I know I am not the only person who gets tired of all the knowing lies – or lazy bullshit – that gets spread in the quest to speed up the growing lack of trust in our institutions. This is a nice little rebuttal.
Guessing that many of the folks who need this information the most will not bother to read it, and will continue to spread disinformation.
But maybe some will read it. With an open mind. At least the ones who more resemble the lazy bullshit than the knowing lies.
THREAD: I’d like to share some facts. That’s all. Just facts.
DoJ opened an IG investigation into Trump’s DoJ’s involvement in the coup on January 25, 2021. 19 days after the insurrection. 1/ pic.twitter.com/o6eksLBd6G
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) March 22, 2024
In 11/2021, Matthew Graves was finally sworn in a U.S. Attorney in DC. Senators Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Tommy Tuberville & Rick Scott told Garland in July they would continue to block his nomination until Garland treated the BLM protestors the same as 1/6 guys. 3/ pic.twitter.com/tIub1xhuuk
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) March 22, 2024
.
Within months, more subpoenas were issued for info on 1) members of Congress 2) members of the executive branch 3) ellipse rally organizers, speakers, and VIPs (which would include Ginny Thomas) and anyone who tried to obstruct, influence, impede or delay the certification. 5/ pic.twitter.com/YTnwIHya1j
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) March 22, 2024
.
A few months later, the 1/6 hearings would begin.
These are just facts. Whatever your opinion is, it continues to be incorrect to say DoJ waited 18 months or even 2 years to begin investigating the coup. That’s all I’m saying. Thanks 🙏 END/
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) March 22, 2024
Open thread!
WaterGirl
Dear Marge,
You are dumb as a post.
But we appreciate the assist.
Signed,
Every person working to get Democrats elected
WereBear
I do hear this, and now I have easy fact access. Thanks!
different-church-lady
“Sure, whatever, but WHY DID THEY WAIT TWO YEARS TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION??2?”
lowtechcyclist
Well, at least Empty Gee and I can agree on something, even if it is undoubtedly for diametrically opposed reasons. :-D
WaterGirl
Hopefully, in the end, it’s Trump’s big mouth that will destroy him.
lowtechcyclist
Also just 5 days after Biden was sworn in as President.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: In case you want the whole post without clicking:
Omnes Omnibus
@lowtechcyclist: wHy DiD hE wAiT tHaT lOnG!!!!!
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: You write a pretty good ransom note!
frosty
@WaterGirl: You can’t fool me. You just came up with a reason to write this so you could post your favorite Jack Smith picture. :-)
I appreciate MT Greene helping us out so much!
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: It would be easier if they let me use the pointy scissors.
Lyrebird
Thanks WG, and yes it’s exhausting, but I appreciate your catapulting the TRUTH into the sea of propaganda.
As far as this goes:
Garland has from the get-go. Garland has reviewed evidence, law, and practice, and followed up where it was justified.
[ETA: I am not claiming to be able to read his mind or approve or disapprove of his every decision, I am just trying to give US Law 101 reminders to people who do know better and do not read this blog.]
The DC BLM protestors did what, let’s see – one of them helped a National Guard unit shape up their messy phalanx or whatever the formation was called. Lots of them exercised their 1st Amendment rights. None of them stormed the Capitol, none of them defaced public buildings… The dudes in the Midwest who set fires turned out to be mosly white supremacists trying (and succeeding) to cause trouble!
Argh.
WaterGirl
@frosty: That wasn’t the reason, but it surely was a bonus!
I do love this picture. It’s not just eye candy, though it is that. It just screams competence and reminds me of the good people we have at the helm.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Omnes Omnibus: it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mr. Bemused Senior: I swear it was an accident!
Wapiti
@WaterGirl: I wonder if TFG is including the RNC monies in his calculation of his cash on hand.
(I realize that there was no calculation, just spewage from TFG, but hopefully is messes with his appeal.)
Matt McIrvin
@Lyrebird:
I really pissed off some trolls by asserting this a while back…
Jackie
@WaterGirl: We’ll learn who the lying liar is Monday.
RaflW
Semi-relatedly, I saw on Bsky more moaning that yesterday’s cancellation of student debt was “less than 1% of the total”. I’m so fed up with this shit, from the left.
G. dammit, first of all, SCOTUS scuttled the central effort by Biden. And second, he’s cumulatively cancelled almost $150Bn for darn near 4,000,000 people.
I’m just so tired of the glass-is-empty left wing complaint corps.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jackie:
While I do not believe that Trump has anywhere near enough money, if he did he would still be desperately trying to find someone else to pay it instead, and lying in court to try to get the bond canceled. So, I admit it’s hard to be sure.
Ken
I am trying to think of circumstances where I would want to read a Trump post… Possibly one of those weird Saw serial killer setups where it was read the post or have my legs chopped off, but even then I’d have to think about it.
(Which on a more pleasant note, reminds me of one of Jack Benny’s greatest gags.)
WaterGirl
@Wapiti: Love that idea!
It would be a real shame if he couldn’t use the RNC money for his legal fees because he has to use it for bond.
Another shame would be if T has been telling his attorneys that he doesn’t have the money, at the moment, to pay them.
Wvng
Allison has been a voice of reason in the wilderness throughout. It would be great if more would listen.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: I can hardly wait!
edit: I hope Christmas doesn’t disappoint us again.
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
Now there’s an idea you should run with. ;-)
Wvng
@RaflW: they are the “my magic wish pony wasn’t the right color” crowd. There are so so many people who just don’t even try to connect to reality.
Lyrebird
@Matt McIrvin: Well how impertinent of you to interrupt their smear campaign with those pesky facts!
In other words – Rock on, M McI!
Frankensteinbeck
@WaterGirl:
The RNC has only a tiny fraction of the bond’s worth of money. The RNC and Trump’s PACs combined only have a small fraction. Worry not. If he can’t pay the bill and everything he owns starts getting sold off, he’ll drain both to maintain his billionaire lifestyle.
lowtechcyclist
@Wvng: Who’s Allison?
edited by WG to not that this has been answered.
WaterGirl
@Ken: Point taken. :-)
But the part that showed in the embedded tweet didn’t give any indication that Trump has said he had $500 million on hand, so I thought the image would provide a fuller picture.
Doug R
@Omnes Omnibus:
bUt mErRiCk GaRlAnD iS sLeEpY aNd UsEleSs LiKe jOe!!!
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist:
:: groan ::
My dad would have been proud, though. Exactly his dry sense of humor.
topclimber
@RaflW: The actual forgiveness will be much higher thanks to the super lenient repayment formula announced for almost all borrowers…no more than 5% of disposable income (i.e after rent,food,etc.) per month.
Anyone who pays for 20 years has the balance of the loan forgiven. I know of someone paying $160 per month on a $30K balance. That barely pays off the principal over 20 years, meaning almost all accrued and compounded interest is forgiven…to the tune of $40K.
Doug R
@Lyrebird: Almost ALL the “trouble” at BLM rallies was racist agitators:
justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/self-described-member-boogaloo-bois-pleads-guilty-riot
Lyrebird
@lowtechcyclist: Allison Gill is the writer of Mueller, She Wrote (wiki link)
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: Probably Allison Gill, the person behind “Mueller She Wrote.”
Old School
@lowtechcyclist:
Mueller She Wrote = Allison Gill.
Sure Lurkalot
@RaflW:
The appropriate response to those still burdened would be to work their collective tails off to get Biden re-elected for the chance at more of the same. And to push for more education subsidies, both college and other continuing education programs, to relieve their potential future costs should they have kiddos now or someday.
RaflW
@Wvng: I mean, I was a Jerry Brown delegate to the 1992 state Democratic Convention in Texas. I know what it is to be fringe when the bulk of the party is (was) neoliberal centrists.
But as lowtechcyclist said in the last thread, “at least when Biden and the Dems in Congress finally started being the party I’d wanted them to be all these years, I fucking noticed.
I can finally say without any equivocation that I am proud to be a Democrat.”
Q.F.T.! Cumulative debt cancellation needs to be well publicized. I’ll continue to do my tiny part on Bsky.
sdhays
@WaterGirl: “I have $500 million IN CASH!!!” => “I am going to declare bankruptcy tomorrow.”
//
RaflW
@Sure Lurkalot: Yep. And getting a Dem House majority, and some new Dem blood in the Senate, so that some of what Scotus scuttled could potentially move as new legislation.
But that’s the slog of electoral work, which keyboard komplainers often shy away from.
Josie
@WaterGirl: I never get tired of this picture. Post it whenever you can.
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: He is referring to Allison Gill, which is the name of the person who posts as Mueller She Wrote.
edit: I see that I am now the 10th person to answer you.
WaterGirl
@sdhays: My only quibble is that you said tomorrow, not Monday. :-)
p.a.
Has tRump listed Greenland (using a black Sharpie) among his assets?
Betty Cracker
Is the Xitter Garland Defense League assembling because of the article in today’s NYT? I read it this morning and didn’t perceive it as a hit piece on Garland, though it certainly examined the timing issue in great detail, quoting defenders and detractors. Here’s a gift link in case anyone is interested.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Wapiti: Either that or somebody bought him by paying his bond. We’ll know on Monday I guess, that’s when he either puts it up or starts turning deeds upside down?
(In our house we must have both played a lot of Monopoly as kids, because turning deeds face down is how we both talk about raising money from your assets.)
I’m not going to assume he can’t pay the bond till the deadline comes and goes. There are likely still people with money who think the potential payoff is worth the risky investment.
Baud
@Betty Cracker: I was wondering what triggered the discussion, since I try to avoid the NYT.
WaterGirl
@Josie: I think frosty secretly likes it too; he just likes to tease me about it. And, frankly, at this point I would be disappointed if no one said that when I use that image of Jack Smith.
Omnes Omnibus
@Betty Cracker:
Don’t worry. Enough people seem to have an alert set to his name so there will plenty of “feckless coward” comments coming soon.
Baud
@RaflW:
Many people like me who paid off their loans got no relief. We were told that we shouldn’t be bitter about that. And I’m not. But I also will not tolerate bitterness in others.
Ken
@sdhays: Bankruptcy would be fun, if only because it means yet another judge appointed to oversee Trump’s finances.
The one who is watching the Trump corporations was given extra authority just this week. I assume (because so do most of the legal analysts I’ve been reading) that this was because Judge Engoron justifiably suspects that Trump might try to transfer or hide some of his assets, with the seizure date looming.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Maybe we should start referring to Garland as Wilmer.
Jackie
@Frankensteinbeck: Yes, but if TIFG claims he has the money, his need for a time extension is null and void. Plus, if he doesn’t pay the bond Mon., AG Letitia James is going to be able to go in and put restraining orders on all of his bank accounts, everything that relates to him, is going to be tied up and frozen.
If he actually has the cash, fine. If he doesn’t, after boasting that he indeed does have it – he’s just going to look small and stupid – and maybe disgust a few of his supporters.
WaterGirl
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I doubt that they see it as a financial investment at all. I suspect they know that will never be paid back. Instead, the investment is in the future payoff that will come from Trump in other ways. IF he wins.
WaterGirl
@Baud: It’s kind of an ongoing battle on Mueller She Wrote, where trolls like to drag Garland every day of the week, and twice on Sundays.
I would be very surprised to find that she put this together in response to a NYT article that just went up today!
I think this is mostly all information I have seen from her here and there over time. But I suppose she could have compiled it in advance and had it waiting for a good opportunity.
Like obituaries that are written in advance. :-)
louc
@Lyrebird:
@Lyrebird:
@Lyrebird:
I’m pretty sure they were the ones who set the fire at St. John’s. And white supremacists definitely tagged a veterans support organization and the AFL-CIO building next door to St John’s with racist graffitti. I walked by there a day or two later before things were cleaned up. But that never gets mentioned. Interestingly, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation across the street from the union building received no damage and no tagging.
However, some BLM protesters did spraypaint graffitti on Andrew Jackson’s statue in Lafayette Square. Wonder why.
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
Apparently he’s going to GET the money. WP is reporting that investors just approved the social media merger deal that for Trump will be worth 3.3 billion.
Jackie
@WaterGirl: The worst scenario for us is AG James allowing TIFG an extension, BUT then we’d know his boast was a flat out lie, and we’ll enjoy all the very public humiliation he’ll have to endure. WIN WIN!
WaterGirl
@Ken: I had assumed that ruling came down because without it, it’s quite possible that Trump could have gotten money from Saudi Arabia or Putin or one of his other authoritarian buddies.
With the new rules, the oversight person has to be involved in the bond process.
But really, he’s such a crook at every opportunity, it could be for both of those reasons and a hundred more.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@RaflW:
Yahbut, while the bigger, strategic approach of Biden has definitely not been economic, neoliberal Democratic stuff of the last 30 years (best two Republican presidents of my lifetime have been Clinton and Obama), such a mindset has effectively become mainstreamed within the Dem party.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no purity pony and supported Biden the first two times he ran and have often said in here that he’s been the best president of my lifetime.
But the underlying economic policies that the party continues to push, particularly at the state level, is classic Reaganomic bullshit. Black voters at the state level, for example places like CA and here in CO, see that whereas the white voters of a certain demographic don’t and think that because they maybe voted for Obama and support abortion rights it makes em Bernie Fucking Sanders. It don’t.
I know a ton of Dems like me, lifetime Dem voters who won’t change, view ourselves as the face of the Party that lost.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Ken: There was some cockamamie scheme she included in her report to the judge, where in the books Tr**p Corp had a loan for 10s of millions to / from some company that actually was a shell company owned 100% by guess who. And the loan never existed.
I don’t know what that was about, but I know she requested more powers to dig into that kind of thing and do something about it, not just report it to the court.
These guys are amazing at the convoluted scams they can think of. I used to read a lot of Dick Francis and felt the same way about the creative scams for making money illegally on the horses, which I suspect he pulled from reality.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: Gosh, that would almost make it look like Trump is a FUCKING LIAR!
stinger
Any post that starts out with that photo of Jack Smith makes me smile, even before I read the text. Thanks, WaterGirl!
WaterGirl
Holy shit-ski!
Greg T
@The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion: Part of the merger agreement, though, is that he has to hold the stock for 6 months. So unless they decide to change the agreement he can’t touch that money.
Of course, he could pledge the shares as collateral to get a loan, but then he has to find a bank or someone who thinks that Truth Social (which has never made a profit) is going to be valued anything like it is now in 6 months.
Doug R
@The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion:
Add securities fraud? SEC are you listening?
MisterForkbeard
@RaflW: It’s also 10% of all college-debt holders in the US. There’s ~40 million people with debt, and Biden’s directly removed college debt from 10% of them. That’s pretty great.
Get angry at Republican Judges and elected officials who blocked more than that.
Jackie
@The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion: BUT – According to The Hill and other media, he can’t get his tiny little hands on it, yet:
Anoniminous
@The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion:
The merger of fraudster with fraudster will be a good measure of the level of stupidity of Financiers. Neither company is worth spit.
stinger
@stinger: And I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one!
H.E.Wolf
Per the very reputable Electoral Vote blog, it won’t help meet next Monday’s deadline to pony up the cash. See #5 in the link below.electoral-vote.com/evp2024/Items/Mar22-1.html
ETA: What Jackie said! :)
schrodingers_cat
BJ legal eagles is using campaign funds to pay off your personal and business debts legal? Sounds fraudulent to me.
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
@H.E.Wolf: Thank you for that. It helps.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jackie:
Yes. Especially since the stock is expected to crater and Trump’s only hope would have been selling it before the stock market caught up. The company is only worth that much money on paper.
H.E.Wolf
Electoral Vote covers that too in item #5, below.
electoral-vote.com/evp2024/Items/Mar22-1.html
Anoniminous
@Greg T:
He could use the stocks as collateral for an immediate bridge loan if anyone is stupid enough to loan him the bucks.
Ishiyama
@Doug R: “crossing State lines with intent to incite a riot” (and conspiracy to do so) are 1960s era statutes, used in the Chicago 8 trial after Nixon’s election. I have been wondering why they aren’t being applied more vigorously in the January 6 cases – especially against the speakers that day.
Ken
@The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion: More precisely, he will be in possession of shares which at current market value are worth several billion, but which he can’t sell for six months. And it’s not exactly a market value, yet; in fact the phrase “pump and dump” is being bandied about.
It also doesn’t help that there are something like four lawsuits opposing the purchase, which have to be resolved before it can go through. So he won’t even have the shares by Monday, possibly not even in six months.
Most of the analysis I’ve seen on this agrees that banks and bond corporations will be as reluctant, if not more so, to accept those shares as security as they are with his real estate.
MisterForkbeard
@The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion: He can’t sell anything on Truth Social stock for 6-12 months. He can get a loan based on intention to sell, though.
However, the moment he says he’s going to sell his Truth Social stock it also becomes worth a lot less. It’s ONLY valued highly because he has a cult behind it and they believe he’s going to make them all rich. If he announces he’s going to cut bait and run in 6 months, it’s going to fuck with the stock price (and therefore his ability to use it as loan collateral).
Banks are aware of all of this. Giving Trump the loan means eating a big loss.
Soprano2
@RaflW: That’s all about “he didn’t cancel MY debt so it doesn’t count”.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: Does a motion to vacate mean that the semi-deal to avert a partial government shutdown won’t be able to be voted on until there is a new speaker?
Does this derail the discharge petition? Or does this somehow help the discharge petition?
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: Nah. Not going anywhere.
Jackie
@WaterGirl: ANOTHER Boring Friday…
BAAHAHAHAHAAAA!
Randal Sexton
@Betty Cracker: Thanks for the link – I too wondered why the (as you say ) ‘Garland Defense League’ assembled. It seems to me that one (among many) shortcoming of our legal system is not including a timing issue for the set of crimes having to do with elections, and with the executive branch. Seems like a missing principle of election crimes is that they MUST be prosecuted BEFORE the next election, else executive powers could stop any prosecution or use pardon power to interfere with them, and the voting public would seem to need the right to know whether they are voting for a criminal or not. For the legal folks: is there any set of law that has timing like that built in ? Is it worthwhile to think that the set of election laws could be changed to accommodate this timing aspect ?
WaterGirl
@Ishiyama: Outside agitators!
WaterGirl
@MisterForkbeard: I thought the rule is currently that one single person is all that’s needed for a motion to vacate.
MomSense
@Omnes Omnibus:
HAHAHA!!!
Jackie
@Frankensteinbeck:
🎶 to my ears! 😁
sdhays
@Ken: I don’t want him to declare bankruptcy because I want the money/assets ripped from his sweaty little doll-like hands ASAP. And I actually don’t think he will – I think it’s very plausible that declaring bankruptcy would be too hard on his fragile ego, and I think he may genuinely believe that whining about the mean black lady taking his shitty properties will be a winning issue for him. I was just joking about how much he lies.
But I think bankruptcy is probably the better move for him since it could delay things through the election.
Matt McIrvin
@RaflW: The general move here is one that I see *all the time*: you take some action by a Democratic administration that occurred in a highly politically constrained context, and implicitly (or explicitly) take its limited scope as proof of bad faith. As if Biden were really King, but pretends to be a mere President as cover for his desire to screw us over and disclaim responsibility.
WaterGirl
Can someone explain this to me?
I don’t understand. Does this mean that whatever they were voting on in the House (to stop a possible partial shutdown) passed?
Passed before Marge’s motion to vacate?
This person seems to think that’s a bad thing. It seems to me that would be a good thing, as we would get to avoid even a partial shutdown.
PaulWartenberg
I just got here, but MTG reportedly filing a Motion to Vacate on Johnson.
dailykos.com/stories/2024/3/22/2230954/-Breaking-Marge-files-motion-to-vacate?utm_campaign=recent
Popcorn futures are up.
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: That means the motion to vacate proceeds and has to get voted on (soonish)
I very much doubt Republicans will overturn Johnson. Gaetz is angry but keeping his head down, and there were only 15 or so people who voted against McCarthy – and they all hated him or were going after him because he’d allowed the ethics committee to investigate them. None of that really applies to Johnson.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: I don’t think this development will affect the two discharge petitions. Aside from Ken Buck, the potential Republican signers are still hanging back so the petitions can’t advance until after the Easter recess anyway.
House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Michael McCaul will be on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday and he may dodge a question about discharge petitions. Or maybe he’ll answer it. McCaul leads his Caucus’s Ukraine hawks.
MomSense
@Baud:
Word. My generation was thrown to the wolves (banks who only offered high interest loans) and it took forever to pay them off and yet somehow I manage to be thrilled for the people who had their loans forgiven. Being committed to the greater good often means working for good things we will never get.
Jackie
@WaterGirl: The House is voting on the Spending Bill right NOW.
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: Yep. That’s what that means.
Dems bailed out Republicans on this (again) in order to keep government running. Johnson also said he wouldn’t do this, IIRC – get Dem support or get mini/temp bills passed to do it.
And while that was happening, MTG filed a motion to vacate because she’s angry and wants more TV time.
Kristine
Snow’s returned to NE Illinois. 3″, maybe.
They always scatter before I can grab a photo, but a snow-covered tree dotted with male cardinals is quite a sight.
sdhays
@MisterForkbeard: I’m really curious to see just how much “Truth” Social will actually be valued when Trump can actually start selling stock. The current valuations are absolute nonsense and don’t mean anything.
WaterGirl
Hmm Jake Sherman just wrote:
Remember re a motion to vacate — MTG files it and has to ASK for privilege. or else it just sits in the hopper. So Mike Johnson can just ignore this motion to vacate? Which makes it, what? Just a shot over the bow in case Johnson was going to allow the discharge petition to come to the floor?
Geminid
@MisterForkbeard: I think enough Democrats will vote against the Motion to Vacate to keep Johnson in the Speaker’s chair. Senior members telegraphed this a while ago. That’s not to say they won’t leave Johnson on his own next time.
Anoniminous
@WaterGirl:
Motion to Vacate is a Privileged Motion. That means the House must consider it at some point but it is not Always in Order, meaning all House business must stop while the Motion is considered.
Mike in NC
Looks like the Republicans are going to boot Pastor Mike because he refuses to shut down the government. Speaker Empty Greene is tanned, rested, and ready! (Yuck.)
Spanky
@Anoniminous:
I’d just consider it money laundering in a way that can get the loaner some favors in the future. Assumes the loaner is an idiot, of course, to expect quo for their quid.
Cacti
Sure Watergirl.
Garland has been brave, bold, and in no way a spineless instutionalist afraid of being called partisan by the Beltway press. 😆🤣😂
WaterGirl
@Geminid:
I think that would be a total mistake UNLESS they have a solid commitment in writing that the funding stuff and the Ukraine vote will come to the floor.
When they telegraphed that before, I wonder if they knew just how crazy and awful Johnson is.
Geminid
@Mike in NC: Speaker Flake! Speaker Jeff Flake for the Flake Congress!
Jackie
@sdhays: If he goes the bankrupt route, his MAGAts are going to learn that TIFG is NOT a SUCCESSFUL businessman, AND… he’s a LOSER!!!
I don’t think TIFG wants that image of him exposed right in the middle of election season.🤭
trollhattan
@WaterGirl:
Posts everywhere object to being compared to MTG.
Frankensteinbeck
@Spanky:
There are a lot of fantastically stupid rich people, but so far Trump has managed to find only one who likes him enough to approve even a fraction of what he needs. I think that’s what it comes down to. Nobody likes Trump enough to give him the money, not even the foreign despots who he’s been good for.
WaterGirl
@Cacti:
Sure Lurkalot
@Omnes Omnibus:
Seems to me one could drive a tank through the gap between timely pursuer of justice and feckless coward.
WaterGirl
@trollhattan: Now I am going to have to publicly apologize to posts, aren’t I?
Frankensteinbeck
@Sure Lurkalot:
Commenters leap that gap like The Fonz over a shark every time the issue comes up. “Who has some middle opinion of Garland?” might be an interesting question.
sdhays
@MisterForkbeard: If my understanding of the mechanics is right, the MTV needs 217 votes to pass. The Democrats have 213, so assuming they do the same thing as they did last time (and I hope they do unless they get Johnson to agree to bring the Ukraine funding bill to the floor), Johnson can afford 3 more Republican defectors to survive.
Empty Gee is a moron who can’t count, so who knows if she has anyone else with her?
Captain C
@Jackie:
By which time it may be a penny stock.
Frankensteinbeck
@sdhays:
So is Johnson, so who knows where this is going?
Cacti
“Pretty please give those stolen Natsec documents back Mr. Trump.”
-Merrick Garland for 18 months.
🤣
Anoniminous
@Geminid:
Or they could vote for Jefferies in the Roll Call vote and wait to see if Dickhead gets enough votes from his own party. If not have enough switcheroo votes line-up to save his ass.
cain
@RaflW: The left like the MAGA thrive on discontent. Nothing will ever be good enough except complete capitulations to their demands or they’ll take their very small piece of the pie home.
Meanwhile, it seems antisemitism is on the rise in Portland with young people pissed off about Gaza literally accusing Jews of being Nazis. Someone needs to crack some heads – I fucking hate Hamas, and care about Palestinians, but Palestinians have not experience the level of genocide that Jews have.
Jackie
@Jackie: OOOPS! I forgot my TV is on delay. Time to go LIVE 😂☺️
Kristine
@Frankensteinbeck:
👋
sdhays
@WaterGirl: I agree, but I can sort of understand if they don’t. My understanding is that the big problem with McCarthy was that he just indiscriminately lied to everyone, and too many people just got sick of him.
Johnson lies as any Republican, but apparently he’s not a stupid liar who makes contradictory, impossible promises to everyone he meets. So Democrats see some value in having someone who’s on, maybe not “the level”, but “a level”.
Captain C
@sdhays:
It might be a better move on a personal level, but it will shoot the hell out of his image (with his cultists) as a successful businessman. Or perhaps he’ll brag about how he’s only declaring it to get rid of the [insert hyperbolic adjectives here] judgements against him, in which, IANAL but would probably be seen by a court as bankruptcy fraud. His cultists may not mind any of this, but if it picks off a few voters around the edges, that could make a difference in a state or several.
Eolirin
@WaterGirl: Johnson can’t stop a discharge petition from coming to the floor.
But he’s said they’re going to take up some form of Ukrainian/Israel aid bill, without any requirement for border changes, after the funding stuff is done through the same mechanism as they’ve been moving the budgets. So passing with majority Democratic support and a plurality of Republican votes.
That’d probably be after the recess because delay is still the game here, but I think Johnson knows he has to move on it eventually. He may try to pull the football away again and has only said they’d move on it to delay the discharge petition. But that’d suggest he’s afraid of that petition.
So I think this can only get dragged out for so long and will ultimately pass.
Marge filling a motion to vacate here only helps the Democrats. We’ll see if Johnson has the sense to cut a deal with Jeffries. With the Republican majority even smaller now if the Democrats hold as a unified caucus, even fewer bomb throwers are needed to oust him. Given that he’s going to need to move the foreign aid funding and that’s likely to precipitate another motion to vacate, doing so now is honestly in his best interests. If he tries to cut a deal after aid for Ukraine has passed the Democrats won’t have a reason to give him anything.
But we’ll have to see what happens.
WaterGirl
@Frankensteinbeck: What do you mean by “middle opinion”? I think he has been an excellent AG overall, but think he made some bad choices when he chose Republicans as Special Counsel.
sdhays
@Frankensteinbeck: Yep. No one in that caucus can count, and they all love backstabbing each other.
Jackie
@Frankensteinbeck: I take it as the billionaires don’t think TIFG is going to be elected, so they can’t own the presidency.😊
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
There are not middle positions on the Internet. Where’s the engagement in that?
Geminid
@WaterGirl: The Democrats I saw saying this said it after Johnson had been Speaker long enough for them to take his measure. I think the implicit offer was made regarding this funding vote in order to help avoid a government shutdown.
Also, maybe to provide time to get Ukraine funding through, by petition to discharge if neccesary. If Johnson got kicked out out ot could take until summer for Republicans to come up with a new Speaker, and they might not be able to pull it off at all. Then it will be time for Speaker Flake!
Cacti
“Impanel a grand jury for Donald Trump? But I have to organize my sock drawer.”
-Merrick Garland, January 2021 – August 2022
Central Planning
@Captain C: If I were a millionaire or billionaire with a penchant for gambling, I would short the shit out of the Truth Social stock.
I suppose I could risk the money on 1 share and then just tell people I got crazy returns when I shorted TS stock.
WaterGirl
Happy to see this thread not being derailed!
sdhays
@Captain C: I don’t know…having his properties ripped away from him is the look of a loser. He can spin bankruptcy as a legal tool and his rabid fans (and the media) will still eat that shit. Anyway, he’s a former President now; I don’t think people are voting for him based on his purported business acumen anymore.
Neither filing for bankruptcy nor having the State of New York seizing his assets is a good look for him. Getting someone to post his bond would be ideal.
Kristine
@WaterGirl: I think that’s pretty much the middle, and pretty much how I feel.
Geminid
@cain: What’s going on in Portland is happening in a lot of places. It’s sad for a lot of reasons, and one is that the Palestinians really need good allies and these are terrible ones.
Frankensteinbeck
@WaterGirl:
Sounds like a middle opinion to me, and a reasonable one.
MisterForkbeard
@sdhays: Maybe? Johnson did lie repeatedly to his own caucus about what he would and wouldn’t do.
WaterGirl
@sdhays: So Trump gets to choose between Loser and LOSER, and it’s unclear which option is which.
UncleEbeneezer
Thanks for this. I was considering assembling something similar while reading Teri Kanefield’s post which makes many of the same points. The claim that DOJ wasn’t investigating people at the top of Trump’s orbit until the January 6 Committee is just flat-out false.
Unless you don’t consider: Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, Sydney Powell, John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn, Mark Meadows, Justin Clark, Jeffrey Clark, Bernie Kerik, Joe diGenova, Victoria Toensing, Jenna Ellis and Ken Chesebro to be a part of that group. DOJ was investigating almost EVERYONE at the top and the focal point of all of them was Donald Trump. Court documents report that they were asking questions about Trump, which in my opinion, obviously clears the hurdle of effectively investigating Trump. And they were doing this BEFORE the Jan 6 Committee even held its’ first hearing.
As to the other common complaint of “well but why did Garland wait so long to appoint Jack Smith?”:
1.) Special Counsels are brought in only when there’s a potential conflict-of-interest for DOJ, which wasn’t the case until Trump officially declared his candidacy for 2024 and
2.) SC’s are brought in to FINISH investigations (and decide whether or to pursue charges) not to START them.
Appointing a SC on day one of Garland’s term would have been rightfully seen as a politically-motivated move of the type that Garland clearly doesn’t believe in. He promised in his confirmation to be apolitical in his approach and that is part of how he got the job in the first place. We can see now that waiting to appoint a SC, didn’t stop DOJ from swiftly investigating the crimes of 1/6 and following the evidence wherever and however high it would lead.
StringOnAStick
@frosty: I love that photo of Jack Smith! I’ve known an Ironman competitor, those people never, ever give up, period.
I also love the posts by the fake Jack Smith on the hellsite, and I have to be careful to not conflate the two. That guy’s sense of humour really works for me. His is the only reason I ever go to the hellsite, and I rarely do even that now because, you know…
Geminid
@Eolirin: One problem with Johnson cutting deals: Johnson does not control the 9 Republicans on the Rules Committee, so if he promises Jeffries something he can’t neccesarily deliver.
Eolirin
@cain: It’s a problem for us as Jews to equivocate like that. If something isn’t done in weeks, the loss of life from the lack of access to food and clean water runs the risk of reaching into the hundreds of thousands if not over a million. This is a genocide. We have to be loudly condemning it as such in absolute terms and calling for it to end, and not saying we’ve had it worse.
Not only do we have a moral obligation to do so, the actions of Israel’s government will become an existential threat to us as a people if we don’t separate ourselves from it. Netanyahu and his fellow travelers are putting not only Israel’s continued existence at risk it’s putting all Jews at risk. The antisemitism isn’t going to be improved if there’s a million dead children in the ruins of Gaza by the time this is over.
Our allies in this need to be focused on drawing a distinction between Israel, it’s government, and the Jewish people, and placing the blame squarely and solely on the government. The conflation of those things is what drives the ability for antisemites to take advantage of the war to attack all of us. But trying to minimize the plight of the Palestinians in any way or compare it to the suffering we’ve endured as a people is likely to be extremely counter productive.
Eolirin
@Geminid: Suspension calendar bypasses the rules commitee. Which is how he’s been getting the budget bills through. All we really need is funding for Ukraine.
Kay
@cain:
But if Israel supporters on the Right in Israel and the US (the whole Republican Party, for example) don’t discredit Israel even though they’re horrible bigots, and I don’t think they do and you probably don’t either, why would US supporters of Palestinians on the Left who are horrible bigots discredit the Palestinian position?
It’s just interesting how we always punch Left. Palestinians have a toxic Left wing advocate problem, but Israelis have a toxic Right wing advocate problem, and I would say theirs is much bigger and also much more powerful -theyre lawmakers.
WaterGirl
@Eolirin: If you get a minute, I am wondering if you might be willing to send me an email message?
Eolirin
@Geminid: The second most maddening thing about all of this, after the fact that it’s happening at all, so a very distant second, is that a good number of the people who have been the most vocal and consistent about the moral and humanitarian failures of how the Palestinian people have been treated, going back decades, are also Jewish.
They’re otherwise frequently used for political purposes when convenient and then ignored when not.
Eolirin
@WaterGirl: Sure, if I can figure out what your address is.
Geminid
@Eolirin: Yeah, once we get Ukraine funding though Republicans can flounder and flail away at each other all April for all I care.
Kay
@cain:
All Republicans and two Democrats are opposing him because he’s Muslim. He’s a religious minority and they’re bigots. They’re also supporters of Israel. Does their support discredit Israel? No, of course not. So why would this rule only apply to Palestinians?
wjca
Personally, I’m very tired of it. I long for the time that all his cases are wrapped up (successfully!), so there’s no reason to post it. Speed the day!
WaterGirl
@Eolirin: My nym at balloon-juice.com
PaulB
I would place myself in that category. I think he’s been overly cautious and that he’s made a couple of serious mistakes (see, for example, Robert Hur). I also understand, though, that Biden and Garland wanted to make it very clear that, contrary to what Trump thought and said, the AG is not the President’s private attorney, and that he cannot act as the President’s attack dog. And that prosecuting a former President is not something to be taken lightly.
That said, the bullshit posted by trolls like Cacti is utter nonsense. I would argue that most of the egregious flame-bait spewed here is by attention-seeking sociopaths and/or by ignorant individuals from the Green Lantern wing of the party, who believe that the AG or the President can simply “will” something into being.
There have been knowledgeable people here and elsewhere who have thoughtfully criticized Garland and Biden, and whose opinions have warranted serious consideration because of the knowledge they bring to the table. Certainly, nobody here has claimed that Garland is a saint, that he is above reproach, that he has made no mistakes, etc. Responding to the trolls who have attacked Garland, the front-pagers, and the commenters of this blog is a complete waste of time. That’s what the pie filter is for.
UncleEbeneezer
@Frankensteinbeck: I do. I think the decision to appoint Hur to handle the Biden Documents thing was a misstep. But I think his handling of 1/6 Investigation has been very good and most of the frustrating delay to see Trump go to trial, has nothing to do with anything Garland did/didn’t do.
On Voting Rights, LGBTQ Rights, Abortion Rights, and Antitrust stuff (like now suing Apple) his DOJ has been very good. They take up all the fights that I want them to, and a bunch of ones that I didn’t even think of.
Like every AG, he hasn’t been perfect. But he’s been far better than most, especially given the absolute shit-show of a situation/job/DOJ that he inherited.
Every day, more people are still being arrested for storming the Capital and unless the Supreme Court or the US Electorate decides to give him a pass, Donald Trump will have to stand before a jury for the Insurrection and Willful Retention of National Defense Documents. That’s what I’ve always wanted to see happen and what the American people deserve and Garland has delivered, on his part. It was always going to be hard for that to happen before the 2024 Election given the size and legal complexity of it all.
Matt McIrvin
@Frankensteinbeck: One could argue that “Garland is a feckless coward” is itself a middle position vs. “Garland is a pro-Trump conspirator” (sometimes “appointed because Biden is a pro-Trump conspirator”), which I’ve definitely seen out there (looking at you, Sarah Kendzior).
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Only if you ignore the “Garland is the second coming of Jesus Christ” position that people employ to move the Overton window to a reasonable position.
Eolirin
@WaterGirl: As long as the spam filter didn’t grab that, sent.
Chief Oshkosh
What was Allison’s take on this early paragraph in the FTFNYT’s piece?
Betty Cracker
@WaterGirl: I was mostly agnostic on Garland until the Hur debacle. Now I wish he’d resign while we still hold the Senate so Biden could nominate someone else. Maybe Doug Jones.
lowtechcyclist
@Mike in NC:
An MtV by Empty Gee!
That ain’t workin’… ;-)
Randal Sexton
@Central Planning: Put options for DWAC are very expensive.
leeleeFL
@RaflW: They have always been thus! Bitching about what they don’t have yet, instead of appreciating what they’ve gotten. Exhausting, it is!
WaterGirl
@Eolirin: Got it, and replied! Thank you.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: I guess we disagree on that because I think that would be a mistake, a total own goal on our part.
UncleEbeneezer
@Chief Oshkosh:
Garland literally explained this himself:
“Everyone in this room and on these screens is familiar with the way we conduct investigations, and particularly complex investigations.
We build investigations by laying a foundation. We resolve more straightforward cases first because they provide the evidentiary foundation for more complex cases.
Investigating the more overt crimes generates linkages to less overt ones. Overt actors and the evidence they provide can lead us to others who may also have been involved. And that evidence can serve as the foundation for further investigative leads and techniques.
In circumstances like those of January 6th, a full accounting does not suddenly materialize. To ensure that all those criminally responsible are held accountable, we must collect the evidence.
We follow the physical evidence. We follow the digital evidence. We follow the money.”
(Note: at the time Garland said the above words DOJ was already investigating almost everyone at the top of Trump’s inner circle.)
Starting at the top risks going to a Grand Jury without all of the evidence. Lower level people are more likely to lie, withhold and coordinate their testimony in order to protect the boss, knowing he’s in the crosshairs. The bottom-up approach is the traditional approach because it works. DOJ got a shitload of evidence from people at the bottom that convinced a Grand Jury to indict Trump.
Geminid
@Eolirin: A lot of people do not pay attention to what goes on in Israel and the Palestinian lands unless the place is exploding.
This has been true of nations as well. The US, the EU and Israel itself have been content to treat the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as a problem to be managed, not solved. Arab countries have been an exception, and they have started laying the groundwork for peace in their region.
Now everyone has learned the hard way that this is a problem that must be solved. The Security Council resolution the that was vetoed today involves more than a ceasefire; it lays out the framework for governance on Gaza after a permanent ceasefire. Egypt, Jordan, the Emiratis and the Saudis have agreed on a practical strategy and US policy tracks it.
The Israeli government resists this for now, but the fact is that, figuratively speaking, they have driven into a cul-de-sac filled with quicksand, and we are throwing them a towline that they will have to grasp.
Geminid
@Anoniminous: First comes the Motion to Vacate, and I think that’s when Democrats will save Johnson’s bacon. For now.
UncleEbeneezer
@Chief Oshkosh: Read Teri Kanefield’s piece starting at #4:
catclub
@Omnes Omnibus: It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Citizen Alan
@cain: I’m afraid this may come off as incendiary to some people, but I’m gonna say it anyway. There will come a point, very soon if it’s not already here, that Israel will not be able to get away with what is very clearly ethnic cleansing if not actually genocidal conduct by hiding behind the memory of the Holocaust. How many Holocaust survivors live in Israel today? Is it more or less than the 30k-plus Palestinians who have died in the present conflict?
If Bibi Netanyahu could get away with it (or if, god forbid, he were given permission to do so by future-President Trump), I absolutely believe he would begin the liquidation of the Palestinian population of Gaza.
catclub
The stock market can stay insane for longer than you can stay solvent ( betting against it).
Citizen Alan
@sdhays:
Not necessarily. Motions to lift the automatic stay to allow lawsuits in other forums are granted all the time. Especially when those lawsuits would result in non-dischargeable debts (including all intentional torts and all fraudulent conduct). Bankruptcy would prevent collection and maybe lien-attachment but it would not necessarily prevent a suit to determine liability and liquidate damages.
Bugboy
@Lyrebird: The clearing of that DC park of BLM protesters so Dump could perform his bible photo-op was clearly an attempt to prepare the ground for inaction by LE in the event of an insurrection. It was pre-meditated and I’m still unhappy no one is connecting the dots here.
Matt
“See, they didn’t fail to START the investigation promptly, they’ve just dragged their feet so slowly that it’ll be unresolved before the next election. You hippies worry too much!”
Justice delayed is justice denied, especially here.
Doubly-so because if Biden wins in November there’s going to be massive pressure from the “sensible moderates” to drop the whole thing in the interest of “national healing”.
Betty Cracker
@WaterGirl: I don’t think Garland is a bad person, just the wrong guy for that job at this particular time. But it’s Biden’s call. He has to be able to trust his AG. There are reports that he no longer does, but it could be bullshit. 🤷♀️
dirge
Yes, and they need to get depositions and phone records from everyone even tangentially involved.
If you’re complaining about Garland being slow, you ought also be furious at all the appellate judges taking too long to resolve all the privilege issues. That’s where most of the delay came from. I kinda wish they’d all responded within 40 minutes of filing with orders reading, in full, “lol. no.”, but I’m not terribly surprised they didn’t. It’s silly to blame Garland for that.
Paul in KY
@Wapiti: I would say he’s just lying.
Quadrillipede
I figured MTG is always angry and always wants more TV time 🤷♂️
akita
I not sure if anyone mentioned this before, and I apologize if they did, but but the letter Mueller, She Wrote, cites as evidence that the DOJ opened up an investigation into the Trump mafia family doesn’t prove that. the letter clearly outlines the parameters of the investigation, who is under investigation and the jurisdiction of the OIG and it doesn’t include Trump:
“The Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today that:
The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is initiating an investigation into whether any former or current DOJ official engaged in an improper attempt to have the DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election. The investigation will encompass all relevant allegations that may arise that are within the scope of the OIG’s jurisdiction. The OIG has jurisdiction to investigate allegations concerning the conduct of former and current DOJ employees. The OIG’s jurisdiction does not extend to allegations against other government officials.” (All emphasis mine). Suggesting this letter is the equivalent of investigating Trump is disingenuous at best.
UncleEbeneezer
@akita: People who were themselves being questioned by the FBI say that they were asked a lot of questions about Trump. I don’t know about you, but if the FBI starts asking my friends questions about me, I would consider that a pretty good sign that I am also in their crosshairs. The notion that DOJ was investigating all the big names in Trump’s 1/6 rolodex but not Trump, doesn’t pass the commonsense smell test. Do you think FBI agents somehow didn’t know who was at the center of it all? More likely, they were purposely holding off on making Trump an official target as long as possible knowing the moment they did so it would cause many witnesses to refuse to cooperate, lie, etc. There are good and obvious investigative reasons why they wouldn’t want to make Trump an official target until the last possible moment. This is also why Starting At the Top never made any sense. That’s not how you get mob bosses and the leaders of large conspiracies.