Searching for Jared Wise
I want to talk about Jared Wise.
Jared Wise is a former counterterrorism FBI Supervisory Special Agent who was arrested for crimes related to January 6 on May 1, 2023; he was indicted on civil disorder, assault, and trespassing charges on May 31, 2023.
In June, Wise moved to suppress a May 5, 2022 AT&T warrant and everything derivative of it, based on the theory that the warrant sought evidence of a conspiracy for which it had not presented probable cause (he is represented by Oregon’s very good FPD office). The same filing moved to suppress a photo obtained in an April 2023 traffic stop that occurred just weeks before a search of his residence. Finally, it aimed to suppress the search of his home based, in part, on staleness grounds. Then last month, Wise supplemented his suppression motion, this time arguing that a tower dump warrant obtained in January 2021 was an unconstitutional geofence warrant under a recent Fifth Circuit decision.
I took the time to read all this because I’ve been tracking the geofence challenges that come out of the January 6 investigation (see here, here, here, here, here, here) and also because I’m fascinated by the former law enforcement types who ended up attacking the Capitol. But between the government’s initial response and the response, submitted yesterday, to his supplement, they provide a fascinating picture of the FBI’s investigation into one of their own.
The government’s response argues this is not about a geofence at all. Rather, the warrant Wise claims was a geofence was instead a tower dump warrant targeting two towers that exclusively serve the interior of the Capitol, basically a search for business records of access to a cell phone tower rather than location data offered up in response to a voluntary Google service.
The filings together present this timeline of the investigation into Wise.
January 22, 2021 tower dump warrant
April 18, 2021 query of tower dump returns
October 2021 final conversation between Wise and tipster
January 10, 2022 public tip regarding Wise
January 26, 2022 interview in which tipster reveals Wise told him he was at the Capitol
May 5, 2022 AT&T warrant for 1752 and 5104 from November 1, 2020 through February 1, 2021: Disclosed Wise made 62 calls and sent 46 text messages on January 6
November 23, 2022 AT&T warrant for 1752 and 5104 from November 3, 2020 through January 31, 2021: Shows Wise still using phone
April 2, 2023 traffic stop on suspicion of altered VIN
April 12 and 13, 2023 warrant, issued in CAED but never executed
April 18 warrant shows Wise still using phone
April 24, 2023 warrant for Wise’s house, car, and person for 1752, 5104, 1512(c)(2), 111, 231, 371, 372: On May 1, FBI seizes:
- Apple iPhone
- Apple MacBook Pro
- Burner LG Phoenix 5 (unopened)
- Clothing from riot
His phone number was collected in the tower dump, but he attracted no individualized attention until someone narced him out in January 2022, at which point they found the cell phone records that he had been in the building during the 2PM hour on January 6.
At first, the FBI only obtained information to support the two trespassing charges, 1752 and 5104, used with all January 6 suspects. But the affiant of that warrant described that a search might find “help identify co-conspirators or victims,” which is why Wise claimed that this warrant was, “a fishing expedition, hoping to find some evidence of conspiracy when there is no probable cause to believe that one exists.” But, the government noted in response, at that point “the warrant authorized the seizure only of evidence related to the noted offenses.” While the second warrant, dated November 23, 2022, remained focused on the trespassing charges, it noted that,
I know that many persons who came to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, engaged in planning between the time of the November 2020 election and January 6, 2021, and that they communicated with other like-minded individuals about their purpose in coming to the Capitol using their smartphones.
Things got more interesting when — at least as described — a California Highway Patrol officer stopped Wise in April 2023, weeks before a warrant would be issued for his arrest, because the color on his registration did not match the color of the vehicle and, partly because of Wise’s Texas plates, the officer suspected VIN swapping.
The officer decided to make a traffic enforcement stop of the vehicle based on the registration return, which indicated the car’s color was blue, rather than what the officer observed to be grey. The officer knew, based on his training and experience, that there are many vehicles in the state of California that have had their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) switched in Texas.
Wise undoubtedly believed this was a pretext stop — a stop invented solely to collect information from a suspect. As a former CT officer, he would know how they are used. And so after the officer freed him to leave, Wise got out of his car and started filming the officer.
But after he was told he was free to leave, the defendant became verbally aggressive and irritated with the officer. The defendant insisted he was stopped unlawfully and said there was another reason why the officer made the traffic stop. The officer continued to advise the defendant of the reason for the stop and told him multiple times the stop was over and that he was “free to leave.” As the officer returned to his patrol vehicle, the defendant exited his vehicle, carrying his cell phone, and appeared to be recording the officer and his vehicle. The defendant approached the officer in a slightly aggressive manner and continued to appear upset that he was stopped. The defendant requested the officer’s name and badge number, which the officer then provided. The officer again advised the defendant that the traffic stop was over and he was free to leave. After approximately two minutes, the defendant returned to his vehicle and departed.
That’s when the officer got the picture of Wise’s car, which was used in the affidavit to search Wise’s house, car, and person.
But even if the defendant’s traffic stop was improper, there was no seizure at the time the relevant photograph of the defendant was taken. Indeed, the opposite was true. The traffic stop was conducted, the defendant’s license and registration were checked and returned, and the defendant was told he was free to leave. It was over. See Arizona v. Johnson, 555 U.S. 323, 333 (2009) (“Normally, the stop ends when the police have no further need to control the scene, and inform the driver and passengers they are free to leave.”); United States v. Maynard, 615 F.3d 544, 553 (D.C. Cir. 2010) (holding that the seizure of the defendant was over after the defendant’s license and registration was returned and he was told he was free to leave), aff’d in part sub nom. United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012). But the defendant did not leave. Instead, after being repeatedly told he was free to leave, the defendant—who has, in other filings, opined that he is in a “unique position to admonish law enforcement,” ECF No. 33 at 32 n.8—chose to exit his vehicle, pull out his cell phone, and start recording the officer who had stopped him. It was then that the photograph subsequently used in the search warrant—seen below—was taken. In other words, the defendant voluntarily remained to reprimand a police officer, and now complains when the officer happened to document the scene using a police-issued cruiser camera.
The traffic stop’s inclusion in these suppression motions is, legally, superfluous. The government compellingly argues that they got the probable cause information to search the vehicle via other means, including surveillance of Wise and a different picture of his vehicle.
The April 2023 affidavit recites facts tying the vehicle to the defendant: it identifies the vehicle as being registered to the defendant, see Exhibit D at ¶ 2, and it cites surveillance confirming the vehicle’s presence at the defendant’s residence, see Exhibit D at ¶ 56. But the affidavit never even mentions the April 2, 2024 traffic stop. See generally Exhibit D. Instead, the pertinent photograph appears as part of an attachment identifying the vehicle to be searched. See Exhibit D at Attachment A. That attachment states “[t]he Vehicle is depicted below” and includes two photographs—only one of which is from the traffic stop.
More importantly, nothing was seized from Wise’s car; there are no fruits of a search to suppress.
On the Fourth Amendment question, this dispute appears to arise from confusion about different technologies and therefore different probable cause formulas. Some of the confusion stems from temporal lapses between the execution of a warrant and queries of data obtained from it.
But what really appears to be going on is that a very paranoid former FBI guy, one who called cops “Nazis” on January 6, believes the FBI is or was investigating him more broadly. He believed in real time and still believes (and he may be right) that when a cop stopped him during his trip to California in April 2023, it was a pretext stop designed to collect more information; there are a good number of other January 6 defendants in which such stops were used.
Ultimately, Wise came to believe “they” were out to get him, “they” were out to investigate a larger conspiracy.
In the end, they were! The search of his house included two conspiracy charges, 371 and 372, among the suspect crimes.
But instead, he’s facing two civil disorder charges for his own actions, allegedly attacking cops.
Tangentially OT: This reminded me of a blog post I read back in August, the topic of which I expected Dr EW to address at some point. I don’t believe it has been discussed here (sorry if it was and I missed it…).
‘A U.S. federal court has held that geofence warrants are unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment, finding that they fit the definition of general warrants that are “categorically prohibited” by that Amendment.’
https://www.maproomblog.com/2024/08/geofence-warrants-found-unconstitutional-by-one-u-s-federal-court/
Right: That’s the Fifth Circuit decision that Wise relies on. The response to that — the one from last night — really lays into the Fifth Circuit decision, I think correctly so. Of significant import, the Fifth Circuit didn’t understand that users voluntarily share their location data in this usage, and 2/3 of Google users do not share it.
Any decisions out of the current Fifth Circuit are inherently suspect.
Meanwhile, SCOTUS just reversed a Ho Oldham and Willett grant of QI.
To you and me, maybe, earl. But not to the current SCOTUS–EW’s cited exception notwithstanding.
“Ultimately, Wise came to believe “they” were out to get him, “they” were out to investigate a larger conspiracy.
In the end, they were! The search of his house included two conspiracy charges, 371 and 372, among the suspect crimes.
But instead, he’s facing two civil disorder charges for his own actions, allegedly attacking cops.”
IANAL.
If they found conspiracy evidence but ended up only charging for civil disorder, is the conspiracy evidence able to be used in another case that is building a larger conspiracy for another Jan 6 case? And might there be a desire to avoid that conspiracy evidence being presented in Wise’s trial if it might serve in a better capacity in another Jan 6 trial?
I’m also curious about the January tipster. Doesn’t the tip validate a search of the tower dump for his data?
Finally, just curious, what would be a trigger to obtain a warrant to access auto tracking data if it is a newer car model containing tracking tech?
I doubt you could get a warrant for that for a crime that happened 2 years earlier.
Re: larger conspiracies, the most interesting detail from Jan6 in recent days is that a wildly unreliable Jan6 defendant who is defending himself claimed that Ivan Raiklin, the former Special Forces guy close to Mike Flynn, is treated as a defendant in Jan6 discovery. Raiklin is close to the guy arrested with unregistered guns at the Coachella rally the other day.
“Raiklin is close to the guy arrested with unregistered guns at the Coachella rally the other day.”
THAT made me spew my coffee and swear! Are you going to write more about this or just leave it as an observation in the comments?
They do podcasts on Rumble together
Did a quick search
The last one was 14 days ago
The list of recent ones is here
https:// [. .] rumble.com/search/all?q=ivan%20raiklin%20vem%20miller
Interestingly in the light of recent Tina Peters events – the two did a long interview of her over two episodes some months back
These guys are tight.
Here’s Jim Stewartson on 10/13/24:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1845570922046173217.html
5:02 PM · Oct 13, 2024
Stewartson is the guy who told anti-fascists to stay home on J6:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/06/02/must-see-tv-house-january-6-committee-hearings-begin-june-9-at-800-pm/#comment-939822
Also, see this Xeet from Stewartson:
https://x.com/jimstewartson/status/1845565886448726483
4:42 PM · Oct 13, 2024
And, because Stewartson warned ANTIFA to stay home, I’ll also post this new one:
The Railroad to Civil War Wargaming the plan to break the Constitution https://www.mind-war.com/p/railroad-to-civil-war Jim Stewartson Oct 14, 2024
From a newspaper near Coachella:
https://www.pressenterprise.com/2024/10/14/man-arrested-with-weapons-near-trump-rally-in-coachella-doubles-down-on-support-for-ex-president/
Mentions Raiklin a few times near the end of the article.
This Stewartson post is in the pokey:
The Railroad to Civil War Wargaming the plan to break the Constitution https[:]//www[.]mind-war.com/p/railroad-to-civil-war
Jim Stewartson Oct 14, 2024
And something from Alex JONES’ show:
BREAKING: Former Green Beret Colonel Exposes Democrat Plan To Spark Civil War In America To Stop Trump Presidency Ivan Raiklin breaks down the Democrat plot to stop Trump from taking office if he’s elected in November
https[:]//www[.]infowars.com/posts/breaking-former-green-beret-colonel-exposes-democrat-plan-to-spark-civil-war-in-america-to-stop-trump-presidency Infowars September 18th, 2024 6:52 PM
harpie
October 15, 2024 at 5:04 pm
Just linking to comment Re Bianco I made on another thread as it may have further bearing on points you raise
Part of his motive may have been to distract from the “Trump stoking anti FEMA” story which was gaining some traction
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/10/14/we-are-all-don-bacons-wife-the-threats-trump-elicits-for-personal-gain/#comment-1074275
More weirdly Raiklin is one of only 14 X accounts that Sheriff @ChadBianco follows on X
Raiklin has been pursuing Millers cause on X, and encouraging others see
“Ivan Raiklin
@IvanRaiklin
Please drop links and everything you can find on Deputy Sheriff David Coronado of the Riverside County Sheriff’s office. EVERYTHING! Let’s get to work.
1:13 AM · Oct 16, 2024 60.3K Views”
And
“Ivan Raiklin
@IvanRaiklin
@ChadBianco@RSO
can you help explain this? I’m getting asked questions about how you made more “other pay” than your “regular pay” in 2023 and why it deviated so much from previous years? I told them I would ask you. I’m sure there is a simple explanation. Please don’t use “I fabricated (with my deputy) thwarting a Trump Assassination plot bonus” because these numbers are from 2023.
You can use that reason for your 2024 numbers, but only if you release all body cam footage of deputy David Coronado and yourself for that entire day, by COB today.
Thank you
[screenshot earnings of Bianco 2023 ; transparentcalifornia .com]
12:19 PM · Oct 16, 2024 11.1KViews”
Nb time is BST
What does the acronym CAED stand for? (Google didn’t provide an answer!)
[Welcome to emptywheel. Please choose and use a unique username with a minimum of 8 letters. We have adopted this minimum standard to support community security. Because your username is far too short it will be temporarily changed to match the date/time of your first known comment until you have a new compliant username. Thanks. /~Rayne]
You needed one more keyword to arrive at the answer: “CAED California”
Top search result: US District Court Eastern District of California https://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caednew/
I wonder how much of Jared Wise’s paranoia is based on his guilty knowledge.
Strong sovcit vibe on that traffic stop. Surprised he didn’t say “I’m not driving, I’m traveling.”
“Driving? pfft. I was merely conveying my personal property to another location, officer.”
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Yes. It strains the mind to think that someone who worked as he did for FBI would think he’s been ‘fitted up’. If he wants to claim he has personal knowledge of such things occurring, that would be curious. His apparent paranoia looks like it might just be the normal, natural reaction of someone who knows they are being pursued because they know why they are being pursued.
It’s a little hard to tell how much guilty knowledge Wise had, but if I were planning a ugly act of sedition and could call on an FBI agent I’d make good use of him.
“a fishing expedition, hoping to find some evidence of conspiracy when there is no probable cause to believe that one exists.”
That reminds me; how’d that Biden impeachment thing work out?
Every MAGA accusation is a confession.
Maybe I am misunderstanding, but was he stopped for another infraction that the cop looked at reg and car color or was he stopped “because the color on his registration did not match the color of the vehicle”?
If it’s the latter, how would the cop know what his reg said and what got the cop to look it up?
CHP officer runs the plate number and all that info gets pulled off the net. VIN, make, model, year, color, body style, vehicle classification, fuel type, empty weight, gross weight … all that is checked by the officer before exiting their vehicle.
Which doesn’t answer the question of why the cop was running the plate number in the first place. Do California cops routinely run the numbers on Texas plates due to VIN swapping?
It wouldn’t surprise me at this point if the process was automated.
They run plates while on the road all the time! That’s what they do! Keep the roads safe and catch criminals. Texas plate in California? They are going to check because of the stolen vehicle trade and also some Californians skirti state vehicle inspection laws (emissions cheats mainly). Those vehicles come into the US via Houston, not allowed at Cali ports.
Out-of-state plates are often checked more often than in-state plates, for a variety of reasons. Especially true along the southern route from West Texas to LA/San Diego, along the Mexican border. Differential enforcement, concerns about car theft, trafficking, drugs, guns, money laundering. Fact of life.
California is also intensely concerned about out-of-staters negligently bringing in unpermitted fruits and veggies, because of the bugs and diseases they can carry. Not at all uncommon.
re-earlofhuntingdon October 15, 2024 at 2:16 pm
How can CA enforce out-of-staters bringing in unpermitted fruits and veggies and what about residents same?
Does CA have checkpoints when entering CA?
AZ did, but I’m not sure AZ does now.
xyxyxyxy says:
October 15, 2024 at 2:25 pm
Yes, they do. Also packages that leak in the mail will get checked – they find a lot that way.
Yes, California has check points and inspection stations. Has for many decades. It’s the biggest agricultural producer in the country.
Applicable state laws, there are many, are administered by California’s Dept of Food and Agriculture. Local counties have additional restrictions. Here’s a non-exhaustive summary from the CDFA (.pdf).
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/factsheets/BringingFruitsVeggies_to_CA.pdf
earlofhuntingdon says:
October 15, 2024 at 3:27 pm
In my narrow experience (Tahoe, I-80 westbound from Reno) cars with CA plates are waived through the fruit/veggie inspection station.
Ten years ago in Colorado, Purple Son was driving his 30-year old Pontiac Fiero project car when pulled over and (he told me) asked by the officer “please open your door…I’d like to check your B pillar.”
He’d repainted the faded red plastic body, black, and the inside pillar (does a 2-seater even have a B Pillar?) was still red.
So, yes, traffic stop for color not matching license plate’s registration is real.
Just because I can do a rudimentary SQL query does not make me a database developer. Likewise, Mr. FBI agent, maybe you should have gotten your lawyer sooner and STFU otherwise.
Interesting and excellent piece!
Wise appears to be a Trump brainwashed arse who burrowed himself into the FBI like a mole in my front yard.
Guiliani knew a handful of FBI brainwashed moles like Wise in the New York office who always made FBI Director Comey’s career and life difficult.
Keep up the great work EW!
In what ways did someone, besides Trump, always make Comey’s career and life difficult?
I share this curiosity regarding LEOs (active or former) who got caught up in the J6 nonsense. But never underestimate the power of marketing to get the simple-minded to buy crap (MAGA is (partially) infomercialism injected into the political sphere).
You gotta hand it to Putin: first corrupt the judiciary, then the House, and the executive/enforcement offices. Then any electoral outcome is sufficiently predictable.
OT: Anybody else worrying with me that Trump’s 40 minute DJ session yesterday doesn’t mean that he’s losing it but that in fact he believes (knows?) that the votes don’t really matter any more (it’s close enough)?
Motivations are rarely singular.
His meds must have gone haywire and he was on cloud nine. “Ground control to Major Don?
Sundowning maybe.
I’m curious about why his people were so ready with all his music and the ability to play it in the venue? Calms Trump down?
Part of his team’s standard kit.
Matthew Remski a writer on cults
( bio here https://matthewremski.com/wordpress/ )
Posted this thread, which might be of some interest
https://x.com/matthewremski/status/1846018161767813122
“ Trump surrendering tonight’s Q&A to 30 minutes of his fave songs while standing on stage, awkwardly conducting at times, echoes MANY instances of cultic leaders who, exhausted, ill, and at the end of their cognitive rope, outsource their emotional dominance subroutines… /1
…to canned music they personally find exquisitely sentimental. As traumatized narcissists, they are seeking comfort and avoiding work, but also assume that their core memories of pleasure will make their power and soul transparent and accessible to their followers. /2
Yes it’s weird. No the campaign gives no explanation, because the logic is a sealed system. Believers lose themselves in the choruses. Handlers know there’s nothing they can do but keep him propped up. Kristi Noem knows her inner circle status depends on staying bright-eyed. /3
…
Maybe helpful to keep in mind: for Trump followers the default to pure emotionality can be effective right up until the end. For some the intensity of their bond might increase, because for them as for him, the affect was the point. They weren’t there for the platform. /6
…”
And has added commentary upon it here https://x.com/matthewremski/status/1846196777348690382
SteveBev @ 9:35 pm
Matthew R. is also part of a 3-person weekly podcast called “Conspirituality” which is well worth listening to in general: https://conspirituality.net
Matt___B
October 16, 2024 at 3:13 am
Thanks Matt.
He was a new name to me, discovered due to the viral thread which seemed well worth quoting in substantial part.
I intend to listen to his pod – but I am very much backed up on all the “essential listening” I have subscribed to.
Thanks for Remski’s name…I had not heard of him either.
His THREADs are on Threadreader, here:
https://threadreaderapp.com/user/matthewremski
harpie
October 16, 2024 at 6:51 am
I had a feeling you’d clean up after I dropped a dead bird link ;-)
Steve, it’s not meant like that…it’s just that the ThreadReader is very helpful for those of us who are not on the Xitter and can only read one linked Xeet at a time…not whole THREADs.
harpie
October 16, 2024 at 7:34 am
Oh harpie, I am very grateful for all you do, as I am sure everyone in the community is. I intended this to be a self deprecating joke while commending your many contributions, and not in anyway a jab, quite the contrary.
Oh, I knew it was not a jab [wish I had thought of a way to convey that]
…just explaining. :-)
THANKS for all of your enlightening contributions!
it appears to me that donald trump is effectively no longer campaigning but is just running out the clock until his civil war can start. (he hopes.)
in other words, he knows he is unlikely to win election, just like 2016 and 2020, but relies on the repetition of claims of “corrupt press,” “corrupt bidens,” “stolen elections” ad nauseum, to gin up the true believers’ fevered imaginations.
of course, every trump claim is a roadmap to his mind and soul.)
62 calls
47 text.
Curious if the numbers of those receiving them were also J6 defenders.
Assholes like this with humongous desire to be important naturally insert and assert themselves in highest level they can in whatever play they see themselves acting in.
Logically, the Willard war room would want eyes and ears on the ground.
An errant FBI guy would have rockstar status w the militia types.
I mean the number of texts doesn’t seem unusual, as often when people have conversations it’s a long series of shorter messages, and it would only take someone having a couple of different convos going for part of the day to hit that number (imho).
but 62 CALLS in one day??! unless you’re legit a secretary that is TONS!!
0.o
Willing to bet that a good number were dropped calls.
I’d be willing to bet a bunch were also very short tactical calls. Like “I’m East of the big media tower, where are you?” or “push for the stairs!” or “we will be there in 20 min” or “I’m wearing a yellow+black bandanna and bullet -proof vest” etc. or even “trump says hang mike pence!” …
And also that they were specifically made to avoid sending incriminating texts including any of those kind of details…
What I find interesting is that Wise got a federal public defender. Generally, you have to be indigent to rate an FPD, and they’re likely to be better than your average criminal defense attorney. Was Wise indigent? That’s not the usual fate of the average ex-FBI person.
Group,
Sl. OT, but who else has noted Dr. Wheeler’s comments on Jack Smith’s characterization of the Brooks Brother’s Riot as “violent?” Why characterize someone’s action in a negative light if you want something from those same individuals? His description of this action has the (relative) advantage of being factual, since that violence and its associated threats supplied the pause in counting votes that their accomplices, Kennedy, O’Connor, Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas, applied the color of law to, to steal the Presidency for their preferred candidate.
While this characterization is the opposite of “politic,” I wonder if Jack Smith is rhetorically asking, “Your actions in 2000 brought violence explicitly to national politics in America. (Never mind its long history at the state and local level.) Are you certain that is what you want as your Legacy?”
I noted Dr. Wheeler’s comment in my comment in two previous posts. Riots are inherently violent by nature, and the Brooks Brothers Riot was no different even if no criminal charges were ever brought.
The image conveyed by BB is “rioting while wearing a necktie and keeping your suit coat buttoned” is pretty tame compared to the lower standards set by Jan. 6…no weapons used, no windows or infrastructure damaged. Just a group of obnoxious people being publicly difficult…unfortunately to great effect.
Reminds me of the attorney associated with Rudy and Kerik who disappeared: Katherine Friess. She secured the Willard Room for J6 among other schemes, like seizing voting machines.
Looking closer at that photo there appears to be a large car dealership in the background. Mazda maybe? Same make as Wise’s vehicle. Perhaps the cops were making sure he knew they were keeping an eye on him and his vehicle counter-surveillance tactics? Little disruption may go a long way with the type that knows all of the in-and-outs of case-building and evidence gathering mechanics? Probably why he got ao angry, he knew he just tripped up and erred in a way that compromises and burns any of his counter-surveillance tactics he chose to previously/chooses to employ in the future.
OT, but was just watching Caitlin Collins on CNN.
Maggie was on, sane-washing Trump’s DJ-ing, and calling Bob Woodward a liar: “We talked to 20 people and none of them were able to confirm the calls [to Putin]” Later, she said the 20 sources had said they didn’t know anything about any calls.
Why is CNN still letting her on the air?
When I saw your comment I thought – What about the Chicago interview dodge where Trump said it would have been a good thing if he had been in contact with Putin on multiple occasions since leaving office?
The CNN segment is here
https://youtu.be/YSWa6S1r6Ec
1 It opens with a clip of Woodward reinforcing the claim and quoting CIA Director Bill Burns re Putin playing Trump
2 Then clip of Trump dodging the question from John Micklethwaite
3 Haberman was presented with “Well that was a dodge suggesting it definitely happened”
4 And in the face of that Maggie chose to sane wash
‘I took it that Trump wants us to believe that it might have happened, and not want to insult Putin/appear weak by denying it …
(it might have happened ) BUT [here’s why it didn’t … 20 sources ] !!!!!
(All kinds of things could have happened) BUT etc …’
5 Maggie then went on to sane washing Trump’s “d.j set” at Oaks, presenting a revisionist version calculated to suggest all Trump’s actions was based his personal empathy for those taken ill. !!!!
There was no pushback by KCollins on any of that. This reminded me a lot of the old fashioned two handed washing powder commercials —
“ here’s stain one, how do you cope with that, and what about stain two then. Thank you so much, my whites are brighter, the toughest stains are gone, and the cosy softness has been revitalised — who would have believed it possible!?”
Still looking for the url of “Poke the Bear” for The Full Haberman Story, but for now, there’s this:
Maggie Haberman’s mom, Nancy, was an Executive VP at Rubenstein PR, a firm that represented Fred Trump, Donald Trump, and Charles Kushner.
This is why Maggie essentially does PR for the Trump family through the
@NYtimes now. https://rubenstein.com/who-we-are/
After Putin contradicted Trump’s denial about Trump sending Covid testing machines to Putin, Trump is afraid to say anything about the calls. Putin is letting Trump know who his daddy is.
Maggie obviously has contacts with Trump people which she wants to preserve by not saying anything to rouse their ire. She should stick to reporting what they say and avoid speculating about Trump’s 39 minute musical reverie.
Sounds like the Laura Kuenssberg problem all over again. (Once BBC political editor who was brilliant at getting fast access to then key Conservative politicians but ended up defending them and largely echoing their lies.)
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/30/laura-kuenssberg-bbc-political-editor-was-a-catastrophic-systemic-failure
Good access to bad people tends to come at an impossibly high reputational price, both for journalists and those who pay them.
From Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American for yesterday: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-15-2024
Richardson summarizes the recent history of VANCE / THIEL etal.
Quite disquieting. [SIRENS]
There are lots of great links at the end.
At this comment, I did a TL I called
10/14/24 Excerpts from A Day in the Life of an American Presidential Campaign:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/10/14/jd-vance-asserts-that-he-and-trump-cannot-win-legitimately/#comment-1074280
The billionaires didn’t select a younger version of Trump. They selected someone who is on board with their project, is capable of implementing it and is young enough to sustain it. Project 2025 is designed for minority rule. Once implemented, a charismatic demagogue is not needed.
I think Vance and the Cabinet would invoke the 25th Amendment. If Trump remains in office, he will still have the ability to muck things up and he would do so, if only to assuage his raging narcissism. It is possible, however, that he can be talked into retiring. If Trump isn’t on board with the plan, I wonder when his paranoia starts kicking in.
A demagogue is a demagogue whether they are “blantantly charismatic” or more restrained (and therefore deceptive) in their expression. Appealing to the worst prejudices of their audiences as opposed to actually making rational arguments is the key distinction between an out-and-out demagogue and your ordinary lying policitican. With lots of shades of gray on that spectrum. For example, I find RFK Jr. to be at least a blatant demagogue-wannabe whereas somebody like Vance uses the appearance of rationality (sheep’s clothing) to disguise the black heart of his demagogic-wolf leanings.
“If you pardon yourself and resign we’ll support you all the way, good media from everyone, all the editorials in your favor. If you pardon yourself and stay in office the media is gonna come right down your throat and we’ll hit you with the 25th.”
Not an unlikely scenario in some form.
Small voice from the back of the room: Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.
The current political situation in the US scares me. Neither Trump nor Vance has any honestly held, consistent, cogently articulated views – other than a lust for power. That wouldn’t be a winning hand in itself, were it not for the obscenely wealthy and power-hungry backers. And brain-dead followers who don’t question Dear Leader’s words. (Let’s hope enough of them wait until January 5 to vote.)
Or November 6.
That date got stuck in a lot of little minds as their Holy Day.
Election Day, not-so-much.
If it were just the cultist votes, Trump would be toast. If he wins, it’s because too many GOPpers have continued to shut their eyes and ears to all the evidence of gross unsuitability of their candidate, and voted for the usual party line regardless.
This election, more than any for a very long time, isn’t so much about politics as about the fitness to govern of the candidates. Something that any sensible adult can see and judge from past and present events, if they are only open to try.
It’s the non-crazy Republicans who will bear the greatest responsibility for the outcome, whether they vote for or against the Rule of Law they have so long claimed to believe in.
And your middle of the road Democrats, who’ve never been enthusiastic about prosecuting Republicans, even when they’ve defrauded the whole country or committed war crimes. And in my opinion the media more than anyone else. (But yes, centrist Republicans will definitely bear some of the responsibility.)
“Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.”
Every morning I wake up and say “Computer! Abort 21st-Century Dystopia hologram and provide an arch.” It never works.
“Stop the World, I Want to Get Off” was the Class Outing for my entering class in high school. I did not attend. We hung out at the ballfields while the students were away.
Entering college, freshman orientation was held at a resort upstate. I did not attend.
Preferred the counterculture.
See a pattern?
Skip All conventional wisdom, polls, OPINE Onions (apologize for the substandard wordplay).
The current drama is part of the arch.