Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

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

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

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

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

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

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / Another Indictment Open Thread: Judge Chutkan

Another Indictment Open Thread: Judge Chutkan

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Let’s get this framed and mounted over the courthouse door: “Presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president.”


Reader Interactions

211Comments

  1. 1.

    Alison Rose

    Since we use that wonderful line as a rotating tag, can we call her “friend of the blog Judge Chutkan”, à la Adam Schiff? I’m gonna.

  5. 5.

    Ken

    So, the speedy DC trial, and the delays in the Florida trial — is there a chance that convicted felon Trump would have to show up in the Florida court in an orange jumpsuit and prison shackles? And without makeup, hair spray, or shoe lifts?

    I don’t think that’s the image he wants to project, either in court or during his presidential campaign.

  6. 6.

    Anne Laurie

    @Scout211: Someone downstairs posted that CNN identified co-conspirator #6 as Jason Miller.

    I was hoping for Steve Bannon (and I wasn’t the only one), but pinning Jason Miller is also a good day’s work!

  8. 8.

    Spanky

    Today is also one of the cross-quarter days, midway between the solstices and equinoxes. The others are Groundhog Day (Candlemas), May Day, and All Saints Day/Halloween.

    Today was once the celebration of the blessing of the loaves made from the first grain from the harvest. Loaf Mass, or Lammas. Henceforth, it should be remembered as Lame Ass Day.

  9. 9.

    hells littlest angel

    @Ken: … is there a chance that convicted felon Trump would have to show up in the Florida court in an orange jumpsuit and prison shackles? And without makeup, hair spray, or shoe lifts?

     

    That’s how I want him to show up to debate Joe Biden.

  14. 14.

    MattF

    I was worried that the J6 indictment (and prosecution) would get bogged down by the size of the cast of characters— but Smith has avoided that particular trap. There is only one person accused of crimes, and it’s not unreasonable to think he could now have a speedy trial.

    And the accusation that Trump conspired to deprive people who voted against him of their votes is a good one. People who support him now should be asked if they think it’s okey-dokey to deprive Democrats of their votes.

  15. 15.

    Alison Rose

    Okay, but Ruhle needs to be quiet and let other people talk. I know there’s always crosstalk when they have these big panels, but JFC.

  17. 17.

    Keith P.

    It’s pretty interesting that Boris Ephysteyn isn’t in there. I’d have expected him to be front in center in the indictments, but I also wouldn’t expect him to flip on Trump.

  20. 20.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Amazing resemblance btwn Jack Smith and Snake Plissken

  22. 22.

    TS

    @MattF:

    People who support him now should be asked if they think it’s okey-dokey to deprive Democrats of their votes.

    Depending on how you define those Democrats – many would think yes – would they say it out loud?

  23. 23.

    raven

    Ari

    “Sometimes the internet is like being in a book club where no-one has read the book”!

  25. 25.

    Jackie

    @Scout211: I still think/hope it’s Peter Navarro, author of The Green Bay Sweep – which was the tutorial for appointing the fake electors in the seven states TIFG tried to flip AFTER the election.

  31. 31.

    Scout211

    @Jackie: I still think/hope it’s Peter Navarro

    It still could be.

    I clicked on the link that was posted for the CNN report and it didn’t actually say anything about Jason Miller. So if Jason Miller was identified in that report, they may have walked it back. Right now #6 is still not identified on CNN.

    Navarro, Miller, Bannon.  I would be happy with any of them named as a co-conspirator.

  32. 32.

    craigie

    @MattF:

    People who support him now should be asked if they think it’s okey-dokey to deprive Democrats of their votes.

    I think we all know the answer to that one.

  33. 33.

    Jackie

    Did I hear there are references to SIX SENATORS and ONE CONGRESS person who TIFG contacted J6 evening AFTER the insurrectionists were sent home???

    If so, will these individuals be indicted? And who are they???

    eta I have my suspicions for a few names…

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    Trundled up from downstairs.

    (Very quickly scribbled out, to the tune of “chestnuts roasting on an open fire.”)

    The Smithmas Song

    Trump’s butt planted in a courtroom seat
    Jack Smith reading what he knows
    Charges one through four being entered in turn
    Before a judge who is berobed
    For we know obstruction and conspiracy
    Prove to make the case airtight
    Doubts erased with each witness who’s called
    As lies are brought into the light
    ;)

  36. 36.

    Jeffro

    trump indicted for Jan 6.  at last

    -J. Rubin

    All praise certainly goes to Smith for halting the hemming, hawing and general lack of initiative evident in the Justice Department’s early approach to investigating Trump. Few prosecutors could have acted so quickly to gather a mass of testimony, successfully litigate complex issues in multiple venues and deliver gobsmacking “talking” indictments. It’s all the more remarkable since he had to bring a separate case based on the Espionage Act.

    But before memory fades, we cannot forget the work of the House Jan. 6 committee, its staff and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who pushed forward by appointing two admirable Republicans to the committee after Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) yanked his members.

    It was the Jan. 6 committee that first presented the country with a coherent view of the coup, brought forth witnesses such as former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson and scores of other Republicans to describe the coup plotting; showed how Trump and his cohorts endangered the lives of poll workers; and explained that Trump knew militia men were armed when he egged them on to the Capitol. They put all the pieces together in a compelling narrative. Despite cynical pundits’ insistence that the hearings would be boring or repetitive, the committee kept Americans glued to the proceedings with well-crafted multimedia presentations. Tuesday’s indictment faithfully follows the narrative the committee laid out.

    After the entire country saw evidence of the conspiracy set forth by the committee, the Justice Department would have been hard pressed to justify declining to prosecute. In short, the Jan. 6 committee made this week’s jaw-dropping developments possible. Democracy is in their debt.

  38. 38.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Given how poorly received Ron DeSantis has been, what is the GOP plan if Trump is convicted before the ’24 elections?

  39. 39.

    West of the Rockies

    As repellant as I find Bannon to be, Navarro’s always enraged demeanor is more annoying.  I hope they both are ruined, but if I had to choose… Navarro.

  40. 40.

    Shalimar

    @Trollhattan: #6 isn’t Navarro or Stephen Miller.  Both were still government employees at the time, not political consultants.  Bannon, Stone, and Jason Miller are all decent guesses

    edit: I have also seen Tom Fitton offered as a reasonable possibility.

  41. 41.

    Mike in Pasadena

    My favorite bit is the senior campaign advisor’s e-mail to tfg: “You can see why were 0-32 on our [court] cases. I’ll obviously help on all fronts, but it’s tough to own any of this when it’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.”

    I love it, conspiracy garbage from off planet beamed down to tfg.

  42. 42.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Spanky: ​
     

    Today is also one of the cross-quarter days,

      roughly

    midway between the solstices and equinoxes. The others are Groundhog Day (Candlemas), May Day, and All Saints Day/Halloween.

    Fixed. And it’s really quite roughly – since the equinoxes and solstices are on about the 20th or 21st of their months, the midway points would be about the 5th or 6th of the in-between months.

  43. 43.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @YY_Sima Qian: trump appeals and they roll right on

    trump drops dead: Then it’s a free-for-all, depending on where in th primary calendar he snuffs it

  45. 45.

    Jackie

    @Jeffro: Anyone thinking Jennifer Ruben hasn’t re-registered as a Democrat is nuts. She won’t ever be full-blown progressive, but she’s proving to be left of moderate. And I say Welcome Aboard!

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jeffro:

    All praise certainly goes to Smith for halting the hemming, hawing and general lack of initiative evident in the Justice Department’s early approach to investigating Trump.

    god, this is so exhausting

    Few prosecutors could have acted so quickly to gather a mass of testimony, successfully litigate complex issues in multiple venues

    she’s a former lawyer (granted, she worked in entertainment law) and sort of a journalist and she thinks all this gathering of testimony and litigation of issues started last November?

    Mar-A-Lago was raided six months before Smith was appointed. Jeffrey Clarke was standing in his driveway in his underwear before Cassidy Hutchinson testified

  49. 49.

    patrick II

    @Shalimar: ​& I am going with Navarro since I saw him confess his part in the conspiracy to Ari on MSNBC. ​​Not to mention his part in convincing Trump to take a natural immunity policy during the pandemic. I know it’s not relevant but his arrogant ass needs to go down hard.​​

  53. 53.

    Mike in Pasadena

    @Spanky: I didn’t even know there were cross-quarter days. And I was a navigator-bombardier in USAF when we still used celestial navigation (with a sextant suspended from a port on the roof of the second floor) on most every flight for practice even though we had radar scopes, an inertial navigation system that launched one of the weapons, and a 1945-era nav-bomb “computer.” We had to learn a lot about the stars, constellations, etc. I still own a copy of “the Bowditch,” (Bowditch, Nathaniel, 1773-1838, U.S. mathematician, astronomer, and navigator) the huge book published by the U.S. Navy on navigation, back when celestial nav was still important.

  54. 54.

    Subsole

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    The plan is to run spoilers and get their simps in the media to depress our coalition by running constant negative stories.

    Their plan is to keep us fractured, infighting and apathetic, while also  turning up the brainscrews on their base, getting them out to vote with the promise that they will pardon and avenge Trump. It won’t be enough to win a straight-up fight, but they don’t need to do that. They have an Electoral College and the Slimebag Six.

    For the rank and file? The plan is violence. Lots of violence. Stochastic and otherwise.

     

    Will it work? Depends. These assholes are crazy enough to not care and desperate enough to try it.

     

    Now, what will be really interesting is if Trump starts throwing various GOP bigwigs under the bus to save his hide. Who took which oligarch’s money in exchange for what. That sort of thing.

  56. 56.

    mvr

    @Alison Rose: Sorry, I got that there was a joke there but I guess I thought it was the kind of thing that is still a joke if it does end up a rotating tag.

  57. 57.

    M31

    christ, I’m finishing reading the pdf indictment and it’s so chilling

    Yeah, stupid clowns spoonfeeding each other lies that are repeatedly debunked and refuted, even by their own allies, but also it shows the many points at which it could have been much much worse

    fuck those pieces of shit and I hope they rot in jail

  58. 58.

    Shalimar

    @patrick II: Navarro definitely belongs in prison for his known part in these conspiracies.  And for being the most aggressively arrogant member of the Trump administration, which was an amazing accomplishment with so many massive egos involved.  I just don’t think he is #6 or they would identify him by his job like they did with Clark.

  60. 60.

    tobie

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I give up. These are facts you won’t hear on MSNBC.

    Mar-A-Lago was raided six months before Smith was appointed. Jeffrey Clarke was standing in his driveway in his underwear before Cassidy Hutchinson testified

  62. 62.

    p.a.

    Wonder if the multiple prosecutions for Jan6 violence will have any effect on the simps’ minds to disincentivize prospective violence?

    Not talking the committed fascists, they’ll try shit but how many are there without the used car dealers, oxygen-tank tRumpies, half-assed general contractors fellow travellers who should be scared off by the low-level putzes already in the judicial system.

  66. 66.

    BR

    @p.a.: ​
    Funny that you include contractors in your list. It does seem like single truck contractors fit that pattern to a T.

  68. 68.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    Howdy from Bar Harbor, Maine.  We drove here today from Cape Cod.  I missed all the news today.  Holy fuck! Looking forward to some late night comment reading.

  69. 69.

    SpaceUnit

    This is somewhat OT but I was just watching the news and it occurred to me that the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer would make a perfect body double for trump.  Give that guy some orange face paint and a shitty blonde wig and you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart.  Creepy.

  70. 70.

    Alison Rose

    Doug J is making me laugh

    Once, Twice, Three Times an Indictee
    Legal Commodore Jack Smith thinks convicting Trump will be easy like Sunday morning, but the Donald’s document snatch is more Guy Richie than Lionel Richie.

    by Maureen Dowd

    — New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) August 1, 2023

    In order to secure a true mandate, Biden must first pardon Trump, then defeat Trump by a wide margin in the general election.
    — New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) August 2, 2023

    Is Jack Smith securing too many indictments?
    — New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) August 2, 2023

  71. 71.

    TS

    A summary of some state charges related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Seems supporting trump in his endeavours does have some negative outcomes

    https://wapo.st/3YeWip5  (should be a gift link)

    A former Michigan lawmaker and a losing candidate for state attorney general were charged with felonies Tuesday as part of an investigation into the improper acquisition of voting machines.

    Following the 2020 election, four clerks in three Michigan counties turned over voting tabulators to third parties, investigators found. They were taken to suburban Detroit, where a group of four men broke into the machines and performed “tests” on them, according to Nessel’s office. The group held onto the machines for weeks or months but returned them to clerks — in one case in a carpool parking lot — after the clerks grew apprehensive, documents show.

  73. 73.

    Ishiyama

    I anticipate further steps by the prosecutors. They have many arrows in their quivers. Just imagine if they have secret warrants for wiretaps on the defendants’ non-attorney communications, post-indictment, to cite one trick that I have had played on my client in the remote past.

  76. 76.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ishiyama:

    anticipate further steps by the prosecutors. They have many arrows in their quivers.

    My understanding is that those unnamed co-conspirators (almost certainly Clarke, Eastman and the Kraken lady, per TV speculation) aren’t so much not charged as not charged yet? Just heard Weisman say, as night follows day, Clarke is going to be charged. And not-twitter is telling me that Rudi is on all those sub-fox networks squealing like a stuck pig tonight.

  78. 78.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    I wonder how many of the unindicted co-conspirators have wives or at least adult children that they are close to that will say “that’s it – ENOUGH! He’s not worth you going down with him, time to cut a deal.”

  79. 79.

    Lyrebird

    @Shalimar: Bannon, Stone, and Jason Miller are all decent guesses

    And any one of them is an  affront to human decency.  No matter what political party or approach you like, these three, plus S Miller and Manafort, they are like black holes actively destroying decency and integrity.

    Apologies to the physicts here for ill informed use of astronomy.

  80. 80.

    Ajabu

    @Tony G:
    Not just a Black woman. A Jamaican born Black woman!  As a Jamaican, I can tell you that you don’t fuck with Jamaican women. Especially not highly educated Jamaican women…

  81. 81.

    mvr

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Naming but not charging them means they have to think about whether to flip before they themselves know the evidence against them. Once Trump is either convicted or acquitted, they have nothing to bargain with.  There is no one besides Trump to whom they compare as small fry.

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Rudi’s daughter doesn’t talk to him, his dumbass (someday to be found broke in a motel room hiding from the Feds, the Mob, or both) son Andrew is probably telling him to sue Jack Smith, and I believe he’s between ex-wives at the moment. I think if anyone can figure out how to spring Judy Nathan from her NDA, it’ll be at least as entertaining as hell.

  84. 84.

    Fair Economist

    @YY_Sima Qian: I don’t know if you can apply “plan” to anything going on in the increasingly muddled minds of the GOP, but US law allows people to run even from jail (Eugene Debs did it), and so the GOP will run Trump as long as he’s not dead.

  90. 90.

    Kayla Rudbek

    So I got my wish for indictments today, and some better news from the recruiter.

    I’m one of the top two candidates for the job I was worried about this morning, they are checking to see if they can hire both of us, and second interview not until at least next week due to vacations (so Mr. Rudbek and I can go take a few days at the beach to celebrate our anniversary).

    And I sent a bunch of suits and jackets to thredUP today, so that should get me some funds to spend on yarn for weaving practice.

  92. 92.

    The Pale Scot

    @Mike in Pasadena:

    I always loved that the SR-71 had a celestial navigation dome that used a computer to navigate because the thing was too fast for any other method. That and a 180 turn at Mach 3 started at the Sierra Nevadas and would be completed at the coast. The French routinely tried to intercept them for not logging a flight plan, the plane would lift up it’s nose and disappear, what a crate!

  93. 93.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Spanky: I did not know that, even though I’ve heard of the holidays you mention. I agree that today can be remembered as “lame ass day”

  95. 95.

    piratedan

    is wondering how the “All The President’s Men” update montage is going to look when they finally do the film about this crime spree.

    I thought that the teletype montage was especially effective, I guess we’ll have to rely on social media posts and memes to bring it up to date…

    Is hopeful that this is the beginning of a grand reckoning and once the sentencing begins and the depth of the corruption is revealed may generate a sea change in our country, both in the understanding of the rule of law, the power of the vote and the prosecution of the political stain on our Democracy for the crimes they committed.

  96. 96.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    I’m liking the notion of that stupid fuck Cleta Mitchell being #6. I’ve interacted with her – the woman would lose a duel of wits with a bag of hammers.

  99. 99.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    My understanding is that those unnamed co-conspirators (almost certainly Clarke, Eastman and the Kraken lady, per TV speculation) aren’t so much not charged as not charged yet?

    They could always flip… if they hurry.

  102. 102.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Subsole:

    Their plan is to keep us fractured, infighting and apathetic,

    Hasn’t seemed to work so far, judging by the 2022 midterms. Dobbs won’t be going away.

    I’m honestly skeptical that No Labels running some non-entity will be effective either

  107. 107.

    Jackie

    Apropos of nothing; someone mentioned earlier to having a crush on Andrew Weissmann. I confess that I do, too! And, he looks extra spiffy in his gold-speckled tie this evening!🥰

  109. 109.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    We went looking for some current TV coverage a little while ago, ended up watching some Rachel Maddow segments.

    One of them (might have been from an older show) was about how broke many Republican state parties are. It was a pretty amazing report. Are they finally, finally collapsing for real?

    It’s also nice to read how TFG doesn’t have any campaign funds because it’s all going to legal bills.

    I’m beginning to think we might be very happy with the 2024 elections, top to bottom.

  111. 111.

    Suzanne

    Can any of the attorneys who are unidentified co-conspirators be disbarred, even if not convicted?

  112. 112.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: that was yesterday’s show. Minnesota and Colorado state parties being broke didn’t surprise me. Arizona did. And Kari Lake was going to raise money for another state’s party– Ohio, was it?

  113. 113.

    Jackie

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Yes, in four states to my knowledge, the GQP are in deep financial 💩. And TIFG’s attorney expenses are costing him more than he’s currently able to grift. Lots of good news this week!

  117. 117.

    danielx

    @Fair Economist: ​
     James Michael Curley got re-elected as mayor of Boston while under federal indictment, in a fine display of Irish American solidarity. Granted, they’ve always had a flair for flamboyant political corruption.

  119. 119.

    BR

    I see griping about the fact that TFG was charged under a law from 1866. Wait till they hear how old the constitution is.

  121. 121.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Chris Hayes is trending on no-longer-twitter, and it’s mostly dope-slaps for his “This indictment is really an indictment of Merrick Garland…” bullshit
    It amuses me because you know he reads those tweets (tweexts?)

  122. 122.

    Patricia Kayden

    @MattF: “People who support him now should be asked if they think it’s okey-dokey to deprive Democrats of their votes.”

    Yes. Yes they do. See voter suppression tactics.

  124. 124.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ​

    Just listened to it again because I forgot some of the details. Kari Lake is going to help Michigan.

    But fake electors are also a growing issue. I think she said the Georgia state party is stuck with legal bills for the fake electors they promised to pay, and that is draining their coffers.

    Also the Republicans in California got into a fistfight. I’m a little confused about that one. As I understand it, It sounds like TFG had asked them to rig the primary rules for California, which they were doing, but some of the MAGAs got confused and thought something anti-TFG was going on.

  126. 126.

    YY_Sima Qian

    I do hope running Trump from prison (or even as a convict on appeal), followed by a 2nd Biden term, will really be “peak wing nut” in America.

  128. 128.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    And Kari Lake was going to raise money for another state’s party– Ohio, was it?

    I can only wish. She’s like kryptonite for Republican fundraising and getting Republicans actually elected

    I had a stupid conversation with an older co-worker today during a break. A pro-Issue 1 commercial came on the tv, blathering on about “trans ideology” in schools and the No campaign supposedly trying to “abolish parental rights”. I shook my head and the co-worker noticed and asked me what was up.

    I tried to explain about what Issue 1 was about and that the Yes campaign is just fearmongering, trying trick people into giving up their freedom to amend the state constitution by majority vote.

    Well, as it turned out this person is a low info idiot who buys into all of the “wokeness is BS, canceling is real, we used to just leave people alone and move on, etc as well as the hysteria wrt to 6 years olds “transitioning”. Doesn’t trust the union and usually votes the opposite way it recommends. Oi.

    I confess I didn’t know how to counter the specific trans stuff in the moment, but I knew it was a BS distraction that isn’t true and I told her so. I bluntly told her that voting yes would be voting against her own interests. I also asked her why the Ohio GOP is placing restrictions on us and not on themselves to put initiatives on the ballot all the while the legislature is gerrymandered to hell. It had been fine for 100 years. A simple majority of voters should be allowed to have a say on these issues.

    I never got any real answers out of her and couldn’t convince her. She then asked me if I was in college. I told her I had gone to college, why?

    She replied with some bullshit about professors brainwashing students. So in other words, I, a 20 something year old grown man (closer to 30, but she probably doesn’t know that) couldn’t have possibly have come to my own opinions. I simply repied that all my professors did was expose us to different points of view and information. She tried to lamely say that, even though we disagreed, we could still get along in the future. A brief look on my face must have betrayed my true feelings when she said this, so she said, “so we can’t?”

    I placated her and said of course we can. But honestly? I wanted to tell her:

    “You’re voting to screw me and a lot of other people over, how am I supposed to feel? What do you think?”

    Even leaving aside abortion rights, this Issue 1 could make it impossible for a new minimum wage initiative to get on the ballot. These people don’t get how personal this is

    She said she wasn’t entirely sure how she was going to vote and she might even not vote, but it blew my mind how stupid this person was. I never would’ve pegged her as such. I don’t work very closely with her for the record anyway

  130. 130.

    chrisanthemama

    @Mike in NC: right after the judge’s name was published this afternoon, I immediately googled her, and ended up on Wikipedia.  The first paragraph ended with something to the effect that trump would not be able to get a fair trial (based on nothing more than her appointment to the fed bench by Obama, and her judgment of J6 defendants).   I dunno how to change anything on Wikipedia, but I was pleased to go back a couple hours later to see that statement removed.  Thanks, Wikipedia monitor, whoever you may be.

  131. 131.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jackie:

    Thanks

    Wow, even the Georgia state party is struggling.

    Where did you see Wisconsin? In the article, it along with the Ohio GOP has $1 million. I saw Minnesota’s party was in really bad shape. It had like $54 and was several hundred thousand dollars in debt

  133. 133.

    mvr

    @chrisanthemama: ​
     Wikipedia is actually a lot better than its reputation. I know people make fun of it as a source, but if you are careful about which entries you use and also about how you use it, it is as good as lots of other encyclopedias and more comprehensive.

    I send them a donation every now and again since I use them.

  137. 137.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @MattF:

    People who support him now should be asked if they think it’s okey-dokey to deprive Democrats of their votes.

    Narrator voice: They absolutely do. To them any Democratic vote is by definition illegal and invalid.

  139. 139.

    CaseyL

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ​\>

    I think you should have said what you were thinking:

    “You’re voting to screw me and a lot of other people over, how am I supposed to feel? What do you think?”

    …or, since you have to work with this lint-head, something along the lines of “We work in the same place, so of course I will continue to be polite to you,” and see if she can figure that out.​

  142. 142.

    Burnspbesq

    @MattF:

    People who support him now should be asked if they think it’s okey-dokey to deprive Democrats of their votes.

    The modal answer will be “hell yeah!”

  143. 143.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @NotMax: He’s as much of a fucking idiot on this stuff as Mehdi Hasan and Nicole Wallace.  They get paid to bash Garland/Dems and spread doom.  Pathetic grifters who have monetized other peoples’ fear/insecurity.

  144. 144.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    I assume the DOJ is watching closely for post-indictment criming — witness intimidation/tampering among other reasons. 

    Oooooo to slap trash in the face with more indictments!  Be still my bones!

  145. 145.

    laura

    The indictment was a fast read, clear and concise. My take is that trump is a shambolic Catherine wheel of criming and he’s absolutely racist as a person can be. Also, he had so many ready, willing and attempted-able individuals, it’s just stunning. I’m still holding out hope for a Silverado Savings & Loan sprawling set of indictments, trials, convictions and hard time. And the pony.

  146. 146.

    Burnspbesq

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    My favorite Andrew Giuliani story is about the time the entire Duke men’s golf team (except for him) went to the head coach and asked that he be thrown off the team because he was such a dick.

  147. 147.

    Burnspbesq

    @Suzanne:

    Rudy, Eastman, Powell, and Clark are all facing pending disciplinary proceedings that could ultimately result in disbarment. Cleta Mitchell was kicked out of a lucrative BigLaw partnership because her partners feared the loss of clients due to her antics.

  150. 150.

    Ms. Deranged in AZ

    @Nettoyeur:
    @Alison Rose: Scottish or Scots are the correct terms.  Scotch is alcohol but leave it to Cheeto Bandolini to not understand his mother’s own culture.   His mother was from a small village on the Isle of Lewis and was raised in a garlic speaking croft.  His paternal grandfather was from Germany.   Was quite successful out west til he came back to NY and had Fred.

  151. 151.

    sab

    @Kent: Possibly something to do with it being in Mark Meadows former congressional district. The battle over gerrymandering has been shifting Asheville back and forth between 10th and 11th district.

  152. 152.

    Burnspbesq

    @Kent:

    Nobody really knows (yet), but there is widespread speculation that Trump paid a call on Meadows—and if that’s the case, an investigation into potential witness tampering would clearly be appropriate.

  154. 154.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    I don’t know Jack but I sure like his indictment of TFG. i just finished reading the whole thing and I wish I still smoked because I sure wanted one afterward…lol! The standout bit for me was his line to Pence of “You’re too honest”, making it very clear that TFG is a fucking liar about anything and everything.

    It’s a damned good read. I have read many indictments over the years and this one had my attention from beginning to end. As presented, TFG’s ass is grass and Jack’s coming to mow it down.

  158. 158.

    JWR

    Oh, Richie, you dope. Didn’t it become known during the Jan 6 hearings that TFG told at least a few people that he couldn’t believe he’d lost to Biden? So yeah, Richie, no! He knew. [ETA but thanks for the good wishes.]

    Stuart Stevens
    @stuartpstevens 4h
    The “Jeffrey Dahmer was actually hungry” defense.

    Rich Lowry
    @RichLowry 8h
    Good luck proving that Trump knew he lost the election, when he—whether behind closed doors or in public, whether with one person or massive crowds—has consistently maintained that he won with an apparent passionate sincerity

    Aug 2, 2023 · 2:38 AM UTC

    Nitter doesn’t have Twitter’s Embed Code option. I had to do the above formatting manually. :(

  159. 159.

    yellowdog

    @Matt McIrvin: I don’t  think the kraken lady is sufficiently attached to reality to be able to flip. She may be able to plead out on mental incompetence.

  160. 160.

    eclare

    @Kathleen:

    I’ve never watched his show, but I’ve seen him as a guest on Seth Meyers, and that’s enough.  Total bro-fest.

    I don’t watch Bernie on any show anymore, same with Chris.

  163. 163.

    JWR

    @JWR:

    Didn’t it become known during the Jan 6 hearings that TFG told at least a few people that he couldn’t believe he’d lost to Biden?

    To answer my own question, it came out during Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony. From The Hill:

    Former President Trump told his then-chief of staff “this is embarrassing,” and “I don’t want people to know that we lost,” after the Supreme Court ruled against him on a key case about the 2020 election, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

  164. 164.

    Kathleen

    @NotMax: “If Merrick Garland hadn’t been sitting on his hands on January 6th Trump would be in jail right now”. By Chris Hayes

  169. 169.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Fair Economist: ​
     

    US law allows people to run even from jail (Eugene Debs did it), and so the GOP will run Trump as long as he’s not dead.

    And your average prisoner gets no public appearances, no posting to social media, and maybe a few phone calls a week. He’d be practically invisible during the campaign if they treat his access to the outside world like that of any other prisoner.

    I have to believe that would reduce the intensity of his support among the less fervent of his otherwise likely voters. The hardcore 30% or so will show up for him in November 2024, but let’s see how many of the rest vote. I’m guessing there’d be a bit of a drop-off compared to 2020.

  170. 170.

    p.a

    I hope the USG and state gvts have enough resources to make every one of his filthy followers who make online or other public threats feel heat for it.  IANAL so I don’t know where current law stands on “incitement to riot” but I will laugh my ass off if laws passed to intimidate the left were used against them.  And if course threats against individuals are another issue.

  171. 171.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Mar-A-Lago was raided six months before Smith was appointed. Jeffrey Clarke was standing in his driveway in his underwear before Cassidy Hutchinson testified

    I thought the M-A-L raid was for the stolen doc case, not the J6 case. So doesn’t seem to apply to what Jenghazi* was talking about.

    But the JC in underwear in his driveway scene – multi-purpose and never gets old.

    *She’ll be that to me for still some time, I suspect. And some of her current writing reflects her continued lack of self-reflection, as Jim and Tobie (and others) point out. I know, I know – I should accept new allies, and I do, but I’m still wary of them all.

  172. 172.

    JMG

    According to the brave/poor souls who covered Jan. 6 trials in DC, Judge Chutkin was scrupulously concerned with defendants’ rights during their trials. Then, after the verdict, she brought the hammer down.

  173. 173.

    eversor

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    You’re right not to trust them.  These people riled up a pack of religious nutters, fascists, race war mongers, and more and rode it to power for tax cuts and foreign policy.  They only realized their error when their monster started to bite their heads off.

    A few of them, Tim Miller and Stu Stevens come to mind, have come out and given full grovel on the ground appologies and admitted they full well knew what they were doing.  While that doesn’t absolve them, they are OK.  It’s a step.  The rest of these assholes just breeze past the past and pretend Reagan was OK.

  175. 175.

    hueyplong

    @JMG: Seeing as how Judge Sirica is unavailable, she’ll do.

    Presumably, there will be more J6 cases between now and Trump’s trial, before her and others. Each one will probably be viewed a little more intensely in the new context.  And I’m here for it. The pigs will squeal, but they’re both literally and figuratively playing defense.

  176. 176.

    Gvg

    @YY_Sima Qian: Plan? They don’t do plans anymore. Not plans that work anyway. They live in fantasyland. Several different fantasylands too. Fanatics and fools. The GOP has been degenerating since about 2000 when they reached a tipping point of electing a majority who had been raised on election lies and believed them IMO. It’s also when the Republican house leaders lost control and all of them showed they were rather fools too.

    At this point, they have fractured. The big problem is the worship the idea that it is bad and weak to compromise. All of them think they should get exactly what they want, all of the time, and they don’t all want the same thing of course. Without Trump, it’s going to stall and do nothing. They could go into the election with no candidate if everything went just right on timing. Unlikely but the no compromise fetish is a big problem for all of us and bad for democracy.

  177. 177.

    hueyplong

    @egorelick: Clark has it coming. He brought shame to the DOJ and they rightly feel the need to make a serious and unforgettable example of him.

  180. 180.

    Matt McIrvin

    @yellowdog: Mental incompetence is Trump’s own best defense at this point–that he never lied, never practiced any knowing deception, because he has no sense of truth or falsehood outside of his own beliefs. Which is why the indictment goes out of its way to highlight moments at which Trump displayed knowledge of the falsehood of his claims. But it might be possible to argue that this was only a fleeting lift of the overarching delusion. Of course they’ll continue to argue to the rubes on the campaign trail that Trump really was robbed of a landslide win in 2020.

  181. 181.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Ms. Deranged in AZ: ​
     

    His mother was from a small village on the Isle of Lewis and was raised in a garlic speaking croft.

    You might want to fix that. Autocorrect is a bitch sometimes.

  182. 182.

    Ken

    @Robert Sneddon: Autocorrect is a bitch sometimes.

    There’s been a lot of comments to that effect recently, with a theme of “it changed it after I hit send”. It makes me wonder if one or more companies have released a software update with that “helpful” behavior as the default.

  183. 183.

    Ken

    @chrisanthemama: [Wikipedia article on Judge Chutkan briefly said] trump would not be able to get a fair trial

    I would not be shocked to learn he wanted his lawyers to lean heavily on a “Presidents are Kings, and Trump is President” defense.

  184. 184.

    AM in NC

    @Burnspbesq:   OF COURSE the Giuliani spawn went to Dook.  And the fact that someone could be too much of an asshole for Dook golfers?  Chef’s kiss perfection.

  185. 185.

    BellyCat

    Just finished reading indictment. Masterful legal writing!

    The only thing missing, to really drive the point home of consequences, is a numerical listing of the number of Capital Police injured or dead as a result of inflaming rioters with knowingly false claims.

    Trump is fucked… Especially with this judge, who is clearly prepared to mete out appropriate penalties.

  186. 186.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: The thing that strikes me about it is that this is really the main event, the one that gets at the heart of Trump’s perfidy and his attack on democracy, and the events it describes are largely ones that we remember from the news.

    I just read a BBC story about how the indictment in the documents case has only increased Trump’s political support, because even though a plurality think Trump is guilty, a majority also say the case is “politically motivated”, that Biden is just out to get him.

    And that might continue with this one. But I do think there’s a difference–the documents case is this slightly in-the-weeds thing that sounds like it might be payback for Hillary’s emails; Trump walking out with the documents was not all over the news when it happened; it came to light later. And there have been stories about Biden improperly having documents, etc., that blur it all out some more, regardless of whether that makes any sense.

    The Jan. 6 Capitol riot was Trump blatantly trying to overthrow an election to stay in office, using lies and violence–his central crime against democracy. It actually caused Trump’s public support to crater when it happened, and it was all over the news. Some fraction of the people who denounced it then have since decided it was a fine thing. But it’s harder to brush off.

    If this one does cause Trump’s support to increase some more, I guess we’re in real trouble.

  187. 187.

    Matt McIrvin

    @JWR: At best, this is a kind of insanity defense, unless Lowry thinks Trump’s defense can prove that it’s at least plausible that Trump really won the 2020 election.

  188. 188.

    Geminid

    @Ken:

     

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: The rule change made by California Republicans changes the distribution of the state’s delegates. If a candidate exceeds 50% in the primary next March, he will receive all 169 Delegates. If no one exceeds 50%, Delegates will be awarded in proportion to each candidate’s statewide total.

    Under the old rule, candidates could win up to 3 Delegates per Congressional District, regardless of their total statewide.

  189. 189.

    Geminid

    @Matt McIrvin: I saw one poll that showed that Trump’s support among Republicans has declined by 6% since his indictment in the documents case.  It’s not certain the two events were related, but there was no surge of support.

    My guess is that Trump’s criminal trouble intensifies support among his more ardent supporters while adding to defections from the less committed.

    Some of the latter may see the indictments as making him more likely to lose, and they want a winner. There might be more defections if there was a strong candidate to defect to, but there isn’t.

  190. 190.

    artem1s

    @MattF: ​
     

    I was worried that the J6 indictment (and prosecution) would get bogged down by the size of the cast of characters

    Smith is also using TFG’s predilection to blame others to get out of a jam. The dumbass is going to willingly perjure himself thru the whole trial.

  193. 193.

    Matt McIrvin

    @chrisanthemama: The fact that the judge is a Black woman in DC means a majority of white Americans will never see a conviction as legitimate. It’s unfortunate but it’s where we are.

  194. 194.

    Another Scott

    @Matt McIrvin: The BBC as a whole, and some radio hosts in particular, have some sort of reality distortion field when it comes to US politics (and the war in Ukraine, and …).  You have to work too hard to get the real information from their slant.

    (Remember Tony Jay’s comments about Murdoch cronies running everything there now.)

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  195. 195.

    Betty Cracker

    @Matt McIrvin: I read something the other day (can’t recall where) that aligns with your thesis, i.e., that the J6-related indictment will land differently with the public than the documents case.

    I agree that makes sense. It won’t move the needle among hardened partisans on either side, but the attack on the Capitol building was a shocking event. It’s in a different category than the crimes involved in squirreling documents away.

    A case that keeps Trump’s role in inflicting that national trauma front and center has the potential to be much more damaging with normies.

  196. 196.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Betty Cracker: I’m too much of a cynic to be certain that it WILL land differently with the public. But among the criminal cases, it’s the one that is easiest to explain and where it’s easiest to see what the big problem is.

  197. 197.

    Josie

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: ​
     I was thinking along those lines this morning as I looked at the coverage. I had a sense that nothing has changed, that people who support TFG are still out there, and much work remains to be done. I wonder if the slant of the coverage has something to do with that perception.

  199. 199.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think some donors and “influencers” will steer clear of the Trump campaign and try to salvage as many Senate and House races as they can.

    But it could be hard to get some people to come out for a Congressional candidate when they are repelled by the guy at the top of the ticket.

  200. 200.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: One interesting number to watch will be new registrations by party between now and when the rolls close October, 2024. Trump seems to have attracted a lot of new voters between 2016 and 2020. We’ll see if he and his party can still reel them in.

  201. 201.

    UncleEbeneezer

    NEW RULE: Before any of us post/tweet something, look around to see if tons of Russian/Trump bots are spreading the same message and if yes, immediately stop typing.

    The fact that Trump and his followers and hundreds of sketchy bots are pushing this “Garland wasted a year” bullshit is all you need to know that this something none of us should be co-signing, anywhere.  You don’t have to be an expert in INTEL to understand how this works.  2016 Emailz, Covid, 2020 Election, Russian Invasion etc., should have taught us all this simple lesson by now.  This isn’t complicated.

  203. 203.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    My recollection is that both Masha Gessen and Sarah Kendzior both predicted that Trump, like every autocrat, would release such a firehose of corruption and stupid that the public would be essentially inoculated from reaction due to overexposure.

  204. 204.

    Betty Cracker

    @UncleEbeneezer: My view is none of us in the cheap seats know for sure how the decisions to investigate and pursue charges against the top coup plotters, including Trump, unfolded behind the scenes. It’s fair game to hash out your theories with people who disagree and do end-zone dances when you believe events prove you right.

    But declaring a “rule” which implies that people who don’t agree with your theory of the case are witting propaganda vectors is gatekeeping intended to control the discussion, IMO. As a fellow commenter (rather than a blog moderator), I call bullshit.

  206. 206.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    BTW, this is Day 2 of me not being identified as an unindicted co-conspirator.

  208. 208.

    Steve in the ATL

    @AM in NC:

    OF COURSE the Giuliani spawn went to Dook. And the fact that someone could be too much of an asshole for Dook golfers? Chef’s kiss perfection.

    OMG this is so freaking true!

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