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Emmet Sullivan's Revenge: Rupert Murdoch's Rag Calls Mike Flynn's Actions "Tantamount to Treason"

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emptywheel
For two years, News Corp employees have attacked Judge Emmet Sullivan for asking whether Mike Flynn undermining US policy in the wake of an attack amounts to treason. Today, the NY Post suggested Flynn's call for martial law amounted to treason.
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Disaster Democracy: Can Something Be Salvaged from Trump's Meltdown?

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emptywheel
Trump's post-election tantrum is doing enormous damage to the country. But partly because he has finally turned on virtually every institutional part of the Republican party, that provides a way forward.
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The Three Types (Thus Far) of Trump Mueller Pardons

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emptywheel
Thus far there have been three types of Mueller pardons, and we should expect at least one more, even broader type of pardon. Even with the vast power of the pardon, it's not clear these will do what Trump hopes they will.
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Merry Christmas!

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bmaz
Happy holidays to one and all. However you celebrate the season, all the best from your friends and family here at Emptywheel. With all that has transpired in 2020, we are a little out of kilter. The long time friends here probably noticed that…
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Footnote: The Day Before Roger Stone Received a Pre-Written Pardon, He Lied about the Ongoing Investigation into His Conspiracy with Russia

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emptywheel
Tuesday, Roger Stone went on Gateway Pundit to lie about what the Mueller Report said about ongoing investigations into whether he conspired with Russia in 2016. Wednesday, he was pardoned for covering that up.
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Snowden
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Like Glenn Greenwald, Roger Stone Links a Pardon for Edward Snowden to a Corrupt Pardon for Julian Assange

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emptywheel
The two people who've been running interference for Guccifer 2.0 for four years both link a Julian Assange pardon with an Edward Snowden one.
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On Bill Barr's Last Day, Trump Commits the Crime Barr Affirmed in His Confirmation Hearing

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emptywheel
Bill Barr just helped Trump commit a crime Barr has admitted would be a crime. The question is whether he covered his track well enough to get away with it.
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The WaPo Solution to the NYT Problem: Laura Poitras' Misrepresentation of Assange's 18th Charge

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emptywheel
Laura Poitras wrote a great op-ed talking about the risk that Julian Assange prosecution poses to journalism. But she didn't explain how her own actions with respect to Edward Snowden will be used (if Assange is extradited for prosecution) to distinguish what WikiLeaks does from what she, as a journalist, was willing to do.
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Boiling Frog Journalism: The Collective Yawn as Trump's Pardoned Foreign Agent Plots a Coup

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emptywheel
Maggie Haberman reported the scary details of a crazy meeting on Friday at which, in addition to trying to hire Sidney Powell to continue he fraudulent attack on the US from within the White House, he also entertained the idea of a coup floated by the General he recently pardoned for lying about being a secret agent. And then the NYT buried the story.
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The Hack or Attack Debate: Answer Old Questions While Waiting to Learn Enough to Answer That One

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emptywheel
As the government struggles to respond to SolarWinds, it's smart not to start by assuming this is anything more than espionage. But neither should we develop a fixed sense of what we're looking at.
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Public domain
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Trash Talk Is Back, And It Is Max!

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bmaz
Calling the current GOP "fuckers" is one of the most true and innocuous things I have ever seen or heard. They are among the, if not the, most destructive humans currently on the face of the earth. Take Mitch McConnell. Please. If these fuckers…
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Three Inconvenient Truths about a Hypothetical Trump Pardon for Julian Assange

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emptywheel
Virtually none of the people pushing for Trump to pardon Julian Assange understand that would be the quickest way to taint Assange with Donald Trump's corruption.
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Steve Bannon?

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emptywheel
Steve Bannon may be the most complex pardon candidate, because he knows where lots of bodies are buried, but he also told the truth, once.
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Public domain
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Poor Donald Trump Got Dumped

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Peterr
Donald Trump has been having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for the last 6 weeks. The worst was Sunday, when he got dumped by Vladimir Putin.
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Billy Barr Makes Excuses for His C- Durham Investigation Report Card

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emptywheel
Bill Barr must have known his excuses for John Durham finding nothing are flimsy. Why else would he have fed them to Kim Strassel?
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The Price of "Freedom": What Mike Flynn Squandered in the Two Years He Would Have Served Probation

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emptywheel
Two years ago today, Mike Flynn blew up his plea. It has been two years of losing ever since.
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Ron Johnson Grasping at Chum

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emptywheel
FBI keeps throwing random documents at Ron Johnson on past FBI investigations. He and the frothy right keep trying to make them into something they're not.
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Tom Bossert Gives Trump the Advice Trump Refused Four Years Ago

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emptywheel
Tom Bossert never managed to get Donald Trump to rebuke Russia for attacks on the US in 2016 or 2017. He tries again in the face of the SolarWinds compromise.
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