Month: May 2021

Categories
Coronavirus U.S. Senate

Sherrod Brown Says What We Suspected About Rand Paul: ‘He’s Kind Of A Lunatic’

If we’re being completely honest, we’ve all thought at one time or another that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) isn’t quite right.

Now, however, we have confirmation that Paul is indeed off-kilter, and it comes to us courtesy of a colleague of his in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

AlterNet reports that during a mass vaccination event in Columbus, Ohio, Brown remarked:

“He’s kind of a lunatic. He thinks he wants to be different, but it doesn’t serve the public interest.”

Just a couple of months ago, Paul clashed with Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Senate hearing on COVID-19. He insisted that it was “theater” for those who were already fully vaccinated to still wear a protective mask. Fauci disagreed and let the senator know just how ignorant he sounded saying such a thing. He also explained why it’s a good idea to wear a mask even after one has been vaccinated:

“The expert immunologist has warned that although the COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and others offer major protection, it is still possible for someone who has been fully vaccinated to be infected and spread COVID-19 to others — and for that reason, Fauci recommends wearing masks as an added precaution.”

There was also this confrontation between Paul and Fauci back in June of last year:

Did you wonder why there were fewer cases of the flu last year, especially during peak flu season? Because so many of us were wearing masks! Maybe we need to do that every year when it’s flu season if only to save lives. Why does this have to be controversial? We should all be willing to do what’s best for others and not just what makes us feel good. That’s what it means to be a member of a civilized society.

But there’s something more at play here: Rand Paul is a dick. Plain and simple. He knows he is, and he plays it up because he thinks that’s what his constituents want to hear. Maybe he’s right, but he’s still a lunatic and a douchebag.

 

Categories
Corruption Crime Donald Trump Ivanka Trump Justice Department The Trump Adminstration

The Trump ‘Inner Circle’ Fears Ivanka’s Connections To Giuliani Mean She’s Next

Those close to the Trump family are nervous, and the move by the Justice Department last week when search warrants were served on former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, reportedly have the Trump “inner circle” terrified that Ivanka, Don Jr., and even the former president are next to get a visit from the FBI.

News.com.au reports that there’s grave concern the DOJ is preparing to make more moves that could have serious repercussions for the Trump family:

“Trump insiders told CNN the raid was orchestrated to send a message to his inner circle, and it had worked, with a sense of fear ignited in those who believed they weren’t in the firing line.

“’This was a show of force that sent a strong message to a lot of people in Trump’s world that other things may be coming down the pipeline,’ one Trump adviser said.

“’I can’t for the life of me think why you would need to send seven FBI agents to go and collect a cellphone and laptop.'”

Also a source of worry is that if Guiliani is facing serious prison time, as former US attorney Preet Bharara has predicted, he will cooperate with federal investigators and tell what he knows about the former president and members of his family, all of whom are part of running the Trump Organization, which is suspected of having committed crimes such as insurance and tax fraud and is under investigation by multiple agencies in the state of New York, where the company is headquartered.

 

Another former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, says it’s ironic that the tactics being used against the former New York City mayor (who was also U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York) are the very same ones Rudy used to go after the mafia:

“And it’s just ironic that the tactics that he created for that office are now going to be employed against him, in terms of making him plead guilty and, certainly, at the least, turning over information about Jared, Ivanka, about Don Jr., about Donald himself, about all of these individuals in that garbage can orbit of Donald Trump.”

Cohen added there’s probably much more evidence that has not yet been revealed by prosecutors but will come to light in due time:

“Who knows what Rudy was involved with. What we’re going to find out is, there are text messages, there are emails, there are different types of communication apps that the FBI knows how to re-establish, even if Rudy, who I don’t think is technological, tried to delete or what have you.”

The raid on Giuliani’s home and office is certain to have Donald Trump worried, according to Cohen:

“He cares about only himself. So, he doesn’t care that they raided Rudy’s home. He doesn’t care that they raided Rudy’s law office. What is it going to do to affect me, is all that he’s thinking right now. What did stupid Rudy do? What did stupid Rudy write? What sort of text messages or emails?

“What sort of stupid things was Rudy up to that’s now going to implicate me?”

The DOJ has indeed rattled the Trumps. And it’s safe to assume they have other moves they haven’t yet made that could be even more terrifying for the former president and his family.

Categories
Congress Crime

Prosecutor Who Put Bill Cosby Behind Bars: Matt Gaetz ‘Should Be Very Worried’

The investigation into the alleged crimes committed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) remains active, and the sex crimes prosecutor who put Bill Cosby behind bars for indecent assault says Gaetz “should be very worried,” especially since one of his close friends and “wingman,” Joel Greenberg, is now cooperating with prosecutors.

Appearing on MSNBC, Kristen Gibbons Feden told host Ayman Mohyeldin that if indeed Greenberg gives statements “consistent with” the letter he wrote, it will establish two facts for federal prosecutors looking into Gaetz’s alleged criminal behavior:

“First, that he gave money in exchange for sex and second that sexual contact was with a minor. This wouldn’t necessarily get the prosecutors over the finish line, right? Because they would still need to establish that this crime relates to interstate commerce which is a necessary precondition for federal involvement.”

That’s why the issue of Gaetz allegedly taking a 17-year-old girl across state lines for the purposes of sex is so important to the case being built against the congressman, Feden added, because it would:

“Be a violation of 2423, Transportation of a Minor for Illegal Sex Crimes, which, again, would satisfy that interstate commerce, but also under that particular section the prosecutor would not need to prove that Gaetz knew that the young lady was a minor at the time of the sex act. Which the letter and I presume Greenberg’s statements would be consistent with the letter.”

Feden then went into even greater detail, noting that federal prosecutors intend to charge Gaetz under the the Child Sex Trafficking criminal statute, and that requires very specific proof:

“The prosecutor will need to prove that Gaetz had some level of knowledge at the time of the sex act that that young lady was a minor.”

It’s safe to assume that the investigation underway into Gaetz is indeed being predicated around the allegation that he did indeed take a young girl across state lines for sex. That act would make him guilty of sex trafficking and violating the Mann Act. And the penalty for that crime can be as harsh as life in federal prison.

Matt Gaetz shouldn’t just be worried. He should be shitting his pants.

Here’s Kristen Gibbons Feden on MSNBC:

 

Categories
Congress Social Media WTF?!

Jim Jordan Got Caught In A Massive Lie That Proves Just How Clueless He Is

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has been vehemently opposed to safety precautions and any form of shutdowns, even if doing so would have lives and help control the deadly virus, which has already claimed the lives of over 577,000 Americans.

So it probably shouldn’t come as any surprise that Jordan is harping on making sure schools in the Buckeye State are opened for the academic year, which has already begun in many states.

But four tweets Jordan posted over the past few weeks are downright lies, as his Democratic opponent in the 2022 midterm, Jeff Sites, made sure and pointed out on Monday:

Ohio schools have been open since March, but Jordan is still firing off angry tweets about opening schools? Granted, Jordan isn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but a quick Google search would have told him that Ohio students are back in class.

As Sites noted, it certainly seems that Jordan is more interested in getting headlines and airtime on Fox News than actually taking a moment to get to the truth. For Jim Jordan (like so many Republicans), facts are always secondary to propaganda.

Internet karma quickly caught up with Congressman Jordan:

If you’re as sick of Gym Jordan as many of his constituents are, be sure and go to Jeff Sites’ campaign website — sitesforcongress.com — and contribute what you can. The time has come to get rid of liars and frauds like Jordan.

Categories
Donald Trump Espionage WTF?!

Second British Intelligence Dossier Contains Evidence Of Trump Sex Tapes: Report

Remember the Steele dossier? It was the infamous bit of research done by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele which he compiled for an American client regarding one Donald John Trump.

It turns out, according to The Telegraph, that there was a second Steele dossier which featured some incredibly scandalous accusations:

“The former MI6 spy Christopher Steele produced a second dossier for the FBI on Donald Trump while he was in the White House, sources told The Telegraph. Mr. Steele filed a series of intelligence reports to US authorities during the Trump presidency, including information concerning alleged sexual exploits.”

Among those allegations is evidence that Trump was indeed featured on video in various sexual activities, which was also found in the first Steele report in the form of suggestions that Trump had paid Russian hookers to urinate on him in a bed former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama once slept in while they visited Russia:

“Mr. Steele’s continued involvement supplying intelligence to the FBI appears to give credibility to his original dossier, which sparked a Special Counsel investigation by prosecutor Robert Mueller into Russian interference into the 2016 US presidential elections. The second dossier contains raw intelligence that makes further claims of Russian meddling in the US election and also references claims regarding the existence of further sex tapes. The second dossier is reliant on separate sources to those who supplied information for the first reports.”

While both Trump and his Republican allies have tried to suggest that Steele’s accusations were patently false, the FBI continued to seek information from Steele, which certainly suggests that his credibility was good enough for the top U.S. law enforcement agency:

“The fact the FBI continued to receive intelligence from Mr Steele, who ran MI6’s Russia desk from 2006 to 2009 before setting up Orbis, is potentially significant because it shows his work was apparently still being taken seriously after Mr. Trump took hold of the reins of power. The suggestion it includes further details of Mr. Trump’s sexual exploits will infuriate the former president. On Twitter he has called the allegations a ‘pile of garbage.'”

As we learned from the Russia investigation conducted by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Trump and his 2016 campaign had multiple undisclosed contacts with Russian nationals who were eager to get him elected president. Russian President Vladimir Putin was said to be especially eager to leverage whatever dirt he had on Trump to gain favorable treatment and economic policies from the United States government, most notably the lifting of sanctions imposed by the Obama administration after Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula, which belonged to Ukraine before the Russian military attacked and took control of the region.

Are there sex tapes featuring Donald Trump? A former British intelligence officer certainly thought so, and they may wind up being released. Time will tell.