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NYT Keeps Downplaying Trump's Past Retribution Tour

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emptywheel
The NYT keeps warning about how bad a second Trump term would be. But they are white-washing how bad the first one was.
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Hours After Aileen Cannon Suggests She'll Stall Florida Prosecution, Trump Moves to Stall DC One

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emptywheel
Only after Aileen Cannon signaled she would bow to Trump's requests to delay his stolen document case did Trump move to stay his DC case until his absolute immunity claim is decided.
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Chuck Grassley and James Comer Brag that 40 Informants Couldn't Substantiate a Crime against Biden

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emptywheel
In an attempt to recycle false claims that the House investigation already debunked, James Comer has adopted Chuck Grassley's claim that the FBI sicced forty informants on Donald Trump's rival.
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After Hounding Hunter Biden about Taxes for Months, Mike Johnson Coddles Rich Tax Cheats

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emptywheel
It turns out that Mike Johnson is the one giving tax cheats special treatment, not Merrick Garland or David Weiss.
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After Trump Issued Threats, Abigail Jo Shry "Came after" Judge Tanya Chutkan

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emptywheel
Since Judge Tanya Chutkan lifted the stay on her gag limiting Donald Trump's attacks on others, he has made two attacks on her that are perfectly permissible under the gag.
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The "Piles" of Chris Kise Bullshit Devlin Barrett Claims to Believe

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emptywheel
Devlin Barrett claims to have gotten totally snookered by transparent bullshit that Trump's lawyers were spreading about classified discovery in the stolen documents case.
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Gary Shapley's Handlers Revisit Past Leak Investigations into Chuck Grassley's Staff

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emptywheel
Gary Shapley's handlers just submitted a FOIA seeking to learn, among other things, whether the FBI was investigating leaks by Chuck Grassley staffers during the period when Shapley proved more worried about Congressional inquiries than protecting the Hunter Biden investigation.
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Mike Pence Simplifies the Gag Order Dispute

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emptywheel
By dropping out of the Presidential race, Mike Pence resolved the biggest problem with the gag order Tanya Chutkan imposed in the January 6 case against Donald Trump.
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Lurid Realities: Trump Implies That Selling Nuclear Secrets Is Treason

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emptywheel
In Trump's reply arguing he has absolute immunity for things he did as President, Trump's lawyers seem to argue that if Trump sold nuclear secrets to America's adversaries -- rather than just giving them away to allied businessmen who bought access -- it would be treason.
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Trump Is Going Through the Motions to Dismiss until He Resumes the Presidency

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emptywheel
There are big gaps in the Motions to Dismiss that Trump submitted this week. They may suggest where his lawyers think his defense is weakest.
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Rights Without Reason

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Ed Walker
Introducing a new series with some preliminary thoughts and a new book.
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Hunter Biden['s "Laptop"] Goes to SCOTUS: How Judge Doughty Helped China and Iran Attack the US

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emptywheel
The right wing wants to limit how the FBI can work to keep the United States safe from Iranian and Chinese hacks because they believe conspiracy theories about the "Hunter Biden" "laptop."
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Like Taylor Taranto, Trump Tries to Excuse Threats by Invoking the First Amendment

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emptywheel
In a response to Trump's bid to stay the gag order in his January 6 case, DOJ cited how, as Taylor Taranto responded to a post from Trump by stalking Barack Obama, Taranto did the same thing Trump does: Invoked the First Amendment to justify his stalking.
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"Leave the Rest to" Mike Johnson: Republicans Prepare to Elect Key Jan6 Figure as Speaker

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emptywheel
Given the way Tom Emmer was shivved to make way for Mike Johnson as Speaker Designate, it increasingly looks like this process of picking a Speaker is a process designed to oust those who did support their oaths on January 6 and replace them with people who could find excuses to pick Donald Trump in 2025.
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Cautions on ABC's Huge Mark Meadows Scoop

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emptywheel
The stories Mark Meadows has told in DC and in Fulton County appear to conflict. And that may explain why ABC got a huge scoop revealing what Mark Meadows testified to Jack Smith, once in immunized testimony, to the grand jury.
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Trump's Motions to Dismiss Things That Aren't the Charges Against Him

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emptywheel
In four motions to dismiss the indictments (or the most inflammatory parts of them) against him, Trump dodges the actual crimes charged against him.
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Trump's First Amendment Defense of Mobilizing His Violent Mob

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emptywheel
Trump's motion for a stay of his gag doesn't just defend his own right to make violent threats about trial witnesses; he also defends the right of his mob to amplify such threats.
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Donald Trump Raises Conflict Concerns about His Mike Flynn Pardon

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emptywheel
Just days after DOJ submitted a filing arguing that a pardon used as a quid pro quo would be unlawful, Trump claims that Sidney Powell couldn't have been his lawyer on November 25, 2020 when she filed a lawsuit he demanded, because she was conflicted.
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As the GOP House Burns, James Comer Keeps Sniffing Dick Pics

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emptywheel
Why is James Comer continuing to waste taxpayer dollars rifling through the plumbing repair and vet visit payments of the Biden family when Republicans can't even keep the House open?
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