Yesterday, Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the special grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, investigating the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in that state, heard yet another recording of former president Trump pushing a key lawmaker—in this case, Georgia House speaker David Ralston—to convene a special session of the legislature to overturn Biden’s victory.
Wild how Putin just assumed Trump would win one way or another and Ukraine would have been an easy acquisition. NATO and our State Department would have been dismantled.
Scary to think this evil is still so prevalent in our government with the help of Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon lurking around the back doors.
Putin’s one of TFG’s biggest customers. After TFG’s 2007-08 bankruptcy, Putin’s trustees/oligarchs through shell companies and proxy’s started buying TFG’s condos and properties. Don jr told us where all the Capital was coming from, “We have all the capital we need, we get it all from Russia.” This, after US banks stopped loaning him. Laudermilk is on video doing recon to insurgents, and he continues to lie about it. The lawlessness must stop.the lying about lawlessness must stop. The pre lying to justify the committing of a crime must stop. Im hoping one of these prosecutors could hurry up, just be the first domino already.
I have always been curious as to why the Russian condo purchases haven't been explored more fully. Especially after Don Jr's statement. I remember that one of the condo sales pitches was for pregnant Russians to give birth in the US. Talk about long range planning.
But the fact that the properties were in Florida explains a lot. Anything goes in FL real estate. Developers own the government.
Not just NYC. Not just Florida. But all the Trump properties internationally, like Turkey, Asia, Ireland. The Trump Org is a fence, the fence to Russian money laundering. The Trump Tower Moscow wasn’t the only licensing deal.
It is amazing how deep you can dig to find where the trail leads. Sadly, we here in the USA have not been paying enough attention. But then, our educational model does not teach critical thinking skills. They needed us to be ignorant to get about the business of taking over. And they benefited further when they achieved a population who is so focused on survival that they had no time to dig deeper to understand all that was going on behind the scenes.
Now, we have blinded the population to the truths that can save us.
I actually think one of the biggest threats to both our lived and human environment is large real estate developers. It's all about greed and show and anything goes.
Because US Law keeps it secret. Just form a LLC, have your lawyer shell it so no one knows the identity of your partner, our laws are lax when it comes to real estate. Never mind that your partners partner, through a shell company in Panama has a partners partner in Malta or Cyprus, and is a Russian backed Ukrainian Oil kleptocrat, , that is a parter to a sanctioned Russian Oligarch etc etc.
Nobody believes me when I tell them that our very own government literally sells green cards to foreigners. The price favors the rich at around $250k. They don't care if you're a criminal if you've got the scratch.
I wonder how many Russians gave birth in the US since 2004. This is when the price of oil had been so high for so long, Putin was able to pay off all of Russia’s foreign loans. This is when he began to really consolidate power, setting up his own oligarchs, embezzling billions, laundering it abroad, and corrupting abroad. Spies and mafia lead the effort, then come the financiers to corrupt the business community and politicians. I’m sure the FBI is tracking these dual citizens, or hope so.
Speaking of Loudermilk, isn't it convenient that he is heading the Committee to investigate the Jan.6 Committee when he refused to testify before them and we have seen video of him leading a tour the day before the 6th that he denies leading. Not yo mention that one of the person his tour was a member of the insurrection. The Banana Repujust LOVE putting foxes into the henhouse!😡
Cheryl Loudermilk is a legal “twofer.” After he refusesdto testify before the House Jan 6th committee he then, in McCarthy’s Animal House, heads an investigation of this insidious conspiracy.
A member of a ‘tourist group’ [despite Covid blockage of group visits] that Sourmilk authorized on January 5th has been indicted for his Capitol Building behavior on the 6th.
I would guess that this will not be part of Loudermilk’s ‘investigation.’
TFG learned a lot from Roy Cohn. Delay, attack, delay, repeat. Wear down, settle an exhausted opponent. What is the statute of limitations on each crime being investigated? It’s the domestic real estate transactions and international licensing deals since the Great Recession of 07-09 to 2016 that will show us who TFG really works for.
This reminds me of a book I am reading "Burner" by Mark Greaney: all the money that comes out of Russia to the West, and the corruption here in the US.
Because Ted, if they don’t do the job they are supposed to do they lose the really sane, smart, moral citizens who support our Constitution.
This should definitely be about more than words. Proof, facts, videos.... we have all the evidence about these liars. How dare our Law world fidget around like this is some child’s game!
I'm reminded of the joke about a new arrival in Hell who complained about having to stand in muck up to his knees, until the Devil arrived and snarled, "Okay, you fools, break time is over! Everybody on your heads."
If we all know all this, if it's public knowledge, why is our justice system in n the dark? They are supposed to be the wisest in the nation, the wizards, the Gandalfs of our nation, in the position as the group’s moral center:
"Not until then did they notice that Gandalf was missing. So far he had come all the way with them, never saying if he was in the adventure or merely keeping them company for a while. He had eaten most, talked most, and laughed most. But now he simply was not there at all! - The Hobbit
Perhaps I’m missing something, but what ever happened with Cong. Eric Swalwell’s, who served on the Judiciary and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, report on investigations into Trump and his team’s ties to Russia. He also introduced, amongst other things, a second Bill to protect elections from foreign interference. The article I just came across also shows a diagram of Trump with arrows pointing to all his team and how they did business with or had other questionable relationships with Putin through is intermediaries. This came out in 2019.
I guess that’s old news and I missed it at the time. Can anybody shed some light on this for me.
Read Tim Snyder’s The Road To Unfreedom. It outlines the connections as good as any. Dark Towers explains how Deutsche Bank’s private banking arm brokered 10 billion in dark loans from Russian oligarchs ( Putin’s Trustees) to TFG and other GOP PACS. Bill Browder’s books explain the what, how, and why of Russian money laundering through shady banks in Cyprus, Malta, Ukraine ( Russian backed Ukrainian oligarchs), washing it before it enters the western financial system. With all this influx of cash comes bribes, blackmail, corruption, ( Rudy’s style of “consulting”). The Panama Papers and Paradise Papers explain more structure and processes . Or, just in plain sight, former Russian State banker, Alexander Torshin, wanted in Spain for money laundering, giving the NRA tens of millions in “donations” earmarked for TFG’s 2016 campaign, all the while his Red Sparrow FSB Agent Maria Butina is sleeping with American CEO’s ( Overstock.com), big donors, and GOP operatives like Paul Ericson of South Dakota, where Gov Christi Noem, and GOP legislators have relaxed their state’s bank secrecy laws that keep foreign deposits hush hush and as dark as her eye liner and highlights, hoping to become the Switzerland of the Midwest. But the really big money for TFG is the international licensing deals financed by Russian oligarchs fir towers in Turkey, Malaysia, Middle East, Asia, Scotland, etc. The big reason we don’t hear about these details, is that they have National Security implications, political ties at every level of government. The decoupling will get interesting, if we ever even get a glimpse.Alexander Hamilton is turning in his grave.
Yes, haha, but that's not nice to elephants either, who are amazingly intelligent and sociable within their families. People should never be compared to animals because people are abhorrent and animals aren't. Period.
Yes. Well. That's stereotyping for you. Convenient symbolic shortcut. You (may) say "stubborn as a mule", but I've had humiliating personal experience of a very stubborn donkey. :)
Did anyone else here see the beauty pageant in Moscow filming (2013?) with DT asking about Putin (MSNBC)? It was unforgettable. That, and the destruction of the Art Deco bas reliefs told the story of Trump quite clearly for anyone outside New York.
Interest in Trump started in 1987, while Russia was still the USSR. They saw that he had two of the most important traits of an easily manipulated asset: narcissism and greed. When Putin took power he also took control of the "receipts" that gave him control of Trump. Being the useful idiot that he is, it didn't take any effort to get Donny to do Vlad's bidding though, of course, it was always made to look like it was DJT's idea.
Actually, I think Bannon should be in a psychiatric ward...complete with Nurse Ratched, and whatever other tortures Ken Kesey was able to document or imagine....
OT: I'm a nurse too and in that capacity I met Louise Fletcher many years after the film came out. She was visiting one of my patients. It didn't surprise me to find that she was very nice and easy going.
I looked it up, too, and was surprised. But Kesey I knew. It helped that I have enjoyed bragging that I lived on Perry Lane in Menlo Park the summer before Kesey arrived there. (I turned 4 the summer I lived there.) Perry Lane, all of two blocks long, was special back then as a very charming place which attracted a lot of artists and writers, and a few academics (very close to Stanford). Alas, the money brought in by Silicon Valley has ruined it.
Ken Kesey seemed to have a thing for writing about people and things he didn't like. He hated my uncle Hank. (Sometimes a Great Notion was about my family on my mom's side.)
I haven't read Sometimes a Great Notion. Was your uncle undeserving of Kesey's treatment of him? Would you recommend reading or avoiding this book? (It must be disconcerting to have a close relative the subject of bad treatment in a well known book! My only relative who appears in anyone else's books (Tom Hornbein, who gets some publicity in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, gets only good treatment--probably deservedly).
Your screen name intrigued me, so I googled the Wallowas. I'm planning to drive to the west coast this spring, next fall, or next spring. I'm now likely to do the part of my drive from Seattle to SF via the Wallowas. Can you recommend any guides, and likewise any particular parts of the Wallowas?
What a difficult place to be for the DOJ? To charge Bannon before the election or wait till after so he couldn't have been pardoned. If trump wins, he still gets a pardon. If they wait and trump loses, then Bannon stays in jail and the spell is broken and Robert Mercer has to find some other demagogue to run Brietbart.
Bill At times Steve Bannon makes Donnie Trump and Rudy Giuliani seem a tad better than him. Of course it’s difficult to distinguish deep down in a sewer.
These nut jobs belong in prison along with their Fuhrer. With all the crimes of Trump how he is still free is testament to how the wealthy are above the law.
History repeating itself again. If you haven’t listened to the Podcast ‘Ultra’ by R.Maddox please do. It’s a blow by blow description of the same cacophony we are under currently and as likely the tip of the iceberg as ‘it’ was in 1944.
I was turned onto this marvel work ( thank you Rachael and your staff) yesterday by some of Heather’s marvelous fans .
I will join (by sharing these ‘Letters’/Podcasts) with the growing🙌 chorus who are being enlightened by these dedicated and gifted writers to bring needed TRUTH to the voters ....for an anticipated Democratic landslide in 2024.
And the "Let's Start a Coup" podcast describes the effort in the 1930's by wealthy folks to use the American Legion and WW1 vets to overthrow Roosevelt and install Smedley Butler as their figurehead. Known as "The Business Plot"
Even the Trump friend and election denier Patrick Bryne, ex-CEO of Overstock, was caught with Russian spy Maria Butina. I can only imagine how deep the story sinks into black money and corruption.
Butina got very close to the presidency & to a number of republicans who seemed to parade around with her. This made me think a long time ago that tfg was pootin's agent of Russia as well as the enemy within our country.
KitW: I have a mediation demand at JAMS lit the the necessary Parties per the Troll's & Substack inc 's contract with 'Author'. BOTH have already stipulated to JAMS. I have Been There ( JAMS) & done that scores of times in my career.
I personally feel it's a splendid idea that Rep. Loudermilk interview former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. I've always wanted to see a working definition of the term,
" walking into the lions den." Go for it Barry and bring Liz Cheney along as well.
Pelosi could shred Loudermilk. It would be entertaining.
But Jack Smith may get to Loudermilk first. All it will take is one or two of the Capitol "tour participants" to flip. And when faced with prison time, most people flip to reduce their sentence.
Aside from the unnecessary inconvenience it would cause both of those amazing women, I agree it would be quite a spectacle! And Loudermilk would be toast! 🤣🤣🤣🍿🍿
Thank you, Heather for yet again weaving so many threads into a cohesive, comprehensible story. TFG's level of corruption has clearly leached into all levels of the Republican leadership. It is at once horrible and exhausting. I will be so relieved when he and his sycophantic acolytes, as well as his imitators are all far in our rear view mirror.
Totally! 45 million spent on “how to obstruct this administration”. Seems like raising money just to raise Cain to keep the executive branch from being able to do their duty is like a defacto tax on the wealthy donor class. It is a lot of money. And it shows how much waste is allowed in our top down system.
We can't afford anything that helps ordinary people according to the party of death. And now Gangrene says she is going to reveal classified info. We need duct tape. Meanwhile the Biden administration continues to keep the focus on ordinary Americans.
He needs to get out of his gated community, the country club, and five star restaurants to see how many people live....or more accurately, try to survive.
Thank you Heather Cox Richardson. I feel like these GOP losers are sucking up all the available oxygen in the room but your newsletter always lets more good air in. I just wish the Justice Department, Letitia James, and the Attorney General in Georgia would hurry up and get the indictments going. The clock is ticking!
Colette, As you indicate, there is a timeline that circumscribes what one can do to Trump and his acolytes and that timeline, obviously, is the 2024 election cycle. Regrettably, I expect the timeline, particularly, to hold Trump accountable was before he was allowed to try and take over the government again.
Frankly, I blame A.G. Garland for not moving fast enough and courageously enough to bring Trump to justice when Garland had the opportunity. Similarly, at the state level, I imagine Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis would find it difficult to seat a jury about election fraud during a Presidential run, wherein the defendant was one of the candidates.
My point is that we ought not bank on our judicial system to block a conceivably fatal weakening of American civic institutions and also a Presidency eager and plausibly able to consolidate power, wherein the rule of law could be subjugated to an individual. Instead, I suspect the responsibility for protecting the key mechanisms of American democracy will rest mostly with us.
Amen. Our best chance to take down Trump was for the Senate to have convicted him at least one of the two times he was impeached by the House. Of all the terrible things McConnell has done while Republican leader, the worst was not whipping ten GOP Senators to convict.
Mitchell, Thank you for your reply. For me, the Senate’s failure to convict Trump was a betrayal, analogous, in many respects, to a slow-motion, non-violent version of Jan. 6.
The perfidy of the Senate Republicans in choosing TWICE not to impeach a clearly guilty President for his " high crimes and misdemeanors" will live in infamy. IF, that is, the Banana Republicans don't get to rewrite our history!
He would have needed a very large bull whip to get a lot of those corrupt power grubbers to convict. They are only interested in their own power and money, so must grovel to their donors and throw red meat to the R base.
I agree Barbara. My husband (a government teacher for 39 years) and I talked about this earlier today. His opinion is that the prosecutors don't want to indict a former president and his family or cronies unless they are sure they can win. They are looking for that "silver bullet" that will seal the case. Unfortunately, we both also feel that potential witnesses are either being paid off or intimidated. We don't like to look for conspiracies but with that group we think anything is possible. I just hope that justice isn't too late.
Hats off to your husband for teaching Government all those years. How many times since 2016 (actually since the Tea Party) have I wondered if anyone paid any attention to those classes. It angers me to hear MTG claim that she sees no reason to honor confidentiality "because people need to know." Let's hope that one comes back to haunt her.
Colette, I believe, through our engagement, our energy, our caring, our work, that justice, ultimately, will boil down to rendering the radical right of the GOP irrelevant.
Very astute comment. History will not treat Garland well for slow walking an indictment. There really is no excuse for it. Two years plus to interview witnesses and assemble a grand jury? Makes no sense from any perspective!
I remember the time between the 1972 Presidential election and Nixon's resignation. Wondering if justice would ever be served. I was young and idealistic and had already worked for a losing Joe Tydings Senate campaign (and Agnew was my governor just before voting age) in Maryland - in other words, I was skeptical. It took more than 18 months of investigations, but Nixon resigned (after Agnew, who ended up in jail) rather than face certain impeachment and conviction in Congress. Sorry, enough reminiscing - the point is, justice takes time, especially when it has to confront constitutional issues never encountered before.
Ira, While I regret I couldn’t respond sooner, I do wish to thank you for your affirming reply. Considering, within six months following the Jan. 6th assault on the Capitol, a blueprint for all of the criminal offenses that might have been committed by Trump and by others at the top already had been laid out by a number of scholars and former prosecutors, there, undoubtedly, was sufficient factual predication to open up a criminal investigation.
I recall, by July, 2021, many thousands were inundating Main Justice with letters amplifying that DOJ didn’t need to decide in advance whether all the downsides of an indictment should or should not prevent the A.G. from investigating Trump and his command structure. That would be for a later day. But if the DOJ didn’t start holding everybody at the top accountable, at least to the point of being subject to full-blown criminal investigation, then we really were giving up focusing the mind of the country on the fact that we nearly were running out the clock on democracy itself.
As a final point, we also repeatedly called attention to the fact that it’s not as easy to stonewall a grand jury as it is to stonewall a congressional committee. Come what may, as the 24 election season rapidly is approaching, we have no choice but to persevere, recognizing it is impossible to foretell precisely when any of our endeavors will produce powerful results.
“We have to be Paul Revere every chance we get to let people know what is at risk and why it is at risk. We live it. Every time we eat breakfast we think about these things,” Governor Jay Inslee of Washington told CNN. “I don’t think you can be overly concerned about this. The American psyche has not recognized we were one vice-president away from a coup.”
O“We have to be Paul Revere every chance we get to let people know what is at risk and why it is at risk. We live it. Every time we eat breakfast we think about these things,” Governor Jay Inslee of Washington told CNN.
“I don’t think you can be overly concerned about this. The American psyche has not recognized we were one vice-president away from a coup."
Perhaps not a successful coup, but who knows? Had Pence come on board, things would have been a whole lot messier and nastier either way, and the Supreme Court might easily been part of the problem. In any case, the more they get away with, the more fascistoid the Republicans become, and they're becoming worse by the day.
On our Stolen Documents case, Jack is taking the depsitions of workers at the Palace when tfg was playing "Hide & Seek" with boxes of documents & the truth. Besides doing necessay prosecutorial trial investigation, Jack is looking, always searching, for that unknown witness that personifies credibiliy in a sea of mendacity.
Jack needs just one Cassidy Hutchinson, just one. Cassidy is also, a Judge's Dream; Cassidy automatically testifies to the context of her admissible, percipient witness FACTS, "The Defendant told me X" ... called an admission against interest. Easy for the Umpire to call strikes.
I am concerned about the Mob Boss paying for legal "help" for the selected, subpoenaed, grand jury witnesses. Jack knows pre-trial motion work is a must do. Fortunately, Jack has been there done that.
If only Capone had thought to use NDA’s, huh? According to Trump, if you sign one, you can’t testify to his illegal activity
Here’s a thought I’ll betTrump didn’t think of; sign an NDA with yourself, that way its illegal to appear in court. “Sorry judge, but a contract is binding, even if I wanted to appear (and Would really like to help you) I promised myself I wouldn’t, so ya see, I’m just following the law”
Dave Does NDA mean no DNA? In fact, we have the DNA of Donnie which immutably links him to his crooked father and his snaky kids. On reflection, Bone Spur Trump should sign a NDA with himself.
OK. So if a person refuses to testify, it must be concluded that they are truthful but have their reasons for not wishing to serve the purpose. Red-hot needles under fingernails not allowed, I suppose.
Correct, no hot needles allowed. Once the prospective witness is properly served, the Court controls the arena & can protect the witness & shield her from flack bursts. I have even seen witness' counsel "bumped" in the Hallways outside of Court. An immediate PTO (protective order) can be issued -- right in Court if necessary.
Unlike the Banana Republicans, Democrats use the tools the law provides. If we need new/more tools, we will have to get more Democrats into Congress so they can fashion the tools we need. Clearly, the BRs won't. They don't believe in the rule of law.
We have both State & Federal on-going prosecutions in these cases. Difficult for States to shoulder the many costs, time & staffing but, the work (difficult work) can & is being done.
MP This once I favor the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland: ‘First the verdict, then the trial.’ Or The Mikado: ‘They never will be missed. I have them on a list.’
It's our species' tragic flaw. Kakistocracy is as old as dirt. Democracy is a never-ending battle. We've seen where demagoguery leads time after time. We let our guard down, maybe distracted by the flickering tube. Time to rally once again. Down with the shackle and up with the star.
Heather, another incredible, chock-full-of-facts, Letter. Loudermilk is out of a Dicken’s novel (even his name!), not sure which one, but he is Evil Personified. Just imagine, someone suggesting he was up to no good on January 5, 2021 and suddenly the guy in his video of the “tour” shows up at the January 6 Insurrection. Hmmmm....I am just tickled that Fani Willis, a Black Woman, will bring Dump to his pathetic knees.....She and Letitia James have shown such fortitude and unbreakable courage in the face of the Biggest Goon to come down the pike. It will be breathtaking when those indictments are issued and we learn The Truth. A thousand thanks, for encircling us with your deep knowledge, insight and vision. Have a great weekend.
Hopefully Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) can give us a virtual tour of the Capitol, just for information's sake. These two reps give new meaning to the idea of the deep, depressing state of affairs we're witnessing.
"A [lot more is] gonna come out sooner or later…. And it’s gonna be massive. It’s gonna be massive."
At first I thought this WaPo article wasn't worth forwarding. But after reading today's Letter, it may fit in nicely with what Heather has reported. Just mere steps from the Capitol (on Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E.) Trump allies buy up properties to build MAGA campus. It appears these town homes are where the R's are holding their "training" sessions.
Ha! Like all of Trump’s crimes - “hiding in plain sight.” Signed hush money payments to a porn star, recorded calls of attempts to extort and strongarm people, classified documents in cardboard boxes at Mar a Lago, “Russia, if you’re listening,” and the list is endless. Truly the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.
It's quite frightening. Too many, e.g. MTG believe it needed more guns, more - what exactly? - violence that she and her ilk would use to successfully overthrow the government. She's said as much. All they need is a base to make that a reality.
I do wish that MTG would be defrocked for violating the oath to uphold the Constitution. That a governing body cannot even govern itself is vastly appalling.
Putin sends his State bankers like Alexander Torshin to donate tens of millions to the NRA. This is more than gun lobbing, it is foreign influence and leverage. To our enemies, the gun issue is framed as a destabilization tactic, and at a time R elected officials are identifying political enemies, encouraging political intimidation, the result will be political violence.
Don't be frightened. First, the bunch of Republicans who are always talking violence are also incredibly out of shape and could not run 100 yards without stopping (which can have consequences during violence).
If the time comes, again, when those guys try to make good on their threats with a bunch of out of shape drunks, I think others may have something to say about that.
No reason to leave the Capital police on their own. None at all.
Thank you for finding this important and shocking development! It’s definitely not anything to joke about. Is it another step in their plan to take over America?
It would be my guess. At this time there is no evidence I can see except the behavior of those involved in the J6 insurrection. Stashing arms and pipe bombs in different locations, using nearby hotel suites as command centers, etc. Those buying the property could absolutely renovate to become a base of operation. Am I being paranoid? Perhaps. I just don't put it beyond them!
It seems likely that Fulton will again be featured in American history books. In 1946 Winston Churchill, at President Truman’s invitation, came to Fulton, Missouri, where he gave his famous Iron Curtain speech highlighting the nature of Stalin’s brutal grip on Eastern Europe.
Now in Fulton County, GA, it seems likely that ex-President Trump and his sycophants will face criminal indictments with ‘smoking gun’ evidence.
Trump has been skating around serious indictments for years with his lies, ‘witch hunt’ claims, and interminable legal delays. I’m looking forward to the harpooning of the Whale of Mar a Lago.
That could be interesting. Bring Zelensky to Fulton County Georgia to give a speech on Putin, Russia, modern fascism. Would be epic, like Church’s speech. The setting even better.
It reminds me of something I just read. Robert Kennedy’s speech throwing his hat into the ring fir 1968 presidential race. It was about ending the Vietnam war, addressing inequality at home and abroad.
"Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who sits on the Homeland Security committee, said she intended to divulge classified information, saying: “I’m not gonna be confidential because I think people deserve to know.” She claimed that drug cartels had left an explosive device on the border; U.S. Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz later posted a picture of the “device” and said it was “a duct-taped ball filled with sand that wasn’t deemed a threat to agents/public.”
AH, a homing device target for guiding Soros/S.P.E.C.T.R.E laser beams laser beams from deep space. May the tin foil protect us!
I ask, aren't these Republican MAGots committing a crime when they reveal information that they are privy to that they are supposed to be keeping private?
It sounds like there could easily be more lawsuits against Trump. There should be the criminal one that Pence brought up, that Tom Nichols referred to in The Atlantic recently, in which he points out that Trump tried to have him killed, only he put it in a milder way. The outrage is not only that Trump would go that far if he did not get his way(so Putin like--with no friends, just people who either do his bidding or they can have fatal accidents), but that the press and everyone else have ignored this truth. Well, some of us have not. It is pretty understandable that the experience scared Pence into being afraid to testify, but that is also a reason why he should not run for President if he is too scared to speak the truth.
The MAGots (DeSantis, Ralston, Trump, MTG, Boebert) are trying to cover up the truth with investigations and lies. It has worked for them because they have a willing audience of the brainwashed evangelical masses, and sociopaths (DeSantis, Ralston, Trump, Boebert, White Supremacist militias) who will go along with their nefarious plans for personal gain no matter who is destroyed.
Yes. Also include Leo Leonard, J.D.Vance, Stefanik, Evan Baehr, Peter Thiel, Paul Singer, Bernie Marcus, the Koch Brothers, the DeVos Family, Ted Cruz, Trevor McFadden, Erik Prince, Vivek Ramaswamy, Barrett, Scalia, Clarence Thomas. In fact anyone who belongs to the so called Teneo Network https://www.propublica.org/article/leonard-leo-teneo-videos-documents
I just read another article this morning about Thiel being against the bail out of the banks, yet having 50 mil in SVB, which of course is getting bailed out. I guess he wanted the tax write off. If Thiel does it, it will be despicable.
On NPR they discussed that the Biden administration stressed that the DOJ and SEC will be investigating the bank failures and looking at the leaders who sold stocks before the crash, and also who took bonuses right before the crash.
The blatant hypocrisy of not all but certainly most the congressional Republicas has become so commonplace that it seems totally normal, and that should be the most shocking aspect where we are as a nation.
"Trump is trying to move the case into the election season, at which point he will insist it must be delayed again."
Obviously Trumped-up charges against a candidate can taint an election, but if the candidate really IS a crook, wouldn't you want to know before they are sworn into office?
My guess is that anybody who would vote for TFG after all that we’ve seen with our own eyes would not be moved by any evidence produced in court. We saw that with the meticulously collected evidence of the Jan 6 Committee, which the GOP MAGAs are now “investigating.”
I agree. At this point, if I learn of anyone that still supports TFG, I just write them off as not someone that can be reasoned with or won over. I felt that way several major revelations ago. They are never going to change, no matter what.
It's rich, isn't it, that Mark Meadows is still in business, still fundraising, and still being a voice of influence over baby GOPers who must somehow believe he wasn't at the center of an insurrection? I fervently hope his name is in the top ranks of those Jack Smith is investigating.
Peter, I HOWLED when I read that description. More Margerine Traitor Gangrene running her mouth....yes, it must be her head filled with sand. I sometimes feel watching her is like being back in fifth grade, public school playground with the loudest bully attracting all the kids, who are yelling “Fight!! Fight!!”. OMG.
Wild how Putin just assumed Trump would win one way or another and Ukraine would have been an easy acquisition. NATO and our State Department would have been dismantled.
Scary to think this evil is still so prevalent in our government with the help of Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon lurking around the back doors.
From what I have read, Putin had an eye on Trump for a while; the ultimate "useful" idiot.
Putin’s one of TFG’s biggest customers. After TFG’s 2007-08 bankruptcy, Putin’s trustees/oligarchs through shell companies and proxy’s started buying TFG’s condos and properties. Don jr told us where all the Capital was coming from, “We have all the capital we need, we get it all from Russia.” This, after US banks stopped loaning him. Laudermilk is on video doing recon to insurgents, and he continues to lie about it. The lawlessness must stop.the lying about lawlessness must stop. The pre lying to justify the committing of a crime must stop. Im hoping one of these prosecutors could hurry up, just be the first domino already.
I have always been curious as to why the Russian condo purchases haven't been explored more fully. Especially after Don Jr's statement. I remember that one of the condo sales pitches was for pregnant Russians to give birth in the US. Talk about long range planning.
But the fact that the properties were in Florida explains a lot. Anything goes in FL real estate. Developers own the government.
Sadly, that pretty much applies to NY as well. Probably one reason why Trump has readied in both states.
Not just NYC. Not just Florida. But all the Trump properties internationally, like Turkey, Asia, Ireland. The Trump Org is a fence, the fence to Russian money laundering. The Trump Tower Moscow wasn’t the only licensing deal.
It is amazing how deep you can dig to find where the trail leads. Sadly, we here in the USA have not been paying enough attention. But then, our educational model does not teach critical thinking skills. They needed us to be ignorant to get about the business of taking over. And they benefited further when they achieved a population who is so focused on survival that they had no time to dig deeper to understand all that was going on behind the scenes.
Now, we have blinded the population to the truths that can save us.
So what do we do?
I actually think one of the biggest threats to both our lived and human environment is large real estate developers. It's all about greed and show and anything goes.
Because US Law keeps it secret. Just form a LLC, have your lawyer shell it so no one knows the identity of your partner, our laws are lax when it comes to real estate. Never mind that your partners partner, through a shell company in Panama has a partners partner in Malta or Cyprus, and is a Russian backed Ukrainian Oil kleptocrat, , that is a parter to a sanctioned Russian Oligarch etc etc.
Those can be traced, however.
Tax returns. But harder to discover all the partners in a purposely dark Llc. We could use some reform in our commercial real estate laws.
Silver lining: it will all be under water soon.
Yes. But first the beaches will be shoulder deep in rotting seaweed.
I am guessing that will all be part of the plan because the puppet masters have their escape route all set up.
Of course, there may be one small detail that they could not know and that will be their demise as well.
It's that twist in the plot that nobody expects. Like a really well written play.
Nobody believes me when I tell them that our very own government literally sells green cards to foreigners. The price favors the rich at around $250k. They don't care if you're a criminal if you've got the scratch.
...
https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-immigrant-investors
I wonder how many Russians gave birth in the US since 2004. This is when the price of oil had been so high for so long, Putin was able to pay off all of Russia’s foreign loans. This is when he began to really consolidate power, setting up his own oligarchs, embezzling billions, laundering it abroad, and corrupting abroad. Spies and mafia lead the effort, then come the financiers to corrupt the business community and politicians. I’m sure the FBI is tracking these dual citizens, or hope so.
Speaking of Loudermilk, isn't it convenient that he is heading the Committee to investigate the Jan.6 Committee when he refused to testify before them and we have seen video of him leading a tour the day before the 6th that he denies leading. Not yo mention that one of the person his tour was a member of the insurrection. The Banana Repujust LOVE putting foxes into the henhouse!😡
Cheryl Loudermilk is a legal “twofer.” After he refusesdto testify before the House Jan 6th committee he then, in McCarthy’s Animal House, heads an investigation of this insidious conspiracy.
A member of a ‘tourist group’ [despite Covid blockage of group visits] that Sourmilk authorized on January 5th has been indicted for his Capitol Building behavior on the 6th.
I would guess that this will not be part of Loudermilk’s ‘investigation.’
These people make me sick. I think I'll go take a walk and hope they all take a hike off a short pier sooner rather than later.
Ted, you are so right. The first domino must fall quickly to avoid the election cycle further chaos. How do we speed up Jack Smith?
So you want the case to fail because you want him to "speed up?"
I grew up around litigation. Most cases took 10 years. These are less than 2.
TFG learned a lot from Roy Cohn. Delay, attack, delay, repeat. Wear down, settle an exhausted opponent. What is the statute of limitations on each crime being investigated? It’s the domestic real estate transactions and international licensing deals since the Great Recession of 07-09 to 2016 that will show us who TFG really works for.
This reminds me of a book I am reading "Burner" by Mark Greaney: all the money that comes out of Russia to the West, and the corruption here in the US.
Good author! I havent read that one yet.
Because Ted, if they don’t do the job they are supposed to do they lose the really sane, smart, moral citizens who support our Constitution.
This should definitely be about more than words. Proof, facts, videos.... we have all the evidence about these liars. How dare our Law world fidget around like this is some child’s game!
We are about to go up in flame kids!!!
I'm reminded of the joke about a new arrival in Hell who complained about having to stand in muck up to his knees, until the Devil arrived and snarled, "Okay, you fools, break time is over! Everybody on your heads."
I'll be intrigued to follow the SPAC infusion of cash ($8 million) from a Putin ally. I also haven't heard peep one from Devin Nunes lately.
which is so nice.
If we all know all this, if it's public knowledge, why is our justice system in n the dark? They are supposed to be the wisest in the nation, the wizards, the Gandalfs of our nation, in the position as the group’s moral center:
"Not until then did they notice that Gandalf was missing. So far he had come all the way with them, never saying if he was in the adventure or merely keeping them company for a while. He had eaten most, talked most, and laughed most. But now he simply was not there at all! - The Hobbit
Perhaps I’m missing something, but what ever happened with Cong. Eric Swalwell’s, who served on the Judiciary and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, report on investigations into Trump and his team’s ties to Russia. He also introduced, amongst other things, a second Bill to protect elections from foreign interference. The article I just came across also shows a diagram of Trump with arrows pointing to all his team and how they did business with or had other questionable relationships with Putin through is intermediaries. This came out in 2019.
I guess that’s old news and I missed it at the time. Can anybody shed some light on this for me.
Robert🙏🤔
Russian funding in plain sight: Dana Rohrabacher, Alexander Torshin, Putin
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Rohrabacher
OY VEY! I had to ask.
Robert🙏😳
More in plain sight…perhaps Truth Social and RT ( Russia Today State Sponsored Propaganda) will just merge already…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/15/trump-media-investigated-possible-money-laundering?fbclid=IwAR2Db4IPZho_eFXf03w19RpyRlPfkWyI1jXjSCCW9u14BkqpNYnowxMfXm8
Read Tim Snyder’s The Road To Unfreedom. It outlines the connections as good as any. Dark Towers explains how Deutsche Bank’s private banking arm brokered 10 billion in dark loans from Russian oligarchs ( Putin’s Trustees) to TFG and other GOP PACS. Bill Browder’s books explain the what, how, and why of Russian money laundering through shady banks in Cyprus, Malta, Ukraine ( Russian backed Ukrainian oligarchs), washing it before it enters the western financial system. With all this influx of cash comes bribes, blackmail, corruption, ( Rudy’s style of “consulting”). The Panama Papers and Paradise Papers explain more structure and processes . Or, just in plain sight, former Russian State banker, Alexander Torshin, wanted in Spain for money laundering, giving the NRA tens of millions in “donations” earmarked for TFG’s 2016 campaign, all the while his Red Sparrow FSB Agent Maria Butina is sleeping with American CEO’s ( Overstock.com), big donors, and GOP operatives like Paul Ericson of South Dakota, where Gov Christi Noem, and GOP legislators have relaxed their state’s bank secrecy laws that keep foreign deposits hush hush and as dark as her eye liner and highlights, hoping to become the Switzerland of the Midwest. But the really big money for TFG is the international licensing deals financed by Russian oligarchs fir towers in Turkey, Malaysia, Middle East, Asia, Scotland, etc. The big reason we don’t hear about these details, is that they have National Security implications, political ties at every level of government. The decoupling will get interesting, if we ever even get a glimpse.Alexander Hamilton is turning in his grave.
Agreed. So over these creeps.
A virtual donkey, unschooled and easy to lead.
Please don't bring donkeys into this—they are actually quite intelligent, devoted and kind. :)
Kim That’s why the donkey is the symbol of the Democratic Party. Elephants bellow loudly and are full of s++t.
Yes, haha, but that's not nice to elephants either, who are amazingly intelligent and sociable within their families. People should never be compared to animals because people are abhorrent and animals aren't. Period.
Yes. Well. That's stereotyping for you. Convenient symbolic shortcut. You (may) say "stubborn as a mule", but I've had humiliating personal experience of a very stubborn donkey. :)
Kim There are wonderful elephants and rogue elephants. Sadly we how have Republican rogue elephants—-loud bellows and lots of s++t.
However, there's the occasional Manchin and Sinema there... read R L Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey.
agree.
An insult to donkey
Did anyone else here see the beauty pageant in Moscow filming (2013?) with DT asking about Putin (MSNBC)? It was unforgettable. That, and the destruction of the Art Deco bas reliefs told the story of Trump quite clearly for anyone outside New York.
No, but now I am curious so will look for it.
Can you post a reference? I'd love to see it.
I found this:
Donald Trump's Flight Records Shed New Light on Moscow Trip | Time
https://time.com/5251484/donald-trump-flight-records-moscow-trip/
-------------+-+-+-+-----------
How Trump’s ‘Miss Universe’ in Russia Became Ensnared in a Political Inquiry
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/us/politically/how-trumps-miss-universe-in-russia-became-ensnared-in-a-political-inquiry.
----------+-+++-+-----------------
Rob Goldstone On His Infamous Russia Email: 'I Had No Idea What I Was Talking About' : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/25/651240209/rob-goldstone-on-his-infamous-russia-email-i-had-no-idea-what-i-was-talking-abou
A link perhaps?
And his wallet.
Interest in Trump started in 1987, while Russia was still the USSR. They saw that he had two of the most important traits of an easily manipulated asset: narcissism and greed. When Putin took power he also took control of the "receipts" that gave him control of Trump. Being the useful idiot that he is, it didn't take any effort to get Donny to do Vlad's bidding though, of course, it was always made to look like it was DJT's idea.
Yes, when it comes to Trump, there is definitely a village somewhere missing its idiot.
Bannon is even worse than we thought. More than a political anarchist. He is a classic con man. A thief. His business partner was just busted:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/chinese-businessman-and-bannon-business-partner-arrested-in-1-billion-fraud-conspiracy
Bannon WOULD be in prison if Trump hadn't given him a pardon.
Both should be in prison, tfg and bannon, by now, not in the same cell though.
Actually, I think Bannon should be in a psychiatric ward...complete with Nurse Ratched, and whatever other tortures Ken Kesey was able to document or imagine....
Ratched is spelled right. Looked it up. All these years I thought it was Rachet. And I'm a nurse!
OT: I'm a nurse too and in that capacity I met Louise Fletcher many years after the film came out. She was visiting one of my patients. It didn't surprise me to find that she was very nice and easy going.
LOL Me too! I guess it is a word play on wretched.
I looked it up, too, and was surprised. But Kesey I knew. It helped that I have enjoyed bragging that I lived on Perry Lane in Menlo Park the summer before Kesey arrived there. (I turned 4 the summer I lived there.) Perry Lane, all of two blocks long, was special back then as a very charming place which attracted a lot of artists and writers, and a few academics (very close to Stanford). Alas, the money brought in by Silicon Valley has ruined it.
Ken Kesey. No "a" in Kesey.
Ken Kesey seemed to have a thing for writing about people and things he didn't like. He hated my uncle Hank. (Sometimes a Great Notion was about my family on my mom's side.)
I haven't read Sometimes a Great Notion. Was your uncle undeserving of Kesey's treatment of him? Would you recommend reading or avoiding this book? (It must be disconcerting to have a close relative the subject of bad treatment in a well known book! My only relative who appears in anyone else's books (Tom Hornbein, who gets some publicity in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, gets only good treatment--probably deservedly).
Your screen name intrigued me, so I googled the Wallowas. I'm planning to drive to the west coast this spring, next fall, or next spring. I'm now likely to do the part of my drive from Seattle to SF via the Wallowas. Can you recommend any guides, and likewise any particular parts of the Wallowas?
What a difficult place to be for the DOJ? To charge Bannon before the election or wait till after so he couldn't have been pardoned. If trump wins, he still gets a pardon. If they wait and trump loses, then Bannon stays in jail and the spell is broken and Robert Mercer has to find some other demagogue to run Brietbart.
And if he wasn't appealing his conviction in NY.
Bill At times Steve Bannon makes Donnie Trump and Rudy Giuliani seem a tad better than him. Of course it’s difficult to distinguish deep down in a sewer.
These nut jobs belong in prison along with their Fuhrer. With all the crimes of Trump how he is still free is testament to how the wealthy are above the law.
History repeating itself again. If you haven’t listened to the Podcast ‘Ultra’ by R.Maddox please do. It’s a blow by blow description of the same cacophony we are under currently and as likely the tip of the iceberg as ‘it’ was in 1944.
I was turned onto this marvel work ( thank you Rachael and your staff) yesterday by some of Heather’s marvelous fans .
I will join (by sharing these ‘Letters’/Podcasts) with the growing🙌 chorus who are being enlightened by these dedicated and gifted writers to bring needed TRUTH to the voters ....for an anticipated Democratic landslide in 2024.
And the "Let's Start a Coup" podcast describes the effort in the 1930's by wealthy folks to use the American Legion and WW1 vets to overthrow Roosevelt and install Smedley Butler as their figurehead. Known as "The Business Plot"
Thank you Patrick👍
I like “anticipated Democratic landslide”! May it happen.
Patricia I applaud your sentiment, but don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Truth and honest elections are two essential ingredients.
Let’s hope, vote, and use staccato voice to highlight President Biden’s accomplishments and the scattered brain defeatism of the Trump/DeSantis
Naysayers.
Even the Trump friend and election denier Patrick Bryne, ex-CEO of Overstock, was caught with Russian spy Maria Butina. I can only imagine how deep the story sinks into black money and corruption.
And she became part of Russian government after being feted for what she did here.
Daryl While Maria Butina was with Oversexed Bryne, did she also dally with My Pillow?
A mattress made in hell.
Butina got very close to the presidency & to a number of republicans who seemed to parade around with her. This made me think a long time ago that tfg was pootin's agent of Russia as well as the enemy within our country.
Hey Heather, a troll.
KitW: I have a mediation demand at JAMS lit the the necessary Parties per the Troll's & Substack inc 's contract with 'Author'. BOTH have already stipulated to JAMS. I have Been There ( JAMS) & done that scores of times in my career.
Baaaaaaa.
Thank you Heather.
I personally feel it's a splendid idea that Rep. Loudermilk interview former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. I've always wanted to see a working definition of the term,
" walking into the lions den." Go for it Barry and bring Liz Cheney along as well.
Be safe. Be well. ☘️
Pelosi could shred Loudermilk. It would be entertaining.
But Jack Smith may get to Loudermilk first. All it will take is one or two of the Capitol "tour participants" to flip. And when faced with prison time, most people flip to reduce their sentence.
Loudermilk v Pelosi 📢
Where do I send money for those tickets?
Bill, I think it will take atleast 2 of the elected Insurrectionists to turn before much happens
When she's done he will be renamed "Quietermilk"!
🤣🤣🤣🤣 absolutely!
🎶 "I had another Dream about Lions at the Door;"
They were not half as frightening as they were before." 🎶
Bruce Cockburn
Aside from the unnecessary inconvenience it would cause both of those amazing women, I agree it would be quite a spectacle! And Loudermilk would be toast! 🤣🤣🤣🍿🍿
Another gem from Leigh McGowan, Politics Girl, with Pete Buttigieg on her podcast.
I would vote for Leigh to tag along with any group crushing misinformation.
https://youtu.be/9MZFTFir-bo
Salud!
🗽
Love politics girl and Mayor Pete !! I'm sure it was an excellent interview except the people that need to hear it would never listen !!
Ditto. Excellent comment, my friend. Sums it up. Especially bringing along Liz Cheney.
Republicans are imploding on their sheer ignorance alone.
Be safe as well, Linda.
🗽💜
LOL
Well said Linda!!! Thank you! A good laugh came from your clever statement! And true!!! 🤪🤣🙏🏻
I am giddy with the thought! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you, Heather for yet again weaving so many threads into a cohesive, comprehensible story. TFG's level of corruption has clearly leached into all levels of the Republican leadership. It is at once horrible and exhausting. I will be so relieved when he and his sycophantic acolytes, as well as his imitators are all far in our rear view mirror.
Totally! 45 million spent on “how to obstruct this administration”. Seems like raising money just to raise Cain to keep the executive branch from being able to do their duty is like a defacto tax on the wealthy donor class. It is a lot of money. And it shows how much waste is allowed in our top down system.
But we can't afford free meals for school children or Social Security, or national healthcare!😡
We can't afford anything that helps ordinary people according to the party of death. And now Gangrene says she is going to reveal classified info. We need duct tape. Meanwhile the Biden administration continues to keep the focus on ordinary Americans.
Those things help the wrong people...
I assume you mean, in the opinion of the Banana Republicans.😊
Indeed.
Thought so! 😊👍❤
And meanwhile in MN one wing nut in the legislature says he has never seen a child in MN that needs free meals, luckily he’s in the minority!
He needs to get out of his gated community, the country club, and five star restaurants to see how many people live....or more accurately, try to survive.
Yes, I saw that! What a disgusting person! He has no eyes to see, no heart!
Thank you Heather Cox Richardson. I feel like these GOP losers are sucking up all the available oxygen in the room but your newsletter always lets more good air in. I just wish the Justice Department, Letitia James, and the Attorney General in Georgia would hurry up and get the indictments going. The clock is ticking!
Colette, As you indicate, there is a timeline that circumscribes what one can do to Trump and his acolytes and that timeline, obviously, is the 2024 election cycle. Regrettably, I expect the timeline, particularly, to hold Trump accountable was before he was allowed to try and take over the government again.
Frankly, I blame A.G. Garland for not moving fast enough and courageously enough to bring Trump to justice when Garland had the opportunity. Similarly, at the state level, I imagine Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis would find it difficult to seat a jury about election fraud during a Presidential run, wherein the defendant was one of the candidates.
My point is that we ought not bank on our judicial system to block a conceivably fatal weakening of American civic institutions and also a Presidency eager and plausibly able to consolidate power, wherein the rule of law could be subjugated to an individual. Instead, I suspect the responsibility for protecting the key mechanisms of American democracy will rest mostly with us.
Amen. Our best chance to take down Trump was for the Senate to have convicted him at least one of the two times he was impeached by the House. Of all the terrible things McConnell has done while Republican leader, the worst was not whipping ten GOP Senators to convict.
Mitchell, Thank you for your reply. For me, the Senate’s failure to convict Trump was a betrayal, analogous, in many respects, to a slow-motion, non-violent version of Jan. 6.
Yes, yes. Every chance Republicans have had to choose democracy over party, they've chosen the latter.
The perfidy of the Senate Republicans in choosing TWICE not to impeach a clearly guilty President for his " high crimes and misdemeanors" will live in infamy. IF, that is, the Banana Republicans don't get to rewrite our history!
He would have needed a very large bull whip to get a lot of those corrupt power grubbers to convict. They are only interested in their own power and money, so must grovel to their donors and throw red meat to the R base.
Perhaps. Unfortunately we'll never know.
I agree Barbara. My husband (a government teacher for 39 years) and I talked about this earlier today. His opinion is that the prosecutors don't want to indict a former president and his family or cronies unless they are sure they can win. They are looking for that "silver bullet" that will seal the case. Unfortunately, we both also feel that potential witnesses are either being paid off or intimidated. We don't like to look for conspiracies but with that group we think anything is possible. I just hope that justice isn't too late.
Hats off to your husband for teaching Government all those years. How many times since 2016 (actually since the Tea Party) have I wondered if anyone paid any attention to those classes. It angers me to hear MTG claim that she sees no reason to honor confidentiality "because people need to know." Let's hope that one comes back to haunt her.
I would love to see MTG be held accountable legally for not keeping classified information confidential...but I guess we don't do that.
Heck, by "people", Empty Green means Putin.
Colette, I believe, through our engagement, our energy, our caring, our work, that justice, ultimately, will boil down to rendering the radical right of the GOP irrelevant.
Very astute comment. History will not treat Garland well for slow walking an indictment. There really is no excuse for it. Two years plus to interview witnesses and assemble a grand jury? Makes no sense from any perspective!
I remember the time between the 1972 Presidential election and Nixon's resignation. Wondering if justice would ever be served. I was young and idealistic and had already worked for a losing Joe Tydings Senate campaign (and Agnew was my governor just before voting age) in Maryland - in other words, I was skeptical. It took more than 18 months of investigations, but Nixon resigned (after Agnew, who ended up in jail) rather than face certain impeachment and conviction in Congress. Sorry, enough reminiscing - the point is, justice takes time, especially when it has to confront constitutional issues never encountered before.
Ira, While I regret I couldn’t respond sooner, I do wish to thank you for your affirming reply. Considering, within six months following the Jan. 6th assault on the Capitol, a blueprint for all of the criminal offenses that might have been committed by Trump and by others at the top already had been laid out by a number of scholars and former prosecutors, there, undoubtedly, was sufficient factual predication to open up a criminal investigation.
I recall, by July, 2021, many thousands were inundating Main Justice with letters amplifying that DOJ didn’t need to decide in advance whether all the downsides of an indictment should or should not prevent the A.G. from investigating Trump and his command structure. That would be for a later day. But if the DOJ didn’t start holding everybody at the top accountable, at least to the point of being subject to full-blown criminal investigation, then we really were giving up focusing the mind of the country on the fact that we nearly were running out the clock on democracy itself.
As a final point, we also repeatedly called attention to the fact that it’s not as easy to stonewall a grand jury as it is to stonewall a congressional committee. Come what may, as the 24 election season rapidly is approaching, we have no choice but to persevere, recognizing it is impossible to foretell precisely when any of our endeavors will produce powerful results.
It's not so bad as in the "Reign of Error" when the new was Trump every #$%&^*@ day.
And yes, the letters and reactions here are a breath of fresh air.
But... how we need that clean fresh air!
Every day, it's still Deep Deep DooDoo [solid, fluid, gaseous] vs. "Deep State".
Makes me want to go and take a Grand Old Puke.
But please don't think the Reign of Error is over.
Don't forget, the French Revolution went through many phases from 1789 to 1799 until Napoleon took over.
And Napoleon didn’t turn out a happy guy…
Not the least bit.
“We have to be Paul Revere every chance we get to let people know what is at risk and why it is at risk. We live it. Every time we eat breakfast we think about these things,” Governor Jay Inslee of Washington told CNN. “I don’t think you can be overly concerned about this. The American psyche has not recognized we were one vice-president away from a coup.”
O“We have to be Paul Revere every chance we get to let people know what is at risk and why it is at risk. We live it. Every time we eat breakfast we think about these things,” Governor Jay Inslee of Washington told CNN.
“I don’t think you can be overly concerned about this. The American psyche has not recognized we were one vice-president away from a coup."
Perhaps not a successful coup, but who knows? Had Pence come on board, things would have been a whole lot messier and nastier either way, and the Supreme Court might easily been part of the problem. In any case, the more they get away with, the more fascistoid the Republicans become, and they're becoming worse by the day.
Why can't Jack Smith force compliance?
On our Stolen Documents case, Jack is taking the depsitions of workers at the Palace when tfg was playing "Hide & Seek" with boxes of documents & the truth. Besides doing necessay prosecutorial trial investigation, Jack is looking, always searching, for that unknown witness that personifies credibiliy in a sea of mendacity.
I hope Jack Smith is digging an inescapable pit for the soon to be accused with these new witnesses.
Jack needs just one Cassidy Hutchinson, just one. Cassidy is also, a Judge's Dream; Cassidy automatically testifies to the context of her admissible, percipient witness FACTS, "The Defendant told me X" ... called an admission against interest. Easy for the Umpire to call strikes.
I’m guessing that there are a sea of NDA’s through which he needs to wade before finding anyone willing to truthfully testify.
I am concerned about the Mob Boss paying for legal "help" for the selected, subpoenaed, grand jury witnesses. Jack knows pre-trial motion work is a must do. Fortunately, Jack has been there done that.
If only Capone had thought to use NDA’s, huh? According to Trump, if you sign one, you can’t testify to his illegal activity
Here’s a thought I’ll betTrump didn’t think of; sign an NDA with yourself, that way its illegal to appear in court. “Sorry judge, but a contract is binding, even if I wanted to appear (and Would really like to help you) I promised myself I wouldn’t, so ya see, I’m just following the law”
Dave Does NDA mean no DNA? In fact, we have the DNA of Donnie which immutably links him to his crooked father and his snaky kids. On reflection, Bone Spur Trump should sign a NDA with himself.
Do you think there may be a crime/fraud exception that could nullify an NDA? Seems to me there should be!
Oh, you’d think that, but the entire US Justice system seems to be flummoxed by Trump’s abuse of the legal system
OK. So if a person refuses to testify, it must be concluded that they are truthful but have their reasons for not wishing to serve the purpose. Red-hot needles under fingernails not allowed, I suppose.
Correct, no hot needles allowed. Once the prospective witness is properly served, the Court controls the arena & can protect the witness & shield her from flack bursts. I have even seen witness' counsel "bumped" in the Hallways outside of Court. An immediate PTO (protective order) can be issued -- right in Court if necessary.
Unlike the Banana Republicans, Democrats use the tools the law provides. If we need new/more tools, we will have to get more Democrats into Congress so they can fashion the tools we need. Clearly, the BRs won't. They don't believe in the rule of law.
Concur. I love the acronym "BR's"; may I use it?
It's a democracy? And we only have one chance to kill the king. Maybe the courts are coordinating all 5 (or 6?) cases to rule on the same day!
“A Trump lawyer LUNGED at Ari Melber and tried to rip the notes from his hand while on air to prevent him from reading a quote by Donald Trump.
Melber was discussing the moment Trump told reporters he did not know about the payments to Stormy Daniels.
When Melber tried to read the transcript of Trump’s remarks, Tacopina yelled
"Give me that!"
This lawyer should be held accountable for his lies and this assault against a journalist.”
We have both State & Federal on-going prosecutions in these cases. Difficult for States to shoulder the many costs, time & staffing but, the work (difficult work) can & is being done.
Trial lawyer here just mentioning that this is not AT ALL how courts do, can or should work. In China or North Korea, maybe but not here.
Thanks for your perspective, Debra. Can you expand on that, pease?
MP This once I favor the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland: ‘First the verdict, then the trial.’ Or The Mikado: ‘They never will be missed. I have them on a list.’
(Heaves a sigh).
Oh that would be justice wouldn’t it?
Especially if the states are prosecuting. In which case, watch how quickly the "States' Rights" crowd will start screaming that states cannot do that.
Hmmmmmm!
It baffles me how true enemies of America like Jordan and Loudermilk continue to be elected.
It's our species' tragic flaw. Kakistocracy is as old as dirt. Democracy is a never-ending battle. We've seen where demagoguery leads time after time. We let our guard down, maybe distracted by the flickering tube. Time to rally once again. Down with the shackle and up with the star.
It's all about gerrymandering. If you look at Gym Jordan's district it is a pretty clear picture of how the Ohio GOP has rigged the elections.
The gop hand picked their own voters James; no mystery story there.
Sounds like that old tale of the fruits picking the people...
[By their fruits shall ye know them. Yes. First, to survive said fruits...]
Demagoguery works short term, mostly less than ten years. It feels like an eternity, but history shows that demagoguery is not sustainable.
I think a lot of it is the disinformation promulgated by the right wing propaganda machines.
Heather, another incredible, chock-full-of-facts, Letter. Loudermilk is out of a Dicken’s novel (even his name!), not sure which one, but he is Evil Personified. Just imagine, someone suggesting he was up to no good on January 5, 2021 and suddenly the guy in his video of the “tour” shows up at the January 6 Insurrection. Hmmmm....I am just tickled that Fani Willis, a Black Woman, will bring Dump to his pathetic knees.....She and Letitia James have shown such fortitude and unbreakable courage in the face of the Biggest Goon to come down the pike. It will be breathtaking when those indictments are issued and we learn The Truth. A thousand thanks, for encircling us with your deep knowledge, insight and vision. Have a great weekend.
Fani Willis is a true American Hero.
Yes! Everything you just said. Thanks!
Hopefully Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) can give us a virtual tour of the Capitol, just for information's sake. These two reps give new meaning to the idea of the deep, depressing state of affairs we're witnessing.
"A [lot more is] gonna come out sooner or later…. And it’s gonna be massive. It’s gonna be massive."
The "deep state" is supposed to be us. Half of the nation has been hypnotized for over 40 years. Let us hope the awokening is epic!
Is this our "Pogo" moment???
Interesting, JL. Now "woke" has generated the "awokening".
That moment when the object at the end of your fork comes into focus...
Yes... "It's gonna be massive..."
That Trewth Antisoshal Dam is breaking...!
DON GASMASKS AND RUN FOR THE HILLS !!!
The hills have eyes...
At first I thought this WaPo article wasn't worth forwarding. But after reading today's Letter, it may fit in nicely with what Heather has reported. Just mere steps from the Capitol (on Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E.) Trump allies buy up properties to build MAGA campus. It appears these town homes are where the R's are holding their "training" sessions.
Gifted: https://wapo.st/40gGzW8
Lynell,
Good news.
We know where to find them.
Ha! Like all of Trump’s crimes - “hiding in plain sight.” Signed hush money payments to a porn star, recorded calls of attempts to extort and strongarm people, classified documents in cardboard boxes at Mar a Lago, “Russia, if you’re listening,” and the list is endless. Truly the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.
It's quite frightening. Too many, e.g. MTG believe it needed more guns, more - what exactly? - violence that she and her ilk would use to successfully overthrow the government. She's said as much. All they need is a base to make that a reality.
I do wish that MTG would be defrocked for violating the oath to uphold the Constitution. That a governing body cannot even govern itself is vastly appalling.
I don't fancy seeing her without a frock. Maybe tarred and feathered.
Yes, preferable!
Yikes, Carmen. The idea of these homes being used as a base - as in military style - is frightening, indeed.
Firearm storage facilities.
But Mike S’s comment does take the sting away...we know where they are. Wonder if infiltration of spies as domestics has begun.
Putin sends his State bankers like Alexander Torshin to donate tens of millions to the NRA. This is more than gun lobbing, it is foreign influence and leverage. To our enemies, the gun issue is framed as a destabilization tactic, and at a time R elected officials are identifying political enemies, encouraging political intimidation, the result will be political violence.
Why send your soldiers when you can convert and arm their ( U.S.) citizens.
Carmen,
Don't be frightened. First, the bunch of Republicans who are always talking violence are also incredibly out of shape and could not run 100 yards without stopping (which can have consequences during violence).
If the time comes, again, when those guys try to make good on their threats with a bunch of out of shape drunks, I think others may have something to say about that.
No reason to leave the Capital police on their own. None at all.
Thank you for finding this important and shocking development! It’s definitely not anything to joke about. Is it another step in their plan to take over America?
Are they training for the next coup? Sure is a convenient location 🤔😐
No, Still, for The Rapture….when their vengeful “god” comes down and punishes “us”…..
It would be my guess. At this time there is no evidence I can see except the behavior of those involved in the J6 insurrection. Stashing arms and pipe bombs in different locations, using nearby hotel suites as command centers, etc. Those buying the property could absolutely renovate to become a base of operation. Am I being paranoid? Perhaps. I just don't put it beyond them!
Very convenient, Still...ugh!
I would rather take my chances with a fast food restaurant.
Me, too, Rhea!
Daaaaaaaaamn.
Wow
OMG! Their arrogance never eases to amaze. So may ways that money could have been spent.
It seems likely that Fulton will again be featured in American history books. In 1946 Winston Churchill, at President Truman’s invitation, came to Fulton, Missouri, where he gave his famous Iron Curtain speech highlighting the nature of Stalin’s brutal grip on Eastern Europe.
Now in Fulton County, GA, it seems likely that ex-President Trump and his sycophants will face criminal indictments with ‘smoking gun’ evidence.
Trump has been skating around serious indictments for years with his lies, ‘witch hunt’ claims, and interminable legal delays. I’m looking forward to the harpooning of the Whale of Mar a Lago.
That could be interesting. Bring Zelensky to Fulton County Georgia to give a speech on Putin, Russia, modern fascism. Would be epic, like Church’s speech. The setting even better.
Ted SPOT ON!
I like this idea very much! Incredibly pleasing to this tired woman to imagine.
It reminds me of something I just read. Robert Kennedy’s speech throwing his hat into the ring fir 1968 presidential race. It was about ending the Vietnam war, addressing inequality at home and abroad.
If the harpoon needs sharpening I have plenty of sharpening stones I would be happy to lend to the task. 😎
Dick I will call you Ahab
Mmmm. Except in Florida. DeSantis will make sure it never even happened.
"Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who sits on the Homeland Security committee, said she intended to divulge classified information, saying: “I’m not gonna be confidential because I think people deserve to know.” She claimed that drug cartels had left an explosive device on the border; U.S. Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz later posted a picture of the “device” and said it was “a duct-taped ball filled with sand that wasn’t deemed a threat to agents/public.”
AH, a homing device target for guiding Soros/S.P.E.C.T.R.E laser beams laser beams from deep space. May the tin foil protect us!
I think she'll be in prison pretty soon
But it won't be soon enough.
I ask, aren't these Republican MAGots committing a crime when they reveal information that they are privy to that they are supposed to be keeping private?
https://www.justice.gov/opcl/overview-privacy-act-1974-2020-edition/disclosures-third-parties
It sounds like there could easily be more lawsuits against Trump. There should be the criminal one that Pence brought up, that Tom Nichols referred to in The Atlantic recently, in which he points out that Trump tried to have him killed, only he put it in a milder way. The outrage is not only that Trump would go that far if he did not get his way(so Putin like--with no friends, just people who either do his bidding or they can have fatal accidents), but that the press and everyone else have ignored this truth. Well, some of us have not. It is pretty understandable that the experience scared Pence into being afraid to testify, but that is also a reason why he should not run for President if he is too scared to speak the truth.
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/03/mike-pence-trump-january-6/673402/
The MAGots (DeSantis, Ralston, Trump, MTG, Boebert) are trying to cover up the truth with investigations and lies. It has worked for them because they have a willing audience of the brainwashed evangelical masses, and sociopaths (DeSantis, Ralston, Trump, Boebert, White Supremacist militias) who will go along with their nefarious plans for personal gain no matter who is destroyed.
We can't forget Gaetz, Grassley, Graham, Abbot, Lake, R. Johnson in WI, Hawley, etc., etc., etc.
Yes. Also include Leo Leonard, J.D.Vance, Stefanik, Evan Baehr, Peter Thiel, Paul Singer, Bernie Marcus, the Koch Brothers, the DeVos Family, Ted Cruz, Trevor McFadden, Erik Prince, Vivek Ramaswamy, Barrett, Scalia, Clarence Thomas. In fact anyone who belongs to the so called Teneo Network https://www.propublica.org/article/leonard-leo-teneo-videos-documents
Thiel is one of the reasons I don't use Paypal and all of my daughter's friends know she isn't going to be getting something if it can only be bought with Paypal. In fact, her entire class gets most of their political education by things my daughter is not doing, like going to Starbucks, or now Walgreens. Actually, think all the girls are boycotting Walgreens right now. This article on how Thiel gets around the Roth IRA rules to amass a fortune of 5 billion in untaxable income is sickening. https://www.propublica.org/article/lord-of-the-roths-how-tech-mogul-peter-thiel-turned-a-retirement-account-for-the-middle-class-into-a-5-billion-dollar-tax-free-piggy-bank?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river
It just amazes me that there are people that admire these people. They are all soulless!
Thank you for educating your daughter. Consumer choices are a good place to start in this environment.
The fact that Thiel is largely responsible for JD Vance becoming OH Senator overtime Ryan alone is enough for me to despise Thiel.😡
I just read another article this morning about Thiel being against the bail out of the banks, yet having 50 mil in SVB, which of course is getting bailed out. I guess he wanted the tax write off. If Thiel does it, it will be despicable.
A sad Thiel tale.
A troubling Thiel thievery tale.
https://popular.info/p/who-gets-bailed-out-who-gets-left
On NPR they discussed that the Biden administration stressed that the DOJ and SEC will be investigating the bank failures and looking at the leaders who sold stocks before the crash, and also who took bonuses right before the crash.
https://thehill.com/business/3901751-5-things-to-know-about-the-silicon-valley-bank-investigation/#:~:text=Justice%20Department%20and%20Securities%20and,by%20the%20Wall%20Street%20Journal.
I hope that the unWOKE Thiel is one of the people that the DOJ goes after because he is a cause of the problem and as usual he cashed in.
And PayPal owns Venmo.
My bank does not accept Venmo so that is ruled out too. We were just discussing that with my nephew.
Strongman by Ruth Ben-Ghiat. The pattern is easy to recognize.
She also has an excellent substack. LUCID. Very Informative!
The blatant hypocrisy of not all but certainly most the congressional Republicas has become so commonplace that it seems totally normal, and that should be the most shocking aspect where we are as a nation.
How far we have fallen, not withstanding that we were also "pushed" beginning with the southern strategy.
Bingo.
"Trump is trying to move the case into the election season, at which point he will insist it must be delayed again."
Obviously Trumped-up charges against a candidate can taint an election, but if the candidate really IS a crook, wouldn't you want to know before they are sworn into office?
How is it that he has the luxury of obtaining delay after delay?
Great Question! Inquiring minds want to know.
My guess is that anybody who would vote for TFG after all that we’ve seen with our own eyes would not be moved by any evidence produced in court. We saw that with the meticulously collected evidence of the Jan 6 Committee, which the GOP MAGAs are now “investigating.”
I agree. At this point, if I learn of anyone that still supports TFG, I just write them off as not someone that can be reasoned with or won over. I felt that way several major revelations ago. They are never going to change, no matter what.
Brilliant. One sentence paragraph. "Meanwhile the Biden admistration continues to admiminister."
Don't cha love a simple truth?
I love understatement too.
It's rich, isn't it, that Mark Meadows is still in business, still fundraising, and still being a voice of influence over baby GOPers who must somehow believe he wasn't at the center of an insurrection? I fervently hope his name is in the top ranks of those Jack Smith is investigating.
"A duct-taped ball filled with sand..."
Was the man referring to the head of this Honorable Representative?
If so, did the Border Patrol check the sand for whatever the GOP drug cartels may have mixed in with it?
"Aggressively". [i.e. the only way there is to do (or undo) anything]
There's something strange in that there sand...
Peter, I HOWLED when I read that description. More Margerine Traitor Gangrene running her mouth....yes, it must be her head filled with sand. I sometimes feel watching her is like being back in fifth grade, public school playground with the loudest bully attracting all the kids, who are yelling “Fight!! Fight!!”. OMG.
Yes! Liars and bullies. I'm waiting for Republicans to implode. They're chaotic and useless. And quite evil in their thinking.
Me too - hilarious, Peter. Why oh why can't there be a basic sanity test for prospective politicians? If anyone ever needed medication....
Marjorie Traitor Gangrene 🤣🤣🤣 witty!
OK, Peter, that is rich. Thank you.
It's not the sand, it's the rocks in MTG's head!!