![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-26-at-15.44.39-495x400.png)
In Lev Parnas Investigation, SDNY Decided that Ivana Trump Is Not Political
When SDNY obtained a warrant for Lev Parnas' Instagram account in December 2019, they chose not to obtain a photo showing Ivana Trump at an event for Parnas' fraudulent Fraud Guarantee business, months before Parnas first started buying access to Donald Trump.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Rudy-and-the-Grifters-495x400.png)
SDNY Obtained Warrant(s) for Foreign Agent Charges before John Demers Reviewed the Perfect Transcript
Before Bill Barr's DOJ treated the criminal referral of Trump's "perfect phone call" with Volodymyr Zelensky, SDNY had already made the Lev Parnas investigation a national security investigation.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Stollen_homemade_24DEC2023-495x400.jpg)
Advent Week 4: The End of Stollen Time
While meditating on things stolen and stollen, the wait is ending and over. This is an open thread.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Christmas-Lutheran-Church-Bethlehem-2023-495x400.jpg)
The Christmas Story is a Very Political Story
I know that title will irritate many, especially on the theological and political right, but don’t get angry with me. Get angry with Luke.
Luke’s story is built around contrasts, and those contrasts begin with the Roman Emperor Augustus.…
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-23-at-13.21.25-495x400.png)
Garrett Ziegler's Landscaping Problem
Garrett Ziegler focuses most of his response to Hunter Biden's hacking lawsuit arguing that using a password to access the encrypted iPhone backup included on the hard drive he got from a Rudy Giuliani associate is not hacking. He doesn't address whether he hacked any of Hunter's cloud content.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Map_DetroitMI_Rayne_22NOV2016_mod1-495x400.jpg)
Candidate Trump Leaned on Michigan Canvassers to Deny Civil Rights
Who or what was the source of the recordings in which Trump and GOP chair McDaniel pressured Wayne County canvassers? Whatever the source, candidate Trump and the GOP chair tried to deny voters' civil rights.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CourtBuilding-495x400.jpg)
Clarence Thomas' Club Votes Against Democracy
SCOTUS refused to take Jack Smith's request to review Trump's frivolous absolute immunity claim right away.
That bodes very poorly.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Screen-Shot-2023-07-19-at-6.10.01-PM-495x400.png)
Luke Broadwater's Attempt at Fact-Checking Covers Up Fabrications and IRS Sloppiness
In a pose of fact-checking a claim about a WhatsApp text that Hunter Biden allegedly sent in 2017, Luke Broadwater instead covers up basic provenance problems with the impeachment stunt.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-21-at-18.08.42-495x400.png)
Bankrupt!
Rudy declared bankruptcy so he can avoid paying Ruby Freeman while he appeals.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-21-at-13.20.23-495x400.png)
Rudy's Seized Devices Were More Useful for Investigating January 6 than Marie Yovanovitch's Firing
When the FBI searched Rudy's home in April 2021, the phones he used when getting Marie Yovanovitch fired were not found. But they did find three devices that Rudy used to plan January 6.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Rudy-and-the-Grifters-495x400.png)
Perjury Trapped: Rudy Giuliani's Sync Sink
In the Ruby Freeman case, Rudy avoided searching his messaging accounts by claiming that his phones were synced to his iCloud. But when SDNY searched Rudy's iCloud for known texts and other messaging in 2019, much of it wasn't there.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-20-at-17.57.51-488x400.png)
Preliminary Comments on Rudy and Lev Warrants
The unsealed warrants targeting Lev Parnas and Rudy Giuliani hint at how Bill Barr constrained the investigation and how DOJ used it to expand the investigation into Rudy.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screen-Shot-2021-02-10-at-9.37.01-PM-495x400.png)
Colorado Accelerates Timeline and Scope of SCOTUS Review of Trump's January 6 Conduct
Colorado's decision that Trump is not eligible to be President will accelerate the Supreme Court's review of his January 6 conduct.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-17.23.49-495x400.png)
"Struck By Lightning:" The Deliberate Trump Politicization of the Hunter Biden Investigation
In a second Trump term, his efforts to politicize justice will be worse. But Hunter Biden is demonstrably among the handful of people who have experienced the kind of wholesale politicization of criminal investigations journalists imagine will only come in a second Trump term.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Mark-Meadows-Mug-Shut-495x400.jpeg)
11th Circuit Adopts DC Logic that Mark Meadows and Trump's Campaigning Is Not an Official Act
The 11th Circuit just rejected Mark Meadows' effort to remove his Georgia prosecution to federal court. Along the way, conservative judge William Pryor adopted the logic that DC judges have also used in considering Trump's role in attempting to steal the 2020 election.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Davidweiss.jpg)
Hearing Footsteps: The Paper Trail of Political Interference David Weiss Is Trying to Bury
In seven different footnotes across three filings, Abbe Lowell adopted an unusual approach to making an argument to dismiss the gun charges against Hunter Biden.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/WinterEvening_NathanFertig-Unsplash_17DEC2023-495x400.jpg)
Advent Week 3: Ordinary Riches Can Be Stollen
We're in the deep end of Advent season. What fruited cakes have you run across this past week? Have you baked? This is an open thread.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-10-at-20.11.36-495x400.png)
John Paul Mac Isaac's Serial Inaccuracies and the Ablow Laptop
None of the MacBooks described in John Paul Mac Isaac's book resembles the one shared with the FBI. Plus, there's a fourth laptop.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-16-at-10.15.07-495x400.png)
Say Her Name: The Story of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss' Vindication
In her statement after an enormous jury verdict yesterday, Shaye Moss described the stakes: "We hope no one ever has to fight so hard just to get your name back." Yet the heroism of that fight: of two Black women, Ruby Freeman and Moss, refusing to be bullied, wasn't the focus of the coverage.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/images.jpeg)
Lol, Rudy Tudy Is Moldy Fruity
Rudy had his lawyer promise to the jury that Rudy would testify and explain the truth.
Nope, he not only failed to personally testify, he put on no defense at all.
Mothers, don't let your babies to ever grow up to be this stupid.
$148…