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When Lawyers' Lawyers Need Lawyers: The Import of Robert Costello's Toll Records -- for Bannon, for Rudy, and for Donald Trump

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emptywheel
The news that DOJ obtained the toll records of the lawyer for Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani is almost certainly not about Bannon. Rather, we may have finally reached the moment in Trump scandals where Trump's lawyers' lawyers need lawyers.
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The John Durham Investigation Turns 1,000 Days Old Today

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emptywheel
In the weeks before the Durham investigation passed the 1,000 day milestone, Durham's team learned basic details they should have known years before indicting Michael Sussmann.
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Steve Bannon's Lawyer Made Himself a Witness and Now Wants To Be Just a Lawyer

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emptywheel
Among the claims Robert Costello made to DOJ at a meeting on November 3, 2021, is that he hadn't discussed Steve Bannon's testimony with any Trump lawyers, but that he had discussed Executive Privilege claims with a lawyer he had been told was representing Donald Trump. And so DOJ pulled his call records to test those claims.
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She's "No Angel:" Josh Dawsey's Nice Little Old Lady Suspected of Crimes to Steal an Election

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emptywheel
The RNC will vote today to say that if the Select Committee investigation into January 6, including into fake elector Kathy Burden and those suspected of conspiring with her, is allowed to continue, the Democrats may to keep the House, a fairly stunning concession and hints at the depths of the conspiracy. But instead of telling that story, horse race journalist and WaPo's full-time Mar-a-Lago stenographer Josh Dawsey wants to tell the story about nice little old ladies.
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Trump's Coup Attempts: A Tale of Five Pardon Dangles

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emptywheel
Trump recently dangled pardons for those who helped him try to steal the last election. But the most important person he's trying to silence, Rudy Giuliani, didn't get a pardon when Trump actually had that authority.
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While TV Lawyers Wailed Impotently, DOJ Was Acquiring the Communications of Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and (Probably) Mark Meadows

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emptywheel
While TV lawyers have been wailing that DOJ has been doing nothing, DOJ has been acquiring the communications from at least two of the key participants in the December 18 meeting at which Sidney Powell proposed seizing the voting machines, and the Archives have been acquiring the communications of a third.
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“I do share information[,] Rudy. You never read your emails, you never read your texts,” Sidney Powell purportedly said, while plotting a coup

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emptywheel
It's worth comparing the versions of the December 18 White House meeting where Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and others debated seizing the voting machines. The stories we're getting after participants have recently reviewed communications they know the FBI or another investigative body will soon get are presumably the least damning story they can come up with given the documentary record.
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By Popular Demand: John Durham Claims His Memory Is More Skewed than James Baker's

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emptywheel
For witnesses at risk of prosecution, John Durham says, refreshed memory is better than the original. For himself, however, freshened memory is useless in explaining away incorrect statements.
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Tom Barrack Suggests He Can't Be Prosecuted Because It Didn't Happen Early Enough To Be Obstructed

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emptywheel
Tom Barrack complains he wasn't charged two years earlier, when Trump could have pardoned him out of his troubles.

Three Things: Irish Fish Stew

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Rayne
Doesn’t it strike you as unusual that a Russian diplomat worked directly with an Irish fishing industry representative?
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John Durham Suggests April Lorenzen Thinks He Bullied Her

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emptywheel
Last week's crazy John Durham filing suggests that April Lorenzen's lawyer may have complained about Durham's treatment of her.

Breathing Room: What Pods Are You Casting?

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Rayne
Take a break, take a breath, then share in comments what podcasts have attracted your attention.
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DOJ Finally Gets around to Sharing Discovery with Oath Keepers Mark Grods and Caleb Berry

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emptywheel
In the recent round of indictments, DOJ purposely hid what they've learned about Roger Stone from witnesses whose testimony they needed to finalize the sedition conspiracy. And for the first time, overt cooperators may get more questions about that. 
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John Durham Flew to Italy to Get Joseph Mifsud's Blackberries But Never Walked Across DOJ to Obtain James Baker's Phones He Forgot He Knew Were There

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emptywheel
Two years ago, John Durham claimed he knew better than Michael Horowitz about the predication of the Russian investigation because he had done things like obtain Joseph Mifsud's outdated phones. Three days ago, Durham admitted he had never bothered to look for the phones of his single witness against Michael Sussmann.
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Brandon Straka Assures MAGAts That He Didn't Share Evidence of Any Pre-January 6 Crimes

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emptywheel
Brandon Straka wants to assure MAGAts that he didn't share evidence of any crime before January 6th.
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The First Mike Flynn-Inspired Insurrectionist Sentenced to 44 Months in Prison

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emptywheel
The first QAnon-inspired January 6 assault defendant to be sentenced, Nicholas Languerand, attributed his radicalization to Mike Flynn, among others.
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The Paulie Plot in Ukraine

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emptywheel
The claim that part of Russia's plans with Ukraine are akin to the plans that Paul Manafort got involved with in 2016 -- to place a Russian-backed puppet in charge -- reminds us of the ties between Ukraine and that earlier Russian attack.
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Three Things: Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine

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Rayne
We all should have and could have seen the current tensions over Ukraine coming. It's a bigger surprise that tensions didn't increase earlier.