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"Problem:" SDNY Charges Elena Branson as Unregistered Agent of Russia
The complaint against Elena Branson unsealed yesterday raises questions about how forthright Donald Trump was when asked about the World Chess Championship staged in New York the day after he won the presidency.
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Questions about the Proud Boys Superseding Indictment
DOJ has finally added Enrique Tarrio to the Proud Boys indictment and showed clear premeditation to focus on the Capitol. But the indictment provides few clues about where DOJ is headed from here.
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Enrique Tarrio Gets His Chance to Fit In or Fuck Off
Enrique Tarrio has finally be included in the Proud Boy conspiracy indictment.
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Judge Carl Nichols Upends DOJ's January 6 Prosecution Strategy
On Friday, I argued that both the January 6 Committee and TV lawyers wailing about DOJ's slow pace of prosecution needed to look more closely at the litigation surrounding DOJ's use of 18 USC 1512(c)(2) to prosecute January 6 defendants.
[U]ltimately…
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It Is Not News that Bill Barr Lied to Protect Kleptocracy
Before Russia invaded a peaceful country, it attempted to achieve the same ends by cultivating Trump, by trading him electoral wins for Ukrainian sovereignty. Bill Barr was a central part in letting that effort continue unchecked until January 20, 2021. Yet TV journalists are interviewing him as if he is a respectable member of society.
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The Pointy End of Attrition's Stick
While Putin continues his steady genocidal obliteration of Ukraine's cities, the pointy end of this war of attrition is coming around toward Russia.
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"The Whole Idea Was to Intimidate Congress:" Bill Barr Continues to Minimize Witness Tampering
In a supine interview with Lester Holt, Bill Barr minimized the danger of witness tampering on January 6 just like he minimized Proud Boy associated threats against Amy Berman Jackson and Randy Credico.
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John Durham Says Election-Hack Victims Should Wait Until After the Election to Report Tips
John Durham says Michael Sussmann's alleged lie is material because the FBI needed to know that neither his nor Rodney Joffe's cybersecurity concerns were real.
The problem is, he hasn't alleged that, much less proven it.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/John_H._Durham_magazine-1500pxw-495x400.jpg)
John Durham Drops Claim that Rodney Joffe "Mined" EOP Data for Derogatory Information on Trump from Boilerplate
When Michael Sussmann demanded that John Durham strike language in a conflicts memo that led to false claims and calls for death, Durham responded that he had nothing improper. But a follow-up motion dropped two of his most inflammatory claims.
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Security Saturday
It's Saturday once again and our cleaning chores have changed. It's time to address digital chores like information security, ensuring the week will be safer than the last.
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The Error that Betrays Insufficient Attention to the Obstruction Standard in the January 6 Eastman Filing
The January 6 Committee -- and the TV lawyers commenting on the John Eastman filing -- need to look more closely at what the (at least) ten DC district rulings upholding the use of 18 USC 1512(c)(2) with January 6.
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The Timing of the Jack Hanick Prosecution
Jack Hanick -- the former Fox News director arrested for his post-sanction ties to Konstantin Malofeyev -- wasn't arrested yesterday, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nor was he charged in February, when he was arrested in London. On the contrary, he was indicted last November, almost five years to the day after the 2016 election.
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A World War of Economic Attrition
This is a world war aimed at economic attrition; its effects need to be gamed out, beginning with wheat futures.
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Three Things: Part 3 — Putin's Particular Peculiarities
Perhaps it doesn't matter what's going with Putin; we must assume the most radical, worst case scenario no matter Putin's condition.
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"Thanks to your bullshit we're now under siege"
Emails between John Eastman and Mike Pence's counsel suggest that Eastman figured that by forcing the Congress to adjourn, they would effectively force Pence into breaking the ECA, which Eastman shamelessly used to demand Pence further violate the law.
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What Sedition Looks Like: Lots of Stewart Rhodes, but Key Uncharged Others
Joshua James' statement of offense lays out a lot more evidence of Stewart Rhodes' plans for insurrection. But the silences may be just as interesting.
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Three Things: Part 2 — Russia's Idiosyncratic Military Deployment [UPDATE-1]
There are so many quirks to Russia's military deployment in its invasion of Ukraine that it's obvious to non-military observers this has not been an effective mission or missions.
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It's Official: January 6 Was Sedition
For those of you who've been wondering what Merrick Garland's DOJ has been doing for the last year, it's this: January 6 was officially, for at least one participant, sedition.
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The Single-Legged Stool of the Horseshoe Left's Apology for Putin
Key mouthpieces of the purportedly anti-imperialist Putin-apologizing horseshoe left has embraced Putin's false claim that this attack is only about NATO and not also about democracy.
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John Durham and Newly-Sanctioned Alfa Bank's Filings: "Almost like they were written by the same people"
In a DC hearing on February 9 regarding Alfa Bank's attempt to obtain documents from Michael Sussmann before his trial, DC Superior Judge Shana Frost Matini observed that the Alfa Bank allegations and the John Durham indictment seemed like they…