Posts

Department of Justice, Foreign Policy, Intelligence, Law, Republicans, Trump Administration

Trump Pride and DOJ Prejudice: The Flynn Volume

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May 7, 2020

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The irreducible minimum is that Judge Emmet Sullivan is the one with jurisdiction and control of this case. Not Trump. Not Barr. An honest and good judge, and one that has proven that over decades. Sidney Powell was right about one, and only one, thing: The Stevens case is a template for the court to find the truth.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

To Justify Dismissing Mike Flynn's Prosecution, Timothy Shea Claims Information DOJ Has Always Had Is "New"

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May 7, 2020

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Timothy Shea claims DOJ found new information to excuse asking Judge Sullivan to let DOJ drop the case against Mike Flynn. And then he rolls out a bunch of information that is not new, at all, to DOJ.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

As Predicted, Billy Barr Bolloxed the Mike Flynn Prosecution

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May 7, 2020

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Amid reports that DOJ will drop the Mike Flynn prosecution, Brandon Van Grack has withdrawn the Mike Flynn case.

2016 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Mueller Probe

Ric Grenell Declassified George Papadopoulos' Brags about Fucking Older Women, but Not about Befriending Sergey Millian

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May 7, 2020

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The frothy right is ginning up a fake scandal over the orchestrated release of the House Intelligence Committee Russian investigation transcripts. Except there's already evidence that Ric Grenell is politicizing the declassification process.

COVID-19, Economics, Health Policy, Manufacturing

Where's the Beef? Republicans Don't Understand Critical Infrastructure and Supply Chains

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May 7, 2020

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As we reopen without having taken the opportunity created by the shutdown to figure out how to keep workplaces safe, what happened in the meatpacking industry will happen in other parts of the economy.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

Lindsey Graham and Ric Grenell Reveal Mike Flynn May Not Have Fully Disclosed His Foreign Contacts

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May 6, 2020

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Lindsey Graham thinks he's exposing FISA abuse. But in the case of Mike Flynn, he's not only showing that the FBI stopped pursuing leads on Flynn once they had chased them down, but were chasing one that was previously unknown: that he lied on his security clearance form.

Jail Couldn't Silence The Music Of Albany In 1961 And A Voluntary Lockdown Won't Silence Them Now

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May 6, 2020

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The parallels between 1961 and 2020 in Albany are striking. The citizens of Albany took a stand for what is right in 1961 and were locked up for it. They realized that this suffering while locked up would help everyone in the struggle for civil rights. Today, the citizens of Albany are once again organizing and this time they're locking themselves up. Just like before though, this round of being locked up is being undertaken with the knowledge that it is for the good of their community and their country.

An Update on the Human Experiment in Marion Prison

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May 6, 2020

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Ohio started testing entire populations of several prisons in April. Thus far, .5% to 1.6% of prisoners who tested positive have died.

COVID-19, Economics

Live and Let Die: The Data Manipulation Begins

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May 6, 2020

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Trump has chosen the worst of all options with his COVID-19 response, with epidemiological efforts that have a huge impact on the economy, but halted before any lasting epidemiological value. So now, Trump and his allies are lying with numbers to pretend the stupidity of this path isn't known.

COVID-19, Elections, Intelligence

After Years of Squealing about "FISA Abuse," Trump's DNI Nominee Won't Rule Out Warrantless Wiretapping

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May 5, 2020

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John Ratcliffe is an appalling choice to be Director of National Intelligence. But there's the clear sense that SSCI is so anxious to replace Ric Grenell that they'd prefer him.

COVID-19, Intelligence

John Ratcliffe Demonstrates How He'll Politicize Intelligence by Claiming Trump Has Been Honest about COVID-19

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May 5, 2020

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John Ratcliffe said over and over in his confirmation hearing that he won't politicize intelligence. And then he provided far clearly proof that he will.

Cybersecurity, Leak Investigations, WikiLeaks

"ur submission form is too fucking slow, spent the whole day uploading 1 gb."

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May 4, 2020

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At Joshua Schulte's trial, prosecutors implied that he transferred CIA files to WikiLeaks overnight. Given details about how a similar process worked with the Guccifer 2.0 persona, however, such a transfer overnight would have necessitated prior contact with WikiLeaks.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

The Four Ways Trump Can Ensure Mike Flynn Avoids Accountability for His Lies

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May 4, 2020

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Ultimately, Trump has four possible ways to get Flynn out of his guilty verdict. And it is virtually guaranteed that one of them will work. But it's still unclear how Judge Sullivan will respond the conflict sworn statements Flynn has made to him.

COVID-19, MI Politics, Trump Administration, We Are All Fucked, worse than that

Michigan's Militia-Like Morons Can't Math [UPDATE]

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May 3, 2020

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At this rate we'll be under some form of quarantine all damned summer because these spoiled, stupid wretches can't make the connection between their bad behavior and Michiganders' deaths.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

Roger Stone Assistant Andrew Miller Fought His Subpoena Far More Aggressively than His Former Boss

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May 3, 2020

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Roger Stone's assistant, Andrew Miller, fought a subpoena all the way to the Supreme Court. But when Stone got a Mueller subpoena, he complied with no public complaint.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

The Frothy Right Wingers Claiming "Perjury Trap" Are Accusing General Flynn of Perjury

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May 2, 2020

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If Flynn got caught in a perjury trap, it means he lied to the FBI. And if he lied to the FBI, then it means he also lied in a sworn declaration submitted in January.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

The Roger Stone Prosecution Was One Step in an Ongoing Investigation

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May 1, 2020

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In the context of the warrants released this week, the prosecution of Roger Stone appears to be just one step in a far more serious investigation, one that may well be ongoing.

COVID-19, Intelligence, SARS CoV-2

NY Times Finds Trump Administration Inserted Wuhan Cables Into The Aluminum Tubes Echo Chamber

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April 30, 2020

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The Trump Administration is supporting an effort to present dubious information as confirmed intelligence on the escape of SARS CoV-2 from a Chinese lab, apparently in an effort to deflect blame from Trump's poor response to the outbreak and to stoke tension between the US and China.

Class War, emptywheel, Left Theory

Covid-19 and Class Structure

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April 30, 2020

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Government response to the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates the class structure in the US.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

Republicans OUTRAGED That National Security Threat Was Treated Like National Security Threat

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April 30, 2020

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Somehow, the frothy right thinks that the FBI shouldn't have believed that a guy who had just called up the country that attacked us and told them not to worry about it would either be fired or prosecuted.