In October, prosecutors told a court they did not believe Trump had turned over all the documents with classified markings in his possession, and they were particularly concerned that he carried documents with him on flights between Mar-a-Lago and his properties in New York and New Jersey. On the advice of his lawyers, Trump hired a team to search for more documents, and they have found at least two more items marked classified and have turned them over to the FBI.
The idea that Jared Kushner could be held to account one day for manipulating the federal government for personal gain leaves me smiling as I soon drift off to sleep.
If the Opus Dei members of SCOTUS could apply the ISL theory to only Republican- majority state legislatures, they would do so in a heartbeat. The only thing that may save us would be their inability to figure out a way to do this. 
I noticed that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have laid low of late, clearly not wanting to be dragged into any more of Donald's schemes. Perhaps they thought if they laid low no one would think to look at their dealings. Out of sight, out of mind. I guess not! The implications of what they may have been involved in smacks of treason to me. It is basically a bad idea to go along with any plan of Donald Trumps if you do not want to be dragged into illegal doings. We are taught that there are 3 branches of government which act as checks and balances in school when we are children. What we learn now that this idea is only as good as the people carrying it out. Let us hope that the good outweigh the bad. That seems to be shinning through at this moment. I am grateful for the moral leadership Biden is providing us. I don't mean in the day to day life things, but in the big picture of how to behave in the presidency. I was in a continual state of shock when Trump was president. It was not intellectual disbelief as much as just great discomfort in a constant state at everything he said and did. Maybe others feel this way too and are also relieved to get a break from that great discomfort by having Biden as president.
Judge Luttig liked how Ali Velshi explained the independent state legislature. He tweeted “ I sheepishly admit that Ali did a far better job explaining the case and its importance than I've yet been able to do.” on December 3 at 12:58 am. This is what he was referencing:
Does anyone else ever feel as though the "Independent State Legislature" Theory is just another way to refight the Civil War through the courts? Essentially, they're saying that the State Legislature is Supreme over the Federal government. It's not much of a stretch from there to making the rest of their laws take precedence over Federal laws and government.
I listened to part of the SCOTUS oral arguments today for the first time. It was mind boggling and numbing. The bulk of the arguments were about interpreting individual words in terms of of what the Founders intended. It is clear that the liberal justices are having to play by the "originalist" rules. There was, at least to me, shockingly little about what the impact on the electoral system would be, or how it would impact an individual's voting rights.
Bottom line, it was eye-opening, scary and sickening. Judge Luttig was right when he said this case was the most important for American democracy in 200 years--but that big picture view was nary in evidence.
I listened to the oral Moore v. Harper arguments this morning on the SCOTUS website and took careful notes of the historical context statement by JUSTICE KAGAN & the oral arguments & brief of former US Solicitor General, NEAL KATYAL. Both are strongly recommended.
The following is Justice Kagan's verbatim statement to the Court & all citizens:
"And, in all these ways, I think what might strike a person is that this is a proposal [the self interested power theory] that gets rid of the normal checks & balances on the way big governmental decisions are made in this country and you might think it gets rid of all these checks & balances at EXACTLY the time when they are needed most" [caps added to reflect Kagan's tonal emphasis].
"Because legislators as we all know, have their own self interest. They want to get re-elected. And so there are countless times when they have incentives to suppress votes, to suppress votes, [Kagan repeated the phrase twice] to negate votes to prevent from having true access and true opportunity to engage in the political process."
NEAL KATYAL's oral arguments addressed each Justice & the Chief Justice & was the apex of constitutional argument. With precision citations of 233 years of case law, opponents briefs cited by page & line number as well as demonstrating complete fluency in amici briefs, NEAL KATYAL's work could be a game changer.
After the Dobbs decision, believing in the integrity of SCOTUS is not there for me. They have been captured, and will do the bidding of their paymasters to push the fraying of democracy until they can guarantee manufactured minority control of our country. I know Luttig has railed against this as well as all the others that Heather mentioned, but has anyone come up with actions we can take to oppose this from happening. Filed briefs, and op-ed pieces don’t seem to amount to much against a foregone-conclusion-court. They (the “conservative” members of the court) are not so much judicially deciding this case as giving a performance, an interpretive-dance performance of “discerned-Justice” , when really they know how they have been instructed to rule. Just like they ruled in Dobbs, -against precedent, and history. And just like they will rule in Harper. Rinse & Repeat.
I truly wonder how SCOTUS would have engaged in this dialog had Democrats not done as well in the midterms at the state level. We won key governorships and/or state legislatures in key states: AZ, PA, WI, MN, making it much harder for a twisted verdict to actually work in GOP/MAGA favor. This was not expected when NC waged this lawsuit. GOP was hoping to tee up a legal coup, setting the stage with key GOP state legislatures that would support SCOTUS' undermining of the Framer's intent. That support no longer exists, except in deep-red states + FL (which is no longer a swing state). The GOP/MAGA is infamous for disingenuously bringing lawsuits to SCOTUS to chip away at the Constitution, starting with a bakery in CO. They were orchestrating a legal coup with SCOTUS support. Dems cannot let up FOR DECADES. We must rebuild and close loopholes that allow enemies of our Constitution and democracy to legislate, hold positions in our judiciary, or lead our country.
I was thinking about the Framers of the Constitution, and they were looking to play the long game. They wanted a future for their country. Yeah. They made some egregious errors, which we haven't corrected - but in the end, they were looking beyond their own lifetimes.
The republicans seem to only be interested in what they can get here and now. McConnell was the only one playing the long game - but not in the interest of our nation's well-being. His perception of the future too was only as long as his lifetime. The younger generation of this party are more like "grab and go".
Can we all agree now that the Supreme Court needs to be expanded?! The current SCOTUS make-up is obviously skewed and acting as a political entity. Repubs have been setting up this doctrine and stacking the courts for years. I think it’s naive to believe that they’re not going to take advantage of the situation and follow-through on what they clearly know they were sent there to do.
Remember how abortions were legal and everyone thought there was NO WAY it would be overturned. Then when it happened folks were so surprised and in shock, despite the decades of Rs telling us they were going to ban abortions. Why do we continue to think they aren’t serious?
The Supreme Court..."perceived as partisan politicians," is so charitable, when in fact, they have proven themselves to be exactly that -- well, except they are the only politicians not elected. Let that sink in, while we're pondering state legislatures sinking the entire country....
Getting the truth from the Trump entourage is akin to root canal without anesthetic. Extremely difficult, painful, and with no assurance that truth will emerge.
How many classified documents does ex-president Trump have and where are they has become a ring-around-the-Rosie game with no assurance that National Archives or the Department of Justice will ever know absodamnlutely.
For me, of even greater concern are the financial machinations of Jared Kushner as he was jet setting to the Middle East as President Trump’s personal emissary. 666 Fifth Avenue was a financial disaster for Kushner. He bought it for an exorbitant price and was faced with a refinancing deadline in which he was slated to lose at least $500 million [not ‘chump change’ for Jared and Ivanka].
Kushner had become buddy buddy with Mohamed bin Salman (MBS), the Saudi go-to-man. MBS and several other Arab potentates were pissed at Qatar (over Iran and other issues) and imposed a quarantine against Qatar.
During this internecine squabble suddenly Qatar bails Kushner out with $1 billion for the distressed property (666 Fifth Avenue). At the time financial reporting of this ‘deal’ highlighted that it seemed as fishy as the Fulton Fish Market.
Where I come from, $1 billion is still real money. [Far more than The Trump Organization has diddled out of contractors and the IRS.] It’s long past time for a financial Truth Squad to get to the bottom of Trump’s and Kushner’s government-related financial shenanigans.
Are they crooked? I am reminded of the saying “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, most likely it is a duck.”
The idea that Jared Kushner could be held to account one day for manipulating the federal government for personal gain leaves me smiling as I soon drift off to sleep.
Trump, et al was in office to line his pockets. He didn’t give a hoot about the US or it’s people.
HE didn’t appoint the three stooges, the Federalist Society did. Gerrymandering has to go. Or at least be made fair to all.
If the Opus Dei members of SCOTUS could apply the ISL theory to only Republican- majority state legislatures, they would do so in a heartbeat. The only thing that may save us would be their inability to figure out a way to do this. 
I noticed that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have laid low of late, clearly not wanting to be dragged into any more of Donald's schemes. Perhaps they thought if they laid low no one would think to look at their dealings. Out of sight, out of mind. I guess not! The implications of what they may have been involved in smacks of treason to me. It is basically a bad idea to go along with any plan of Donald Trumps if you do not want to be dragged into illegal doings. We are taught that there are 3 branches of government which act as checks and balances in school when we are children. What we learn now that this idea is only as good as the people carrying it out. Let us hope that the good outweigh the bad. That seems to be shinning through at this moment. I am grateful for the moral leadership Biden is providing us. I don't mean in the day to day life things, but in the big picture of how to behave in the presidency. I was in a continual state of shock when Trump was president. It was not intellectual disbelief as much as just great discomfort in a constant state at everything he said and did. Maybe others feel this way too and are also relieved to get a break from that great discomfort by having Biden as president.
Judge Luttig liked how Ali Velshi explained the independent state legislature. He tweeted “ I sheepishly admit that Ali did a far better job explaining the case and its importance than I've yet been able to do.” on December 3 at 12:58 am. This is what he was referencing:
https://youtu.be/Au25qwRaGo8
Does anyone else ever feel as though the "Independent State Legislature" Theory is just another way to refight the Civil War through the courts? Essentially, they're saying that the State Legislature is Supreme over the Federal government. It's not much of a stretch from there to making the rest of their laws take precedence over Federal laws and government.
I listened to part of the SCOTUS oral arguments today for the first time. It was mind boggling and numbing. The bulk of the arguments were about interpreting individual words in terms of of what the Founders intended. It is clear that the liberal justices are having to play by the "originalist" rules. There was, at least to me, shockingly little about what the impact on the electoral system would be, or how it would impact an individual's voting rights.
Bottom line, it was eye-opening, scary and sickening. Judge Luttig was right when he said this case was the most important for American democracy in 200 years--but that big picture view was nary in evidence.
I listened to the oral Moore v. Harper arguments this morning on the SCOTUS website and took careful notes of the historical context statement by JUSTICE KAGAN & the oral arguments & brief of former US Solicitor General, NEAL KATYAL. Both are strongly recommended.
The following is Justice Kagan's verbatim statement to the Court & all citizens:
"And, in all these ways, I think what might strike a person is that this is a proposal [the self interested power theory] that gets rid of the normal checks & balances on the way big governmental decisions are made in this country and you might think it gets rid of all these checks & balances at EXACTLY the time when they are needed most" [caps added to reflect Kagan's tonal emphasis].
"Because legislators as we all know, have their own self interest. They want to get re-elected. And so there are countless times when they have incentives to suppress votes, to suppress votes, [Kagan repeated the phrase twice] to negate votes to prevent from having true access and true opportunity to engage in the political process."
NEAL KATYAL's oral arguments addressed each Justice & the Chief Justice & was the apex of constitutional argument. With precision citations of 233 years of case law, opponents briefs cited by page & line number as well as demonstrating complete fluency in amici briefs, NEAL KATYAL's work could be a game changer.
This is yet another battle in what will be a long war to defend democracy.
After the Dobbs decision, believing in the integrity of SCOTUS is not there for me. They have been captured, and will do the bidding of their paymasters to push the fraying of democracy until they can guarantee manufactured minority control of our country. I know Luttig has railed against this as well as all the others that Heather mentioned, but has anyone come up with actions we can take to oppose this from happening. Filed briefs, and op-ed pieces don’t seem to amount to much against a foregone-conclusion-court. They (the “conservative” members of the court) are not so much judicially deciding this case as giving a performance, an interpretive-dance performance of “discerned-Justice” , when really they know how they have been instructed to rule. Just like they ruled in Dobbs, -against precedent, and history. And just like they will rule in Harper. Rinse & Repeat.
I truly wonder how SCOTUS would have engaged in this dialog had Democrats not done as well in the midterms at the state level. We won key governorships and/or state legislatures in key states: AZ, PA, WI, MN, making it much harder for a twisted verdict to actually work in GOP/MAGA favor. This was not expected when NC waged this lawsuit. GOP was hoping to tee up a legal coup, setting the stage with key GOP state legislatures that would support SCOTUS' undermining of the Framer's intent. That support no longer exists, except in deep-red states + FL (which is no longer a swing state). The GOP/MAGA is infamous for disingenuously bringing lawsuits to SCOTUS to chip away at the Constitution, starting with a bakery in CO. They were orchestrating a legal coup with SCOTUS support. Dems cannot let up FOR DECADES. We must rebuild and close loopholes that allow enemies of our Constitution and democracy to legislate, hold positions in our judiciary, or lead our country.
I was thinking about the Framers of the Constitution, and they were looking to play the long game. They wanted a future for their country. Yeah. They made some egregious errors, which we haven't corrected - but in the end, they were looking beyond their own lifetimes.
The republicans seem to only be interested in what they can get here and now. McConnell was the only one playing the long game - but not in the interest of our nation's well-being. His perception of the future too was only as long as his lifetime. The younger generation of this party are more like "grab and go".
Can we all agree now that the Supreme Court needs to be expanded?! The current SCOTUS make-up is obviously skewed and acting as a political entity. Repubs have been setting up this doctrine and stacking the courts for years. I think it’s naive to believe that they’re not going to take advantage of the situation and follow-through on what they clearly know they were sent there to do.
Remember how abortions were legal and everyone thought there was NO WAY it would be overturned. Then when it happened folks were so surprised and in shock, despite the decades of Rs telling us they were going to ban abortions. Why do we continue to think they aren’t serious?
The Supreme Court..."perceived as partisan politicians," is so charitable, when in fact, they have proven themselves to be exactly that -- well, except they are the only politicians not elected. Let that sink in, while we're pondering state legislatures sinking the entire country....
Getting the truth from the Trump entourage is akin to root canal without anesthetic. Extremely difficult, painful, and with no assurance that truth will emerge.
How many classified documents does ex-president Trump have and where are they has become a ring-around-the-Rosie game with no assurance that National Archives or the Department of Justice will ever know absodamnlutely.
For me, of even greater concern are the financial machinations of Jared Kushner as he was jet setting to the Middle East as President Trump’s personal emissary. 666 Fifth Avenue was a financial disaster for Kushner. He bought it for an exorbitant price and was faced with a refinancing deadline in which he was slated to lose at least $500 million [not ‘chump change’ for Jared and Ivanka].
Kushner had become buddy buddy with Mohamed bin Salman (MBS), the Saudi go-to-man. MBS and several other Arab potentates were pissed at Qatar (over Iran and other issues) and imposed a quarantine against Qatar.
During this internecine squabble suddenly Qatar bails Kushner out with $1 billion for the distressed property (666 Fifth Avenue). At the time financial reporting of this ‘deal’ highlighted that it seemed as fishy as the Fulton Fish Market.
Where I come from, $1 billion is still real money. [Far more than The Trump Organization has diddled out of contractors and the IRS.] It’s long past time for a financial Truth Squad to get to the bottom of Trump’s and Kushner’s government-related financial shenanigans.
Are they crooked? I am reminded of the saying “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, most likely it is a duck.”
Thank you Heather.
What a Pearl Harbor Day...
Germany, Peru, Trump, Kushner, Independent State Legislature Theory...
I’m exhausted. Goodnight and back to it tomorrow.