First, a quick but vague announcement. Imm (Immanentize) has graciously agreed to do a zoom this week for/with anyone who is interested in talking about and potentially learning more about legal stuff related to theMAL case. eg. Will the trial really start on the August date? (No.) And much more. Happy to have other Bj attorneys participate, as well, in addition to non-attorneys like me who can use a primer.
We are tentatively talking about Thursday or Saturday FRIDAY evening. Is anyone besides me interested?
Okay, moving on.
Me…listening to the Trump interview on Fox today. pic.twitter.com/yEI1JhkCGW
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) June 20, 2023
I laughed.
NEW: Magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart has ordered restrictions on the handling of evidence provided by Justice Dept to Trump's legal team. Not unexpectedhttps://t.co/BsLU02Z5fq
(more)
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 19, 2023
Judge's order also specified Trump "shall not retain copies of Discovery Material.”
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 19, 2023
Trump smells a rat! More gangster talk from the head of the Trump Crime Syndicate himself!
🚨NEW: Team Trump Suspects His Former Chief of Staff Is a ‘Rat’ in Federal Investigation
Trump is sending his attorneys and allies on 'fact-finding' missions about what Mark Meadows is up to. They've returned with no answers but lots of suspicions.
— Spiro’s Ghost (@AntiToxicPeople) June 20, 2023
Oh, and something interesting related to the Hunter Biden case:
Important context for Hunter Biden deal: it was made by a Trump appointee who has said he had 100% authority to decide what to do ultimately on the matter. https://t.co/tFG6VL1gyA
— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) June 20, 2023
It’s really great to have a person of integrity as Attorney General again. These days, I recoil at images of Bill Barr even more than I do at images of Trump, and that’s saying something.
Open thread.
NotMax
One vote for Saturday.
Meantime, a bit of a primer. (Also this one.)
Joy in FL
I am interested.
I think either day is ok. I can say for sure after I get home and check my calendar.
Thanks, Imm!
Omnes Omnibus
I don’t do zooms, but the one thing I would say to non-lawyers following this case is that there are going to be a lot of motions and orders flying around. Most of these will be routine even if their titles are something portentous. Please wait for someone to say whether the motion or order is significant or out of the ordinary. It will save everyone a lot of agita. There will be big and important things, but most won’t be. Save your strength.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Great! I should have been more clear. We don’t get to vote on which day – Imm is figuring out which day will work with his schedule. So we’ll get the day we get. :-)
Just trying to give folks a soft heads up/
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Yes! Hoping for help in managing expectations!
edit: I know you don’t do zooms, which is why I didn’t contact you to participate. :-)
bbleh
Okay, so CLEARLY both Reinhart AND Weiss are DEEP-STATE OPERATIVES collaborating with the Democrat Party AND the Illegal Biden Administration* to prevent the American People from learning the TRUTH about the Fake Boxes Hoax and the five MILLION dollars that Ukraine personally paid Biden himself!!
* (Marybeth made me take out the part about the Illuminati, but for sure they’re part of it.)
(Oh and yeah a Zoom with lawyers who know what they’re talking about might be fun! Whenever.)
Mike in NC
Mark Meadows ratting out his former boss? Sweeeeeet!
Maxim
Yes, would love to get Imm’s insights.
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
I caught a bad case of agita once, kept me in bed for three weeks.
Oh wait, that was influenza. Never mind. ;-)
(Seriously, good advice!)
SuzieC
Soon to be another crime: witness tampering or intimidation.
Scout211
In other Republican crime news, George Santos bail backers will be revealed Thursday, judge orders
schrodingers_cat
Deleted double comment
schrodingers_cat
Since this is an open thread. Question: Are any BJers (besides me) interested in Modi’s state visit to the US.
NotMax
Let me just throw this into the mix. Reminder: IANAL nor do I play one on the intertubes.
To any with their hair on fire about a Florida jury ipso facto being in the tank for Dolt 45, keep in mind
• A Florida grand jury voted that charges were warranted.
• While it is not impossible any jury may find him not guilty on all counts, I would discount that outcome (based on what we know from the indictments themselves, plus Smith’s care and diligence as a prosecutor) as being so infinitesimal as to be ignored as occurring IRL.
• Might – stress might – wind up with a hung jury, in which case a new trial could take place. Hung jury on all counts, however, strikes me as implausible.
caringandsensitive
@Scout211: I thought he said he’d rather be in custody than reveal the names. Perhaps he was being less than truthful
SiubhanDuinne
What a great idea to have Immanentize offer Trump Crimes 101. I can participate on either day, so whatever is better for him would be fine. Thanks for setting things up!
BeautifulPlumage
@Scout211: thanks, I was wondering when this would happen. Poor Georgie (ha ha, I crack myself up)
Joy in FL
@WaterGirl: Either day will be great. I will greatly appreciate a fact-based zoom with a lawyer.
bbleh
@NotMax: [sigh] there you go, spoiling some perfectly good agita …
Is it irresponsible to be agitated? It’s irresponsible not to!
ANYway, what I REALLY wanna know, is, who are these “attorneys and allies” Trump is sending to find out about Meadows, and where is he sending them?
“Hi Mr. Smith, my name is, uh, Kared Jushner, and I’m, um, a reporter for, uh, the court! Like, a court reporter? And I need to know, uh, whatever the people in your investigation are saying? Like, uh … [flips ostentatiously through blank notebook] some guy named Meadow? Is that right? Or Meadows? What’s he said? And can you give me copies of interview notes or depositions? For the court!”
zhena gogolia
I might be interested in the zoom, depending on day and time.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Oh, yay on finding out the names of the Santos creeps who paid his bail. There’s a good chance there might be some funds related to Republican House members.
That’s my theory, anyway.
bbleh
@Scout211: @WaterGirl: I read somewhere several days ago that somebody said they were mostly or entirely family members.
Sure Lurkalot
Zoom with Imm sounds fabulous, hope I can catch it! Thanks WG.
Mousebumples
I don’t Zoom but if there’s a coinciding live blog, I may be able to stop by Saturday night. Thursday is definitely booked – Saturday is uncertain. (yay for out of town relatives visiting with uncertain plans, lol /sarcasm)
Thanks for coordinating to bring down the median Juicer blood pressure!
NotMax
@Scout211
“By George, unfreeze the docket.”
– Ghost of Henry Higgins
;)
Roger Moore
@WaterGirl:
I’m sure it will be some very recognizable names, like Anita Mann and Harry Cox.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodingers_cat:
I am interested in your thoughts on the Modi state visit. Maybe a guest post?
RaflW
Legal news!
A federal judge in Arkansas on Tuesday struck down the state’s law forbidding medical treatments for children and teenagers seeking gender transitions, blocking what had been the first in a wave of such measures championed by conservative lawmakers across the country…
Dist Court Judge Moody Jr. in Little Rock said the law both discriminated against transgender people and violated constitutional rights for doctors. He also said that the state of Arkansas had failed to substantially prove a number of its claims, including that the care was experimental or carelessly prescribed to teenagers.
“Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients…”
—
The law had been enjoined since 2021, but this ruling now settles the case (pending appeal, of course).
Geminid
@WaterGirl: This will be interesting. The question may become, who gave the three guarantors the money? Who is trying to buy Santos’s silence? Santos has little value in his own right. I think it’s what he knows that motivates his backers now.
Chief Oshkosh
@schrodingers_cat: Yes, I’m interested in the background and how it goes during and outcomes afterwards.
SiubhanDuinne
@bbleh:
Wait, I thought they all perished in the Holocaust. Or 9/11.
H-Bob
I hope Smith is prepared to bring up Trump swiping art works from the embassy in Paris in rebuttal of assertions by Trump’s lawyers that Trump didn’t know he was taking government property or that he thought it belonged to him. I also would be surprised if Trump also didn’t take artifacts belonging to the country from the White House.
Parfigliano
Gotta love how Meadows talking to The Feds about an attempted coup is seen as ratting out. Its always GOP before Country with the GOP.
Layer8Problem
@schrodingers_cat: Sure, who he’s visiting, what line he’s pushing, what he’s soft-pedaling.
tobie
Is Imm Immanentize? I’ve been away for for some time so don’t recognize the name. The topic does sound interesting and I’d try to arrange to be at a Zoom session but I’ll be away over the next two weeks.
Almost Retired
@schrodingers_cat: I am. Here’s an opinion article from today’s Los Angeles Times on the visit. You should be able to open it. I particularly like the author’s characterization of India as the “world’s biggest swing state” in the struggle between democracy and autocracy.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-06-20/biden-modi-india-us-autocracy-democracy-repression
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ob open thread, as somebody likes to say: An interesting thread on the making of the Blues Brothers. The only factoid that surprised me, and I can’t believe I’ve never seen this picture before
I’m still wondering if I’m falling for a spoof
Jay
@Layer8Problem:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/community-meeting-nijjar-killing-1.6881998
He was a big deal in the “No Farmers, No Food” movement.
bbleh
@SiubhanDuinne: they have returned! it’s a miracle! truly we are blessed by the mere presence of Santos!
WaterGirl
@tobie: Yes, the very same. I go with Imm because I can never remember how to spell his nym. :-)
Assuming that you have spelled it correctly, I have added it in parentheses in the post up top.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Music the Blue Brothers would appreciate, appropriate to the topic
Big Mama Thornton, I Smell A Rat.
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: We can do a guest post if you want to put something together. Or you may be putting something together for your blog anyway, but we could post it here, too, if you like.
Quinerly
@Omnes Omnibus:
Excellent advice.
I, too, don’t do Zooms.
MomSense
A zoom on this sounds great.
I’m so annoyed by the fire garland now crowd after that awful WaPo article.
MomSense
O/T VP Harris is going to be on Joy Reid’s show tonight to discuss the end of Roe v Wade one year later.
Matt McIrvin
@MomSense: I’m starting to see speculation that Garland and possibly Biden are conspiring to protect Trump. Very Kendzior-esque.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: “Some people say…”
I did not read the article, but it’s bullshit if they didn’t also interview and hear from “some people who say the other thing”. Especially since they love to both sides EVERYTHING!
Jackie
@Scout211: Ooooh! Rubbing hands gleefully in anticipation!
I’m hoping McQeven is one of the three!
Suzanne
Yes, I would love to attend. I probably will be at yoga on Thursday. So Saturday would be awesome.
Scout211
That might have been his attorney’s statement.
Link
Baud
I too will be hosting a Zoom to talk about the MAL case, except instead of Zoom, it’ll be on OnlyFans and instead of talking, it will be an interpretive dance.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MomSense: You might like this piece from Teri Kanefield. I was especially glad of this part at the end:
I have trouble reading long-form articles on-line, and the Post site is especially bad, so I wasn’t sure if my impression that this was a badly written, badly organized piece was fair, and I’m generally a fan of Carol Leonnig. But MSNBC is off and runnin
ETA: from the Kanefield piece, emphasis mine
Baud
@Scout211: There will likely be a quickie appeal to the Second Circuit, so not quite Thursday, probably.
Jay
@Baud:
with or with out pants?
SiubhanDuinne
@Matt McIrvin:
Well, that’s bizarre.
Geminid
@Jackie: The principals in this matter may be using “cutouts.” For instance, if someone like investor Andrew Intrator, Santos’s biggest backer in 2020, is trying to keep Santos quiet, he’d probably use an intermediary to guarantee Santos’s bail.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2cMG33mWVY
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Pantsless, of course.
Baud
@Jay: Only one way to find out.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
We’ll all be there!
Elizabelle
@Baud: Be sure those fans or balloons will protect your, uh, privacy.
MomSense
@Baud:
Pretty please!!
Dangerman
@Baud: OnlyFans? There WILL be pants worn, right?
I think it was Robin Williams that said that cocaine was God’s way of saying you had too much money. Might have been Richard Prior. Whatever.
But I’m here shaking my head at the stupidity of hopping on to an unqualified vessel to go look at the Titanic. Stupid motherfuckers with too much money.
ETA: Jay got there faster.
Scout211
In good news:
A federal judge strikes down Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming treatment for trans youth
An 80 page ruling!
Baud
@Elizabelle:
My privacy will be protected will well-placed boxes.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud:
Be aware that I only said I don’t do zoom.
MomSense
@Baud:
Will there be chandeliers?
UncleEbeneezer
@Omnes Omnibus:
tobie
@WaterGirl: Thanks. Abbreviations and acronyms were never my strong suit.
WaterGirl
@tobie: acronyms are my pet peeve. But he’s Imm and SD is Subaru Diane because I can never remember how to spell them.
Baud
@MomSense:
What bathroom scene would be complete without one.
UncleEbeneezer
@RaflW: Hopefully this will the the first of many:
BeautifulPlumage
@Baud: “It’s my dick in a box oooh oooh” is what you seem to be describing. Is this the song you’ll be using for your sans-pants dance?
eta-corrected typo
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Now I feel bad about using WG.
Ken
Remind me which House Republicans were calling themselves the “Five Families”, showing either absolutely no, or entirely too much, awareness of history.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Ooh, I’ve always wanted to have something in common with Imm, and now I do!
Ken
Well, it’s the law. He can’t just say “You dumbasses, absolutely every doctor and psychiatrist I spoke to said your stated reasons for passing this law were complete garbage.”
Ohio Mom
@schrodingers_cat: I had not heard anything about it. I will have to Google the details.
I am having a moment of pity for the Biden’s, who will have to graciously welcome and host Modi, all while knowing much more about what scum he is than I could possibly imagine (after all, I do not get PDBs).
ETA: Almost Retired has done my research for me, off to read the link.
UncleEbeneezer
@Omnes Omnibus: And this one, also from Elizabeth de la Vega (former Fed Prosecutor) is from only a minute ago:
Jay
@Baud:
with or with out cats in the boxes,
not really interested in catless boxes,…..
Manyakitty
@Baud: torn between “I’ll be there!” and “My eyes!”
Dangerman
@Baud: So, you’re saying it’s going to be a kind of pole dance; use proper safety gear, I hear those things can be dangerous
WaterGirl
@Baud: Oh, I like WG just fine. I know what that one means! :-)
Matt McIrvin
@schrodingers_cat: Yes, absolutely.
Uncle Cosmo
He didn’t mean to kiss it, he was trying to Polish it with his tongue and missed … :^p
TS
Seems to be compulsory to now talk about who appointed a judge before their remarks/rulings can be considered. This does not sound like a democracy, nor like a balanced legal system. It would seem republicans believe only judges appointed by republicans are fit to oversee any case The lasting legacy of Mitch McConnell will be the “trump appointed judges” – they will be around for 50 years.
SiubhanDuinne
@Uncle Cosmo:
Ooh, what you did there! I saw!
Dopey-o
Wake me up for the sentencing hearing. I’m pretty confident that nothing we hear in the trial will be surprising.
(Lighting candle to Murphy the Trickster God in 3….. 2…… 1……)
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: You mean besides both of you being intelligent, well-read, interesting and fun? Those weren’t enough for you? :-)
CindyH
@schrodingers_cat: yes from a mostly lurker
Maxim
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That person might or might not be Belushi, and the background certainly doesn’t look like Chicago (nor the set of the film), so I am noncommittal.
@schrodingers_cat: Definitely.
Geminid
It’s primary day in Virginia and polls just closed. The Blue Virginia news site (bluevirginia.us) is doing a live blog covering results.
Democrats have some hard-fought Senate primaries, in part because of redistricting. In Tidewater, Senate heavyweights L. Louise Lucas and Lionel Spruill are in a close race. In Prince William County, former Delegates Joyce(?) Carroll Foy and Haya Ayala are contending in a district centered 30 miles south of DC.
In the Charlottesville-Albemarle County-based 18th Senate District, young progressive Delegate Sally Hudson is trying to unseat veteran Senator Creigh Deeds.
But the race catching the most attention is just south of Richmond, where former Delegate Lashrecse Aird is trying to topple the notorious Senator Joe Morrissey.
NotMax
@Baud
The What-the-f*ck-tusi?
prostratedragon
Jim@52: Seeing as things are moving apace now, I don’t get the point of airing this speculation now anyway. Unless of course it’s to try to undermine Garland, or perhaps Wray or Biden.
Another Scott
@Geminid: Jennifer.
Some of the TV ads in the Ayala / Foy race were surprisingly brutal. It’ll be interesting to see who comes out ahead.
Politics ain’t beanbag, as they say.
Cheers,
Scott.
Joseph Patrick Lurker
@Omnes Omnibus:
@Mousebumples:
Are you opposed to all webinars regardless of the software involved or are you simply opposed to Zoom itself?
NotMax
@Joseph Patrick Lurker
Certainly no requirement to appear on camera (WaterGirl doesn’t). Nor even, if one cares just to listen, on mic.
Geminid
@Another Scott: Some ads in the Hudson-Deeds race are pretty rough also. A couple Charlottesville friends are keeping me up with the gossip, and that’s even rougher. It’s too bad; they are both good candidates, just in different ways.
Odie Hugh Manatee
This bit about Meadows from his attorney in the Rolling Stone article really kills me:
“… Mr. Meadows has maintained a commitment to tell the truth where he has a legal obligation to do so.”
I hope his wife gets this message…lol! At least his attorney makes it clear that Meadows isn’t to be trusted outside a court of law. What a line…
Another Scott
@Another Scott: From BlueVirginia.US
Ayala was the Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate last go round. Unfortunately, Dominion seems to have their tentacles in almost every big-name candidate in the state, and they love throwing their weight around. It’ll be interesting if Foy can defeat her.
Cheers,
Scott.
rekoob
@Another Scott: @Geminid: It appears Joe Morrissey is down for the count, at least:
Blue Virginia Races
mrmoshpotato
Soviet shitpile mobster conmanbaby is having a fat, orange, fascist SAD!
Awwww……cry harder, you dumbshit who could’ve continued criming if you didn’t run for President!
prostratedragon
The picture of the Blues Brothers and the churchman, likely the Pope, looks like it was taken in City Hall, which was a location used in the movie.
Geminid
@rekoob: It also looks like goofball Senator Amanda Chase has lost her Republican primary. Gaah! What a mess she was.
bbleh
@Scout211: @Ken: I could never have been a lawyer, much less a judge, because I would NEVER have the patience to write a careful, detailed, appeal-proof 80-page decision rather than calling them into court and screaming at them about how completely full of shit they are.
Anyway
@Layer8Problem:
All of the above, and TBH the menu at the dinner. The WH culinary team has interesting um, fusion, dishes.
Omnes Omnibus
@Joseph Patrick Lurker: I said what I said.
JoyceH
I believe it was Santos himself who claimed the bond was paid by family members. Personally, I suspect his “wealthy family” is as fictitious as everything else about him – his mom was certainly a domestic in Brazil.
catclub
How about this? One party’s lawyer offers Judge $10k to fix the case, other party’s lawyer offers $15k to fix it. Judge calls both parties into chambers, ostentatiously returns $5k to second lawyer, then says, “Now I will just decide the case on the merits.”
catclub
@Dangerman: