I’ve had some issues with Tapper in the past, but he is clearly fucking OVER Jason Miller and similar right wing hacks:
That’s a thing of beauty.
by John Cole| 85 Comments
This post is in: Trump Crime Cartel
I’ve had some issues with Tapper in the past, but he is clearly fucking OVER Jason Miller and similar right wing hacks:
That’s a thing of beauty.
This post is in: Trump Crime Cartel
I know Tamara has already covered this briefly, but this really is THE most astonishing thing I have ever heard short of the Nixon tapes.
You owe it to yourself to listen to this entire hour long piece of lunacy. And remember, anyone in the House and the Senate who tried to prevent the 6 January proceedings is complicit with this nutjob.
by TaMara| 347 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Crime Cartel
FOLKS: Full audio published here. Please retweet far and wide. https://t.co/QqIsaNw5pA
— Amy Gardner (@AmyEGardner) January 3, 2021
I think this deserves its own post. h/t Jim, Foolish Literalist
ETA: Here’s the audio if you can’t access WaPo
Wow. WaPo just released a recording showing President Trump attempting to blackmail Georgia's Secretary of State to overturn the election.
Listen: pic.twitter.com/33SO6Tyx8u
— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) January 3, 2021
Audio: Trump berates Ga. secretary of state, urges him to ‘find’ votes – The Washington Post https://t.co/2y9OmBJsjK
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 3, 2021
It is a WaPo link, but I’m assuming it will be available elsewhere soon.
?
"Trump did most of the talking… calling Raffensperger a “child” and “either dishonest or incompetent”— and twice calling himself a “schmuck” for endorsing Kemp""He was already tripping the emergency meter…so we were at 12 on a scale of 1 to 10, and now we're at 15."? pic.twitter.com/I8DzG4CLSv
— Peabody's not sleeping well (@PeabodyA) January 3, 2021
It’s going to be a long, looong two weeks. Buckle up!
ETA: It took me a while to access the story (for some reason my subscription wasn’t working)
President Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in an extraordinary one-hour phone call Saturday that election experts said raised legal questions.
The Washington Post obtained a recording of the conversation in which Trump alternately berated Raffensperger, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the secretary of state refused to pursue his false claims, at one point warning that Raffensperger was taking “a big risk.”
Throughout the call, Raffensperger and his office’s general counsel rejected Trump’s assertions, explaining that the president is relying on debunked conspiracy theories and that President-elect Joe Biden’s 11,779-vote victory in Georgia was fair and accurate.
This Is Madness: Trump On Tape With GA SOS ETA: Full Hour PublishedPost + Comments (347)
This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Trump Crime Cartel, Floriduh Man, Schadenfreude
2020 in a single tweet pic.twitter.com/M7vKHBjNnh
— Alice Beryl (@base2wave) January 1, 2021
These happy disease vectors walk golf-cart among them…
Trump loses no opportunity to scam people. None. That he scammed the suck-ups who frequent Mar-a-Lago, is a rather fitting ending to 2020 and his presidency. https://t.co/edirJqjbJx
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) January 2, 2021
… Without the President as the centerpiece, the wattage of Thursday evening’s party was somewhat dimmer. Performers whose heyday came decades ago — Vanilla Ice and Berlin — performed from the ballroom’s main stage. Guests angled for selfies with Giuliani, who was wearing a blue velvet tuxedo jacket, and Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro, along with personalities from the right-wing television network OANN.
Instead of their father, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump mingled among the guests with their respective significant others, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump. Tiffany Trump also attended, though Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were not seen.
Tables set for 10 people, with no social distancing, were clustered in the ballroom with white floral arrangements and candles encased in a sculpture meant to look like the New Year’s Eve ball. The menu consisted of “Mr. Trump’s Wedge Salad” — the club has kept “Mr. Trump” instead of “President Trump” on the dish — cheese tortellini and Wagyu beef.
Many guests and entertainers were left disappointed upon learning from CNN late Wednesday that Trump would be leaving Florida early. Ticket prices for the New Year’s Eve gala have steadily increased since Trump took office, and reached up to $1,000 this year, a person familiar with the matter said…
Like other gatherings at Mar-a-Lago this year, almost no guests wore masks.
That provided a bookend to the start of the pandemic, when a similarly maskless birthday party for Guilfoyle held in the Mar-a-Lago ballroom proved to be an early spreading event.
Here was the New Year’s Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago last night during deadly pandemic… pic.twitter.com/Seh9dbJRV9
— Rex Chapman???? (@RexChapman) January 1, 2021
COVID theme song https://t.co/Ijc01JKYUB
— Grudgie the Whale (@grudging1) January 1, 2021
Vanilla Ice was booked for NYE at Mar A Lago per @meridithmcgraw https://t.co/exLur7RhLB
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 1, 2021
Guess the poor bastids might as well accustom themselves…
… In anticipation of Trump setting up permanent residence at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach after leaving the White House in January, Trump allies, conservative media firebrands and MAGA-boosting activist groups are setting up the next Trumpy hub of GOP power.
Some Trump supporters have settled in South Florida, drawn by Florida’s friendly tax climate and the state’s current GOP leadership. Other prominent MAGA groups, like the student organizing outfit Turning Point USA, are holding events in the area. And the next Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual gathering of the GOP’s most conservative factions, will even be held a couple hours drive north, in Orlando.
Meanwhile, the president and First Lady Melania Trump are renovating their private quarters at Mar-a-Lago to prepare for a permanent return. And, with an eye toward their political future, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have reportedly bought a multi-million dollar property in an exclusive part of Miami. The Trump kids plan to spend more time in Palm Beach, unless Eric’s wife Lara Trump ends up running for Senate in North Carolina, according to a person close to the family…
I very much doubt Jarvanka will spend significant time in Florida, but the state’s generous bankruptcy homestead exemption is presumably a comfort, as well as a useful tool in their post-regency financial planning.
Trump is reportedly angry about the remodel of his Mar-A-Lago living space. It should be noted that dementia patients don’t like change. He’s at the point where home modifications are done for patients if they have the means to bring care in & avoid the assisted living facility
— Tom Joseph (@TomJChicago) December 31, 2020
Any Member of Congress who attended the mostly mask-less Mar-a-Lago New Year’s party shouldn’t be allowed to go in person to the joint session on January 6th. Below are photos of Rep Gaetz and Senator Rand Paul at the party with no masks on. pic.twitter.com/Qw6BWSuxiB
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) January 1, 2021
(Gaetz & Paul have both insisted that their personal bouts with COVID-19 exempts them from mask-wearing, of course.)
This post is in: Open Threads, Trump Crime Cartel, Schadenfreude
He didn’t like the ones at Camp David either ??♀️ https://t.co/uHrkSJBYxt
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) December 29, 2020
After having the White House staff (and all the ‘most important’ journalists & pundits) at his beck & phone call… somehow getting schmoozed by a bunch of retired car dealership owners just isn’t as sweet. Strong end-of-the-empire vibes here — Trump angered by Mar-a-Lago renovations, sources say:
His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources. The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, were not to President Donald Trump’s liking, and he was mad about it, according to a source familiar with the President’s response.
Several weeks in the works, the renovations, undertaken to make the approximately 3,000-square-foot space feel larger and updated in preparation for the Trumps post-White House life, didn’t appeal to Trump’s aesthetics, according to his reaction. Trump was also displeased with other renovations at the property, the source said, not just in the living space…
If the kick-off to his last Florida sojourn as President was rough, the days that followed would be much of the same, with Trump appearing “moody,” according to the source at the club, spending more time than usual behind closed doors and not mingling and conversing as much as he normally does with club members and senior White House staff, many of whom have in the last few years joined him there…
Though he has largely publicly ignored the ravages of Covid-19 on the country, commenting little in recent weeks and seemingly taking a backseat approach as hundreds of thousands of Americans become infected each day, Trump hasn’t been able to avoid the coronavirus’ impact at his beloved sanctuary of Mar-a-Lago…
A Palm Beach winter regular said they’ve heard about the lack of parties, events and fundraisers in the wealthy enclave, and the dinnertime ritual of table-hopping, going from table to table to exchange air kisses and hellos has all but disappeared. The mask-wearing mandate for businesses, establishments, public spaces and restaurants in Palm Beach was extended in Palm Beach County until January 20 and includes Mar-a-Lago, though compliance there has been hit-or-miss at best.
The Mar-a-Lago “scene,” as it were, consists largely of Trump holding court when he is in residence. Club members and their guests like to marvel at stumbling upon the President of the United States at the buffet or a party in the ballroom. At a wedding Monday night at Mar-a-Lago, Trump made a surprise appearance, entering to wave hello and congratulate the bride and groom, according to someone present at the event.
The fabled Mar-a-Lago black-tie New Year’s Eve party, which Trump and his family attend each year and which guests pay thousands per ticket, is still slated to take place Thursday night, said a member of Mar-a-Lago, who has heard buzz that at least 500 reservations have already been confirmed. What is unclear is whether attendees will adhere to coronavirus mitigation guidelines. At a gala earlier this month for Turning Point USA, the conservative student group, partygoers flouted mask and social distancing requirements, photos from the event showed hundreds in the Mar-a-Lago ballroom.
The President has also been relegated to a smaller batch of familiar faces to entertain and occupy his time during this Florida trip. There are no foreign leaders to host, as has often been the case during his presidency, and most of the West Wing senior staff who usually join the trip are not there.
On Sunday, Trump did not dine out with the first lady, and instead ate dinner at a table with his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and Trump Jr.’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, according to one witness, who said Trump had a pop-by at his table from Roger Stone, one of his longtime cronies who the President had pardoned less than a week prior. Stone entered the club wearing a “Trump 2020” face mask…
Break out a whole symphony of nano-violins for this sad, sad sack of spite and insecurity.
Late Night Open Thread: The Mad King of <del>Versailles</del> Mar-A-LagoPost + Comments (107)
This post is in: Trump Crime Cartel
As AL noted below, the shitlord in chief capitulated and signed the “stimulus” bill and the government spending bill, which will shower the poors with a massive 600 dollars and probably funnel another half trillion to his buddies because who knows where all the money goes, and he signed the spending bill so the government will stay open. So once again, he bitched, pissed and moaned for a week, then threw away all his leverage and did whatever Mitch told him to do.
But wait, you say, Trump is demanding that congress pass a bill giving $2,000.00 and that he insists they get back to DC and do it today.
Or what?
Mitch McConnell is from Kentucky and knows roadkill when he sees it. Trump has nothing. He could threaten to try to blow up the Jan 5th runoff in Georgia, but he won’t do that because he likes to be involved and he likes to take credit for other people’s accomplishments. So he won’t actually do that. Literally the only arrow left in his quiver is the pardon power, and no one on the hill cares about that.
He’s never been a good negotiator and he’s proven it with everything he has ever touched. He’s simply a brazen crook, but in this case, he’s no match for Mitch McConnell, who is even more brazen and a touch smarter.
World’s Greatest Negotiator Strikes AgainPost + Comments (166)
This post is in: Information Warfare, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Trump Crime Cartel
JUST IN: President Trump has announced 26 new pardons, including ones for longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner's father, Charles https://t.co/y3qx4c3wGo
— CNN (@CNN) December 24, 2020
… The pardons extend Trump’s streak of wielding his clemency powers for criminals who are loyalists, well-connected or adjacent to his family. While all presidents issue controversial pardons at the end of their terms, Trump appears to be moving at a faster pace than his predecessors, demonstrating little inhibition at rewarding his friends and allies using one of the most unrestricted powers of his office.
The pardons of Manafort and Stone reward two of the most high-profile and widely condemned former advisers of the President, both of whom were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller, went to trial and were convicted by juries of multiple crimes…
Charles Kushner, meanwhile, had been prosecuted by then-US Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie in the early 2000s for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions.
He eventually pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness — his brother-in-law — and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission…
Beyond the high-profile pardons, Trump also pardoned more than 20 other individuals, including those who had pleaded guilty to various cyber crimes, firearm possession and mail fraud. He also commuted the sentences of three others…
But not, yet, Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht, marketplace disrupter.
The origin story of Ross Ulbricht is no different to any story in Silicon Valley. It’s that of a young, smart, well-educated man, who grew up in an upper-middle-class suburb and had an idea that would change the world. Other men like him started services like Uber to disrupt the taxi business, Airbnb to disrupt hotels, or Yelp to disrupt the restaurant industry. Ulbricht chose to disrupt the drug market—illegal drugs. Ulbricht’s start-up, which he called the Silk Road, matched drug buyers and drug dealers, who shipped the product right to your door as if it was a box of tissues or a new book, and like Amazon, he took a small commission. Unlike Travis Kalanick of Uber, or Brian Chesky of Airbnb, Ulbricht, who went by “the Dread Pirate Roberts” (a reference to The Princess Bride) as a secret sobriquet, was eventually caught in a public library in San Francisco and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail.
On Tuesday, the Daily Beast reported that Donald Trump was exploring pardoning Ulbricht, writing that Trump “has at times privately expressed some sympathy for Ulbricht’s situation and has been considering his name, among others, for his next round of commutations and pardons.” …
And then there’s the other members of the Intellectual Dork Web’s Holy Trinity…
Snowden working the proper angles in attempt to get President Trump’s attention https://t.co/afl4t2SuvK pic.twitter.com/AiMIZdpOfm
— Michael B. Kelley (@MichaelBKelley) December 14, 2020
My personal opinion would be that Snowden is (now, if not always) a professional member of Russia’s spy services, who will never return to the United States barring a human assets swap. As for Assange, his motivations seem to be a mystery even to himself; he’s useful as a rhetorical bludgeon, but would be extremely risky for his defenders were he ever released from custody. But then, I am in no way a professional at information warfare — who knows what “inspiration” Trump will achieve by January 19th?