firtash’s efforts weren’t going very far, so he fired his US attorneys and hired Toensing and DiGenova. They then hired Parnas to do their translation work despite it being reported that Firtash and most of his staff speak fluent and/or functional English.
B) Firtash was laundering manufactured dirt and conspiracy theories about the Bidens, about the Democrats working with Ukraine to steal the 2016 election, etc through Parnas and Fruman and Toensing and DiGenova to Giuliani. Giuliani who was being paid/worked for Parnas, but also somehow also Parnas’s boss.
C) Toensing and DiGenova are also working for free to assist Giuliani with manufacturing dirt on the Bidens.

3) The lift Russian sanctions initiative. Here’s where it all ties together, by laundering these conspiracy theories, especially that the Democrats and the Ukrainians, in conjunction with DNI, CIA, FBI, NSA, and DOJ, conspired to steal the 2016 election by running a false flag (maskirovka) operation to make it look like Russia was actually conspiring with Trump, his campaign, Republicans, and major conservative movement organizations to steal the 2016 election, it provides a fig leaf for Trump to order the lifting of US sanctions against Russia that went on after the seizure of Crimea and the invasion of Donbass and were expanded as a result of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
A) Manafort, through his attorney, was feeding Giuliani this conspiracy theory from jail and then prison.
B) This provides cover to pardon Manafort and Flynn and several others.
C) It was reported today that DiGenova and Toensing are the attorneys representing the conspiracist masquerading as an investigative journalist John Solomon who was (finally) just fired from The Hill. And here is where #3 wraps back into #1. Solomon was laundering all of these conspiracy theories, from Uranium 1 to the Democrats conspired with the Ukrainians, the DNI, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, and the DOJ to frame the Russians for trying to steal the 2016 election in order to steal the 2016 election for the Democrats to the Biden bullshit.

A couple of final points. Giuliani and Toensing and DiGenova are now claiming that Parnas, Fruman, and now, I suppose, Solomon cannot be deposed, questioned, etc by investigators since they were either working for Giuliani and/or Toensing and DiGenova or are represented by them and therefore everything they know is either attorney-client privilege or attorney work product. So you can’t ask Giuliani about what Toensing or DiGenova are doing. Or what Parnas or Fruman are doing. You can’t ask Toensing and DiGenova about what Giuliani, Parnas, and/or Fruman are doing. You can’t ask Parnas and Fruman what Giuliani or Toensing or DiGenova are doing. You can’t ask Toensing and DiGenova what Solomon is doing. You can’t ask Soloman what DiGenova and Toensing are doing. You can’t ask Firtash what Giuliani, Toensing, DiGenova, and/or Parnas and Fruman are doing. You can’t ask Giuliani, Toensing, DiGenova, and/or Firtash is doing. And because Giuliani claims all of this is on behalf of his client, the President, you also can’t, because of executive privilege, ask Giuliani, Parnas and Fruman who are working for him and who he is working for, and/or Toensing and DiGenova who are assisting him pro bono and employing Parnas anything because they are all covered from having to divulge anything or answering any questions under executive privilege.

If this sounds familiar, it is similar to how Roy Cohn handled his legal representation of the organized crime families he represented in New York. They’d hold all their business/decision making meetings in his dining room with him present or with him on the phone in case of an emergency, so it was all covered under attorney-client privilege. Nobody, from any angle of inquiry, can say nothing about nothing and no one because everything is privileged.

It is important to note that John Solomon, who was laundering disinformation and agitprop through The Hill and Fox News is referenced in the warrant for Giuliani and Toensing’s phones/electronic devices.

(Do read Goodman’s entire thread)

Now that we’ve refreshed ourselves on the context, here’s what I think is going on:

  1. Parnas, recognizing that his only way out is to give up people more important, more powerful, and more well connected than him, which is basically everyone, agreed to cooperate early on and has given the Feds what they need to work their way up the network.
  2. All of this is going to wind up connected back to Firtash, who, again, is Putin’s guy in Ukraine’s natural gas sector, and, likely, several other pro-Putin Ukrainian oligarchs.
  3. A Federal magistrate seems to have decided that the Roy Cohn gambit – that every one of these people’s communications regarding Ukraine was covered under attorney-client privilege because they were working for Giuliani who is Trump’s lawyer or for Toensing who is a lawyer and was assisting Giuliani for free as he was assisting her for free while working for Trump for free – is not in play here. Hence, the specific reference to communications regarding John Solomon and others.
  4. Trump world has just an astounding level of connections to pro-Putin Ukrainian oligarchs. The Philadelphia lawyer they brought into the campaign to advise on Pennsylvania’s recount rules is the attorney for Igor Kolomoiski. So is Bruce Kasowitz, who is one of Trump’s other personal attorneys. Just off the top of my head, Giuliani is tied to Kolomoiski, Derkach, Firtash, and several others. Toensing is tied to Firtash. And there’s plenty more that would take too long to list.
  5. I expect that the Feds will play the bigger fish off of each other as the investigation moves forward. If part of that is playing Toensing off against Giuliani, she’s going to eat him alive to save her, her husband’s, and her son’s tuchases as she’s still very sharp, despite being way through the map, whereas Rudy is Rudy.

If you want in on the “will Rudy Giuliani be able to stay off of Sean Hannity’s show tonight” action, please see Ann Laurie on the mezzanine level between the concession stands and the merchandise shop. While you’re waiting to get in on the action, I recommend the nachos and the Balloon Juicers hockey jersey. Pro tip: spring for the authentic one with the tie down strap, it comes in handy in a fight…

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

162Comments

  5. 5.

    JPL

    From Laura Rozen
    “At Giuliani’s office, agents seized devices including a computer belonging to longtime Giuliani assistant Jo Ann Zafonte, Costello said.
    Costello also told ABC News that Zafonte was served with a subpoena to appear before a federal grand jury next month.”

    This seems bad

  6. 6.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Trump world has just an astounding level of connections to pro-Putin Ukrainian oligarchs.

    There were bunch of retired generals who would have happily worked for Dump during the 2016 election; like the ones who appear on Fox News. Somehow, the one guy he picked (Flynn) just happened to be in Putin’s pocket.

    What a coincidence.

  7. 7.

    citizen dave

    To Adam all I can say is Wow on the speed and information contained in this post.  As the journos say these days, a LOT to unpack here.

    I finally watched the movie The Big Short last week, after watching Vice last year, and both were thoroughly entertaining, informative with comedy thrown in for good measure.  Adam McKay directed them (he partnered with Will Ferrell for many years, including when Will would do his outstanding George W pieces).  Can’t wait for the movie version of this whole sordid affair.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: This seems bad for whom?

    Bad for Rudy?  (yay!)

    Bad for the secretary?  (yawn)

    Bad for those of us who want Rudy and company nailed to the wall?  (why?)

  9. 9.

    Adam L Silverman

    @citizen dave: In my defense, the stuff in the quote box was written by me back in October 2019 putting together what we knew from the open source reporting.

  10. 10.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    &nbspRudy Giuliani deleted his tweet saying he would speak live on WABC;

    He’s probably moving the presser to classy location, like a garbage scow full of dildos.

  11. 11.

    Dmbeaster

    The crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege blows up the Cohn tactic. This device also implicates the lawyer as a co-conspirator, as if Cohn ever cared. It does procedurally complicate matters, but it does not work to conceal the discussions if there is good evidence that the point of the meeting was criminal. If one of the participants flips and describes the criminal planning with the attorney present, goodbye privilege.

  13. 13.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

     NEW YORK—Leaping from a bannister on the upper story of a Manhattan luxury hotel, the president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani reportedly shouted “you’ll never take me alive!” Wednesday before jumping towards a chandelier and immediately falling three stories onto the floor below.

  14. 14.

    piratedan

    yes please…. lets unravel these threads and be sure to note how the players used Faux News to launder their talking points, why its as if the people at Faux were completely involved in the Conspiracy… funny ain’t it?

  16. 16.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Trump, soon: “ I barely know Rudy Giuliani. I’m not really sure what he did for us. He was a volunteer, part-time. He was a coffee boy. Rudy who?”

    — Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) April 28, 2021

  18. 18.

    Another Scott

    Relatedly, …

    Three Georgia Men Charged with Federal Hate Crimes and Attempted Kidnapping in Connection with the Death of Ahmaud Arberyhttps://t.co/qGOmwCRfSj

    — DOJ Civil Rights (@CivilRights) April 28, 2021

    The DoJ is the Justice Department of the United States again.

    Rudy should be worried. They all should be worried.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    @piratedan: Hannity is in some jeopardy here as he was involved in trying to get some of the Ukrainians on air on his show. If I’m recalling correctly, when they arrested Parnas and Fruman at the airport, they were on their way to Ukraine as the advance team to finalize the arrangements for Hannity to fly over the next day and do a live broadcast interview with at least one of their Ukrainian sources about the Bidens and their “corrupt dealings” in Ukraine.

  20. 20.

    Mike in NC

    Was delighted to turn on the TV this morning and see that Rudy was in deep doo-doo. Apparently hanging out too long with Russian and Ukrainian gangsters is not a good look. What are the odds that Giuliani spends some time at Rikers?

    Looking forward to “Trump!: The Musical” as written by Stephen King. Also looking forward to more names of criminal Trumpanzees coming to light.

  21. 21.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Trump world has just an astounding level of connections to pro-Putin Ukrainian oligarchs.

    Get out the stickies and yarn!

    Is Firtash still in custody in Austria?

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    Speaking of the wheels of justice grinding onwards, Trump supporter found guilty of threatening to kill members of Congress after Jan. 6 insurrection:

    Brendan Hunt, an enthusiastic Trump supporter who called for killing members of Congress days after the Jan. 6 insurrection, was found guilty Wednesday of making a death threat against elected officials.

    It took the jury in his case about three hours to reach a verdict, finding that comments Hunt made in a disturbing video posted online two days after the U.S. Capitol riot amounted to a genuine threat to murder elected officials in Washington.

    He faces up to 10 years in prison.

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    @zhena gogolia: No. That’s the landscaping company itself making fun of Rudy who booked them when he thought he was booking a Four Seasons hotel for a press conference.

    They’ve been very social media savvy since he provided them an advertising windfall.

  26. 26.

    piratedan

    @zhena gogolia: it appears that the agents have been shopped into that pic, so I would posit … no.  Just someone having a moment of unrestrained glee I presume.

  27. 27.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Adam L Silverman: Oh man.

    I’m seeing some tweets from reasonable people saying “I worked with T and DiG at some time in the past and they were capable lawyers and not crazy.” Will post if they travel down my timeline in the next hour or so.

    And apparently they were. Unraveling why people would destroy themselves for this cabal will be a subject of psychology dissertations into the far future.

  30. 30.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: Signorelli, not Simonelli.

  31. 31.

    piratedan

    its strange how much vindictive righteousness I feel about this development.  I know that we had to wait on Garland to be in place, get his bearings and be thorough and methodical about how he proceeded, just happy to finally see a show drop (and possibly an entire wardrobe) to start to illustrate how what was done was wrong and we get the potential two-fer of illustrating just how completely devoid of ethics the GOP are once more when a real court does review of all these crimes again and how the GOP Senate give it all a pass.

  32. 32.

    zhena gogolia

    Parnas, recognizing that his only way out is to give up people more important, more powerful, and more well connected than him, which is basically everyone,

    Adam does have a way with words.

  33. 33.

    mrmoshpotato

    Trump world has just an astounding level of connections to pro-Putin Ukrainian oligarchs.

    Funny, ain’t it?

  36. 36.

    mrmoshpotato

    Mmmmm nachos.  The shit that’s probably gonna go down amongst these scumbags definitely calls for nachos instead of popcorn.  And sliced jalapeños?  Is that even a question?

  37. 37.

    Another Scott

    BTW, if I haven’t mentioned it before, Simon Bar Sinister is perfect for Rudy.  Just perfect.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  39. 39.

    piratedan

    @mrmoshpotato: sliced jalapenos are a must, although some may prefer sides of salsa, sour cream or an habanero crema…  seems like a job for a taco truck on every corner.

    In my case, I could go truly local here and suggest a platter of Sonoran Hot Dogs because we could be looking at extra innings.

  46. 46.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @piratedan: Garland hasn’t had time to do any of those things.  What this shows is that the professionals were quietly doing their jobs right along, despite the slow-walking and interference from the hacks; so that they had plenty of things oven-ready and so well documented/presented that they were slam dunks for Garland to grasp and approve.

  48. 48.

    Doc Sardonic

    @piratedan: It won’t be just a wardrobe dropping, somebody or several somebodies are going to to get the whole bedroom set plus the bonus quilt rack dropped on them

  50. 50.

    ArchTeryx

    @Another Scott: So THAT’S why he posted a pic of Simon Bar Sinister.  I wouldn’t have guessed, because SBS actually has a level of competence that Ghuliani could only dream of.  But man, I do see the resemblance.

  52. 52.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Now we know why The Usual Suspects attempted to dirty up Kerry a few days ago. Someone knew this was coming.

  53. 53.

    MisterForkbeard

    @MattF: Wow. At this point I’m pretty sure he could get committed. He’s either verifiably delusional or openly lying.

    Someone should put an involuntary hold on him.

  54. 54.

    piratedan

    @Frank Wilhoit: If so Frank, I’m grateful for that.  Hope you’ll still allow me to be hopeful that Garland will return a measure of fairness and integrity to the running of the department that was sadly lacking with the administrative selections of the TFG.

  56. 56.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    HOLY FUCK!

    Michael Collins passed away (Apollo 11 astronaut).

  57. 57.

    Another Scott

    Jaime Harrison is enjoying his job.

    Sometimes certain Senators from Cancun should not tweet at certain comedians from South Africa because then certain things happen virtually. pic.twitter.com/3A3ZIMbaSi

    — Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair (@harrisonjaime) April 28, 2021

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  62. 62.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Frank Wilhoit: Actually the reporting indicates that the warrants were presented for main DOJ sign off by a senior appointee and that the new Assistant AG for the Criminal Division signed off on them 8 days after Garland was sworn in. So yes, he didn’t personally do it, but DOJ regs required these be signed off by a senior official and they were held for action until after Garland was sworn in as AG.

  65. 65.

    Ken

    What I keep coming back to is that it’s Wednesday. Is it too much to hope this is the start of a three-day series?  Is it wrong to speculate who might be on the Friday list?

  66. 66.

    Subsole

    @piratedan:

    Good point, but do recall Mr. Vogel, who comprehensively blew maybe the biggest scoop in our nation’s history, does not work at Fox.

    He’s a politico alum, now at the FTFNYT.

  69. 69.

    Subsole

     

     

    @Cheryl Rofer: It took sixty years, our national reputation, and half a million dead, but they finally

    finally

    showed those damn hippies what for.

  70. 70.

    Ken

    @Adam L Silverman: I have also been impressed with Matt Gertz (not to be confused with Matt Gaetz).  In his case, I keep wondering if he was always anti-GOP, or if the confusion with Gaetz pushed him into it.

  71. 71.

    gene108

    I hope the trail leads all the way back to Trump, and he gets prosecuted, and goes to jail.

  72. 72.

    Another Scott

    Just want to tell my teenage self that he’ll live to see the feds serve a search warrant on Rudy Giuliani

    — Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) April 28, 2021

    Yup. It’s a good day.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  74. 74.

    germy

    Rudy’s son Andrew (“future governor of NY”) gave an impassioned press conference today

    Rudy's son Andrew Giuliani: "Any American, whether you are red or blue, should be extremely disturbed by what happened here today, by the continued politititation [sic] of the Justice Department." pic.twitter.com/W2llUUFNZG— The Recount (@therecount) April 28, 2021

  78. 78.

    Baud

    @germy:

    should be extremely disturbed by what happened here today,

    Sure. It’s disturbing that high ranking officials are treasonous criminals.

    by the continued politititation [sic] of the Justice Department.”

    That’s why we elected Biden to fix it.

  81. 81.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: I just saw that– can’t quite bring myself to listen– and I had to look closely to see it wasn’t Ferrell. It occurred to me I probably haven’t seen Andrew G in the flesh since he was hopping around the stage at Rudi’s second inauguration (I think it was) hopping around the stage and making faces at the audience. He hasn’t aged well….

  84. 84.

    MisterForkbeard

    @germy: They know they’re in a cult, right? She’s celebrating being able to listen to Trump rant for an hour and then fail to walk down a ramp.

  85. 85.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Interesting suggestion from lead impeachment counsel @danielsgoldman: Feds may be examining whether Ukrainians may have paid Giuliani to use influence with Trump to oust Yovanovitch.We interviewed Goldman for help unpacking the Rudy search-warrant news:https://t.co/I3676DFw4j— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) April 28, 2021

    Manafort received a 5 year sentence for the FARA violation, alone.

    I wonder if Giulliani will be in the same cellblock as Dump

  93. 93.

    germy

    I agree with Whitehouse:

    They are coming after John Kerry because he will help lead the world to a post-fossil-fuel future, and the polluting fossil fuel industry can’t abide that.

    — Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 27, 2021

  95. 95.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @WaterGirl: Call me paranoid, but I think they meant it as a distraction. Pay no attention to the scandal behind the curtain.

  96. 96.

    piratedan

    @The Thin Black Duke: agreed, trying to set the narrative because this was about to drop.  Now Faux News can “faithfully” beat up John Kerry about any/everything and point to this as the Biden Administration attempting to change the conversation and distract us from the “real” corruption that is John Kerry

     

    Myself, if Adam is correct up above, I would hope that if Hannity is indeed in trouble, that they go to the trouble of arresting him in the middle of his broadcast… and also grab his producer as well.

  97. 97.

    Geeno

    @mrmoshpotato: Who asked such a question?!?

    Of course, sliced jalapeños.  The culture is slipping – THIS is why I wanted Taco Trucks on Every Corner™. The people need daily reinforcement of norms.

  98. 98.

    Kent

    Washington Post headline writers having fun today:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/28/giulianis-long-quest-put-himself-legal-jeopardy-appears-have-paid-off/

    Giuliani’s long quest to put himself in legal jeopardy appears to have paid off

    For years, a question has been on the lips of many political watchers: What’s up with Rudolph W. Giuliani? The man who, as New York mayor, built a bipartisan reputation as “America’s mayor” had suddenly refashioned himself as a hatchet man for President Donald Trump and a spokesman for some of Trump’s worst conspiratorial impulses. Whatever one thought of Giuliani’s methods or of all being fair in political war, he surely sacrificed his legacy in the process. The big remaining question was how much he might have sacrificed even more than that, given the potential legal jeopardy involved in some of his pursuits.

    On Wednesday, we got a sense of how much trouble he might indeed have landed himself in. The Washington Post confirmed federal investigators had executed a search warrant at Giuliani’s home (the news was first reported by the New York Times). It’s the biggest indication to date of the seriousness of a long-known investigation of Giuliani’s lobbying, particularly vis-a-vis Ukraine.

    But Ukraine is hardly the only issue on which Giuliani has flown close to the sun in recent years — and now faces the legal problems that come with it. In some ways, he seemed to have been begging for such scrutiny.

  101. 101.

    Jeffro

    @piratedan:

    @mrmoshpotato:

    FWIW, our neighborhood’s regular taco truck visit is this Friday, and they are bringing back their ‘spicy cheesesteak’ special!  I’m so psyched I want to time-travel ahead 48 hours.

    (also backwards about six years, and warn people with every fiber of my being.  But still – spicy cheesesteak!)

  102. 102.

    Jeffro

    @germy: why does he keep saying “from a legal standpoint” (with regards to rallies, declaring that he’s running for president again, etc)?

    Is it just reflex, dementia, or is there something that prevents him from declaring this already?  He declared it on Inauguration Day last time around…

  103. 103.

    artem1s

    @Ken:

    What I keep coming back to is that it’s Wednesday. Is it too much to hope this is the start of a three-day series?  Is it wrong to speculate who might be on the Friday list?

    PLZ! let Nunes be on the Friday list!

  105. 105.

    The Pale Scot

    @gene108:

    the trail leads all the way back to Trump, and he gets prosecuted, and goes to jail.

    It’s more important that the whelps get felonies, that’ll put a crimp in their schemes and make them more vulnerable to even worse consequences as they take bigger risks to regain their stature. Trump keeling over alone like Michael Corleone in GFIII is an acceptable result if the two boobs and a blonde get time.

     

    I put 20 quatloos these not realizing that their gadgets are automatically backing up and all the stuff they deleted ain’t.

    And 10 quatloos on child porn being found in the backups

  108. 108.

    Baud

    @artem1s:

    I want the FBI to follow Biden into halls of Congress tonight and start arresting Republicans.

    It’s a little fantasy I have.

  110. 110.

    Just Chuck

    @Baud: I suspect they got that even before they seized the equipment.  The FBI is not amateurs at this stuff.

  111. 111.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @Baud: ​
      Dan Goldman says that’s the first warrant they would have secured.

    He believes they’re now trying to find encrypted communications on his phone and or proof of evidence destruction.

  113. 113.

    Gravenstone

    @germy: So he can stiff more venues and security details? Good luck getting any place with more than 50 seats to even answer his minion’s emails.

  115. 115.

    Ken

    @Baud: Biden: “As I look around this hall, I see many empty seats. Some of you probably thought that the Republicans, out of petty childishness, were boycotting my address.  However….”

  116. 116.

    karen marie

    All of this is going to wind up connected back to Firtash, who, again, is Putin’s guy in Ukraine’s natural gas sector, and, likely, several other pro-Putin Ukrainian oligarchs.

    I want to know when Rick Perry‘s going to get a visit from the Feds.

  117. 117.

    Bill Arnold

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    He believes they’re now trying to find encrypted communications on his phone and or proof of evidence destruction.

    And communications to/from other parties that do not match what is on Giuliani’s seized devices. And any other such discrepancies.
    Signal (and perhaps some other messaging applications), has the capability to automatically delete messages after a while, akin to corporate document retention (aka destruction) policies. It’s actually good comsec/opsec practice to do this. Giuliani is kind of random technically (also ignorant) so we’ll find out what he really did and how many mistakes he made. (Narrator: he made mistakes, yes he did. :-)

  118. 118.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Kaitlan Collins@kaitlancollins·
    Standing in the same place that was breached by a mob of his predecessor’s supporters earlier this year, President Biden will say tonight that the Jan. 6 riot was the “worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”​

     

    President Biden plans to say, “We have to prove democracy still works. That our government still works — and can deliver for the people.”

  119. 119.

    Doc Sardonic

    @mrmoshpotato: Not just any fabled quilt rack. This is the extra special, one of a kind(200,000 made in China) solid gold(brass plated) Trump furniture prototype quilt rack.

  121. 121.

    CaseyL

    @Ken: ​
     

    You and I have the same fantasy :)

    Joe’s reputation, and MO, isn’t to be in your face like that. Were anything that wonderful to happen, any announcements would be “more in sorrow than anger.”

    But a girl can dream. I still can’t get over how the Insurrectionist Caucus even still have their seats, why they aren’t all under investigation or in jail.

  122. 122.

    dmsilev

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: According to the Post, this year’s sacrificial goat GOP responder plans to open thusly:

    In GOP response to speech, Sen. Tim Scott will herald Trump legacy, lament covid restrictions

    If we’re lucky, he’ll join the pantheon that includes Bobby “volcano monitoring” Jindal and Marco “so very thirsty” Rubio.

  126. 126.

    J R in WV

    And no one mentioned the WaPo story headlined:

    Trump supporter found guilty of threatening to kill members of Congress after Jan. 6 insurrection

    Brendan Hunt was convicted of threatening to kill members of congress, a crime punishable by a 10 year sentence. First Insurrectionist to stand trial, be convicted, go to jail~!!~ Yay!

    It took the jury in his case about three hours to reach a verdict, finding that comments Hunt made in a disturbing video posted online two days after the U.S. Capitol riot amounted to a genuine threat to murder elected officials in Washington.

    Sounds like people are very disturbed by the events of Jan 6th, and this guy’s video post right after that day that will live in infamy was an open and shut case. Three hours is barely long enough to elect a jury foreman~!!~

  128. 128.

    Brachiator

    @Kent:

    For years, a question has been on the lips of many political watchers: What’s up with Rudolph W. Giuliani? The man who, as New York mayor, built a bipartisan reputation as “America’s mayor” had suddenly refashioned himself as a hatchet man for President Donald Trump and a spokesman for some of Trump’s worst conspiratorial impulses.

    I am astounded that so many people, especially men, are willing to do Trump’s bidding, in the fashion of Dracula’s creature, Renfield, and how so many of them are willing to humiliate themselves in front of Trump and take the fall for him even though he rarely shows any concern for the fates of his underlings. Rudy G, Chris Christie, even Mittbot 2000 come to mind. And yeh, Trump has had his gaggle of stupid women, but I don’t think that as many of them have faced jail time for doing their Master’s bidding.

    And more than this, I continue to be amazed and saddened at how much damage Trump was able to cause, while being assisted by such a wretched bunch of chumps, losers, lackeys and toadies.

  129. 129.

    dmsilev

    @cain: Objection! That’s a gross slander towards a devil. Mephistopheles was sophisticated and well-spoken, and would undoubtedly take great offense at being compared to TFG.

  132. 132.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Brachiator: They’ve been in business together a long time. And by business, I mean organized crime. Rudy was a dirty prosecutor.

    https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/wayne-barrett-donald-trump-rudy-giuliani-peas-pod-article-1.2776357

    Rudy and Donald first got together in the late 1980s shortly before Donald became a co-chair of Giuliani’s first fundraiser for his 1989 mayoral campaign, sitting on the Waldorf dais and steering $41,000 to the campaign. A year earlier, Tony Lombardi, the federal agent closest to then-U.S. Attorney Giuliani, opened a probe of Trump’s role in the suspect sale of two Trump Tower apartments to Robert Hopkins, the mob-connected head of the city’s largest gambling ring.

    Trump attended the closing himself and Hopkins arrived with a briefcase loaded with up to $200,000 in cash, a deposit the soon-to-felon counted at the table. Despite Hopkins’ wholesale lack of verifiable income or assets, he got a loan from a Jersey bank that did business with Trump’s casino. A Trump limo delivered the cash to the bank.

    The government subsequently nailed Hopkins’ mortgage broker, Frank LaMagra, on an unrelated charge and he offered to give up Donald, claiming Trump “participated” in the money-laundering — and volunteering to wear a wire on him.

    Instead, Lombardi, who discussed the case with Giuliani personally (and with me for a 1993 Village Voice piece called “The Case of the Missing Case”), went straight to Donald for two hour-long interviews with him. Within weeks of the interviews, Donald announced he’d raise $2 million in a half hour if Rudy ran for mayor. Lamagra got no deal and was convicted, as was his mob associate, Louis (Louie HaHa) Attanasio, who was later also nailed for seven underworld murders. Hopkins was convicted of running his gambling operation partly out of the Trump Tower apartment, where he was arrested.

    Lombardi — who expected a top appointment in a Giuliani mayoralty, conducted several other probes directly tied to Giuliani political opponents, and testified later that “every day I came to work I went to Mr. Giuliani to seek out what duties I needed to perform” — closed the Trump investigation without even giving it a case number. That meant that New Jersey gaming authorities would never know it existed.

    Trump laundered dirty money into Giuliani’s mayoral campaign as donations. Giuliani, as US Attorney in the Southern District, made sure Trump was untouchable.

  134. 134.

    Kay

    John Santucci
    @Santucci
    MORE – Giuliani’s attorney tells @ABC federal agents seized devices including a computer belonging to Giuliani’s longtime assistant Joann Zafonte.

    Why do these lawyers talk so much? I mean, seriously. They’re blabbermouths. You can’t even say it’s some “court of public opinion” strategy – it’s just information he has that he has decided to tell everyone about. You feel like “Joann Zafonte” deserves some protection from these people. Why is he saying her name at all?

  135. 135.

    Redshift

    They never was a more apt moniker than “Stupid Watergate.” It’s really amazing what this gaggle of Dunning-Kruger poster boys thought would actually work.

  136. 136.

    Denali

    I wondered why Tucker Carlson was popping up so often in the newsfeed instead of Sean Hannity. Sean is in trouble.

  137. 137.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    “Guiliani’s attorney tells ABC News that the FBI didn’t find his secret stash of incriminating evidence that was hidden under the floorboards.”

  138. 138.

    Ken

    @Kay:Why do these lawyers talk so much?

    A reminder that, if you have need of a lawyer, you make it clear that press interviews and TV appearances will not be billable hours.

  140. 140.

    Jeffro

    @cain:It’s almost like they made a faustian bargain with the orange menace and now they’ve lost everything.

    Almost.  The federal judiciary awaits!!

    But yeah…exactly like we told them, told ourselves, tried to tell anyone who would listen.

  142. 142.

    Jeffro

    @mrmoshpotato: I’m seeing a couple different kinds of tacos, a vegan burrito, a quesadilla, and the spicy cheesesteak (hallowed be its name) on the menu.

    It’s kind of a organic, veggie-oriented taco truck?

    I’m thinking about slashing their tires around 7pm…”what?  You can’t leave tonight?  Those fiends, who would do that?  Oh, that’s too bad…well, may as well KEEP COOKING THOSE TACOS!”

  144. 144.

    zhena gogolia

    @CaseyL:

    more in sorrow than in anger is from Hamlet

    Just throwing that in — I just read it out loud to my husband and we were astounded about how many now common phrases are in that play.

  145. 145.

    Redshift

    Trump world has just an astounding level of connections to pro-Putin Ukrainian oligarchs.

    I was reading yesterday about the leader of the former far-right Golden Dawn party in Greece being arrested. The party was ordered disbanded a while back after a judicial inquiry determined that it was a criminal gang masquerading as a political party.

    For some reason that came to mind just now…

  146. 146.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @dmsilev:

    Tim Scott will herald Trump legacy

    I’m not sure he’ll have enough to time to read the entire list of indictments​

  148. 148.

    Another Scott

    @J R in WV: I saw a tweet earlier, that I can’t find now, that was an interview with one of the Chauvin jurors.  He said that all but one were ready to convict him on all 3 charges in 3 hours.  The holdout was confused by some of the instructions by the judge.

    The RWNJ Squid Ink doesn’t seem to be working any more.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  154. 154.

    Barry

    @Cheryl Rofer: ​
     
    “And apparently they were. Unraveling why people would destroy themselves for this cabal will be a subject of psychology dissertations into the far future.”

    They have gotten away with a vast quantity of stuff over decades. That’s got to rot somebody’s sense of reality. And Trump was like a shot of meth after closing the bar.

  155. 155.

    Bill Arnold

    @Another Scott:

    Our MotU aren’t too good at keeping accounts private. Shocking, I know.

    Most MotUs are not as smart as they think they are., That was a very gentle lesson for Mr. Dimon. (He’s smart and competent in his field, to be clear.)

  157. 157.

    Bill Arnold

    @Barry:

    They have gotten away with a vast quantity of stuff over decades. That’s got to rot somebody’s sense of reality.

    Their sense of reality has also been rotted by their team’s own relentless propaganda. Future computational historians will have a lot of fun, if the data is not lost. The causal nexuses will be clearer to such analyses, and there will be surprises.
    (Nutshell line of thinking: the right-wing (mis/dis)information systems are/have been closed but also easily manipulated by various actors with various motivations, and they both (a) select for gullibility/apophenia and (b) amplify such tendencies, sometimes to the point of mental breakdown. And (mis/dis)information can be targeted at individuals.)

  159. 159.

    Feathers

    Got all the way through the thread without learning whether the tie down strap was for the nachos or hockey jersey. I’m voting for the nachos, because that would have to be some stupendous nachos, and the pandemic has meant no nachos for Feathers. Sniff.

  162. 162.

    hw3

    @Adam L Silverman: Where is my “Balloon Juicers hockey jersey”? >>Waving various currencies<<

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