Aaron Zelinsky
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Beware DOJ Inspectors General Bearing Investigations, Aaron Zelinsky Edition

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emptywheel
DOJ IG Michael Horowitz has a habit of finding error or lies from Trump critics, even when given abundant evidence that DOJ has been politicized beyond belief. And particularly given restrictions on what he can investigate, there's little change his investigation into the Roger Stone sentencing will be any different.
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Catherine Herridge Attempts to Relaunch Bullshit Conspiracies Answered by Peter Strzok's Book

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emptywheel
In his book, Peter Strzok offers a fairly compelling account of how the Crossfire Hurricane investigation got opened and why it then included four of Trump's flunkies. That may make it harder -- for both Republican propagandists and John Durham's investigators -- to continue chasing the same questions.
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"Was Wiped:" A Grammar Lesson for the Frothers

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emptywheel
The latest fake scandal that Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson are unleashing has to do with the Mueller team's attempt -- not entirely successful but far beyond DOJ requirements -- to document every personal text sent from team members' Mueller-issued phones.
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The Minh Quang Pham Precedent to the Julian Assange Extradition

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emptywheel
WikiLeaks supporters say that extradition of Julian Assange to the United States threatens journalism. That is true. They also say that his extradition would be unprecedented. I believe that's true too, with respect to the Espionage Act. But…
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NFL Sunday Trash Talk

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bmaz
I mostly boycotted NCAA football yesterday, and got busy with an absolutely insane F1 race from Italy. It is the Tuscan Grand Prix, celebrating Ferrari's 1000th F1 race. But is is a shit cookie cutter circuit, and the course is WAY too narrow.…
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Roger Stone's Call for Donald Trump to Steal the Election Simply Continues His Efforts from 2016

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emptywheel
Roger Stone called for Donald Trump to seize power in November if he can't win it fair and square. That call should be understood as a continuation of his efforts in 2016.
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The US Asks Spain to Pin Down the UC Global Accusations before Responding

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emptywheel
The US has refused to respond to a Spanish request for information regarding WikiLeaks' claims that UC Global illegally spied on Julian Assange for the CIA until Spain provides more information about what they're actually investigating.
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Nora Dannehy Just Gave Emmet Sullivan the Evidence of Extreme Abuse to Sentence Mike Flynn

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emptywheel
Bill Barr himself has made a connection between the timing of the Durham probe and his decision to appoint Jeffrey Jensen to invent an excuse to dismiss the prosecution against Mike Flynn. Nora Dannehy's resignation makes that a lot more problematic.
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Glenn Greenwald Moves to Close the Deal on Trump's Election Help Quid Pro Quo

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emptywheel
Glenn Greenwald claims he opposed a Julian Assange pardon out of concern for journalism. Last night, he pitched it to Trump as instead a way to stick it to the Deep State™.
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Judge Sullivan Amicus John Gleeson Lays Out How DOJ Is Arguing Against DOJ, then Invokes Barr's Other Interference

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emptywheel
Amicus John Gleeson, in his reply brief in the Mike Flynn case, spends a lot of time showing how Billy Barr's DOJ disagrees with things Billy Barr's own DOJ has previously argued.
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19 Years On

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bmaz
Next year it will be twenty years on. A few minutes ago it was exactly 19 years to the minute. The first plane hit the North Tower at 8:46 am EST. We now suffer a 9/11 every couple of days in the US thanks to Trump's bungling of the Coronavirus…
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No Honor Among Troll Faces: The Latest Lawfare against Prigozhin's Trolls

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emptywheel
In a complaint targeting the cryptocurrency work supporting Yevgeniy Prigozhin's trolling operation, the government may have provided evidence that two of his employees are transferring funds from official accounts into their own personal accounts.
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Racism and Russia: The Topics Brian Murphy Claims He Was Ordered to Lie About

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emptywheel
A whistleblower retaliation complaint from DHS intelligence official Brian Murphy crystalizes Trump's policy of racism and Russia.
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Devout Catholic Bill Barr Stakes the Credibility of His Institution on Shielding an Accused Rapist

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emptywheel
Yesterday, Bill Barr did what hundreds of Catholic Cardinals have before him, throw the institutional weight of the bureaucracy he leads behind hiding the corruption of the institution itself.
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This is Impossible, Part Two: Loving From a Distance

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Quinn Norton
I began writing this in the Munich airport, waiting at a quiet, bright airport gate that was the liminal space between one life and another, between being mother, and being wife. My face was red and sore from wearing an n95 mask for 12 hours.…
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Who, What, When, Why: Trump Has Paid $500K to Silence Keith Schiller

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emptywheel
Keith Schiller, who witnessed some of the calls between Roger Stone and Donald Trump that Trump is so desperate to keep secret, has been paid $500,000 since he left the White House.
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Julian Assange's First Witness, Journalism Professor Mark Feldstein, Professes to Be Unfamiliar with the Public Record on Assange

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emptywheel
The Julian Assange prosecution presents risks to journalism. But none of those excuse shoddy journalism -- a failure to even consult the public, official record -- in support of his case. That's what Assange's first witness is planning to do.
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The US Government Formed a New Understanding of WikiLeaks after 2016

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emptywheel
Multiple public records make it clear that the understanding the US government had about WikiLeaks changed after 2016, in large part arising out of investigations not predicated on journalistic activity. That has been left out of the debate about the dangers of his Julian Assange's extradition.
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The Latest Stinky 702 Opinion Bodes Poorly for the Next One

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emptywheel
Because the FBI has been so slow in implementing the rules the FISC imposed on their back door searches, we're likely to see more bad news about them when the reauthorization currently being prepared is released months from now.
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Dead Flowers On Kentucky Derby Day

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bmaz
Hi there Trash Talk fans and fannettes, we are back. Personally, I think opening up B1G and SEC football is a declaration of pandemic war on society, especially in some seriously at high risk areas without the ICU resources to cover in a mass…
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