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"Super:" The Day after IRS Got a Warrant for the Hunter Biden Laptop, DOJ Sent Bill Barr a Laptop
The day after the IRS first obtained a warrant for a laptop once owned by Hunter Biden, DOJ sent Bill Barr -- who was micromanaging the Durham investigation at the time -- a laptop.
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Unlike Michael Sussmann, Patrick Byrne Was Not Prosecuted for Providing Allegedly False Tips to the Government
When Patrick Byrne shared wild conspiracies about the Mueller investigation with the Durham team, it got high level attention -- and DOJ has been protecting that detail for four years as part of Durham's ongoing investigation.
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Chuck Grassley Must Think the FD-1023 Informant Is Worth Killing Off
That Chuck Grassley released an almost unredacted FD-1023 after dire warnings from the FBI is a tell. If you want to pursue the allegation, you do everything you can to protect the FD-1023 and the informant. If you want to fuel a controversy, you release the FD-1023, even at the risk of getting the informant killed.
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May 20, 2024: Aileen Cannon's Still Not Totally Unreasonable Order
Aileen Cannon has set a May 20, 2024 trial date for the former President. So his primary season will be dominated first by rape, then by attempts to cover up payments to sex workers, and only then stolen classified records.
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The Funny Leak Denials of the So-Called IRS Whistleblowers
Gary Shapely and Joseph Ziegler kept answering questions about the October 6, 2022 leak to the Washington Post by talking about a different leak to the Washington Post.
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The Smell of Flop Sweat and Circus Peanuts
So utterly predictable which clown would be in the center arena of the GOP-led House big top yesterday. This is an open thread.
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How and Why to Charge Trump First
While it's not clear whether Trump will be charged with any co-conspirators (yet) for January 6, there are reasons why charging him might be easier than the others.
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Royce Lamberth Not as Easy to Fool as Tucker Carlson's "Cousin-Fucking" "Terrorist" Viewers
Royce Lamberth's opinion upholding the guilty verdict against Jacob Chansley once again vindicates DOJ's approach to discovery on the January 6.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screen-Shot-2023-02-09-at-4.38.01-PM-495x400.png)
Trump's Attack on Black Votes Was There the Whole Time, We Just Didn't Call It a Crime
Trump deployed threats of violence to make it harder to count the votes of Black and Latino voters but no one treated it as a crime.
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The Three Reported Charges against Trump: 371, 1512, and (maybe) 242
We have expected two of the reported charges from Trump's target letter: conspiracy and obstruction.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/AG_Dana_Nessel_press-495x400.jpg)
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Charges Michigan's Fake Trump Electors
Dana Nessel just charged Trump's fake MI electors.
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Jack Smith Gives Trump Until Thursday to Explain Himself to the January 6 Grand Jury
Trump has revealed Jack Smith sent him a January 6 related target letter.
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WaPo Is Suppressing Information that Might Debunk Devlin Barrett's Latest Spin
The two reports WaPo had done last year, assessing the "Hunter Biden" drive forensically, are two of the only available reports that might explain anomalies disclosed by IRS agents in testimony to Congress. But unlike the Washington Examiner, WaPo won't release those reports.
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"I can get any source on the planet." The Pre-History of Gal Luft's Pre-"Whistleblower" Indictment
DOJ first publicly revealed two prongs of the charges against Gal Luft in October 2018. Then they charged Luft on the day statutes of limitation on the FARA charges would have expired.
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The Slaughterhouse Cases
The unnecessary cramping of the 14th Amendment.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Screen-Shot-2023-07-16-at-1.25.26-PM-495x400.png)
Hunter Biden's Uber Connection and the K Street Collision
Hunter Biden's Uber account was arranged from December 2018 through February 2019 in a way that may have made it possible for "Hunter Biden" to be in two places at once, even in DC, having a car accident, while his assistant believed he was in Massachusetts.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Screen-Shot-2023-07-14-at-7.21.46-AM-495x400.png)
Thomas, Alito and Christmas Cookies
You have heard about the private jet and yacht trips given to Clarence Thomas, the jet trips given to Samuel Alito, etc. The stories of this type of absolute impropriety are seemingly endless.
Senior Massachusetts District Judge Michael…
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Maggie and Mike Back Together Again, This Time on, or with, January 6 Corrupt Purpose
Contrary to what Maggie Haberman and Mike Schmidt say about the corrupt purpose prong of the obstruction statute, judges have repeatedly found that doesn't much matter whether an obstruction defendant knew that Trump had lost.
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Poof! How Jack Smith Made 800,000 Pages into 4,500
Amid the argument that DOJ has already packaged up almost all of the unclassified evidence needed to defend the stolen document case, DOJ has hinted there might be another grand jury.
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Jay Bratt to Chris Kise: You Already Made that Frivolous Presidential Records Act Argument
In a filing rebutting Trump's claim to need an indefinite delay of his trial, Jay Bratt reminded Chris Kise that he already made the frivolous Presidential Records Act argument he claims he needs more time to make.