Here’s hoping the committee is nimble enough to minimize any further testimony from Luttig going forward, even if it means pretending you don’t see him when he raises his hand to speak…
2.
zhena gogolia
Originalism, fuck you. This guy is such a slimeball.
@zhena gogolia: I am lagging behind on the video, who is the fuck you for?
6.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Jacob. He’s so pleased with himself for doing the bare minimum.
7.
Wyatt Salamanca
If Pence runs for President in 2024, he’ll brag about the Trump administration’s alleged accomplishments, so all I have to say regarding the hagiography being spun regarding his actions on January 6th is fuck Mike Dense, fuck Mike Dense!
I wonder if he genuflects when he enters Saint Pence’s presence.
12.
SiubhanDuinne
There’s a young woman in the row behind witnesses, over Luttig’s left shoulder (blue scarf or choker, next to woman in white shirtsleeves). She looks incredibly familiar, but I can’t place her to save my soul. Any clues?
Isn’t that what a person’s attorney is supposed to do?
14.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: Olivia Troye is sitting behind Luttig, to his left. Former Pence aide.
15.
JWR
Lester Holt on NBC announced just before 11:00 that they had to leave their live coverage. Hmm, what could be more important than this? Just checked back, annnd, it’s frickin’ PGA.
16.
Elizabelle
I’d like to see John Eastman go to prison over his actions.
Here’s a letter to the LA Times, signed by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Chapman U, and others, published January 9, 2021.
Last month, 159 Chapman University faculty members signed a statement of outrage that law professor John Eastman was using his university credentials in a spurious lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court. At the time, we did not call for his ouster.
But his actions Wednesday that helped incite a riot against the U.S. government put matters into a different realm. They should disqualify him from the privilege of teaching law to Chapman students and strip him of the honor of an endowed chair.
Eastman spouted lies about “secret folders” to fire up an angry crowd and stood approvingly next to Rudy Giuliani as he called for “trial by combat.” These conspiratorial claims of a stolen election were the basis of the insurrection.
Free speech is sacred, and tenured academics like Eastman have the privilege of speaking their mind without fear of repercussion. But Eastman abused that freedom. Consider the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg vs. Ohio (1969), which provides broad protection for speech except that “directed to producing or inciting imminent lawless action.”
On this basis, we call on Chapman’s faculty senate, president, provost and law school dean to promptly take action against Eastman for his role in the events of Jan. 6.
Any failure to act by the university would hurt the careers of all faculty, alumni and staff at Chapman. Our research could be associated with extremism thanks to Eastman’s actions.
More importantly, our students deserve better. Eastman’s high-profile actions over the past year cannot be characterized as ethical, productive or of distinction. Throughout the year students and faculty have called for sanctions for his actions. He does not belong on our campus.
Lisa Leitz, associate professor of sociology and peace studies
Robert Slayton, professor of history
Wylie Aitken, chairman, Board of Trustees
Jennifer Keller, trustee
Loretta Sanchez, trustee and former member of Congress
17.
mrmoshpotato
I hope everyone is staying reasonably cool while apparently watching talking assholes on TV.
Is Jacob the guy who was texting with Eastman in legalese and then said something along the lines of “and now, thanks to your bullshit, we’re under siege”? I wrote a post about it when it was first reported, but I can’t remember which Pence flunky it was…
Many PBS stations reportedly dumped Monday’s hearing by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol and instead showed kids shows.
PBS stations in states including, but not limited to, Wyoming, Michigan, Georgia, New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Arizona showed children’s programming – including Sesame Street, Donkey Hodie and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood – and relegated Monday’s hearing to online streaming.
Wyoming PBS station manager Terry Dugas told the Washington Post, “We have a commitment to the parents in Wyoming to provide a ‘safe harbor’ on our main channel for their children during the day.” He told the outlet that his station has “received no complaints” as of Tuesday.
@zhena gogolia: I didn’t even look at the context of the tweet. ♀️
I have watched every minute of the hearings, of course I have.
27.
JWR
This has been mentioned as a “maybe”, but now there’s confirmation. From Politico:
Leaders of the Jan. 6 select committee say the time has come to interview Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, about her connections to Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.
28.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: I know. I’m just jumpy because of hip replacement coming up. My house is getting crammed with equipment, and they just called me to announce I’m getting something else I didn’t know about.
@Scout211: Rightwing ranges eschew saints. Way too Catholic
31.
JWR
@Betty Cracker: When he reaches for the remote, just tell him, “no, honey. I already checked, and they’re all doing this hearing that WE want to see”. ; )
And now a statement from my congressperson, Tom McClintock. Such a maverick.
However, he calls what is taking place, “A sick mockery in the principles of fairness and due process that this house is founded upon.”
He said both parties should have been allowed to select their participants, debate the facts, and offer conflicting evidence.
He says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi picked the members from both parties, knowing that they all share a common view. McClintock says it is “impossible to test the accuracy of facts and the truth of the narratives.” He refers to it as a “Soviet-style show trial.”
McClintock also criticizes using the term “insurrection” to describe what happened. Noting, “The constitutional process immediately resumed once these yahoos were kicked out of this building. Do Democrats actually expect us to believe that some lunatic wearing buffalo horns was moments away from seizing our government. The narrative cannot survive in open debate and the Democrats know it. That’s why they are not permitting one.”
McClintock made the comments on the House Floor, yesterday.
34.
Ken
@Mimi: Rightwing ranges eschew saints. Way too Catholic
Sounds like a mnemonic. I’ll guess the bones of the foot.
“Many PBS stations reportedly dumped Monday’s hearing by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol and instead showed kids shows.”
That would include WNET-13 in New York City today!
37.
Elizabelle
Gaveled back in.
38.
Dangerman
@WaterGirl: I’m sure he’s a brilliant man, but if I was a law student and he was my professor, I wouldn’t get through the first class before ……. reconsidering …….. my …..career choice.
@Scout211: He said both parties should have been allowed to select their participants, debate the facts, and offer conflicting evidence.
He needs to go complain to the Republicans in the Senate for blocking the joint commission, then to the Republican Minority Leader of the House for failing to select any Republican participants for the House inquiry.
The news directors and station managers at all of these PBS member stations that dumped the hearings in favor of children’s programming should be fired immediately.
ETA: But someone def needs to ask McClintock if he requested a pardon. On camera. Let him keep denying it.
45.
sdhays
@Scout211: No one is suggesting that “some lunatic wearing buffalo horns” was moments away from seizing our government. A lunatic with a rotting dead tribble on his head orchestrated violent chaos so that traitors to the Constitution, otherwise known as “the bulk of the Republican Party”, would be able to seize our government with a veneer of legality.
46.
Elizabelle
Princess Sparkle Pony. Looks like she’s replying from another planet. With very severe walls.
47.
JWR
Oh geez…
Committee to seek interview with Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas
Sorry, I was sped reddin’ to catch up, and saw that as “Committee may seek…”.
48.
Elizabelle
Any photo of Trump in the White House just makes me groan. Usurper. He never belonged there.
@zhena gogolia: Sorry you are facing all of that, that’s got to be stressful.
53.
Elizabelle
My god. What Trump is saying. To his crowd of marauders. That “we are stuck with a president who lost the election.”
Hello?? Isn’t that what happened to us all in 2016, due to the fucking Electoral College?
TFG is such an ugly man, and an inciter.
I think he will be charged, and that he will go to prison.
54.
Jerzy Russian
The “P word” means “penis”? Or maybe “Pence?” That is, or should be, a dirty word.
55.
Ken
@sdhays: Plus, the lunatic in buffalo horns was a sideshow (and possibly a deliberate one). There were also the people with the zip ties, and the ones who put up the gallows.
56.
zhena gogolia
@Jerzy Russian: I’m thinking it’s what Trump likes to grab.
“A sick mockery in the principles of fairness and due process that this house is founded upon.”
This is an investigation, not a trial. Trump and his cronies will hopefully have plenty of time at a trial (or ten) someday soon.
60.
Soprano2
“But you didn’t play the part where TFG said to march peacefully” whines every Republican every day from now on. I’ve taken to saying “Sure, he said march peacefully, and they did – the problem is the stuff they did for him after they stopped marching”.
61.
debbie
Breaking; DOJ requests committee transcripts of all witness interviews.— Rachel Bitecofer (@RachelBitecofer) June 16, 2022
62.
Ken
@Elizabelle: Almost makes you wish for the halcyon days of involuntary committal. Especially if they also bring back the tours, where you could pay your penny and throw rotten fruit at the lunatics.
63.
zhena gogolia
This makes Watergate look like a Sunday school picnic.
@Elizabelle: It’s long overdue. If that happens, our democracy might survive. At some point there has to be accountability at the top, otherwise the rule of law has no meaning.
I had an entry level job at Boston U. Since I was sitting there typing chemistry exams all day, a grad student put a small b&w t.v. on my desk and told me to let him know if anything was said at the hearing. It was so low key, I almost missed Butterfield’s statement that yes, Nixon taped everything. That blew the whole lid off Watergate.
69.
Elizabelle
@dww44: I think there will be accountability. Not enough.
But not throwing in with the cynics. And these hearings are quite informative.
@Elizabelle: Yes, it was. There were other cruelties, but using them as money-making attractions and allowing that abuse strike me as the worst, because it shows the corruption of the entire system.
@Elizabelle: The hearings themselves have undercut the tendency of those among us whose default mood is cynicism. They have made it clear to all who are watching what the Republican party under Trump did to our democracy. Let’s hope that the Justice Department is paying attention and apparently they are.
83.
Elizabelle
Pence could be a good soap opera actor. He could be the doctor who gives the bad news.
He’s got his serious face on. Can’t you just see him in a white coat, with a clipboard. “Well, Jessica…”
84.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle: Haha, if only that had been his career.
85.
Citizen Alan
@Dangerman: I would sit on the front row of his class, and every day I would wear a T-shirt saying “you lost, get over it!”
Everyone now throwing Trump under the bus, knowing how vindictive he is, has an interest in making sure he stays under the bus and out of the White House.
87.
zhena gogolia
How did your faith guide you? WTF???
88.
Elizabelle
Babylon?
Jesus. What is this? Divinity school?
89.
bjacques
I’ve got no problem with Pence’s flacks painting him (however unlikely) as a mensch. It’s gotta be eating Trump’s ass right now.
90.
zhena gogolia
Oh, fuck you bible thumpers
91.
Elizabelle
Saint Pence. Uh huh.
92.
dww44
@zhena gogolia:
I think it’s an attempt to save their party. At least their vision/version of it, while not admitting that they are complicit in the GOP becoming what it currently is.
For the good of the country that party needs to be voted out and into oblivion.
93.
Betty Cracker
Yay, it’s F-bomb Hersch! Much needed after the false piety!
94.
debbie
Just In: Ginni Thomas says she looks forward to speaking with the Jan 6th Committee and can’t wait to clear up misconceptions. Yes, really.— Duty To Warn (@duty2warn) June 16, 2022
The positive thought about their whitewashing of Pence is that it will push Trump’s buttons so hard that he will explode and cause a rift in the party.
Maybe that’s part of the plan.
I was in junior high and it was summer break. I left the pool after swim team practice every day to watch the hearings. I was already a political junkie.
98.
Scout211
Eastman asked for a pardon!
99.
zhena gogolia
He likes some clauses in the Constitution.
100.
Jerzy Russian
That Eastman fellow needs a good kick in the nuts.
101.
Betty Cracker
Wow, Eastman took the 5th more than Rick Scott — 100+ times!
102.
Ken
@Scout211: For anything in particular, or would he have been happy with a blanket pardon?
103.
piratedan
@zhena gogolia: that’s a shot across the Evangelical bow….. and Aguilar did a good job of playing it straight and allowing the Pence counsel to continue to burnish his religious bonafides.
sure eye rolling stuff for all us heathens but nothing like watching them try and play the santimonious card with each other.
Yeah, I really hate listening to these “Christians” reciting, chapter and verse, their favorite Bible passages.
BTW, how ’bout those two Corinthians?
111.
zhena gogolia
Oh, no, more from Luttig.
112.
Kay
So the insurrectionist leader plans (the white supremacy groups who led the Trumpists into the Capitol) were to delay the certification and demand a new election on January 20th- paper ballots, in person, photo ID everywhere and under the control of the National Guard.
The pardon quote was from an email sent to Rudy Giuliani where Eastman wrote:
“Third, I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works.”
114.
Matt McIrvin
@Elizabelle: He looks like a fictional conservative President from Central Casting, which I assume is why they pushed Trump to choose him as a running mate (which Trump didn’t really want to do). Possibly the whitest man in the universe.
True Christians would never have entertained doing what these clowns hoped to accomplish.
117.
TriassicSands
I think Aguilar did a generally good job, but he did ask some fairly lame questions.
Aguilar: Judge Luttig What did you mean by that?
Luttig: Exactly what I said.
Sheesh. The man is obviously struggling. Don’t ask him open-ended questions, especially when the statement you read was clearer than any of Luttig’s spoken testimony.
118.
Elizabelle
Luttig: “Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to democracy. Not because of what happened on January 6th … to this very day, [they] pledge that in 2024 if the former president or his annointed successor as the GOP presidential candidate were to lose that election, that they would attempt to overturn that 2024 election in the same way they attempted to overturn the 2020 election, but succeed in 2024 where they failed in 2020. I do not speak those words lightly.”
He’s better now, but not the Judge Luttig I’ve seen before.
He’s 68, but looks and acts older. Age can be a cruel master.
120.
JPL
Well Luttig trump and his supporters are clear and present danger to American democracy.
duh you think
121.
Elizabelle
Luttig brings it.
This isn’t just justice for 2020. It is to head off 2024. And they will try it again.
122.
Omnes Omnibus
Copied from below: If you expect every witness is going to give compelling testimony, you are going to be disappointed. If you expect that an elderly, retired appellate judge is going to give compelling testimony rather than careful parsed answers, well, you are going to be really disappointed. There is a reason they aren’t leading off or finishing the hearings with Luttig. FFS, it’s not entertainment.
123.
Elizabelle
I wondered where “clear and present danger” came from.
The concept of “clear and present danger” is a rationale for the limitation of free speech originated in a majority opinion written in 1919 by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.
124.
Elizabelle
Oooh a tip line. Has that been mentioned previously??
125.
zhena gogolia
Whew. I’m exhausted. When’s the next one? I guess I’ll be out of communication starting Wed. for a while.
126.
Almost Retired
OK, powerful closing by Judge Luttig – and in this instance his deliberate (and ponderous) speaking style is effective. Now to quickly turn the channel before Andrea Mitchell starts stumbling through her analysis.
127.
Aziz, light!~
@Elizabelle: Trump will never spend a day in jail. He’ll find a way to kick the can until he kicks the bucket.
Not clear if you could convict him of attempted murder of the Vice President but not clear you couldn't. This has to be the darkest moment in Presidential history.— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) June 16, 2022
130.
StringOnAStick
@Aziz, light!~: As long as he spends the rest of his days dancing ever faster to avoid jail, he will look increasingly like the pathetic loser we all know he is. I’d love to see him do time, but I will enjoy watching him try every legal trick in the book to avoid it, and enjoy rubbing every MAGAT’s nose in it.
@Omnes Omnibus: There are some seriously annoying people here.
133.
StringOnAStick
@debbie: I followed that twitter link, and then came upon the news that Musk and co are being sued in NY over the whole Doge coin thing, alleging pump and dump, securities fraud, etc. Interesting. I hope it sticks and also mucks up the twitter sale significantly.
Oh, yawn, Elizabelle, I couldn’t be bothered to watch the hearings. I’m too worried about the price of gasoline (for my F-350 Superduty Pickup Truck.)
Besides, it’s all just politics.
Reading through comments in a WaPo article was unsurprising but still disheartening,
In Tulsa, Susan Phillips is also steering clear. A two-time Trump voter, she decided the committee’s work is “an incredible waste of my time. I think they have foregone conclusions.”
Possessed of delusional foregone conclusions, Susan cerrtainly doesn’t want to expose herself to someone else’s foregone conclusions or more precisely to evidence that contradicts her own foregone conclusions.
Luttig’s final pronouncement should light a fire under some folks. Like, at the DoJ. (Which apparently sent a snippy letter to the J6 Committee for not sharing its evidence, or something. WTF has the DoJ been doing these past two years, if they don’t already know this stuff??)
142.
HumboldtBlue
I just read Luttig has always had a stutter or stammer and like most who suffer from that chooses his words carefully. I don’t give a damn if he’s boring, what he says as one of the preeminent conservative legal scholars is historically important. He was riveting and very effective in my eyes.
I have watched and listened to a lot of tedious testimony in criminal trials and Luttig was just fine. It’s what he had to say, not the manner in which he says it. You won’t hear his slow delivery when reading the transcript.
@zhena gogolia: I had a very successful hip replacement (outpatient; walked upstairs after the operation that same day) and would be happy to respond to any questions you might have to alleviate any anxiety. The equipment I was told to have were a walker, bars for shower/toilet, cane. I also had PT three days a week for two weeks at home and an app of exercises tied to each day. Very happy I had the operation.
What is sad about Luttig is the contrast between his current condition and what I’ve seen in the past. I felt sorry for him. He’s only 68, but looks and seems much older. His written statements were excellent. At the end Aguilar read a clear and concise statement and asked Luttig what he meant by that.
“Exactly what i said.”
Asking Luttig to expand on a statement that stood on its own and needed no elaboration was silly. And in Luttig’s condition, it was, I thought, unfair. There was no way he was likely to improve on the written statement. I think Auguiar was generally quite good, but that seemed ridiculous to me.
As I commented elsewhere, Luttig has been a long-time star of conservative jurisprudence — on more than one short list for the SCOTUS. If that Luttig had appeared, it could have been a highlight of the hearings. It’s the first time I ever rooted for Luttig.
151.
zhena gogolia
@Cheryl from Maryland: Thanks. A lot of what people can put in big houses with big rooms isn’t possible for us. But I guess I’ll get by.
152.
TriassicSands
@CaseyL: Trumpies are lost causes; to hell with them.
That’s what is so disheartening. To see people who have moved beyond reason. This must be the largest cult in U.S. history.
153.
JPL
If Eastman had received a pardon, would he be able to take the fifth? My understanding is that there would be no need to take the fifth under that circumstance, but I’m not a lawyer and I certainly didn’t sleep at a Holiday Inn.
Chuck Rosenberg over at MSNBC points out that the transcripts of testimony may reveal inconsistencies in whatever testimony DOJ has now. TBH – if the committee makes a criminal referral (IMHO they should) that stuff is going to DOJ anyway.
155.
raven
@TriassicSands: He gave him the opportunity to expand if he wanted to, he didn’t.
Princess Sparkle Pony. Looks like she’s replying from another planet. With very severe walls.
And with some seriously Morticia eye makeup. And I’m generally pretty oblivious to what women are doing with makeup; it has to be pretty blatant for me to notice at all. I couldn’t help but notice.
157.
HumboldtBlue
Also, Andrea Mitchell couldn’t be more sourpuss during this and I suspect it’s because she can’t find a way to both-sides this insurrection and can find no place to opine on why Dems aren’t somehow responsible. She never holds GOP accountable but is always too happy to force Democrats to answer specious and spurious questions about their messaging and failure to convince the bugfuck crazy right-wing base and America in general about why they haven’t fixed the country yet.
He needs to go complain to the Republicans in the Senate for blocking the joint commission, then to the Republican Minority Leader of the House for failing to select any Republican participants for the House inquiry.
Actually, Kevin attempted to put Gym Jordan on the Select Committee, and Madam Speaker Pelosi put the kibosh on that appointment, after which Kevin declined to appoint anyone more acceptable.
I think there was another unacceptable dork, maybe the crazy one from Arizona? I forget, there are so many crazy Republicants !!!
161.
TriassicSands
@raven:
I thought his response was perfect. His written statement was excellent. Given what we saw today, I don’t think it was reasonable to expect him to improve on it. Luttig clearly recognized that.
162.
Elizabelle
@J R in WV: One of McCarthy’s nominees was Jim Banks of Indiana, another poo-flinging monkey.
What is wrong with the midwest states that they send these circus clowns to Congress. Sad!
The third nominee was less radioactive than the other two, so I forget who …
163.
Ken
@TriassicSands: [Luttig]’s only 68, but looks and seems much older.
He had only indirect contact with Trump, so merely lost some life force. A direct touch, of course, kills.
164.
Ken
@J R in WV: Yeah, I remember there were some stunt nominations by McCarthy, people obviously chosen for their ability to disrupt. And of course in Jordan’s case, to ignore evidence of criminal wrongdoing when it’s right in front of him, when required to protect the institution.
In a problematic health care system, the two procedures that get almost universal acclaim are hip and knee replacements. I’ve known many people who have gotten one or both hips or knees replaced and every one was successful. Not a regret in the lot.
Good luck with yours. One key seems to be to follow rehab instructions as faithfully as possible. You’ll be dunking a basketball in no time, not to mention cutting a mean tango.
WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials have renewed their request for the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to turn over transcripts of witness depositions, saying that the documents are “critical” to its sprawling investigation.
“It is now readily apparent that the interviews the Select Committee conducted are not just potentially relevant to our overall criminal investigations, but are likely relevant to specific prosecutions that have already commenced,” read a letter sent to the committee on Wednesday.
Wife and I have both had joint replacement procedures, both her knees, both my shoulders, and I need the knees done too. Good friend had hip replacement, a newer procedure for Jim’s work reduced his recovery time to just a few weeks.
Friend who is an RN who helped us with my recovery told us to take the pain meds on schedule, said not to let the pain get out ahead of the medication. Good advice!
I knew all this was what happened, I’ve followed very closely, and still seeing the confirmation of it all I keep feeling shock, shock, deep shock that this actually happened in our country.
178.
zhena gogolia
@jnfr: Me too. What REALLY shocks me is that the public at large isn’t shocked.
Almost Retired
Here’s hoping the committee is nimble enough to minimize any further testimony from Luttig going forward, even if it means pretending you don’t see him when he raises his hand to speak…
zhena gogolia
Originalism, fuck you. This guy is such a slimeball.
WaterGirl
@Almost Retired:
This is truly painful to watch.
zhena gogolia
Luttig said very important things. Sorry people are bored with the constitution.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: I am lagging behind on the video, who is the fuck you for?
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Jacob. He’s so pleased with himself for doing the bare minimum.
Wyatt Salamanca
If Pence runs for President in 2024, he’ll brag about the Trump administration’s alleged accomplishments, so all I have to say regarding the hagiography being spun regarding his actions on January 6th is fuck Mike Dense, fuck Mike Dense!
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: Yes. He is a weasel.
Makes you wonder if these fine legal minds discussed slavery. That was kicking around, in original days.
Scout211
@zhena gogolia:
But he’s making such a good legal case for Pence sainthood.
Leto
@zhena gogolia: I’ll go back and read what he had to say. It’s important but the delivery is fucking it up.
Elizabelle
@Scout211: Divinely inspired.
I wonder if he genuflects when he enters Saint Pence’s presence.
SiubhanDuinne
There’s a young woman in the row behind witnesses, over Luttig’s left shoulder (blue scarf or choker, next to woman in white shirtsleeves). She looks incredibly familiar, but I can’t place her to save my soul. Any clues?
debbie
@Scout211:
Isn’t that what a person’s attorney is supposed to do?
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: Olivia Troye is sitting behind Luttig, to his left. Former Pence aide.
JWR
Lester Holt on NBC announced just before 11:00 that they had to leave their live coverage. Hmm, what could be more important than this? Just checked back, annnd, it’s frickin’ PGA.
Elizabelle
I’d like to see John Eastman go to prison over his actions.
Here’s a letter to the LA Times, signed by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Chapman U, and others, published January 9, 2021.
mrmoshpotato
I hope everyone is staying reasonably cool while apparently watching talking assholes on TV.
Remember to hydrate – with water.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
Absolutely. Prison was good enough for G. Gordon Libby.
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
That’s it! Of course! Many thanks.
Betty Cracker
Is Jacob the guy who was texting with Eastman in legalese and then said something along the lines of “and now, thanks to your bullshit, we’re under siege”? I wrote a post about it when it was first reported, but I can’t remember which Pence flunky it was…
Wyatt Salamanca
@JWR:
h/t https://www.mediaite.com/news/many-pbs-stations-reportedly-dumped-jan-6-hearing-in-favor-of-kids-shows-like-curious-george/
Betty Cracker
@JWR: I will NOT tell my husband this; he would switch channels!
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: I don’t know who LC is, but:
Elizabelle
Recess! Lunchtime.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: You don’t know who LC is? Have you watched any of this? Liz Cheney!
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: I didn’t even look at the context of the tweet. ♀️
I have watched every minute of the hearings, of course I have.
JWR
This has been mentioned as a “maybe”, but now there’s confirmation. From Politico:
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: I know. I’m just jumpy because of hip replacement coming up. My house is getting crammed with equipment, and they just called me to announce I’m getting something else I didn’t know about.
WaterGirl
@JWR: I had that in the previous post, too.
Mimi
@Scout211: Rightwing ranges eschew saints. Way too Catholic
JWR
@Betty Cracker: When he reaches for the remote, just tell him, “no, honey. I already checked, and they’re all doing this hearing that WE want to see”. ; )
PaulWartenberg
Wait, did they interrupt the NBA Finals for this?
Scout211
And now a statement from my congressperson, Tom McClintock. Such a maverick.
Ken
Sounds like a mnemonic. I’ll guess the bones of the foot.
Betty Cracker
@WaterGirl: Thank you!
Bob7094
@Wyatt Salamanca:
“Many PBS stations reportedly dumped Monday’s hearing by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol and instead showed kids shows.”
That would include WNET-13 in New York City today!
Elizabelle
Gaveled back in.
Dangerman
@WaterGirl: I’m sure he’s a brilliant man, but if I was a law student and he was my professor, I wouldn’t get through the first class before ……. reconsidering …….. my …..career choice.
Cut his mike or get him a cup of coffee.
zhena gogolia
@Bob7094: Attention span of a flea.
zhena gogolia
Surely most people just watch it on streaming?
Ken
He needs to go complain to the Republicans in the Senate for blocking the joint commission, then to the Republican Minority Leader of the House for failing to select any Republican participants for the House inquiry.
JaySinWA
@Bob7094: Seattle’s KCTS9 is carrying the hearing live. #notallPBS
Wyatt Salamanca
@Bob7094:
The news directors and station managers at all of these PBS member stations that dumped the hearings in favor of children’s programming should be fired immediately.
Elizabelle
@Scout211: Eh. Fuck him. Not interested.
ETA: But someone def needs to ask McClintock if he requested a pardon. On camera. Let him keep denying it.
sdhays
@Scout211: No one is suggesting that “some lunatic wearing buffalo horns” was moments away from seizing our government. A lunatic with a rotting dead tribble on his head orchestrated violent chaos so that traitors to the Constitution, otherwise known as “the bulk of the Republican Party”, would be able to seize our government with a veneer of legality.
Elizabelle
Princess Sparkle Pony. Looks like she’s replying from another planet. With very severe walls.
JWR
Oh geez…
Sorry, I was sped reddin’ to catch up, and saw that as “Committee may seek…”.
Elizabelle
Any photo of Trump in the White House just makes me groan. Usurper. He never belonged there.
Elizabelle
The P word?
Patriot?
zhena gogolia
THE P WORD
zhena gogolia
Steely, determined, grim . . .
JL Cauvin is going to have a field day with this!
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Sorry you are facing all of that, that’s got to be stressful.
Elizabelle
My god. What Trump is saying. To his crowd of marauders. That “we are stuck with a president who lost the election.”
Hello?? Isn’t that what happened to us all in 2016, due to the fucking Electoral College?
TFG is such an ugly man, and an inciter.
I think he will be charged, and that he will go to prison.
Jerzy Russian
The “P word” means “penis”? Or maybe “Pence?” That is, or should be, a dirty word.
Ken
@sdhays: Plus, the lunatic in buffalo horns was a sideshow (and possibly a deliberate one). There were also the people with the zip ties, and the ones who put up the gallows.
zhena gogolia
@Jerzy Russian: I’m thinking it’s what Trump likes to grab.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: You know it.
Jerzy Russian
@zhena gogolia: Yes, I know. I am just trying to make a funny.
Albatrossity
@Scout211:
This is an investigation, not a trial. Trump and his cronies will hopefully have plenty of time at a trial (or ten) someday soon.
Soprano2
“But you didn’t play the part where TFG said to march peacefully” whines every Republican every day from now on. I’ve taken to saying “Sure, he said march peacefully, and they did – the problem is the stuff they did for him after they stopped marching”.
debbie
Ken
@Elizabelle: Almost makes you wish for the halcyon days of involuntary committal. Especially if they also bring back the tours, where you could pay your penny and throw rotten fruit at the lunatics.
zhena gogolia
This makes Watergate look like a Sunday school picnic.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
Gah, which? They’re not even saying it on Twitter.
zhena gogolia
@debbie: Pussy
dww44
@Elizabelle: It’s long overdue. If that happens, our democracy might survive. At some point there has to be accountability at the top, otherwise the rule of law has no meaning.
Elizabelle
@Ken:
Oh. I’d rather not hear about throwing things at the mentally unsound. How cruel.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
I had an entry level job at Boston U. Since I was sitting there typing chemistry exams all day, a grad student put a small b&w t.v. on my desk and told me to let him know if anything was said at the hearing. It was so low key, I almost missed Butterfield’s statement that yes, Nixon taped everything. That blew the whole lid off Watergate.
Elizabelle
@dww44: I think there will be accountability. Not enough.
But not throwing in with the cynics. And these hearings are quite informative.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
Thanks. Didn’t want to assume.
Elizabelle
Pence’s hair. He looks upholstered.
Ken
@Elizabelle: Yes, it was. There were other cruelties, but using them as money-making attractions and allowing that abuse strike me as the worst, because it shows the corruption of the entire system.
Ken
Insect repellent? Doesn’t want to risk another fly incident.
zhena gogolia
They really are puffing up Pence today. Don’t know what that’s supposed to achieve.
Elizabelle
Here it comes.
Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.
JPL
@zhena gogolia: I just hope that after all is said and done, people remember Pence’s homophobic ways.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: They did not have many Republicans who did anything right that day.
That whole administration, frankly, but they have to have someone as a counterpoint to the Usurper in Chief.
Who is probably livid watching this.
zhena gogolia
Another meme — rubber-room stuff!
Elizabelle
“That’s rubber room stuff.”
Us in the audience understood that one. And the P word.
Maybe Eastman can use it as a defense. Look, even the VP of the USA thinks I am insane.
The Thin Black Duke
They’re trying to make Pence a Thing, but it won’t work. He’s massively charisma-challenged.
zhena gogolia
@The Thin Black Duke: “fetch”
dww44
@Elizabelle: The hearings themselves have undercut the tendency of those among us whose default mood is cynicism. They have made it clear to all who are watching what the Republican party under Trump did to our democracy. Let’s hope that the Justice Department is paying attention and apparently they are.
Elizabelle
Pence could be a good soap opera actor. He could be the doctor who gives the bad news.
He’s got his serious face on. Can’t you just see him in a white coat, with a clipboard. “Well, Jessica…”
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle: Haha, if only that had been his career.
Citizen Alan
@Dangerman: I would sit on the front row of his class, and every day I would wear a T-shirt saying “you lost, get over it!”
...now I try to be amused
@Elizabelle:
That’s a consolation.
Everyone now throwing Trump under the bus, knowing how vindictive he is, has an interest in making sure he stays under the bus and out of the White House.
zhena gogolia
How did your faith guide you? WTF???
Elizabelle
Babylon?
Jesus. What is this? Divinity school?
bjacques
I’ve got no problem with Pence’s flacks painting him (however unlikely) as a mensch. It’s gotta be eating Trump’s ass right now.
zhena gogolia
Oh, fuck you bible thumpers
Elizabelle
Saint Pence. Uh huh.
dww44
@zhena gogolia:
I think it’s an attempt to save their party. At least their vision/version of it, while not admitting that they are complicit in the GOP becoming what it currently is.
For the good of the country that party needs to be voted out and into oblivion.
Betty Cracker
Yay, it’s F-bomb Hersch! Much needed after the false piety!
debbie
The tweet forgot to link to this article.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: Yeah, cool drink of water.
Josie
The positive thought about their whitewashing of Pence is that it will push Trump’s buttons so hard that he will explode and cause a rift in the party.
Maybe that’s part of the plan.
geg6
@debbie:
I was in junior high and it was summer break. I left the pool after swim team practice every day to watch the hearings. I was already a political junkie.
Scout211
Eastman asked for a pardon!
zhena gogolia
He likes some clauses in the Constitution.
Jerzy Russian
That Eastman fellow needs a good kick in the nuts.
Betty Cracker
Wow, Eastman took the 5th more than Rick Scott — 100+ times!
Ken
@Scout211: For anything in particular, or would he have been happy with a blanket pardon?
piratedan
@zhena gogolia: that’s a shot across the Evangelical bow….. and Aguilar did a good job of playing it straight and allowing the Pence counsel to continue to burnish his religious bonafides.
sure eye rolling stuff for all us heathens but nothing like watching them try and play the santimonious card with each other.
zhena gogolia
@piratedan: Yeah, I’ll allow it.
zhena gogolia
Another gripping hearing.
debbie
@dww44:
The whole fucking party should be barred from public service.
zhena gogolia
Liz! Take it home!
Old School
@Ken:
They didn’t specify, but in context it would likely be for his actions relating to January 6th.
Jerzy Russian
I was expecting a long winded response from His Honor, and I appreciate the ~3 word response.
JWR
@zhena gogolia:
Yeah, I really hate listening to these “Christians” reciting, chapter and verse, their favorite Bible passages.
BTW, how ’bout those two Corinthians?
zhena gogolia
Oh, no, more from Luttig.
Kay
So the insurrectionist leader plans (the white supremacy groups who led the Trumpists into the Capitol) were to delay the certification and demand a new election on January 20th- paper ballots, in person, photo ID everywhere and under the control of the National Guard.
I can’t stop thinking about that.
Old School
@Old School:
The pardon quote was from an email sent to Rudy Giuliani where Eastman wrote:
Matt McIrvin
@Elizabelle: He looks like a fictional conservative President from Central Casting, which I assume is why they pushed Trump to choose him as a running mate (which Trump didn’t really want to do). Possibly the whitest man in the universe.
zhena gogolia
Luttig is pretty effective now.
debbie
@JWR:
True Christians would never have entertained doing what these clowns hoped to accomplish.
TriassicSands
I think Aguilar did a generally good job, but he did ask some fairly lame questions.
Aguilar: Judge Luttig What did you mean by that?
Luttig: Exactly what I said.
Sheesh. The man is obviously struggling. Don’t ask him open-ended questions, especially when the statement you read was clearer than any of Luttig’s spoken testimony.
Elizabelle
Luttig: “Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to democracy. Not because of what happened on January 6th … to this very day, [they] pledge that in 2024 if the former president or his annointed successor as the GOP presidential candidate were to lose that election, that they would attempt to overturn that 2024 election in the same way they attempted to overturn the 2020 election, but succeed in 2024 where they failed in 2020. I do not speak those words lightly.”
TriassicSands
@zhena gogolia:
He’s better now, but not the Judge Luttig I’ve seen before.
He’s 68, but looks and acts older. Age can be a cruel master.
JPL
Well Luttig trump and his supporters are clear and present danger to American democracy.
duh you think
Elizabelle
Luttig brings it.
This isn’t just justice for 2020. It is to head off 2024. And they will try it again.
Omnes Omnibus
Copied from below: If you expect every witness is going to give compelling testimony, you are going to be disappointed. If you expect that an elderly, retired appellate judge is going to give compelling testimony rather than careful parsed answers, well, you are going to be really disappointed. There is a reason they aren’t leading off or finishing the hearings with Luttig. FFS, it’s not entertainment.
Elizabelle
I wondered where “clear and present danger” came from.
Elizabelle
Oooh a tip line. Has that been mentioned previously??
zhena gogolia
Whew. I’m exhausted. When’s the next one? I guess I’ll be out of communication starting Wed. for a while.
Almost Retired
OK, powerful closing by Judge Luttig – and in this instance his deliberate (and ponderous) speaking style is effective. Now to quickly turn the channel before Andrea Mitchell starts stumbling through her analysis.
Aziz, light!~
@Elizabelle: Trump will never spend a day in jail. He’ll find a way to kick the can until he kicks the bucket.
Elizabelle
Again, here is Luttig’s article for CNN. Published April 27, 2022.
The Republican blueprint to steal the 2024 election
debbie
StringOnAStick
@Aziz, light!~: As long as he spends the rest of his days dancing ever faster to avoid jail, he will look increasingly like the pathetic loser we all know he is. I’d love to see him do time, but I will enjoy watching him try every legal trick in the book to avoid it, and enjoy rubbing every MAGAT’s nose in it.
Elizabelle
@Aziz, light!~: And you know this because ….
Raven
@Omnes Omnibus: There are some seriously annoying people here.
StringOnAStick
@debbie: I followed that twitter link, and then came upon the news that Musk and co are being sued in NY over the whole Doge coin thing, alleging pump and dump, securities fraud, etc. Interesting. I hope it sticks and also mucks up the twitter sale significantly.
The case is Johnson Vs Musk, SDNY
TriassicSands
@Elizabelle:
Oh, yawn, Elizabelle, I couldn’t be bothered to watch the hearings. I’m too worried about the price of gasoline (for my F-350 Superduty Pickup Truck.)
Besides, it’s all just politics.
Reading through comments in a WaPo article was unsurprising but still disheartening,
Possessed of delusional foregone conclusions, Susan cerrtainly doesn’t want to expose herself to someone else’s foregone conclusions or more precisely to evidence that contradicts her own foregone conclusions.
debbie
Yowsa!
narya
@Omnes Omnibus: Hey! He’s only 5 years older than me! I’m NOT elderly, I swear it!
Elizabelle
Seriously, was a tip line mentioned previously? (Chairman Thompson brought it up.)
stinger
Feel like I need a cigarette.
Elizabelle
LOL. Zootopia is trending on twitter.
Is that because of Luttig’s alleged sloth-speed speech? Could be something else …
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle: I don’t recall hearing about it before.
CaseyL
@TriassicSands:
Eh. Trumpies are lost causes; to hell with them.
Luttig’s final pronouncement should light a fire under some folks. Like, at the DoJ. (Which apparently sent a snippy letter to the J6 Committee for not sharing its evidence, or something. WTF has the DoJ been doing these past two years, if they don’t already know this stuff??)
HumboldtBlue
I just read Luttig has always had a stutter or stammer and like most who suffer from that chooses his words carefully. I don’t give a damn if he’s boring, what he says as one of the preeminent conservative legal scholars is historically important. He was riveting and very effective in my eyes.
I have watched and listened to a lot of tedious testimony in criminal trials and Luttig was just fine. It’s what he had to say, not the manner in which he says it. You won’t hear his slow delivery when reading the transcript.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: listen on your iPad while you recover?
Elizabelle
@TriassicSands: Then Tulsa Susan will be a sitting duck for when TFG next decides to fundraise to support himself.
Tulsa. Do recall they were trying to get people to come there and work remotely. Didn’t get that many takers, I think …
bjacques
@Almost Retired: THIS. I sat up for Judge Luttig’s closing statement.
And I can live with Jacob thumping the Bible. It’s America. Weird here in Foreign Speaking Nation, but we’re not the audience for that stuff.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Don’t have one.
Old School
@Elizabelle:
I don’t remember it if it was.
Cheryl from Maryland
@zhena gogolia: I had a very successful hip replacement (outpatient; walked upstairs after the operation that same day) and would be happy to respond to any questions you might have to alleviate any anxiety. The equipment I was told to have were a walker, bars for shower/toilet, cane. I also had PT three days a week for two weeks at home and an app of exercises tied to each day. Very happy I had the operation.
HumboldtBlue
@dww44:
I feel very seen.
TriassicSands
@Omnes Omnibus:
What is sad about Luttig is the contrast between his current condition and what I’ve seen in the past. I felt sorry for him. He’s only 68, but looks and seems much older. His written statements were excellent. At the end Aguilar read a clear and concise statement and asked Luttig what he meant by that.
“Exactly what i said.”
Asking Luttig to expand on a statement that stood on its own and needed no elaboration was silly. And in Luttig’s condition, it was, I thought, unfair. There was no way he was likely to improve on the written statement. I think Auguiar was generally quite good, but that seemed ridiculous to me.
As I commented elsewhere, Luttig has been a long-time star of conservative jurisprudence — on more than one short list for the SCOTUS. If that Luttig had appeared, it could have been a highlight of the hearings. It’s the first time I ever rooted for Luttig.
zhena gogolia
@Cheryl from Maryland: Thanks. A lot of what people can put in big houses with big rooms isn’t possible for us. But I guess I’ll get by.
TriassicSands
That’s what is so disheartening. To see people who have moved beyond reason. This must be the largest cult in U.S. history.
JPL
If Eastman had received a pardon, would he be able to take the fifth? My understanding is that there would be no need to take the fifth under that circumstance, but I’m not a lawyer and I certainly didn’t sleep at a Holiday Inn.
A Good Woman
@CaseyL:
Chuck Rosenberg over at MSNBC points out that the transcripts of testimony may reveal inconsistencies in whatever testimony DOJ has now. TBH – if the committee makes a criminal referral (IMHO they should) that stuff is going to DOJ anyway.
raven
@TriassicSands: He gave him the opportunity to expand if he wanted to, he didn’t.
lowtechcyclist
@zhena gogolia:
And tomorrow’s the 50th anniversary of that “third-rate burglary.”
@Elizabelle:
And with some seriously Morticia eye makeup. And I’m generally pretty oblivious to what women are doing with makeup; it has to be pretty blatant for me to notice at all. I couldn’t help but notice.
HumboldtBlue
Also, Andrea Mitchell couldn’t be more sourpuss during this and I suspect it’s because she can’t find a way to both-sides this insurrection and can find no place to opine on why Dems aren’t somehow responsible. She never holds GOP accountable but is always too happy to force Democrats to answer specious and spurious questions about their messaging and failure to convince the bugfuck crazy right-wing base and America in general about why they haven’t fixed the country yet.
J R in WV
@Scout211:
Pretty sure being dead is a required preliminary condition for sainthood! So Pence is welcome to the status in my opinion, whenever he’ s ready.
Elizabelle
@J R in WV:
They gave those witnesses more time, they might have started speaking in tongues. Yech.
J R in WV
@Ken:
Actually, Kevin attempted to put Gym Jordan on the Select Committee, and Madam Speaker Pelosi put the kibosh on that appointment, after which Kevin declined to appoint anyone more acceptable.
I think there was another unacceptable dork, maybe the crazy one from Arizona? I forget, there are so many crazy Republicants !!!
TriassicSands
@raven:
I thought his response was perfect. His written statement was excellent. Given what we saw today, I don’t think it was reasonable to expect him to improve on it. Luttig clearly recognized that.
Elizabelle
@J R in WV: One of McCarthy’s nominees was Jim Banks of Indiana, another poo-flinging monkey.
What is wrong with the midwest states that they send these circus clowns to Congress. Sad!
The third nominee was less radioactive than the other two, so I forget who …
Ken
He had only indirect contact with Trump, so merely lost some life force. A direct touch, of course, kills.
Ken
@J R in WV: Yeah, I remember there were some stunt nominations by McCarthy, people obviously chosen for their ability to disrupt. And of course in Jordan’s case, to ignore evidence of criminal wrongdoing when it’s right in front of him, when required to protect the institution.
TriassicSands
@zhena gogolia:
In a problematic health care system, the two procedures that get almost universal acclaim are hip and knee replacements. I’ve known many people who have gotten one or both hips or knees replaced and every one was successful. Not a regret in the lot.
Good luck with yours. One key seems to be to follow rehab instructions as faithfully as possible. You’ll be dunking a basketball in no time, not to mention cutting a mean tango.
TriassicSands
@Ken:
I’ll have nightmares now. Thanks a lot!
Ken
@TriassicSands: Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Ctrumplu M’r’lago wgah’nagl fhtagn!
TriassicSands
I don’t know where you live, but summer is here and you can do a lot outside (depending.)
You will get by. Really. You will.
TriassicSands
@Ken:
I’m sorry. My word salad is a bit rusty.
But at least no more nightmares, since now I won’t be able to sleep.
MazeDancer
The Luttig testimony was all for DoJ. Apparently, it’s working.
WaterGirl
@CaseyL:
I hadn’t heard about that. What’s that about?
Ken
Black helicopters hovering over Mar-a-Lago? No-knock warrants being executed at the Thomas household? SWAT teams ringing Giuliani’s limousine?
Old School
@WaterGirl:
…
zhena gogolia
@TriassicSands: Thanks.
J R in WV
@zhena gogolia:
Wife and I have both had joint replacement procedures, both her knees, both my shoulders, and I need the knees done too. Good friend had hip replacement, a newer procedure for Jim’s work reduced his recovery time to just a few weeks.
Friend who is an RN who helped us with my recovery told us to take the pain meds on schedule, said not to let the pain get out ahead of the medication. Good advice!
Best of luck, it isn’t so horrible.
zhena gogolia
@J R in WV: Thanks.
jnfr
I knew all this was what happened, I’ve followed very closely, and still seeing the confirmation of it all I keep feeling shock, shock, deep shock that this actually happened in our country.
zhena gogolia
@jnfr: Me too. What REALLY shocks me is that the public at large isn’t shocked.
jnfr
@zhena gogolia:
Willful denial I guess.