A Modest Proposal: Include Lindsey Graham's Threats against Brad Raffensperger in any Special Counsel Mandate

19 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Lindsey Graham supports Donald Trump's calls for more Special Counsels. A great idea! Joe Biden's Attorney General can ask the Special Counsel Trump asks to investigate the election to review whether, when Graham pressured Brad Raffensperger to throw out legal votes, that constituted a crime.
Read more →
, ,

Missing the National Security Crises for the Trump Temper Tantrums

39 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
The press continues to be focused on Trump's temper tantrums, rather than the damage that running a government on personal pique corrupts and paralyzes the country.
Read more →
, , ,

The Claim that Billy Barr Didn't Release Any Investigative Information During the Election Is False

26 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Bill Barr is duping journalists into reporting that he prevented any investigative information from coming out during the election. That claim is false.
Read more →
, ,

After Trump Spent Four Years Inviting Russia to Hack the US, Russia Allegedly Did Just That

32 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Since before he was sworn in as President, Donald Trump has pursued many ways of making it easier for Russia to hack the United States.
Read more →
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
, ,

A Most Ordinary Passing of A Most Extraordinary Writer

52 Comments
/
/
Peterr
Everyone has a list of writers who have shaped their lives. John Le Carré sits on mine, and this extraordinary writer died yesterday.
Read more →
,

The Forgotten Coffee Boy Errands

15 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Both Steve Bannon and George Papadopoulos seem to have made concerted efforts to forget details of the Coffee Boy's role in brokering relations with Egypt.
Read more →
, , ,

Trump Prepares to Pardon Massive Tax Cheat Paul Manafort While Claiming that Suspected Midscale Tax Cheat Hunter Biden Disqualifies Joe

49 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Trump will almost certainly pardon Paul Manafort in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, he says that the suspected tax crimes of Hunter Biden, at least an order of magnitude smaller than what Manafort was convicted of, disqualifies the entire Joe Biden Administration.
Read more →
, ,

The Mistaken Presumptions of Virtually All Discussions of a Future Trump Prosecution

148 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Virtually every consideration of whether Joe Biden's DOJ should prosecute Trump gets a key detail wrong: If you want to imagine whether Biden would prosecute Trump, you have to consider the possibility that he would prosecute Trump for crimes Bill Barr investigated. 
Read more →
, , ,

Republicans Push to Punish Eric Swalwell because He Didn't Sell Out the Country Like They Did

89 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
The GOP is claiming that Eric Swalwell should be removed from the House Intelligence Committee because he cooperated with the FBI and cut off all further contact when he was warned he was being cultivated by a Chinese spy. I can only assume they're angry he didn't obstruct their investigation.
Read more →
, , ,

Steve Bannon Hires a Pardon Broker (and Rudy Giuliani Lawyer) to Replace His Competent Lawyer

46 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Steve Bannon just hired a guy who was already investigated for brokering Trump pardons to represent him in his fraud prosecution in Southern District of New York. Which may not work out how he'd like it to.
Read more →
, ,

Joshua Schulte Undermines the WikiLeaks Claim to Publish "Whistleblowers"

10 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
WikiLeaks boosters like to claim that the organization serves whistleblowers. In the case of Joshua Schulte, it instead provided an easy way for a disgruntled spook to burn the CIA down and excuse his actions by claiming to be a whistleblower.
Read more →
, ,

In His Mike Flynn Opinion, Emmet Sullivan Made a Finding of Fact Against Billy Barr's New Reality

134 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Among the things Judge Sullivan did in his order mooting the case against Flynn before him was to hold as judicial fact that Bill Barr's new reality is false.
Read more →
,

Before He Mooted DOJ's Motions in the Mike Flynn Case, Emmet Sullivan Treated DOJ's Authentication as Official

30 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
Judge Sullivan made an interesting tactical move just before he mooted any DOJ interest in his docket. He expunged stuff that Sidney Powell submitted to his docket that DOJ didn't authenticate. But he did not do so for DOJ filings submitted that they stopped short of authenticating.
Read more →
,

Judge Sullivan Calls Bullshit on DOJ's Pretextual Reasons for Blowing Up the Mike Flynn Prosecution

35 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
In Judge Emmet Sullivan's opinion dismissing the Mike Flynn case, Sullivan has laid a record out that almost certainly cannot be challenged. He has used the mootness of the question as a shield to lay out two key judgments: that he could decide, and that he could have decided against the government.
Read more →
,

Judge Sullivan Uses Mike Flynn Dismissal to Emphasize His Own Authority

14 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
In dismissing Mike Flynn's prosecution, Emmet Sullivan emphasized Flynn's guilt and his own authority.
Read more →

He Slipped The Surly Bonds Of Earth: RIP Chuck Yeager

50 Comments
/
/
bmaz
Chuck Yeager has slipped the surly bonds of earth, and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings for the last time. RIP.
Read more →
,

The Intercept's Silence about Edward Snowden's Inclusion in Julian Assange's Charges

12 Comments
/
/
emptywheel
All The Intercept coverage of the Julian Assange extradition since a superseding indictment included Snowden's flight has remained silent about that fact. That silence seems unsupportable both from a journalistic and an ethical perspective.
Read more →