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"Stand Back and Stand By:" John Pierce's Plan for a Public Authority or -- More Likely -- a MyPillow Defense

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emptywheel
John Pierce, who was recently fired by Kyle Rittenhouse, has moved onto assembling a cast of January 6 defendants for whom, Pierce recently claimed, he'll mount a public authority defense.
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"One if By Land, Two if By Sea:" What We Know of the Oath Keepers' January 6 Quick Reaction Force

Early in the Oath Keeper investigation, the claim to have an armed Quick Reaction Force to descend on DC if things went haywire seemed like the product of Thomas Caldwell's boasts. But since then, the government has provided evidence that at least six of the Oath Keepers charged with involvement on January 6 dropped off weapons at the Ballston Comfort Inn.

The Oath Keepers Dilemma: The Government Has Threatened Yet Another Indictment

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emptywheel
All the Oath Keepers want more time to contemplate the evidence against them. One of them, Joshua James, even suggests that given the threat of another indictment, none of them may go to trial. With three public plea deals, the government has got the remaining 15 defendants playing an awful game of prisoner's dilemma, trying to calculate how to get out of this mess.

Why Would Allen Weisselberg Tolerate Having to Cheat on His Taxes Rather than Getting a Raise?

According to the indictment against Allen Weisselberg, he was willing to invent ever more tax dodges from 2011 to 2018 without demanding a raise for himself for his troubles.

Drive for Show, Putt for Dough: Trump's Accountant's Putting Method Revealed [UPDATE-3]

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Rayne
NYS unsealed the indictment of Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg, pointing to the next hole(s) on this course to be played.
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The Grand Jury Secrets Hiding the Proud Boys' East Door Activities

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emptywheel
Rick Willden, a Proud Boy who was arrested yesterday for things he did at the East Door of the Capitol on January 6, is one of maybe six people arrested initially via indictment. That suggests the government has some secrets it wants to hide about how it showed probable cause to arrest him.

Darrell Youngers, Christopher Warnagiris, and Jason Dolan: Marines at the East Door

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emptywheel
It seems that three different Marines or former Marines were involved with or knew the East Door of the Capitol would be opened: Darrell Youngers, Chris Warnargiris, and Oath Keeper Jason Dolan.
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An Unknown Unknown Made Known Known

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Rayne
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who authorized torture under the Bush administration, passed away today at age 88. *spit*

Person Fifteen (AKA Mark Grods), Another Roger Stone Security Staffer, Flips

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emptywheel
One of the people that Tucker Carlson accused of being a paid FBI informant is pleading guilty today. Testimony he already provided to the grand jury implicates key Oath Keepers.

What Happens in DC Stays in Vegas

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emptywheel
The FBI went to the Las Vegas airport to interview a guy they just arrested for misdemeanor trespassing and theft.

The Republican PCLOB Cover-Up of NSA's XKEYSCORE Use Is More Troubling than Tucker Carlson's Claims To Be Surveilled

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emptywheel
There were two claims of improper surveillance by NSA in recent days. One, made by a serial fabulist. And another, made by someone with access to classified information, that may affect hundreds of Americans.  The refusal of Republicans on PCLOB to examine the latter violations merits far more attention given the credibility of the reporting source than Tucker Carlson's claims.
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Charlie Savage Plays with His Magic Time Machine To Avoid Doing Journalism

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emptywheel
Charlie Savage excused his unwillingness to do actual journalism about Julian Assange now because he did some journalism eleven years ago.
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More on Joshua Schulte's Attempted Hack of the Justice System

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emptywheel
More details on Joshua Schulte's apparently attempt to hack the justice system.
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WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden Champion Sociopathic Liars and Sloppy Thinking

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emptywheel
Ed Snowden says that an indictment that makes allegations that match claims he made in his own book is poisoned top-to-bottom with false testimony.

The Suns

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bmaz
The Suns will return to the Valley
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Guccifer 20uble Entendre

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emptywheel
As people continue to unravel the various parties involved in the January 6 insurrection, including Roger Stone and his repurposed group, Stop the Steal, I want to finish unpacking the Mueller-related files liberated by BuzzFeed last month. Before…
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The Miami Collapse [Updated!]

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bmaz
The Miami collapse is beyond disturbing, but what else is there to come?

iCloud: How to Arrest a Pastor without Investigating Him Directly

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emptywheel
The FBI used a third person's iCloud content to obtain probable cause to address the two Florida pastors with whom he traveled to the insurrection.