Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Let there be snark.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

No Justins, No Peace

No one could have predicted…

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Bark louder, little dog.

This blog will pay for itself.

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

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

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

I was promised a recession.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Holy Cow! Breaking News in the Mar-a-Lago Documents Case!

Holy Cow! Breaking News in the Mar-a-Lago Documents Case!

by | 280 Comments

This post is in: ,

Holy cow-ski!  Tomorrow should be interesting, to say the least.

Updated to add more info: (Politico)

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Howell’s order temporarily on Tuesday night, ordering an extraordinarily rapid series of filings in a matter of hours — including one from Trump’s team by midnight Tuesday.

The appeals court’s order — from Judges Cornelia Pillard, J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, all Democratic appointees — doesn’t identify Corcoran or the case at issue but makes clear that the government was on the winning side of the case in Howell’s court.

The three-judge panel is asking Trump’s attorneys to specify the precise set of documents at issue by midnight and for Smith’s team to respond by 6 a.m. Wednesday to the Trump team’s demand for a longer stay of Howell’s ruling.

A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment Tuesday on the closed-door fight.

The appeals court order followed the filing by Trump-linked attorneys of a pair of appeals and stay requests tied to Howell’s decision, which came on the final day of her seven-year tenure as chief judge of the federal District Court in Washington.

The parallel submissions asked the appeals court to block Howell’s decision while the appeals go forward, docket entries show. The appeals were first reported by CNN. The short-term “administrative” stay granted Tuesday night does not appear to signal whether the appeals court will decide to keep Howell’s order on ice as full legal briefing proceeds in the dispute.

The Trump campaign statement issued Tuesday evening also dismissed Howell, a former Democratic Senate aide appointed by former President Barack Obama, as a “Never Trump” judge.

Howell’s secret order on Friday required Corcoran to testify about matters he and Trump had claimed were subject to attorney-client privilege. Her order relied on the “crime-fraud exception,” which permits investigators to pursue evidence that would ordinarily be privileged but contains evidence of likely criminal conduct.

As chief judge, Howell supervised all disputes arising from grand jury proceedings happening in Washington. That responsibility passed Friday to U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who succeeded Howell as chief, but only after Howell issued the potentially momentous privilege ruling in the Trump-related legal fight.

The Trump camp’s public attack on Howell appears to be its first aimed at the veteran jurist, with Trump notably avoiding attacks against her while she single-handedly presided over the numerous grand jury disputes arising from investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and into the classified documents.

Even after handing off the chief’s position, however, Howell continues to hold significant sway over matters connected to Trump’s inner circle. On Tuesday, she held a hearing in a lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers against Rudy Giuliani, chiding the longtime Trump ally and his lawyer for what she described as an inadequate approach to required exchanges of evidence in the matter.

Proceedings related to the classified-documents grand jury, including efforts by prosecutors to compel Corcoran’s testimony, are occurring under seal — typical for nearly all grand jury proceedings.

However, the appeals court’s docket shows that the rulings being appealed were issued on Friday and correspond to a dispute that was filed with the District Court on Feb. 7. That’s just days before media reports emerged of an effort by Smith to force Corcoran to appear before a grand jury investigating the handling of classified records by Trump and his aides.

Just before noon Tuesday, the appeals court consolidated the two appeals without further public explanation. Of the three judges assigned to the dispute, Pillard is an Obama appointee, while Childs and Pan are appointees of President Joe Biden.

(CNN)

On Tuesday, Trump’s team sought emergency intervention from the appeals court. Three judges from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals have moved fast to respond, as they are still considering whether to put the decision from Howell on hold.

Judges Nina Pillard, Michelle Childs and Florence Pan of the DC Circuit have demanded more information and arguments by early Wednesday morning, setting a deadline for Trump and his lawyers by midnight and for prosecutors to respond by 6 a.m.

The extremely tight deadlines – a turnaround essentially unheard of in this court – indicates the seriousness of the matter.

Reader Interactions

280Comments

  7. 7.

    PaulB

    Yeah, I’m a bit skeptical, personally, particularly with the “reply by 6 a.m.” bit. I can’t really think of an emergency that requires that the DOJ get a filing at midnight and respond 6 hours later.

    These documents were in Trump’s hands for years and now it’s an emergency that requires this kind of immediate action? I’ll wait for confirmation.

    Edited to add that it looks like Politico is confirming, anyway, based on the link below. I’m still a bit skeptical.

  8. 8.

    scav

    @Suzanne: here maybe?

    The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Howell’s order temporarily on Tuesday night, ordering an extraordinarily rapid series of filings in a matter of hours — including one from Trump’s team by midnight Tuesday.
    The appeals court’s order — from Judges Cornelia Pillard, J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, all Democratic appointees — doesn’t identify Corcoran or the case at issue but makes clear that the government was on the winning side of the case in Howell’s court.

    ETA also CNN?

  9. 9.

    bbleh

    @Raoul Paste: not an expert in procedure, but my understanding is, “this is your chance to say something before we rule,” so if they don’t say anything, the ruling might happen more quickly.

  13. 13.

    Ruckus

    @bbleh:

    See what tomorrow brings.

    Tonight is bringing rain harder than I’ve seen in Los Angeles in a very, very long time. Lota decades long – it just started coming down a lot harder. The street in front of my unit is fully under water. It wasn’t 1 minute ago. It’s running about half way up the curb and like a river all the way across.

  14. 14.

    Steeplejack

    @Suzanne:

    Lawrence O’Donnell started talking about it at the top of the hour, but I got a phone call from a friend and missed the content. I assume Stephanie Ruhle will hit it big-time at 11:00.

  15. 15.

    bbleh

    Per CNN, it’s a response to an emergency appeal.  And amusingly, they’re demanding an emergency response from the lawyers.  Really, this is more fun than we deserve on a Tuesday at 10pm.

  18. 18.

    Carlo Graziani

    Unpicking the tweets, it seems that the hurry-up schedule applies to the appeal of Corcoran’s stripped immunity (I had to read it three times to get it).

    So, they really, really want Corcoran, under oath. Now.

    And by stripping his immunity they’ve as good as announced that DOJ showed compelling evidence that Corcoran committed a crime. A serious, leisurely-court-schedule-breaking crime. By inference, his immunity would be instrumental to the crime.

    Hush-money II: The Return of Michael Cohen, maybe? Fruman got sentenced to a year, but never agreed to testify. What moved him to do that?

  20. 20.

    bbleh

    @Ruckus: yeah this whole global warming thing …

    Water has a high specific heat, which makes it a very good medium for transporting energy, and since global warming means a lot more energy in the atmosphere, it kinda follows that a lot more water’s gonna be moving around.  And by all accounts, it’s only just starting.

    Hope nothing is getting soaked that can’t be dried out.  And likewise, I hope there’s enough water for LA (and AZ, and and and) in the years to come.

  24. 24.

    C Stars

    @Ruckus: It’s coming down hard here in Alameda County, has been since this morning and our power has been out since 5pm. If what hits you is anything like what we’re getting, best to be prepared. I.e. charge up your phone and computer.

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    Could it be a simple as the DOJ and the courts are realizing that they can’t let Trump’s bullshit delays delay prosecution until it’s too late?

  28. 28.

    bbleh

    @Carlo Graziani: So, they really, really want Corcoran, under oath. Now.

    Or they’re just sick of the BS, and they’re saying ok, you said it’s an emergency, show us the emergency.

    Or the prosecutors have convinced them that since a HUGE and reasonably urgent effort is near the end, there are legitimate reasons to bring it to a conclusion quickly, and if that means bulldozing over meritless last-minute pro-forma objections, let’s do it.

    Or maybe it has something to do with Howell retiring.

    Or whatever.  I guess I’m skeptical that Corcoran’s testimony is that crucial.  But it’s too late to make a new batch of popcorn.

  29. 29.

    Steeplejack

    @Quinerly:

    😹 Reverse for me. I used to think he was lazy, but something about Trump energized him, and he has been better the last few years. His permasmirk may be offputting, however.

  32. 32.

    Jackie

    Six a.m. ET? I guess that’ll time nicely with my middle of the night trip to the bathroom lol

    Morning Joe might be interesting!

  33. 33.

    Steeplejack

    And Symone Sanders-Townsend is subbing for Stephanie Ruhle. Mostly rehashed stuff so far.

  34. 34.

    redoubtagain

    “He’s the Man Who Broke The Bank In Monte Carlo Who Broke The Law At Mar-A-Lago”

  35. 35.

    A Good Woman

    @Mike in NC:

    His 757 is airworthy but he would likely need to refuel somewhere before finding shelter in a friendly nation with no extradition.  Having to refuel could be a real problem if he wanted to escape the country.

  36. 36.

    Carlo Graziani

    @A Good Woman: Makes sense.

    Also, from the CNN story:

    The DC Circuit judges also mention documents involved in the dispute, asking that Trump’s side “specify” them. The court order doesn’t explain any further what’s happened with documents. But Corcoran also was ordered to hand over a number of documents, including handwritten notes and notes transcribed of a verbal conversation.

    Someone present at a private, criminal conversation snitched on them. DOJ has a witness.

  42. 42.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop doing meth

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    @A Good Woman: Thanks.

    IANAL, but that makes sense to me.

    Sensible courts, no matter how far they’re pushed, don’t like doing unusual things that cause difficult problems for other government functions.  If them doing anything at all would interfere with an investigation in a bad way, they’re going to try to act to prevent any disruption – in this case, to the grand jury.

    We’ll see!

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    Quinerly

    @Steeplejack:

    I remember him before 2016 saying over, and over, and over that Trump would never be President. Used to like LOD but he grates on me now. He was just so confident pre 2016. And it’s like the same shtick. He was very, very wrong then as we all know.

  50. 50.

    Steeplejack

    Ugh. That was a pretty worthless A-block on MSNBC. Guess we’ll get more information—or scorching hot takes 🙄—in the morning.

  54. 54.

    Redshift

    @Steeplejack:

    His permasmirk may be offputting, however.

    That was always it for me, going back to the Keith Olbermann days, even though Lawrence does pretty good work. I was asked why I liked Keith and not Lawrence, when they covered pretty much the same things. And it was because Keith (whatever his faults) came with an attitude of righteous indignation, and Lawrence’s was smug self-certainly. He’s gotten better, but he still has a bit of it.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    I assume when you guys are saying grand jury, you mean NY not GA?

    Is there any reason that the DC Circuit Court would know if/when the NY plans to indict Trump?

    If this is related to that, then whoever picked 8am on Wednesday for the indictment to be handed down probably wins the pool. :-)

  60. 60.

    Gvg

    This was posted here a few hours ago, but I didn’t know enough to see it as a big huge deal. It just seemed funny. Someone made a joke about he’d never seen judges order lawyers to pull an all-nighter before.

    There was a link then.

    I don’t even know enough to know if these people in the tweets know what they are talking about. So far not names I recognize. If it’s a big deal, we’ll know soon I guess.

  61. 61.

    CaseyL

    @WaterGirl: No, this appears to be related to the classified documents case.

    Judge Howell had ruled there was sufficient evidence of a crime that client-attorney privilege was broken, that Trump may have lied to his attorney at the time (Corcoran) who then (un?)wittingly lied to the Justice Department about whether any more classified docs were being withheld.  She ordered Corcoran to produce any handwritten notes, memos, and etc., pertaining to discussions of the classified documents.

    Trump appealed her ruling.

    The Appeals Court has ordered Trump’s team to file their appeal brief by midnight tonight, and the DOJ to respond by 6:00 AM.

  63. 63.

    tobie

    Good thing I have lots of dishes to do. This will keep me up till midnight to see what’s reported regarding Trump’s filing.

  65. 65.

    oldgold

    I have seen tight filing/briefing deadlines, but never a deadline running from midnight until 6:00 AM. Completely crazy. Something must be up.

  68. 68.

    Redshift

    @WaterGirl:

    Is there any reason that the DC Circuit Court would know if/when the NY plans to indict Trump?

    As I understand it, no. There can be coordination about who goes first or who has the better case if they’re investigating the same conduct, but not just for different matters involving the same target.

  69. 69.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: The Mar-a-Lago classified documents stuff is in federal court.  IIRC, because it involves classified documents, by law it is assigned to a federal specific court in DC (that’s one reason why Judge Cannon was slapped down for interferreing with it).  It’s also assigned to a federal grand jury in DC.

    APNews.com (from March 17):

    Corcoran had already appeared weeks ago before the federal grand jury in Washington investigating the Mar-a-Lago matter, but he had invoked attorney-client privilege in declining to answer certain questions. That privilege protects lawyers from being forced to share with prosecutors details of the conversations they have with clients.

    Prosecutors can get around that privilege if they can convince a judge that an attorney’s services were being used in furtherance of a crime — a principle known as the crime-fraud exception. The Justice Department invoked that exception in this case, arguing to Beryl Howell, the outgoing chief judge of the federal court in Washington, D.C., that more testimony was needed.

    Howell issued her order granting at least some additional testimony before the end of her tenure Friday as chief judge. She is being replaced as chief judge by James “Jeb” Boasberg, a fellow Obama appointee who has served on the federal bench since 2011.

    HTH!

    [eta:] – remember a grand jury is the body that issues indictments.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    Much as I am loath to cite John Erlichman, the phrase “twisting slowly, slowly in the wind” comes to mind.

  72. 72.

    Jackie

    ABC News just published their take and TFG didn’t care for it lol

    “In response to ABC News, a Trump campaign spokesperson said, in part, “Shame on Fake News ABC for broadcasting ILLEGALLY LEAKED false allegations from a Never Trump, now former chief judge, against the Trump legal team.””

    “”The real story here, that Fake News ABC SHOULD be reporting on, is that prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever,” the spokesperson said.“

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/sources-special-counsel-claims-trump-deliberately-misled-attorneys/story

  76. 76.

    CaseyL

    @WaterGirl: The one hearing the documents case, which I guess is in DC.  We haven’t heard much about that one since Jack Smith took over.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott: Yeah, I know all that. This is the part that leaves me confused.

    I don’t know what grand jury he is suggesting they are trying to avoid interfering with.  NY? DC?

  82. 82.

    CaseyL

    Midnight on the East Coast is only 9:00 here on the West Coast, but I very much doubt the filings will be made public that quickly.

    OTOH, 6:00 AM is 3:00 AM here, and I have to be in the office tomorrow, so I probably won’t be awake for the DOJ rebuttal filing.

    Maybe some news will have broken by the time I’m in the office.

  83. 83.

    dmsilev

    @Jackie:

    “”The real story here, that Fake News ABC SHOULD be reporting on, is that prosecutors Trump lawyers only attack lawyers prosecutors when they have no case whatsoever,” the spokesperson said.“

    Slightly more truthful.

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    @CaseyL: @Omnes Omnibus: @Steeplejack:

    See the tweet at #79, where the fellow seems to be saying maybe this is no big deal.

    There have been delays of month after month with everything.  What could possibly be going on that they have to have resolved before 8am tomorrow, because otherwise it would interfere with the Jack Smith grand jury?

    That’s my sticking point; obviously I am having trouble communicating about it.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    @eclare: I gave up after 2 or 3 episodes – it was hard to keep all the characters straight, especially since I had seen many of them for years as the characters.

    So the attorney from Suits is is a detective and not an attorney.  And the Lt from Bosch was not a cop.  I felt like i needed a scorecard.

    Since then, several people have suggested that it takes about 5 episodes for the puzzle pieces of who’s who fit together.  So at some point I will try again.

    So many great actors!

  89. 89.

    oldgold

    Tapes!

    “Sources added that Howell  ordered Corcoran to hand over a number of records tied to what Howell described as Trump’s alleged “criminal scheme,” echoing prosecutors. Those records include handwritten notes, invoices, and transcriptions of personal audio recordings.”

  90. 90.

    eclare

    @WaterGirl:   Could also be that the judge doesn’t want to give TFG’s team time to manufacture stories and lies.  Kind of a pop strip search.

    IMHO

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    @WaterGirl:

    “Just trying to avoid interfering” sounds like bullshit. Someone else on legal Twitter said that with that schedule something big is definitely afoot.

  93. 93.

    CaseyL

    @WaterGirl:

    If the GJ is currently in session, and waiting on Corcoran’s testimony, then the Appeals Court may want to resolve the appeal in time for Corcoran to testify on schedule.  (Or not, if the Trump lawyers prevail.)

  94. 94.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: I have no idea.  Obviously some piece or pieces of evidence are rather inflammatory.  We will find out.  But it’s probably nothing since Garland and Smith are secret GOP moles who are betraying their oaths by even continuing to breathe or something.

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    And this.

  100. 100.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Suzanne: I’m seeing reporting on it, but I haven’t seen Tristan Snell’s “national security implications” read on it anywhere else yet. Not sure how reliable he is.

  104. 104.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @WaterGirl:

    Could it be a simple as the DOJ and the courts are realizing that they can’t let Trump’s bullshit delays delay prosecution until it’s too late?

    Since it’s the DOJ that’s having to do the midnight to 6 a.m. shift, it seems like there’s something else going on. If the court was simplely sick of Trump’s delay tactics, they’d probably set a deadline of end of day tomorrow, and DOJ having another day to respond. Or maybe requiring Trump to reply by noon tomorrow and the DOJ midnight.

  106. 106.

    Carlo Graziani

    @WaterGirl:

    Can you say more?

    It’s inference, not knowledge. It takes a spectacular—and spectacularly-well evidenced—claim to bust attorney-client privilege, the more so with an extraordinarily politically-freighted case such as this one. Smith must have showed the court something really eye-opening, concerning a meeting at which Corcoran allegedly took notes.

    It seems extremely likely that this meeting had more participants than just Corcoran and Trump, or DOJ wouldn’t know about it. Since the court is ordering Corcoran to produce his notes, they likely know he took some. They could only know this from witness testimony.

    The inference, then, was that the meeting was between trusted consiglieri, one of whom has been leaned on by DOJ until he (or she) cracked. That person is now a DOJ witness.

  107. 107.

    WaterGirl

    I think I’m gonna head to bed.  Somebody please wake me if something exciting happens.  (Steep, you’re the only one still up who has my phone number.

    edit: I see taht Carlo is also up!

  108. 108.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @oldgold: ‘invoices’ you say? Was he billing Vlad, MBS and Xi for each  classified secret he was handing out? Was there a menu with prices like Duke Cunningham’s for favors?

  109. 109.

    eclare

    @WaterGirl:   I didn’t, but I have watched it all the way through at least three times, and each time I noticed something new/foreshadowing that I did not pick up on earlier.  Probably would have clicked more quickly if I had done that.

  111. 111.

    oldgold

    The length of time granted, particularly in an appellate setting, is very unusual.  What  is breathtakingly shocking is that the time allotted runs from midnight to 6:00 AM. I mean, what in the name of hell?!?

  113. 113.

    Another Scott

    @CaseyL: IANAL.

    But similarly, if the grand jury is about to drop an indictment and that indictment depends on testimony that is subject to the crime-fraud exception, and a court just decided – hey wait a minute, let’s make sure we get this right before something unprecedented happens (like indicting a former president) – then that would seem to be a reason for expedited handling.

    Grand juries exist to hand down indictments.

    All this seems to point TFG getting indicted on the classified documents stuff in the next few hours/days.

    But, IANAL.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  118. 118.

    RaflW

    @Jackie: I know these statements don’t make sense – they don’t need to, because the MAGA rubes just see “Trump pissed, something something ILLEGAL blah blah LEAK” and they have their badgering-point for social media and for water cooler talk.

    But try as I might, I’m scratching my head.

  123. 123.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Rand Paul is demanding that Alvin Bragg be arrested. Anybody else think Rand Paul seems a little overly worried. The guy who was hand picked by TFG to hand carry a super secret letter to Vlad.

  127. 127.

    oldgold

    @eclare:  What about the staff? This is going to impact a lot of folks beyond the lawyers. If you are a single parent, tough to find spot “daycare” from midnight to 6:00 AM. Really crazy.

  130. 130.

    Ruckus

    @bbleh:

    Just north and west of my place there is a river out of the mountains  that has a river bed about 200 ft wide as it goes under the freeway. Normally there is maybe a 10 ft or so wide channel with water in it that is not very deep. Today as I rode the train home I noticed that the water went from side to side and was considerably deeper. And just the south side of the RR tracks there are settling grounds that hold a lot of water. A hell of a lot of water. They were only about half full but I’d bet if I went up there tomorrow it would be a LOT more water. The settling grounds are to save the water and have it drain into the water table rather than just run off to the ocean.

  132. 132.

    dmsilev

    @Mai Naem mobile: You’d think that it’d be impossible for Mitch McConnell to be the less obnoxious of a state’s two Senators, but I guess good job Rand, you made it happen.

  133. 133.

    dmsilev

    @Ruckus: The San Gabriel River? The LA Times has a pretty dramatic photo of what it looks like right now leading off their article on the storm.

    I stopped saying “well, we really need the rain” two or three storms ago. Right now, no we don’t. Save it for next year please.

  141. 141.

    tobie

    Did Trump’s team make the deadline or are they going to claim their computers crashed???? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

    P.S. My search history is ruined. I had to look up the connection between Steely Dan and dildo. If I ever get into trouble, I’m going to blame Balloon Juice.

  152. 152.

    frosty

    @Alison Rose: ​Oh, I’m with you there! It’s not like we’re a bunch of fucken* snowflakes.
    *h/t Suzanne and Vicente Fox. I love this spelling.​

  155. 155.

    Amir Khalid

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    Rand Paul is demanding that Alvin Bragg be arrested.

    On what charge? Or does he, being admitted to Rand Paul’s Own Private Kentucky State Bar, reckon that that can be decided later?

  156. 156.

    Alison Rose

    @frosty: Plus, if some unsuspecting noob happens upon the site and the first thing they see is a tag with the word dildo in it and it scares them off…that’s probably for the best. As one of the tags states (and I’m paraphrasing a bit), Balloon Juice has never been a haven for the linguistically delicate.

  160. 160.

    Origuy

    This is incredible. Click the link for a short video of a volcano eruption from a drone.

     

    Volcán de Fuego. INSANE close-range drone footage of one of Fuego’s largest eruptions in the days I spent there. The blast propelled massive rocks RIGHT past my drone as thousands of rocks rained down. This is my @NatGeo moment. A 🧵 below…

    VIDEO LINK: https://t.co/gT4VDgoFIx pic.twitter.com/6FcrZuN61p
    — Alex Spahn 🌋🌪️☄️ (@spahn711) March 21, 2023

  161. 161.

    SectionH

    @Ruckus: What’s called a “Frog Strangler” in certain parts of ~~~ well, where the south meets the midwest. Not from there but lived there for a while.

    The nice young woman at our Hillcrest TJ’s – they had buckets all over the place because roof leaks – did laugh.

  164. 164.

    RaflW

    @Splitting Image: Likely a niche thing for people of a certain age and sexual orientation in the 90s in Texas, but we had to be sure to call them “educational models” at gay safer sex classes that showed with simulated realism, rather than bananas, how to put on a condom.

    Texas had (and maybe still does) some very restrictive, prudish and stupid laws about dildos. The main one I remember was that no person could own more than five. >5 was “possession with intent to distribute.”

  167. 167.

    Steeplejack

    @Origuy:

    On what planet is that “incredible close-range footage of a powerful eruption”? The linked video is a mostly static two-minute teaser from a distance.

  170. 170.

    rmjohnston

    Yeah, I’m a bit skeptical, personally, particularly with the “reply by 6 a.m.” bit. I can’t really think of an emergency that requires that the DOJ get a filing at midnight and respond 6 hours later.

    You can’t imagine that Trump retained documentation of secret locations of nuclear weapons and lied to his lawyer about it? I can. First thing that came to mind.

    There are many, many , easy to imagine things that could justify a briefing schedule of hours when you consider what Donald Trump might do.

  171. 171.

    RaflW

    @dmsilev: Speaking of McConnell, I think he’s entitled to medical privacy. But, as one of the most powerful* people in the Senate is in a rehabilitation hospital and largely incommunicado (*yes, minority leader, but in a joint that needs 60 votes for a lot of stuff, powerful).

    One of the Republican senate leaders (Daines, maybe?) when asked on Monday, said he’d been ‘in communication’ with McConnell but they hadn’t spoken. Maybe that means they’re texting BFFs. But I don’t think so. I think Mitch is in rougher shape than is being let on. And precious few in the press seem even remotely curious about that.

    I recall Hillary having pneumonia and the press was practically on deathwatch.

  172. 172.

    Steeplejack

    @rmjohnston:

    Yes. Someone on law Twitter speculated about the discovery of evidence pointing to a serious, ongoing threat to national security. Just speculation, of course, but probably more plausible than a mere scheduling gambit.

  173. 173.

    Steeplejack

    @Another Scott:

    “It looks like Google has crawled the site again.”

    Oh, good. I’ll have to run some queries to see if the really old stuff is showing up again.

  174. 174.

    Dangerman

    After my thoughtful and thorough analysis, it’s my expert opinion that this could be something or could be nothing.

    I’ll send my bill later.

    It’s not only pouring, it’s cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. I was promised Spring!

  176. 176.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @bbleh:

    a criminal fucking conspiracy

    I thought that was the Stormy Daniels hush-money case, not the documents case. Then again, there are so many criminal conspiracies involving TFG, it can be hard to keep them all straight.

  177. 177.

    RaflW

    Dunno how much the judges will make Donnie’s lawyers suffer for this, but Bradley Moss says they filed 30 minutes late.

    Hopefully DOJ gets till 6:30 after that crap.

  179. 179.

    RaflW

    @eclare: Well, now Chris Geidner (aka Law Dork) says the appellants emailed before midnight but docketed around 12:30 eastern.

  180. 180.

    RaflW

    @eclare: Well, now Chris Geidner (aka Law Dork) says the appellants emailed before midnight but docketed around 12:30 eastern.

  185. 185.

    SectionH

    @Origuy: I don’t know, I can’t get it back. I tried.

    The Scotsman, otoh, I should have looked for them before.

    eta: Looked, um their take is still kinda sensational , but it’s a start.

  188. 188.

    SectionH

    @kalakal: Women tend to want vibrators. In… in coolest neighborhood I know, there’s a store that advertises that kinda thing.

  190. 190.

    Shalimar

    Re: the 6am filing deadline.  No way a court does that if it wasn’t requested by DoJ.  They wanted to respond before the business day started, for whatever reason.

  194. 194.

    Layer8Problem

    @WaterGirl: ​”Marital aid.” A nice, delicate ’50s euphemism, although my understanding is that unmarried people have been known to use these too.
    Is it 6 a.m. EDT yet?​

  199. 199.

    lowtechcyclist

    @frosty: ​

    Go with Bored of the Rings and call it the Bilbo of consequences.

    And to think that when I first read that classic, back in the spring of 1970, I had no idea what either ‘dildo’ or ‘bugger’ meant.

    And until this morning, I had no idea that ‘Steely Dan’ was a euphemism for ‘dildo.’ The things that pass for knowledge, and all that.

  200. 200.

    lowtechcyclist

    @eclare: ​

    Old school. I like it.

    I’m still never going back to mine.

    ETA: Meanwhile, instead of California tumbling into the sea, the sea is busily dumping itself on California.

  201. 201.

    Baud

    @RaflW:

    Texas had (and maybe still does) some very restrictive, prudish and stupid laws about dildos.

     
    Dildo? Dildon’t!

  203. 203.

    Baud

    Dear Betty Cracker,

    The former Florida lawmaker who sponsored the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” pleaded guilty Tuesday to committing $150,000 in COVID-19 relief fraud.

    Enjoy.

  208. 208.

    lowtechcyclist

    You’d think the nets would have had the courthouse staked out this early a.m., just waiting for the DOJ lawyers to show up.

  209. 209.

    sab

    @Quinerly: One of the pleasanter aspects of aging out of ladydom into old ladydom is I can laugh away at dirty comments instead of blushing.

  210. 210.

    Manyakitty

    @eclare: I’m sure it will be wall-to-wall analysis once the lawyer talking heads get a chance to review the filings.

  211. 211.

    Geminid

    Now I’m starting to be curious about what Trump will say at the Waco Whine Festival this Saturday. His act has needed new material for a while now.

  212. 212.

    Quinerly

    @sab:

    I have never been a blusher…

    Morning chuckle. Facebook Memories tells me 3 years ago, Rand Paul was diagnosed with Covid. My FB comment was a cool quote I picked up from Dog knows where.

    “Karma finished filing her nails to sharp points and sashayed her way over to knock on a few doors…”

    Kinda works for today and this week!

  213. 213.

    lowtechcyclist

    Serious overcast out there this morning, here in the SE exurbs of DC.

    “The next day was hangin’ indictment day, the sky was overcast and black…”

  214. 214.

    Quinerly

    @Shalimar:

    The only way to deal with Joe is to listen to the show in the AM on Alexa Tune In app. Can’t stand to look at him.

    Mika covering classified docs and Trump’s atty now. Repeating ABC reporting.

  216. 216.

    Quinerly

    @Geminid:

    Mud, snow here outside of Santa Fe. I am so ready for Spring.

    I’m off to Costco in Albuquerque shortly. Out of wine and food. Need provisions for Indictment Week.

  217. 217.

    lowtechcyclist

    Supposed to not rain until tomorrow here, but then you’re a ways to the west of me, so it should reach you at least several hours earlier than here.

    But yeah, the ground’s pretty dry here too.

  221. 221.

    Quinerly

    While we wait.

    Lawyer Joseph McBride, who is representing a handful of Jan. 6 defendants, thinks that the timing of Trump’s likely arrest is notable.

    “President Trump will be arrested during lent—a time of suffering and purification for the followers of Jesus Christ,” McBride wrote on Twitter. “As Christ was crucified, and then rose again on the 3rd day, so too will @realdonaldtrump.”

    And

    Other Trump supporters see eerie similarities between the Manhattan DA and the Romans who crucified Jesus.

    “Rome tried to silence a peaceful leader via political persecution, and ended up creating the most pervasive & permanent religious figure in all of world history,” MAGA-world influencer Reanna Dilley wrote on Twitter.  “Good fucking luck, New York.”

     

    https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5ypd4/donald-trumo-arrest-jesus-christian-nationalism

  223. 223.

    Baud

    @Quinerly:

    I like to think of Trump’s arrest as an extended Mardi Gras.

    ETA: I like the idea of Trump as martyr be because that means he’ll be punished.

  227. 227.

    2liberal

    Texas had (and maybe still does) some very restrictive, prudish and stupid laws about dildos. The main one I remember was that no person could own more than five.

     

    Did they have a limit on wetsuits also?

  229. 229.

    Ken

    @Baud: Also, “martyr” is the Greek word for “witness”, and I like the thought of Trump testifying under oath.

  237. 237.

    Ken

    @Baud: If you’re basing that on “no competent lawyer would let him take the stand,” I suggest examining the assumptions.

  239. 239.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Ken:

    Also, Trump doesn’t listen much to his lawyers.  He’s gone far too crazy and senile for that.  He demands they file documents that are stupid, self-destructive, and so personal to his desires that even incompetence can’t explain why a lawyer would do it.

    So, we’re left with the coin flip.  Trump thinks he can outwit the DA in verbal sparring, or Trump is going to use any possible justification to answer absolutely nothing.  Sadly, he’s been doing more of the latter lately.

  245. 245.

    Almost Retired

    I woke up and checked out this thread on the legal filings to see if there are any updates. As a bonus, I got Dildo Roget.

  247. 247.

    Kay

    Religious fundamentalists/far Right Republicans suing to keep a pro choice amendment off the ballot in Ohio.

    They’re terrified voters might have a say on whether women should have basic bodily autonomy and agency -if it’s on the ballot they know they’ll lose.

    Republicans in the statehouse and Mike DeWine are also working to silence voters- they hope to force a change where the abortion amendment would require a 60% majority to pass – the far Right religious fundamentalists need special rules or they lose. They can’t compete under the rules everyone else plays by.

  262. 262.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Also, folks, if you water down the witty line, there’s no point in using it anymore. Take the dildo as it is, or let it go.

    Well then.  We all know how you like your dildos now.

  271. 271.

    WaterGirl

    Who thinks the DOJ already had their filing mostly written by midnight, and then they continued to edit through the night to shoot down the ridiculous stuff that was surely in Trump’s filing?

  272. 272.

    Manyakitty

    @WaterGirl: you know it! Bet it was all full of “furthermore” too. That’s when people know it’s about to get real. 😂😂😂

  280. 280.

    Death Panel Truck

    @Mike in NC: Late to the party, but Fat Bastard isn’t going to any country where he can’t get a Big Mac, a Diet Coke, and those godawful Mickey D’s apple pies. Both McDonald’s and Coca-Cola have pulled out of Russia.

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