Is every asshole on earth going to take up residence in Florida? I ask because, in addition to the Trumps, Roger Stone, Mike Huckabee, dead Rush Limbaugh, a greater share of the 1/6 insurrectionists than any other state, etc., former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro is hiding out here too. From NPR:
Hundreds of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed public government buildings on Sunday, calling for the military to take over Brazil’s government after spending more than two months denying the results of the country’s presidential election.
In scenes evocative of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, supporters of the Trump-styled populist leader smashed windows, clashed with police and raided Brazil’s congressional building, its Supreme Court and the Planalto presidential palace…
Bolsonaro left Brazil just two days before his term ended, with Lula’s inauguration on Jan. 1. The decision read like a symbol of his disdain for the peaceful transition of power, but the move and its timing could also help insulate Bolsonaro from legal jeopardy. The former president is under investigation in at least four criminal probes, according to Reuters.
Some U.S. lawmakers, including AOC and Joaquin Castro, have already called for the U.S. to bounce Bolsonaro’s authoritarian ass back to Brazil. But the NPR article says he arrived here with a VIP visa because he was still technically head of state, which may complicate things.
Maybe a cruel stunt could raise the pressure to resolve this immigration issue. Someone could lure Bolsonaro onto Marine One with fake promises of a path to citizenship and government assistance, then dump him on Trump’s lawn. Hey, it could work!
Open thread.
Qrop Non Sequitur
I, for one, will not.
Baud
The Moar You Know
The A-1 diplomatic visa he arrived on has no expiry date, and is valid because he got here before the turnover. He planned this, and the usual suspects, Bannon, etc helped.
I think it will take charges and extradition to get him out of here.
Baud
@The Moar You Know:
Has Brazil asked the State Department to terminate the visa?
Scout211
Bolsonaro is reportedly hospitalized in Orlando for severe stomach pains, his wife claims. So he was visiting Disney World, not Mar-a-lago???
(Also, we finally have power as of this morning, after two days. These California storms are just awful and we have more to come this week).
ETA: Baud types much faster than I do.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: Ah, so he’s already eaten at Mar A Lago.
Geminid
That Perla Huerta sure dropped out of sight. I wish that Emily Rainey would do the same. Rainey’s the ex-psyops captain whose cryptic “I know why” Facebook post the night of the Moore County grid attacks created a big stink.
Rainey is still active in Moore County, North Carolina politics. Maybe Perla is staying with Rainey. They were both Army Special Forces and could well know each other.
Joe Falco
Florida: where you drain the swamp and somehow get more swamp creatures to live there.
The Moar You Know
@Baud: he and I have one thing in common; we’ve had the same intestinal surgeries. Mine was not a result of getting stabbed. He’s not being careful with his food intake, I expect. I live in fear of those blockages he’s been getting. That can kill you easily.
Dan B
@Chief Oshkosh: There are pictures of Bolsonaro and TFG/SFB eating KFC so it could be a grease clog.
prostratedragon
@Baud: Can’t find it at the moment, but seems a Brazillian legal person has officially asked their foreign office to seek extradition. I have been wondering about that visa.
Geminid
@Chief Oshkosh: Maybe Lauren Boebert sent Bolsonaro some sliders. She probably has a big freezer full of them from when she closed down her restaurant.
The Moar You Know
@Baud: not being a State employee, I don’t know. I don’t think State can in his case, because like I said, there is no expire date on the visa he entered on.
I expect charges will be filed (really looks that way already) they will likely ask for extradition (they don’t want him here causing more unrest), and then he will ask for asylum. What happens after that, who knows?
scav
Mar a Iago fitting itself out to be an Old Insurrectionists Home. DeSatan soon to roll out ad campaign selling FLORIDA!! World Favorite Terrorism Tourist Destination.
Baud
@The Moar You Know: Hard to believe that someone here on a diplomatic visa can still invoke the visa if the foreign state says he’s no longer their diplomat. But I don’t know.
bbleh
How about Extraordinary Rendition? I mean, I don’t know that it’s ever been used in the US, but I don’t know that it can’t be. Especially since he’s an immigrant.
Omnes Omnibus
@Qrop Non Sequitur: Nor will I.
Ken
@The Moar You Know: @Dan B: Could be awkward if he dies in a US hospital, after eating with a former US president. What do we do if Brazil demands Trump be extradited?
EDIT: I mean “we” the government of the US. Obviously “we” the Balloon Juice commentariat will laugh and cheer.
Betty Cracker
@Dan B: I saw a recent photo of Bolsonaro chowing down at an Orlando KFC, but TFG wasn’t there. There was also a video clip of Bolsonaro aimlessly wandering around in a Publix supermarket.
Omnes Omnibus
@bbleh: I doubt he is an immigrant.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Okay, that was funny.
Yeah, I’m usually the first one to point out that not everything nefarious is illegal, but it seems to me that she should at least be answering some questions
Baud
@Ken:
This.
Dagaetch
OT: I thought this was a very good article and wanted to share it. Titled: “The Volume of News: The number, timing, frequency, and delivery method of news stories matters.”
topclimber
@Joe Falco: You don’t drain it. You just build on it.
The Moar You Know
@Ken: send Trump to North Korea.
Dan B
@Betty Cracker: TFG and Bolsonaro were not eating together in the pictures I saw. They were both eating KFC.
bbleh
@Omnes Omnibus: he’s brown and not a US citizen; that oughta do for the Tom Clancy fanbois. That he’s just visiting (indefinitely) is … a bureaucratic detail, and bureaucratic details don’t stop the Rendition Squad (coming soon on Fox!)
Baud
@Dagaetch: Nice article. Thanks for sharing.
prostratedragon
@Betty Cracker: He really is Ernie Niles at the end of the day.
Ocotillo
@Baud: Probably because of that KFC he ate
ETA, I see Dan B beat me to it.
Betty Cracker
@Dan B: Ah, got it! Was just reading something on Slate about Bolsonaro, and it said he was once hospitalized because he had the hiccups for 10 days, and another time, he was filmed being bitten by an emu. LOL!
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
I have a fantasy that Lula demands not only the extradition of Bolsonaro, but also that of Bannon, Jason Miller and the bloated orange mediocrity, which Joe honors after great reluctance and a heavy heart.
Let the rubber hose beatings in Brasilia commence…..
ETA – wonder how GG would react….
tobie
Could we compromise and send him to Guantanamo? The facility is on the beach and I hear the weather is nice.
Bex
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Let’s add “George Santos aka Anthony Devolder” to that list.
sab
@Scout211: From what has been reported about sanitation procedures in Mar-a-lago’s kitchens, he is indeed probably staying there.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Right now Huerta may be just dodging the press’s questions. I sure would. Lawyers for the 50 migrants she hoodwinked into flying to Martha’s Vineyard will probably be asking her to give a deposition in their lawsuit. Maybe she’s trying to avoid process servers.
And Bexar County Sheriff Salazar(?) or a San Antonio grand jury might want to talk to Huerta. As far as I know, the Sheriff’s criminal investigation is still ongoing.
Huerta’s two main Army postings stateside seem to have been the army medical center at San Antonio and Central Command headquarters near Tampa. She grew up in San Antonio.
Sister Golden Bear
@Baud: I’m sure his doctors in Brazil are far more familiar with his various health problems. Seems like the humanitarian thing to do would be put him on a medical flight back home.
CaseyL
@tobie:
I have been
CaliforniaCuba dreamin’ of sending a whole LOT of people to lovely, sunny Gitmo. Congresscritters, Senators, Cabinet members, an ex-President, some military officers….Dan B
@Dagaetch: Clear article about MSM spin that hurts the US, especially those lowest on the privilege ladder. Glad you posted a link to it.
trollhattan
@tobie: He’s a fall, so will look good in orange.
Dan B
@trollhattan: But not stripes, one would assume.
trollhattan
10 bucks says he’ll spend 4,500 words on how Lib Dems are rejoicing at the protestor arrests and not focusing on the real evil: a convicted felon is in charge of Brazil while “questions are being asked” about the election validity.
Matt McIrvin
@Scout211: Dole Whip of DEATH
Quinerly
Just read where Madison Cawthorn has confirmed he now lives in Florida too.
Geminid
@Bex: Today’s Politico Playbook PM had some more dirt on Santos. Someone named Sam Miehle called and emailed Republican donors in 2020 and this past cycle, raising money for Santos. Or Devolder.
Anyway, Mielhe identified himself to the donors as Dan Mayer, who happens to be Kevin McCarthy’s Chief of Staff. The Washington Times broke part of this story last month, but Miehle was just identified as the brazen Brazilian’s bogus fundraiser.
MisterForkbeard
My personal hope is that Jair Bolsonaro’s situation works out like this:
trollhattan
If you loved the Knives Out twins and if you loved “Russian Doll” (and if not, what is wrong with you, anyway?) then “Poker Face” looks mandatory.
trollhattan
@MisterForkbeard: Can we put him on a bus to Mexicali? Lovely place.
Betty Cracker
@Quinerly: I thought you were kidding, but no. For fucks SAKE!
Qrop Non Sequitur
Sometimes I look at the people Republicans nominate and I think people have gone too far with the “I’d like to have a beer/spend time with principle.”
Madison Cawthorne and Herschel Walker both remind me of people I have called friends whom I, nevertheless, would never trust to public office.
Then I look at Kari Lake and my whole theory gets blown out of the water.
Ksmiami
@Chief Oshkosh: you beat me to the punch
Qrop Non Sequitur
Finest charcoal briquette with ketchup I’ve ever eaten…
Baud
@Betty Cracker: GET! OUT!
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I dunno, Gaetz during this whole Speaker thing made me nostalgic for Cawthorn. I’d rather have him in the House.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
I know it would be awful for Ms. Cracker and several other B-J commentors to have all the assholes move to Florida. But if they did, the rest of the country would breathe a deep sigh of relief. Also, I would finally favor building a wall (after the decent people were evacuated).
Ken
@zhena gogolia: I heard Cawthorn was great fun at the weekly Republican cocaine orgies.
Mind you, I heard it from him…
Qrop Non Sequitur
Would that be to hold the seawater in? We should probably let rain collect from the top too.
prostratedragon
TPM has been looking into the visa question. Here’s a gift link to an article that contains a couple more links.
Qrop Non Sequitur
@zhena gogolia: Gaetz reminds me too much of a Dick Tracy villain.
Baud
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
There are alternatives that don’t have the same baggage.
trollhattan
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Wall fashioned of pythons.
zhena gogolia
@Ken: He would be a great White Lotus character.
MisterForkbeard
@prostratedragon: The most recent update that I’ve seen is that after you’re no longer head of state, the State Department gives you 30 days to change your visa status before you’re ‘undocumented’.
Qrop Non Sequitur
@MisterForkbeard: But what if you believe you’re head of state?
prostratedragon
From Reuters:
sheila in nc
@The Moar You Know: Resection and anastomosis? I’ve had 4.
MisterForkbeard
@Qrop Non Sequitur: In that case he’s welcome to apply for refugee status! According to Title 42, he should go do so from Brazil. Chop chop, Jair.
Omnes Omnibus
@Qrop Non Sequitur: Rugby players can answer that question:
Old Ebenezer thought he was Julius Caesar
So they put him in a home
Where they gave him medicinal compound
Now he’s emperor of Rome
We’ll drink a drink, a drink
To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the Pink
The savior of the human race
For she invented medicinal compound
Most efficacious in every case
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s dark. And adorable. Love it.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Maybe the two people Kevin mentioned being on Putin’s payroll weren’t the only ones. Maybe Kevin now has a piece of the action.
Quinerly
@Betty Cracker: actually I read the News and Observer piece just minutes before I saw the title of your thread posting. My afternoon chuckle. Gaetz is Florida Man, too, isn’t he?
In other news, I love my newly adopted state of New Mexico. 😉
prostratedragon
@Dagaetch: Thanks, I’m enjoying this. Tangentially, seems that
now that election season is overafter reassessing its procedures, Walgreens has decided that it overstated and overreacted to claims of a wave of shoplifting that are mentioned in the Karakatsanis article. Link to Guardian articleQrop Non Sequitur
@MisterForkbeard: If you’re seeking refuge from your home country, why should you need to return to that country to apply?
Sounds like putting people in harm’s way.
Quinerly
Open Thread! One of my best guy friends in St Louis just sent me this. A fine Jesuit educated fellow.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: Santos might well be on Putin’s payroll, at least indirectly. His biggest campaign backer was Andrew Intrater, cousin and “money manager” of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Around Labor Day, FBI agents spent several hours at Vekselberg’s Long Island home. They had a search warrant and carried away a number of evidence boxes. They may know how Santos went from a modest financial position in 2020 to become a very wealthy man in 2022.
prostratedragon
@prostratedragon: Dang, missed the edit window. Wanted to add that the additional costs that one would figure Walgreens must have somehow had to back off from were fines for various things including wage theft that it has had to pay during the time when it was blaming losses on shoplifting and closing stores in Black neighborhoods in Chicago, San Francisco neighborhoods where it was desired to get rid of the DA, …
ian
@Qrop Non Sequitur: It is a terrible Trump era policy that required some asylum seekers to wait outside the US. For some reasons best known to the Roberts court, it is still the law of the land.
I suspect snark was involved in MisterForkbeard’s comment, but my snark detector is way off.
For example, I can’t tell if those here arguing to rendition people to Gitmo are being serious or snarky.
Geminid
@Quinerly: New Mexico well deserves the title “Land of Enchantment.”
And it’s even more enchanting now that it has three Democratic Representatitives! I hope Gabe Vasquez has enjoyed his first few days on Washington. These long sessions have hopefully been a good opportunity to get to know his caucus colleagues.
Qrop Non Sequitur
Here is my shocked face. 😐
Jackie
@Qrop Non Sequitur: HA! I knew exactly who you meant before I clicked to confirm!
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Jackie: Once it’s there, it can’t be unseen.
Ruckus
@Dan B:
Drano to the rescue!
The Moar You Know
@sheila in nc: 2. And ileostomy, then ileostomy reversal. People don’t know what hell is.
WereBear
Florida, when I lived there, always had this skewed vibe from the high numbers of retirees. My brother and I sighed in relief when plans to move to Zephyrhills did not come to pass.
“There’d be like, six kids in the whole school.”
But now? When I think of them all being right wing retirees? That’s a horror series right there.
lowtechcyclist
@MisterForkbeard:
State Department spokesman Ned Price said today that if someone is here on a diplomatic visa but is no longer conducting official business on behalf of their nation’s government, they have thirty days to either apply to Homeland Security for a change in visa status, or leave the country.
Quinerly
@Geminid: I’m really enjoying my new state and home. Very glad I traveled out here extensively before making the move, though. I do admit that I would probably still be in St. Louis had I not early retired at the end of 12/2019….then took my usual Feb trip out here 2020, extending it into March in order to spend more time in the 4 Corners area and at Canyon de Chelly. Of course, we all remember how the world changed in March, 2020. When I got back to St. Louis, I shut down with puppy JoJo (adopted on that trip) and essentially started planning my escape. But for Covid Times literally changing my outlook re my next chapter, I am pretty sure I would still be in St. Louis and being embarrassed by Josh Hawley.
Dan B
@lowtechcyclist: I read that Bolsonaro had planned to leave to Italy after Florida. Not sure if they have an extradition treaty with Brazil.
MazeDancer
Is Bolsonaro paying cash for his “medical” care?
Ruckus
@tobie:
The weather is nice there, most of the time.
And while I haven’t been there in over 50 yrs and they added a prison, I’d still bet that it hasn’t actually changed it all that much.
schrodingers_cat
@Qrop Non Sequitur: Even for long term non-immigrant visas like work visas and student visas if you need to extend them for some reason, you need to go back to your country of origin to get your passport stamped.
Prior to 9/11 you just had to leave the country, so many people went to Canada or Mexico instead.
Ruckus
@CaseyL:
Not enough room for all of them…..
Al Rennick
“How Smart Is Joe Biden?” – WaterGirl
Hey WG,
How about this smart?
Classified documents from Biden’s time as VP discovered in private office, source says
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/09/politics/joe-biden-classified-documents-upenn/
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Yes, that’s a big part of why I think he may be on Putin’s payroll.
Montanareddog
@Qrop Non Sequitur:
Dark? You do know the name of the band?
Qrop Non Sequitur
@schrodingers_cat: We need some sort of comprehensive immigration reform. Make this make sense
@Montanareddog: I do not know the name of the band. I didn’t know it was music.
WaterGirl
@ian: I believe they were letting off steam.
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: I remember reading in a biography of movie director Billy Wilder about how he had to spend time in Mexico after fleeing to America from France in 1940. I guess he had to get his immigration status resolved.
It was a nervous time for him, and I think Wilder wrote a screenplay based on the experience.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Quinerly:
That’s basically what I’m still doing.
Montanareddog
@Qrop Non Sequitur: The Scaffold, which is a pretty dark name, just ask Mike Pence.
They were a trio comprised of a poet, a comedian and Paul McCartney’s brother, I kid you not.
Qrop Non Sequitur
@Geminid: Google turned up Hold Back the Dawn. Is that it?
WaterGirl
@Al Rennick: Thanks for sharing that. Once again, it shows the stark difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Everyone makes the occasional mistake, and in this case it does not at all look like Biden was deliberately in possession of classified documents.
Biden didn’t refuse to turn over the documents; they immediately notified the National Archives that they had discovered the documents!
I have bolded some of the information in your linked article – in case you hadn’t noticed the stark difference between the way Biden handled this and the way Trump deliberately hid documents and refused to turn them over.
WaterGirl
@Al Rennick: Shorter reply:
How smart is Joe Biden?
Smart enough to immediately contact FARA as soon as the documents were discovered. The documents they found were in FARA’s hands the very next day.
frosty
@WaterGirl: It doesn’t matter how well Biden’s attorneys handle this. Trump will be all over it, Fox News will amplify it, then the MSM will Bothsides the shit out of it. I expect it will have an influence on indictments for Trump mishandling classified documents.
Shit!!
Quinerly
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Missouri wasn’t totally insane when I moved to St. Louis in 8/1982. And I still say as a city goes, St. Louis has a lot going for it. Very underrated. Great restaurants. Fantastic music scene. Wonderful city neighborhoods and architecture.
Betty Cracker
FFS! How can there NOT be a central system that tracks who has classified documents? Why are they not checked in and out like library books? I get there are security issues — so encrypt every name and document number and store it at a nuclear warhead facility or whatever. Jesus, Mary & Joseph!
Quinerly
@frosty: I tend to agree with you. My stomach just flipped. Ugh.
leeleeFL
@Betty Cracker: Betty, I am beginning to feel VERY claustrophobic here in sunny flori-DUH! There really is an abundance of ’em coming here, ain’t there? Ugh!
prostratedragon
@Geminid: I think I’ve seen it, probably on TCM … [rummage rummage … ] yes, Hold Back the Dawn.
Quinerly
@frosty: aND here we go…..CBS
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-center-classified-documents/
leeleeFL
@Omnes Omnibus: I may be the only one hear who knows the melody for this! A member at the Club where I work sang it to me on my Birthday once! Lily is my real name! LOLOL
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Quinerly: I remember a time when MO wasn’t insane also. That seems so long ago. :(
Sure Lurkalot
@frosty: I agree. The media will both sides it to death and the nuance as to how the matter was dealt with will be obscured to oblivion. House Republicans will probably seize it as their causus belli (impeachment).
prostratedragon
@leeleeFL:
Oh, I’d love to hear it (she lied)! I grew up hearing radio ads for Lydia Pinkham’s compound, and was just now amazed to see that according to wikip, the stuff is still on sale.
Geminid
@Qrop Non Sequitur:
@prostratedragon: That’s the movie.
JoyceH
@Quinerly:
As a kid growing up in Southern Illinois, my folks would take us to the Muni Opera once or twice a year. It was like a three hour drive for us! Saw road shows of musicals, recall Robert Goulet in Camelot. And it took a huge amount of teenage nagging, since my parents weren’t particularly interesting in ballet, BUT – we saw Nureyev and Fonteyn in Swan Lake. (Been bragging about that for fifty years!)
Cameron
@Sure Lurkalot: Gym Jordan has already broken into a cold sweat, no doubt.
Montanareddog
@prostratedragon:
Now I am obliged to share a link
Quinerly
@JoyceH: 💙
RepubAnon
@bbleh: Use the trick fro the movie “Undercover Blue” – trick him onto a Brazilian-owned helicopter…
WaterGirl
@frosty: No. There have been plenty of people, before, who accidentally mishandled classified documents, and there will be people in the future who accidentally mishandle classified documents.
It’s plain to see that what Biden did was accidentally mishandling the documents. The DOJ will investigate and will conclude that it makes no sense to prosecute. He notified FARA the second they found the documents, no hiding. Absolute cooperation. No obstruction.
The joker on this thread would likely love to see everyone here riled up. Don’t fall for it.
WaterGirl
Okay, everyone panic. I won’t be joining you.
MisterForkbeard
@Al Rennick: He’s pretty smart! His lawyers found one folder with 6 pages in it, and immediately notified the Archives. Then Biden didn’t lie about it, demand to keep the documents, steal them, deliberately keep them in an unsafe location, and hinder a federal investigation.
That’s pretty great!
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: No panic at all, but I do see that the MSM is already failing at this. Even that CNN article tries to make it a bothsides thing.
But did Biden do anything wrong? No. They proactively turned things over and cooperated, like you’re supposed to. And they found this while Biden was President, meaning they turned them over even when Biden had an actual current right to the documents.
As always, the rightwing will lie and bloviate and the media will give them cover. But in this case, the legalities are pretty clear.
Leto
Dumbshits are already trying to pass legislation in the House to repeal the IRS funding. I know it can’t happen, it’s all kabuki, but here we are. More clown show.
frosty
@WaterGirl: OK, I’ll let you talk me down off the ledge.
ETA: I currently have two tabs open with different Balloon-Juice posts. First time I’ve done this; IIRC this is your typical MO?
Kirk
@Montanareddog: Just a point of reference – Lily the Pink (from that verse) is a cleaned up version of the Ballad of Lily Pinkham’ not an original creation. The former song was one of my father’s favorites, though he preferred the Irish Rovers version. An uncle, however, spent time with the UK Royal Tank Corps and when the children were supposedly out of earshot would counter my father with that version to try and embarrass him.
schrodingers_cat
@Geminid: Immigrants have to go through a lot to become citizens. And when I canvass to do new voter registrations and I hear people complain about registering to vote again when they have moved, I do a mental head desk.
WaterGirl
@frosty: 7 at the moment. :-)
Quinerly
@MisterForkbeard: NBC, ABC, NYT, CBS, WaPo, and Wall Street Journal have all put up stories within the last 90 mins or so. The story will be beaten to death.
JPL
@Quinerly: Rep Mike Rogers breathes a sigh of relief. Forget Santos since he is old news.
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: Immigrants can also have an outsider’s point of view that is especially perceptive. I think that’s one thing that made Billy Wilder’s best movies so good.
Quinerly
@JPL: I’m not in a panic. But if anyone thinks this isn’t going to be played as a big deal, he/she isn’t paying attention. This is just the kind of thing they have been looking for.
prostratedragon
@Montanareddog: Aaaaarrrrgh!!!
JWR
@WaterGirl: Thank you for that, WG. I was just about to post something snarky about “See?! Bothsides!” when I saw your far better post. Alas, the Freedumb Cockus won’t see the trees for the forest, so I hope team Biden’s ready for whatever may come.
WaterGirl
@JWR: On the bright side, maybe we won’t have to see Hunter Biden’s penis for a long, long time.
prostratedragon
@Geminid: Possible MediumCool topics? Hollywood generally has been favored with important contributions from immigrants all along, and some of them have had aspects of us nailed to the wall. I think especially of Wilder, Hitchcock, and Ang Lee, but there are many others. Some of it is just having people nailed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
they have the facts on their side, I think the more pertinent question is: can trump’s potential criminal attorneys introduce this as a defense, and I would think they could? and will that impact Jack Smith’s thinking about prosecution
JWR
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think the Rs will win the cable news gabfests, but in the end, I think the courts will have little to charge. (I hope that makes sense.)
WaterGirl
The DOJ will investigate, as they always do with mishandled documents. Maybe that strengthens the DOJ’s hand in an odd sort of way?
“We don’t care who does it, we investigate all mishandled documents.”
Wake Hackle
If Florida Scrub Jays are as interesting and smart as their California cousins, then 100% they should be the new state bird. Mockingbirds will still have 5 other states. (FYI I had to look up the CA state bird; we have a real cutie with the California Quail.)
frosty
@Quinerly: It’s the second story on The Grauniad now. US justice Department investigating papers stored at Biden’s former institute.
Sorry everyone, I think it will have legs and undercut TFG’s crimes. Even my first gut reaction is that it’s not uncommon. I repeat: Shit!
El Muneco
@The Moar You Know: He’s an asylum seeker from South America? We’ll send him on a bus overnight to a random place in New England and force the people there to welcome and clothe him, before denying his asylum application and sending him into a stateless limbo. Right?
El Muneco
@MisterForkbeard: “Even the CNN”
Don’t forget, this isn’t our parents’ CNN. It is a bought and paid for part of the right-wing mediasphere, a wannabee Fox, since its recent purchase and purging of everyone with a conscience.
Martin
No offense to our Florida residents, but the state is increasingly resembling Afghanistan circa 2000.