Month: November 2022

Categories
Crime Donald Trump Espionage

DOJ Studying Two Federal Cases As They Consider Charging Trump With Espionage: Report

As U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Justice Department prosecutors consider whether or not (and when) to charge disgraced former president Donald Trump for violating several federal laws by illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, two other cases of espionage are being carefully studied.

Ken Dilanian of NBC News reports one of the cases comes from Hawaii and the other from Kansas.

In February, a week before the National Archives warned the Justice Department that former President Donald Trump had kept Top Secret documents at his Florida compound, Asia Janay Lavarello was sentenced to three months in prison. She had pleaded guilty to taking classified records home from her job as an executive assistant at the U.S. military’s command in Hawaii. 

“Government employees authorized to access classified information should face imprisonment if they misuse that authority in violation of criminal law,” said Hawaii U.S. Attorney Claire Connors, who did not accuse Lavarello of showing anyone the documents. “Such breaches of national security are serious violations … and we will pursue them.”

[…]

In another example, a prosecutor advising the Mar-a-Lago team, David Raskin, just last week negotiated a felony guilty plea from an FBI analyst in Kansas City, who admitted talking home 386 classified documents over 12 years. She faces up to 10 years in prison.

The fact that the DOJ is looking at those two cases, according to former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, suggests Trump is in very hot water.

Appearing on MSNBC, McQuade noted:

“There are two questions that prosecutors ask themselves when deciding whether to bring charges. The first is: can we charge? That is, is there sufficient evidence to prove the case? That’s the first question, but then there’s that second question: should we bring a case? That’s when the government looks to whether or not there’s a federal — substantial evidence to bring a case.”

McQuade then explained her reasoning.

“We want to have uniformity in the kind of cases you prosecute. In cases involving the mishandling of classified documents, typically prosecutors look for some aggravating factor beyond just mishandling. If you innocently bring home a document in your briefcase, typically that is not prosecuted. you might be disciplined. you might lose your clearance you might lose your job, but probably not be criminally prosecuted.”

Other factors are also involved, McQuade concluded:

“It’s some of those factors that she mentioned in the Hawaii case and others, whether the person acted willfully, that is they knew they were violating the law. Whether they were disloyal to the United States, sold them to a foreign government for example, or whether they obstructed justice.

“That’s probably the factor that is most salient in the Trump investigation.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMVFu5ey3QE&feature=emb_logo

Categories
Donald Trump Elections U.S. Senate

Trump Claims Arizona ‘Stole The Electron’ After Senate Race Is Called For Democrat

The Senate race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and his Republican challenger, Blake Masters, was called Friday evening, with Kelly being declared the winner after 83% of the ballots had been counted.

NBC News reported:

Kelly’s projected victory on Friday comes three days after polls closed, and as Arizona officials continued counting ballots that were mailed or dropped off, particularly in the vote-rich Maricopa County, home to Phoenix. It gives Democrats 49 Senate seats, one short of securing a majority, with Nevada still counting votes and Georgia’s contest headed to a Dec. 6 runoff.

Masters, it should be noted, was enthusiastically endorsed by failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump.

As you’d expect, Trump was apoplectic after it became clear that Masters had failed to win. He took to his failing Truth Social social media site and demanded a new election be held.

“They stole the Electron from Blake Masters. Do Election over again!”

Stole the electron? What in the hell?

There were also these posts from the disgraced ex-president:

But it was the “electron” typo that drew the most attention and ridicule.

 

Categories
GOP Ron DeSantis WTF?!

Conservatives Melt Down After Character On CBS Show Accuses Ron DeSantis Of Sexually Assaulting Him

Something very odd happened Thursday on the Paramount+ show “The Good Fight,” and it has led to an outpouring of anger and revulsion on social media.

According to Fox News:

The finale of the courtroom drama’s sixth and final season premiered on Thursday with the episode titled “The End of Everything.” In a clip widely shared online, the episode features the main character Diane Lockhart, played by Christine Baranski, meeting with Felix Staples, a flamboyant, gay provocateur who has made appearances in earlier seasons of the long-running show. In a conference room surrounded by lawyers, Staples claims that he was sexually assaulted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who forced him to have oral sex following a CPAC conference while interning for his office. 

The accusation wasn’t left unchallenged, and it soon became clear that the Felix Staples character did indeed fabricate the entire story.

Diane immediately dismisses the accusation as politically motivated “bulls—” despite Staples claiming to have DNA proof. The lawyers spend the episode gathering evidence to expose Staples for lying. He eventually confesses to fabricating the allegations to tarnish the Florida governor’s reputation, because it will put former President Trump “ahead in the polling” in 2024’s presidential race.

Of course, had a show made the same joke about a well-known Democratic contender for the 2024 nomination, right-wingers would have delighted in the idea, probably promoting it online and trying to suggest it was true.

But since DeSantis was the recipient of the jab, conservatives had a full scale conniption fit online, suggesting that putting something like that in the script of a fictional show was a preemptive hit job on the Florida governor.

Ron DeSantis is a public figure and subject to ridicule, even if that ridicule is disgusting. Considering the horrific shit that has been said over the years about Bill and Hillary Clinton by the political right, conservatives really need to put their outrage in neutral and stop being such blatant hypocrites.

 

Categories
Congress GOP Social Media

MT Greene Humiliates Herself By Suggesting The GOP’s Enemies Are ‘Quacking In Their Boots’

As votes continue to be counted in several key congressional races across the country. it has become clear over the last 48 hours that Republicans underperformed in spectacular fashion when it comes to the midterm elections.

One member of the GOP who did win was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), whose heavily gerrymandered district helped her glide to a second term in office.

Despite the underwhelming results for Republicans, Greene took to Twitter and posted this :

A few minutes later, Greene realized her mistake and posted another tweet:

Quacking would probably be more appropriate since there’s no reason anyone should be afraid of a political party that is being dragged down by failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump and appears less relevant by the day.

Greene was mocked for not bothering to proof her tweet before hitting “send,” and some of the replies are pure gold.

Categories
Congress Elections Fox News GOP

Fox Commentator Calls Midterm Results A ‘Searing Indictment’ Of The GOP

The predicted 2022 midterm election “red wave” we’ve been hearing about ever since President Joe Biden took the oath of office in January of 2021 fizzled out in humiliating fashion on Tuesday, with the Republicans still uncertain of whether or not they’ll control the House, and, even if they do, with a margin of just a few seats.

The Senate also appears headed for a 50-50 split or slim majority for Democrats once the race in Georgia between incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and his GOP challenger, Herschel Walker, is decided in a runoff on December 6.

Just how bad was the midterm for Republicans? So much that Fox News political commentator Marc Thiessen is declaring it “an absolute disaster” and an indictment of the GOP, their message, and their candidates.

Thiessen sounded a warning for Republicans, noting:

“We have the worst inflation in four decades, the worst collapse in real wages in 40 years, the worst crime wave since the 1990s, the worst border crisis in U.S. history. We have Joe Biden, who is the least popular president since Harry Truman — since presidential polling happened — and there wasn’t a red wave. That is a searing indictment of the Republican Party. That is a searing indictment of the message that we have been sending to the voters. They looked at all of that and looked at the Republican alternative and said ‘no thanks.'”

Despite some conservatives attempting to put a happy face on the election results, Thiessen made it clear 2022 will go down in history as a debacle for the Republican Party.

 “The Republican Party needs to do a really deep introspection, look in the mirror right now, because this is an absolute disaster for the Republican Party, and we need to turn back. We need to look at who won today: Ron DeSantis, (Mike) DeWine. These governors. (Brian) Kemp, Abbott. Look at these governors. This is the path to the future. And electing these radical candidates who ran far behind them has put the Republican Party in a terrible position. And voters have indicted the Republican Party.”

Thiessen’s call for DeSantis, DeWine, Kemp, and Abbott to be the “path to the future” is also problematic for the GOP because all of them are far right extremists who want to jail women that have an abortion. If Republicans nominate any of them in 2024, they’re likely to lose again. That’s good news for the country but a political obituary for the GOP.

Here’s the video: